Journal of Career Assessment

Volume 17 Number 3
August 2009 247-265
© 2009 Sage Publications
10.1177/1069072708330462
Integrating Social Class http://jca.sagepub.com
hosted at

Into Vocational Psychology http://online.sagepub.com

Theory and Practice Implications

Matthew A. Diemer
Michigan State University, East Lansing
Saba Rasheed Ali
University of Iowa, Iowa City

Although social class plays a salient and significant role in career development and occupa-
tional attainment, social class is underrepresented in vocational psychology theory, scholar-
ship, and practice. Vocational psychologists are in a unique position to meet the career
development needs of persons from all social classes by integrating a fuller understanding of
social class into their scholarship and practice. This article provides an interdisciplinary review
of conceptualization and operationalization of social class, the consideration of social class by
theories of career development, the impact of social class upon career development processes,
and implications of social class for career counseling and assessment. Through helping voca-
tional psychologists more deeply understand social class and its interconnections to career
development and occupational attainment, this article intends to create a springboard for the
further integration of social class into vocational psychology scholarship and practice.

Keywords:  social class; socioeconomic status; career development; occupational attainment;

sociological

I t is nearly impossible to extricate the concept of social class from career, work, or occu-
pation. In the United States, social class is often determined by, or in close relation to,
one’s occupation. For example, socioeconomic status indices (SES) commonly use educa-
tional and/or occupational attainment to operationalize social class (e.g., Nakao & Treas,
1994). Social class is also closely associated with the prevalence of external resources that
facilitate or hinder career development, such as access to quality vocational guidance
(Blustein, Worthington, & Juntunen, 2000) and external barriers, such as labor market dis-
crimination (Constantine, Erickson, Banks, & Timberlake, 1998). The presence or absence of
such resources can profoundly affect career development and occupational attainment.
Scholarship has suggested that social class affects vocational psychology constructs such

Authors’ Note: Correspondence regarding this article should be directed to Matthew A. Diemer, Department
of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, 441 Erickson Hall, College of Education,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1034; phone: (517) 432-1524; e-mail: diemerm@msu.edu.
Saba Rasheed Ali may be contacted at Division of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, University of
Iowa, 361 Lindquist Center, Iowa City, IA 52242-5295; phone: (319) 335-5495; e-mail: saba-ali@uiowa.edu.
Thank you to Adam M. Voight for his helpful and insightful comments on this article.

247

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248    Journal of Career Assessment

as work role salience (Brown, Fukunaga, Umemoto, & Wicker, 1996; Diemer & Blustein,
2007), occupational expectations (Diemer & Hsieh, 2008), vocational/educational aspirations
(Ali & McWhirter, 2006), views of the world of work (Chaves et al., 2004), and occupational
self-concept implementation (Blustein et al., 2002), among many other domains (Hotchkiss
& Borow, 1996). However, apart from the psychology of working perspective (Blustein,
2006; Richardson, 1993), social class has not been fully integrated into many of the major
theories of career development (Brown et al., 1996; Robitscheck & DeBell, 2002).
Similarly, the role of social class as a contextual influence on career development is rarely
discussed in career counseling courses (DeBell, 2002; Diemer, 2006) or in the practice of
career counseling. Furthermore, its impact on career development is obfuscated because
social class is a poorly understood construct that has been operationalized in a variety of
ways (Liu, Soleck, Hopps, Dunston, & Pickett, 2004) and because mental health providers
do not receive adequate training to address social class issues (Kliman, 1998).
Therefore, this article aims to assist vocational psychologists in understanding the role
of social class in the career development process and to assist them in integrating social
class into their scholarship and practice. Vocational psychologists have made important
strides in understanding the persistent and pernicious effects of structural racism on career
development (e.g., Constantine et al., 1998; Navarro, Flores, & Worthington, 2007); how-
ever, we focus on social class here because it has received comparatively less attention than
race/ethnicity in vocational psychology scholarship. However, this task is complicated by
the intertwining of race/ethnicity and social class in the United States. From a material
perspective, Whites had a median household income of $52,423, Latino/as $37,781, and
African Americans $31,969 in 2006 (DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, & Smith, 2007). Racial/
ethnic inequalities in median wealth (net worth, excluding owner-occupied housing) are
even more stark (in 1998, Whites = $37,600, Latino/as = $0, and African Americans =
$1,200) (Wolff, 2000).
These interrelationships make it difficult to disentangle the unique and interactive effects
of race/ethnicity and social class in the career development and occupational attainment of
persons of color. Though acknowledging this interrelationship, we focus on social class to
more clearly and precisely illuminate the role of social class in vocational psychology. We
are very mindful that a focus on social class can be used to avoid discussions of racial/
ethnic inequality (Blustein, 2006). Conversely, our hope is that illuminating the role of
social class in vocational psychology complements this emergent emphasis on race/ethnic-
ity, spurring the fuller integration of both domains into vocational psychology scholarship
and practice.
This article will be organized in the following way and will review (a) definitions and
measurement of social class, (b) how career development theories consider social class and
its impact on career development, and (c) practice implications of integrating social class
into career counseling. Finally, we use the term career throughout this article to refer to the
various roles—work, leisure, or otherwise—that individuals play over the course of their
lives (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2002), recognizing that “career,” as a construct, has often
been criticized for exclusively connoting affluent work (Richardson, 1993). Here, we use
career to also describe how individuals fit activities and roles into their lives (Savickas,
2002). We use the term occupation throughout this article to refer to specific jobs or posi-
tions that exist in the world of work in which individuals may be employed (Sharf, 2006),

