Abstract

Career development in the 21st century is likely to be quite different than career development in the 20th century, requiring a reconsideration of major career development theories that were initially formulated to explain career development in a less complex world. The globalization of corporations and of regional and national economies has led to massive restructuring and relocation of significant aspects of the first world economy and explosive growth within the third world economy. At the same time, entirely new industries have emerged that include occupational titles that were unknown only two decades ago. Indeed, “the life cycle of many occupations has been shortened and occupational pathways have become much less stable and predictable. A significant number of today’s children will work in occupations that have not yet been invented, and a significant number of today’s workers will need to find new jobs because their current occupations will become obsolete” (Vondracek, 2001, p. 256).