Case Scenario: Dorece
Dorece is a 21-year-old African American woman who is a student at a major urban university on the East Coast. She was referred to career counseling by her academic adviser, because she had not yet declared a major despite accumulating enough credits to be considered a junior. Dorece presents herself as quite self-assured yet seems unnerved by the prospect of making a decision. She comes to counseling each week with a different idea of what she might choose, which she states with considerable enthusiasm. However, she does not complete the tasks assigned by her counselor, such as investigating the requirements of the major or what the job might entail, nor does her enthusiasm carry into the following week.
Dorece is the youngest child of four and grew up in an upper-middle-class home in suburban Washington, DC. Her father is an advertising manager for a radio station, and her mother is a lobbyist. Dorece attended an exclusive all-girls private high school, where she excelled in all her courses and graduated with a 3.8 grade point average. She enjoyed choir, French club, and the sailing club. Her older siblings have successfully completed graduate or professional degrees and are working in the Washington, DC area.
When she entered college, Dorece was encouraged by her parents not to choose a major too hastily but rather to explore various opportunities before she settled on the right choice. She initially enrolled in standard freshman year courses and did well in all of them. She particularly enjoyed her English classes and found that she appreciated the challenge of creative writing. Despite this, however, she did not declare English as a major because her father expressed concerns about what she could do with a degree in English. After rejecting English as a major, she experienced similar concerns with other majors and soon found herself ruling out most of the possibilities. She has considered becoming a broadcast journalist because many have told her that her good looks and presentation style would serve her well in that field. She has considered nursing because she enjoys caring for others and has considered teaching for the same reason. Her sisters, however, were horrified when she mentioned these possibilities, claiming that she would disgrace the family if she entered such a gender-stereotypic occupation. She continued to search for the right choice for a major.
Dorece is in a serious relationship with an African American man who is attending graduate school at the same university. He is completing his doctorate in political science and has some aspirations to a political 352 career; if that is not possible, he would like an academic career. He and Dorece have discussed her lack of decision making; he thinks she should become an English major. He also has expressed concern that it may be detrimental to his future political career if she were to enter broadcast journalism.
Questions for Discussion:
Q1. What specific hypotheses would you develop about Dorece from Gottfredson's theory?
Q2. How has Dorece circumscribed her career options? How has she compromised her choices?
Q3. What interventions might be effective in addressing her current career status?
Q4. What would you do as a counselor from the perspective of Gottfredson's theory to help Dorece make a career decision?
Q5. Who is likely to influence Dorece's decision? How much pressure does she feel now? What types of pressure and from whom?