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 Diemer, Ali / Social Class in Vocational Psychology    249

and the adjective vocational is used to explain individuals’ behaviors in regard to choosing,
obtaining, and functioning in specific occupations (Savickas, 2002).

Social Class: Conceptualization

and Measurement
To more clearly illuminate its impact on career development, we review definitions of
social class, which align with methodological and conceptual issues in measuring social
class.

Sociological Perspectives
Sociological perspectives emphasize macro-level forces and sociostructural constructs
over internal traits and explain how access to external career-related resources (e.g., neigh-
borhood quality, school quality, occupational role models, teacher/parental expectations)
that vary by social class (as well as race/ethnicity) influence career development and occu-
pational attainment. One of the most widely known sociological perspectives is the status
attainment tradition, or the Wisconsin Model (Sewell & Hauser, 1975). This perspective
stems from longitudinal studies of Wisconsin youth during the 1960s and 1970s, examining
the role socioeconomic status played in access to resources facilitative of career develop-
ment and occupational attainment. These studies indicated that socioeconomic status
affected participants’ quality of educational environment, emotional and financial support
for college attendance, and cognitive ability, among other variables. In turn, these class-
based resources were associated with educational performance, occupational expectations,
and occupational attainment across a series of studies. Rather than the simple implementa-
tion of one’s occupational self-concept into the world of work, the Wisconsin Model stud-
ies suggested that career development and occupational attainment are significantly
affected by socioeconomic status. This perspective suggests that external educational
resources associated with social class (e.g., teacher expectations or school spending per
pupil) have a profound impact upon the expression of internal traits (e.g., vocational expec-
tations) in the world of work.
The structural perspective considers the impact of social class resources but also incor-
porates the impact of structural forces (such as labor market discrimination) to explain
career development processes (e.g., Rossides, 1990). Structural perspectives reject the ide-
ology of equal opportunity in the United States and point to factors beyond individual’s
control—such as race, gender, or parenting practices—as influential in the career develop-
ment process (particularly social mobility and occupational attainment). One emphasis in
structural perspectives is resource asymmetry in the United States. Recent census data
indicate that 32.3 million people, or nearly 12% of the general population in the United
States, live in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Furthermore, the top 1% of U.S. house-
holds possess more wealth than the bottom 80% of U.S. households (Wolff, 1998).
Considering the impact of resources associated with wealth on career development (e.g.,
Brown et al., 1996; Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996), this resource asymmetry has clear implica-
tions for the career development of individuals at both the upper and lower rungs of the

