HISTORY OF VOCATIONAL/CAREER GUIDANCE
Before 1900s
Not much help for someone wanting to look at various careers.
Knowledge of what opportunities existed resulted from contact with family, friends, church,
community, and education.
Very little limited attempts at explaining careers.
Juan Huarte de San Juan (1529 – 1588) published the book Examen (1575). Examen deals with
physiological psychology touching on concepts such as intelligence and job selection.
No organized effort to help people except thru some schools after education was completed.
19th century
Population moving from rural to urban (agrarian to industrial society), resulting in more diverse
work opportunities.
Immigration from Europe to the Americas and other colonies in the new world.
Improving living conditions.
Elimination of poverty.
Vocational Guidance Movement
Growth of the Labor Movement. Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894.
Movement toward education for purpose and assessment
- 1890 James Cattell publishes article in which he referred to mental tests as measures of
individual differences
- John Dewey calls for social reform in education – lead to more focus on individual
motivations, interests, and development.
Vocational Guidance Movement
- 1907 Jesse Davis – started first vocational guidance program in schools (Grand Rapids
Michigan) – not very systematic.
- From 1904 – 1906, Eli Weaver established a peer counseling program by selecting students
to advise other students on the selection of courses necessary for entry into an occupation.
- 1907 Frank Parsons – credited with first system or theory of career guidance, consistent
with social reform at a time. Known as the founding father to vocational guidance.
THE WORK OF FRANK PARSONS
In 1908 he opened the Vocational Bureau of Boston with the purpose of helping people learn of
careers.
Wrote the book, “Choosing a Vocation. First published in 1909. New York: Agatha Press
(reprinted 1967).
Parsons motivation is his belief that immigration constituted a drag on the advancement of
society industrially. Parsons and others observed that too many individuals, especially European
immigrants, were being economically and socially wasted “due to the failure of the overly
academic school system to come to terms with the new industrial society, which caused
students to drop out into the world of work. This not only hurt the individual, but also made the
factory inefficient.
From 1894 to 1904 Parsons devoted much of his effort to performing industries, in terms of
occupational conditions. During this time period he did not focus on the individual’s vocational
needs.
He gained a positive view of vocational education when he was a professor at Kansas State
University (1897 and 99).
In 1905, Parsons turned from the reform of the industry to the reform of the individuals who
would work in it.
Parsons developed a scientific procedure for helping people choose a vocation by helping them
become more aware of their needs, aptitudes and the demands of certain occupations.
Following self-study, with the help of a vocational counselor, people could make rational and
free decisions about the work for which they were best suited and the education they needed.
Parsons argued that this approach would ensure efficiency for both factory and the individual
and thus improve society.
Vocational Bureau of Boston
Formed in 1908, the bureau was organized to deal with occupational adjustment problems of
the youth and adults.
Parsons found that people were greatly interested in seeking advice on occupations. In time,
individual counseling gave way to group instruction about career options.
Parsons was the first to use the term “Vocational Guidance” in his first report on the work of the
Bureau.
National Conference on Guidance
1910 – First National Conference on Guidance. It was sponsored by the Vocational Bureau of
Boston, an outgrowth of Parsons’ work.
At the third National Conference (1913), the National Association of Guidance was formed.
Era of the World Wars (1910 – 1940)
WWI – Military is in need of placement specialists. Focus shifts towards assessment.
Smith Hughes Act – Vocational Education Act of 1917.
Baden Act provided for a nationwide vocational guidance budget.
EK Strong – He tried to upgrade interest assessment to level of Binet’s IQ Assessment.
1927 – Strong Vocational Interest Blank for boys.
First Dictionary of Occupational Titles published in 1939 by the US Department of Labor.
Veterans Training Programs
There were fewer farmers needed
Level of skill needed to work in industry was increasing
More people were going to college
Come states began building technical schools
1950s
Women entered the workforce
Characterized by shift from what occupation to choose to an analysis of why and how person
chooses a particular occupation
Career Guidance in the Philippines
Early years of counseling focused on personal counseling
1951 – the joint Congressional Committee on Education in the Philippines officially included
career guidance and counseling among the jobs and functions of a guidance counselor.
1964 – The Philippine Guidance and Personnel Association (PGPA) was founded. It eventually
became the Philippine Guidance and Counseling Association (PGCA).
- PGCA – Mother Organization
- PACERS (Philippine Association for Counselor Education, Research and Supervision) –
counseling educators
- CDAP (Career Development Association of the Philippines) – career counseling
- FPCAP (Family and Pastoral Counseling Association of the Philippines) – pastoral and family
counseling
1977 – The Philippine Vocational Guidance Association (PVGA) was founded. PVGA was later
renamed Career Development Association of the Philippines (CDAP).
Creation of locally normed standardized career assessments (e.g. Philippine Aptitude
Classification Test (PACT) and the Philippine Occupational Interest Survey (POIS).
Dr. Vincentita M. Cervera developed the Filipino Work Values Scale (FWVS); and in 2001 she
became the first Filipino whose work was reviewed by the Buros Mental Measurement
Yearbook.
- Buros Mental Measurement Yearbook – (US Based) it annually reviews the psychological
assessments and psychological tests created in that particular year.