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United States’s social class ladder. For example, structural theorists argue that occupational
attainment and social mobility are largely dictated by structural forces, particularly for
members of the lower social classes (Rossides, 1990).
Applying a structural perspective to career development, being born to parents who
place little value on formal education (generally) results in lower educational and occupa-
tional attainment. Similarly, it is more difficult to clarify one’s vocational interests if there
are few opportunities to explore interest areas in one’s community. Although adolescents
who live in poverty may learn general workplace skills and develop an orientation to the
world of work through part-time work in the fast food industry (Newman, 1999), the oppor-
tunity to explore other vocational interests through work is attenuated for these adolescents.
Wilson (1996) documented the paucity of opportunities for adolescents to explore their
vocational interests through part-time work or apprenticeship/internships in urban areas,
which likely constrains the range of occupations considered and attained for this population
(Constantine et al., 1998).
The sociological and structural perspectives entail a number of implications for voca-
tional psychologists. First, these perspectives suggest that individualistic ideologies of
equal opportunity and meritocracy do not reflect the structural nature of career develop-
ment and occupational attainment (Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996; Rossides, 1990). An over-
emphasis on individual factors in ideologies of equal opportunity and meritocracy neglects
the structural inequities and asymmetrical access to resources that disproportionately affect
the career development and occupational attainment of oppressed/marginalized groups
(Blustein, 2006; Diemer & Blustein, 2006; Diemer & Hsieh, 2008). Given the lack of equal
opportunity in the world of work, this inattention to structural factors serves to “blame the
victim” in that individualistic attributions are used to explain the lower levels of career
development and occupational attainment among members of marginalized groups. In con-
trast, an integrated understanding of sociological and internal factors facilitates a clearer
understanding of career development (particularly among members of marginalized groups)
that fully attends to the multiple external factors that impinge on career development and
occupational attainment (Blustein, McWhirter, & Perry, 2005).

Socioeconomic Status
The SES tradition is more of a quantitative approach to considering social class that
deemphasizes (in relation to the second and third traditions reviewed below) the psycho-
logical impact of social class. SES has traditionally been measured through educational/
occupational attainment, income, and/or occupational prestige. (The SES of children and
adolescents is often determined by the attainment, income, or prestige of their parents/
guardians.)
SES background has commonly been operationalized by (a) education attained by one’s
mother, (b) average education attained by one’s mother and father, or (c) highest education
attained by either one’s mother or father. However, this method has limitations in measuring
the SES of single-parent households, same-sex households, and reconstituted families
(Entwisle & Astone, 1994). There is also not a consistent practice of using the educational
attainment of one’s biological parents or stepparents in reconstituted families to operation-
alize SES, which may produce methodological confusion and inconsistent findings in the
literature (Hauser, 1994).

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 Diemer, Ali / Social Class in Vocational Psychology    251

A fourth method for measuring SES examines income levels. However, this method is
confounded by the fact that an estimated 15% to 25% of the United States’s gross national
product (GNP) comes from illegal, underground, and/or untaxed sources (Rossides, 1990).
Similarly, the income of some occupations might be similar, such as a college professor and
a plumber, although these occupations are generally associated with different socioeco-
nomic statuses (Nakao & Treas, 1994). Furthermore, reported correlations between income
and SES in the literature (r = .45 found by Argyle, 1994) suggest the need to assess SES
by more than income.
Another method is to operationalize SES through the prestige of either mother’s or father’s
occupation. Although prestige incorporates income (somewhat), subjective perceptions of
occupational prestige can operationalize SES. Laypersons have a sense of occupational
prestige and can delineate prestige differences between a medical doctor and a sanitation
worker (Nakao & Treas, 1994). Pioneers of this method created scales that classified the
prestige of various occupations to operationalize SES. Nakao and Treas (1994) developed
the Socioeconomic Index (SEI) to update existing prestige scales, based on the creation of
new occupations and potential changes in occupational prestige over time.
Another problem in measuring SES through educational attainment, income, or prestige
is that measuring SES only in the current generation does not account for the wealth and
status of previous generations (Fouad & Brown, 2000; Rossides, 1990). For example, two
families (Family A and Family B) classified as middle-SES will have differential access to
resources and experiences if previous generations of Family A came from extreme poverty
and previous generations of Family B came from extreme wealth. Assessing the SES of
previous generations creates a more complete picture of SES but is more difficult to measure
and leads to further questions (e.g., how many generations should be considered?). Although
it is a more sensitive topic that participants may have trouble answering, assessing SES
through patterns of family wealth (assets) may be more descriptive of economic resources
than current income. For example, the adult child of a senator working as a laborer would
be considered to have a different SES than the adult child of a laborer working as a laborer.
Similarly, Entwisle and Astone (1994) suggested that delineating rental from ownership of
one’s residence is a critical index of socioeconomic status.
Finally, the neighborhood context is an important consideration in measuring SES. One
method to conceptualize and measure neighborhood SES is to examine the proportion of
adults in that neighborhood whom have completed high school (Brooks-Gunn, Denner, &
Klebanov, 1995). The characteristics and opportunities within a neighborhood impact our
educational, personal, and career experiences and likely affect career development (Hauser,
1994). Neighborhood resources include access to vocational role models, the relationship
of property values to per-pupil school funding, and access to part-time work through social
networks that vary with a neighborhood’s social and economic resources (Kozol, 1991;
Newman, 1999). Sirin’s (2005) meta-analysis suggested that neighborhood SES may have
a greater impact on academic achievement than family SES for minority adolescents.
Furthermore, low-income children in high-income neighborhoods fare better than low-in-
come children in low-income neighborhoods on a variety of developmental and health
indices (Krieger, Williams, & Moss, 1997).
Although the research on the relationship between SES and career development has
provided important information, it has been criticized for its overreliance on occupation,

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252    Journal of Career Assessment

education, and income to determine SES (Liu et al., 2004). Generational wealth may pro-
vide a more accurate picture of social class differences and access to class-related resources
than simply considering household attainment and income (Fouad & Brown, 2000;
Rossides, 1990). Apart from these measurement implications, failing to consider the wealth
of previous generations is a failure to consider the more stark inequities in household
wealth (as compared to inequities in occupational attainment, income, and prestige) in the
United States. For example, Wolff (1998) found that 71% of the wealth in the United States
is concentrated in the hands of the top 10% of households, yet only 41% percent of the
income in the United States is received by the top 10% of households.
Considering generational wealth is also critical because access to social class–related
resources has a clear impact on career development (Blustein, Juntunen, & Worthington,
2000). Finally, a sole focus on household SES neglects the impact neighborhood resources
and characteristics may have on career development (Kozol, 1991), such as the threat of
random community violence on urban adolescents’ engagement with school and career
development (Sirin, Diemer, Jackson, Gonsalves, & Howell, 2004) and access to part-time
work experiences and vocational role models in one’s community that may facilitate voca-
tional exploration and career self-efficacy (Newman, 1999; Wilson, 1996).

Social Class
A third approach is the social class perspective, a more psychological and phenomeno-
logical approach that emphasizes how persons understand their own social class, how class
shapes an individual’s view of the world, and how others view an individual because of his
or her perceived social class. Farmer (1978) and Krieger et al. (1997) suggested that social
class may influence worldview and identity more than race or ethnicity. Fouad and Brown
(2000) argued that the more an individual’s social standing varies from the ordinant social
class position (middle class), the greater impact social class will have upon her or his devel-
opment and view of the world. The idea that social class may play a significant role in how
we understand ourselves and the world is supported by Marx’s notion of “class consciousness.”
Although we do not adopt a Marxist perspective, we believe that this tradition highlights
social class’s impact on how we understand ourselves and the world.
Storck (1997) provided one definition of this perspective as “a person’s level of education
and type of occupation, combined with behaviors, thoughts and feelings that include expec-
tations and value systems with which a person manages everyday life and his or her rela-
tionships with others, in local groups or larger communities and societies” (p. 334). Social
class plays a role in how we come to understand the responsiveness of our social environment,
as well as our exposure to and capacity to cope effectively with external stressors. Persons
from the lower social classes generally have a more external locus of control than persons
from the upper social classes, a phenomenon explained by the social structure being more
responsive to persons from the upper social classes than persons from the lower social
classes (Rossides, 1990). Furthermore, Kliman (1998) argued that social class determines
access to resources, as well as serving a protective function (among the upper social
classes) to the negative effects of misfortune (e.g., illness, job loss, natural disasters).
Similarly, persons from lower social classes are viewed as more psychologically disturbed
by psychiatrists than persons from middle/upper classes, a finding attributed to thwarted

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 Diemer, Ali / Social Class in Vocational Psychology    253

opportunity among persons from lower social classes, increased exposure to traumas and
stressors among the lower social classes, and diagnostic bias among mental health profes-
sionals (Kessler & Neighbors, 1986).
As early as grade school, children make social judgments about social class and can
(fairly accurately) make predictions about the social class of individuals (Argyle, 1994).
For example, people commonly make judgments about others’ social class (based on
appearance, speech, etc.) and about their own social class. For example, 43% of those in
the United States identify as “middle-class,” although based on wealth/property ownership
numbers, less than 15% of us should be considered “middle-class” (Rossides, 1990). The
frequent self-definition of individuals in the United States as middle class, despite the
increasing concentration of wealth in the upper strata of U.S. households, reflects the psy-
chological and subjective nature of social class identification. Individuals may self-identify
as “middle-class” based on a perceived class-based worldview or value system; the social
class perspective highlights the different aspirations, value systems, and experiences of dif-
ferent social classes (e.g., about education and social mobility).
The social class perspective provides a framework to help us understand the role of
social class in our lives and its role in insulating higher social class individuals from the
negative effects of traumatic events and misfortune. Because social class is rarely discussed
and underconsidered in the counseling process (Storck, 1997), providing a framework from
which to have conversations about the role of social class serves an important function in
more fully considering and addressing this critical issue in career development.

Social Class Worldview Model (SCWM)

The SCWM emphasizes subjective identification with and subjective experiences of
social class, rather than objective criteria (e.g., income, education, occupation), to opera-
tionalize social class (Liu et al., 2004). According to the SCWM, individuals subjectively
identify with a particular class and make class-related lifestyle choices to remain congruent
with the perceived cultural norms of that social class. Liu (2002) explained that

everyone exists in an environment (e.g., neighborhood, boroughs, peer and family group) in
which there are expectations of, and demands on, individuals to be a certain way (e.g., know
about art and culture) and have certain things (e.g., a certain type of car) in order to remain in
congruence with others in that milieu. These environments, called economic cultures, deter-
mine what is expected of an individual to remain in that context. (p. 356)

Objective criteria (e.g., income, education, occupation) provide a mechanism to describe

social stratification and classify individuals into under, working, middle, and upper
classes. The SCWM offers a postmodern perspective to understand the heterogeneity
within classes (i.e., within-group differences) and regional differences in social class (i.e.,
the different experiences of being “middle-class” by objective criteria in New York City
versus rural Georgia).
The SCWM (Liu et al., 2004) can be integrated with the “psychology of working”
perspective to better understand the subjective nature of social class experience and its
relationship to work. For example, Blustein et al. (2002) found that lower social class youth
tended to view work as a means of survival or “making ends meet,” whereas upper social

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254    Journal of Career Assessment

class youth tended to view work as a means of identity, life satisfaction, or upward mobility.
The SCWM can help to explain the differences in “work or economic subcultures” embedded
within larger cultures and how classism operates to advantage or disadvantage individuals
and/or groups. For example, in rural areas such as rural Appalachia, coal mining and other
physical labor occupations are the primary source of income (Ali & McWhirter, 2006). In
these areas, working with one’s hands is valued more than work that is perceived to simply
“push paper around.” Classism may be exerted on young rural Appalachians to fulfill occu-
pational expectations that meet with social class demands of their particular economic cul-
ture. As a result, these youth may only consider occupations that require physical labor.
The SCWM provides a framework for the social class worldview and class experiences of
clients, as well a language to discuss these experiences in career counseling. The SCWM may
assist vocational psychologists in discussing the neglected and nebulous issue of classism.
The SCWM provides a framework for vocational psychologists to understand how our
collective “economic culture” and social class worldviews inform perceptions of working
and class-based stereotypes, thereby examining and identifying our own social class biases
(Liu et al., 2004).

Future Directions in Understanding

and Assessing Social Class
Sociological perspectives (e.g., Entwisle & Astone, 1994; Hauser, 1994) suggest that
previous generations of wealth and neighborhood characteristics should be included in
assessments of social class from a more objective perspective. Although these ideas have
not been widely adopted, this more holistic method would augment the common practice
of assessing parental educational and occupational attainment and/or income.
Fouad and Brown (2000), Kliman (1998), Liu et al. (2004), and Rossides (1990) provided
a framework to assess and conceptualize social class from a more subjective perspective.
These perspectives may explain the discrepancy between the 43% of individuals who self-
identify as middle-class and the 15% of individuals who should be considered middle-class
by wealth/property statistics (Rossides, 1990). Indeed, a more subjective approach to under-
standing social class is a significant departure from tradition with the potential to yield a
more nuanced and idiographic understanding of social class and, by extension, how social
class affects career development, vocational behavior, and occupational attainment.
Capitalizing on the strengths of each perspective, the most comprehensive assessment of
social class would incorporate objective data (e.g., household educational/occupational
attainment, income, generational wealth, neighborhood characteristics) and subjective
identification with social class (e.g., self-identification, economic culture). For example,
Navarro et al. (2007) used educational attainment, household resources, household size,
and subjective class identification to operationalize social class. Vocational psychologists
should go beyond household attainment and/or income to also consider generation, neigh-
borhood, and subjective identification to best assess social class. Although such a thorough
assessment of social class would be more onerous, it would more clearly illuminate the role
of social class in career development and occupational attainment and best inform voca-
tional psychology scholarship and practice.

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 Diemer, Ali / Social Class in Vocational Psychology    255

Having reviewed some of the major perspectives to understanding and operationalizing

social class, we move next to discussing the consideration of social class in career develop-
ment theories and the impact of social class on aspects of career development.

Social Class and

Career Development
Social Class in Career
Development Theories
Traditional career development theories vary greatly in their consideration of social
class. Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription and compromise (1981) was one of the first
theories to explicitly address social class by considering the impact of occupational prestige
on children’s career choice process. Gottfredson (2005) proposed that by age 9, children
begin to recognize social class differences in their peers, and by age 13, most children
understand occupational prestige. Adolescents begin to understand that certain occupations
provide an income that allows for the acquisition of material possessions and may begin to
exclude occupations that do not provide adequate prestige, income level, or social standing.
Another prominent theory that explicitly discusses SES is social cognitive career theory
(SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994, 2000). SCCT describes SES as one of the person
input variables (others include gender, ethnicity/race, disability status) that may impact
vocational choice by influencing opportunities for learning experiences. Lent et al. (1994,
2000) proposed that these learning experiences may then impact the development of career
self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations. Within the SCCT model, self-efficacy
beliefs and outcome expectations are postulated to have a direct impact on the development
of vocational interests, which in turn affect vocational goals. Therefore, SES serves as a
background variable that influences the career development processes that lead to voca-
tional choice.
Lent et al. did not clearly define social class in the original SCCT monograph (1994)
but briefly noted social class as an environmental variable in later SCCT formulations
(2000). They also argued that it is important to view ethnicity and gender as social con-
structions rather than biological attributes and that these social constructions affect access
to the opportunity structure. In this way, they proposed that the sociocultural agents of
ethnicity and gender that affect the career development process can be studied (e.g., rac-
ism, gender role socialization). Whereas there has been a proliferation of research on the
application of SCCT to various groups, for the most part studies have not incorporated or
fully explored the person input of SES. From our perspective, social class fits under the
rubric of contextual variables in the SCCT framework (Lent et al., 2000) but is undercon-
sidered, given the impact of social class on myriad aspects of career development and
vocational behavior.
Considering social class as a social construction and examining the role of classism in the
career development process would certainly be consistent with SCCT theory. For example,
instead of examining the relationships between measures of numeric indices of SES (as
measured by income, occupation, free and reduced-price lunch status), an examination of
individuals’ experiences with classism and subjective perceptions of their own social status
that could potentially influence access to learning experiences might further elucidate the

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256    Journal of Career Assessment

construct of social class within SCCT. Because learning experiences have a demonstrated
impact on the development of self-efficacy and outcome expectations, the impact of social
class and classism on actual occupational choice may be indirect. Therefore, SCCT could
be augmented by more fully incorporating the objective and subjective dimensions of
social class and their potential impact on self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and occupa-
tional goals.
Holland (1959) suggested that social class may impact vocational choice in the original
postulation of person-environment fit theory. Holland proposed that a person’s selection of
an occupation is mediated by personal factors, including socioeconomic resources and the
physical environment. Whereas there has not been a great deal of research examining this
perspective, a few studies investigating the impact of social class from Holland’s perspec-
tive have provided support for this contention. For example, Ryan, Tracey, and Rounds
(1996) investigated the application of Holland’s (1985) circular model of vocational inter-
ests across race, ethnicity, and gender. They found that the circular model was actually a
better fit for low-SES African Americans than for high-SES African Americans in their
sample. The authors theorized that this result may have been a function of higher differen-
tiation in interest patterns among low-SES African Americans based on a potentially
more realistic appraisal of the opportunity structure and barriers they may encounter.
More recently, Trusty, Ng, and Plata (2000) used Holland’s taxonomy to determine that
SES may impact the selection of college major among undergraduate students. These stud-
ies demonstrate that SES or social class is a consideration in the development of vocational
interests among young people and that Holland’s theory can be useful in understanding
interest in relation to SES. However, researchers need to move beyond simply verifying the
usefulness or applicability of Holland’s interest structure to low-SES groups and investigate
how the structure of opportunity impacts the actual development of RIASEC interests. For
example, how do classism experiences shape interest in realistic occupations over the
development of investigative interests, and how do classism and racism interact to shape
vocational interests?
In contrast, social class has a much more prominent role in the emancipatory communi-
tarian (Blustein et al., 2005) and psychology of work (Blustein, 2006; Richardson, 1993)
perspectives. These perspectives devote significantly more attention to the sociopolitical
context of career development than earlier career development theories have. The psychol-
ogy of work perspective, in particular, critiques traditional career development theories’
neglect of the social context and traditional theories’ historical emphasis on the needs of
predominantly White and middle-class workers (Richardson, 1993). The psychology of
working perspective instead examines a much broader range of individuals and thoroughly
integrates considerations of contextual factors to more completely understand their career
development and work lives (Blustein, 2006). In this way, the psychology of working per-
spective provides a compelling framework to examine social class’s impact upon traditional
career development constructs.
For example, Blustein (2006) provided powerful narratives regarding social class’s role
in constraining career development, such as exploratory behavior and self-concept imple-
mentation, among poor/working-class individuals. Informed by this perspective, Diemer
(2007) examined how the classism and racism that poor youth of color experience constrains
their work salience and vocational expectations.

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 Diemer, Ali / Social Class in Vocational Psychology    257

Social Class and Aspects of Career Development

For vocational psychologists to accurately conceptualize the role of social class and
to effectively provide career counseling and guidance to persons from all social classes,
they require a clear understanding of the interconnectedness of social class and proc-
esses of career development. Having reviewed the consideration of social class in career
development theories, we discuss the impact of social class upon key career develop-
ment processes.

Career development and labor market entry. At the critical juncture of adolescence,
being a member of the upper social classes is associated with achievement motivation
(Argyle, 1994), the likelihood of being placed or choosing a college preparatory curriculum
(regardless of ability) and being tracked toward college (Burwood, 1992), educational abil-
ity and attainment (Sewell & Hauser, 1975), vocational exploration and planfulness
(Blustein et al., 2002), greater work salience and valuing of work (Brown et al., 1996), and
higher expectations for one’s occupational attainment (Constantine et al., 1998). Given the
relationships between progress in career development and occupational attainment
(Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996) and the relationships between occupational attainment and
access to resources facilitative of well-being (Blustein et al., 2005), we believe it is critical
to closely examine the role of social class in the career development process.
One explanation for this clear and consistent pattern of findings may be that persons from
the upper social classes have greater levels of ability and simply “rise to the top.” That is,
the greater progress in career development and preparedness to enter the world of work
among upper social class adolescents reflects their innate abilities. However, the greater
progress in career development among members of the upper social classes may also be
explained by their greater access to resources facilitative of career development and the
perceptions of key social actors (teachers, parents) that upper social class children/adoles-
cents are more likely to be successful (Blustein, 2006). Indeed, many scholars (e.g., Martín-
Baró, 1994; Prilleltensky, 1994) have argued that individualistic ideologies of individual
merit are (at best) inaccurate and (at worst) damaging, particularly among marginalized
groups who have reduced access to resources. For example, Rossides (1990) observed that
“the image of an open fluid, equal opportunity labor market composed of freely competing
individuals is a major damaging American myth” (p. 133). In short, to ignore the widespread
and significant impact of social class on career development and vocational behavior is to
take an oversimplified (individualistic) perspective with significant negative consequences
for understanding the career development and work lives of individuals, particularly those
from the lower social classes (Richardson, 1993). By contrast, understanding the ways in
which social class facilitates career development and preparedness for entry into the work-
force is critical.

Access to resources. Access to social class–related resources has been identified as an

important facilitator of occupational preparedness and labor market entry. Individuals
from the upper social classes generally have access to a wider range of resources than
those from lower social class backgrounds. For example, research has shown that upper
class adolescents have greater access to occupational role models (Ladany, Melincoff,

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258    Journal of Career Assessment

Constantine, & Love, 1997), part-time work and/or internships (Wilson, 1996), and instru-
mental (such as securing internships) and emotional support from parents (Blustein et al.,
2002), among other resources. Relatedly, Argyle (1994) found that achievement motiva-
tion and delayed gratification (in relation to the pursuit of postsecondary education) were
supported more by the social contexts of upper class and middle-class individuals than
those from poor and working-class backgrounds. Jacobs, Karen, and McClelland (1991)
argued that families from the lower social classes cannot provide the same levels of social
and cultural capital (which is facilitative of career development) to their children as fami-
lies from the middle and upper classes. Gorman (1998) found that middle-class parents
invested more energy in orienting their children toward the culture of professionalism than
lower class and working-class parents.
Urban and rural schools are often underfunded in comparison to suburban schools,
which limits the availability of school-based resources facilitative of career development
and occupational attainment (Ali & McWhirter, 2006; Wilson, 1996). The predominantly
poor/working-class students who attend urban and rural schools have reduced access to
quality vocational guidance, school-based internships and work-based learning programs,
and a rigorous academic curriculum (Blustein et al, 2000; Constantine et al., 1998).
Furthermore, school personnel and parents tend to provide more support for career develop-
ment for upper class children and adolescents. Sewell and Hauser (1975) found that teach-
ers maintained higher educational and occupational expectations for higher social class
children than children from middle and lower social classes. In short, inequities in school
funding serve to attenuate the career development and labor market preparedness of students
in urban and rural schools (Ali & McWhirter, 2006; Wilson, 1996).
The array of external resources facilitative of career development and preparedness for
labor market entry among individuals from the upper social classes likely account for the
differing degrees of progress in career development and occupational attainment between
individuals from the upper and lower social classes. Given the relationships between
progress in career development and occupational attainment (Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996),
one can see how social class plays a reproductive role in perpetuating “two islands” with
differing levels of access to resources and opportunity (Rossides, 1990).

Work experiences. As far back as ancient Greece and Egypt, social class has played a
role in work experiences (Krieger et al., 1997). Relatedly, Kliman (1998) argued that the
social class of an occupation can be ascertained by the amount of autonomy provided,
supervision required, and respect accorded to individuals in that occupation. For example,
one of the best ways of understanding the social class of an occupation is whether a person
needs to ask permission to use the bathroom/take a break or can do so autonomously. The
impact of social class is also demonstrated in the differences in absenteeism and mental
health between white- and blue-collar workers (Brown et al., 1996). In addition, children
from the upper social classes make more money than children from the lower social classes,
even when age, gender, education, occupational status, and job tenure are held constant
(Sewell & Hauser, 1975). The impact of social class even extends to retirement, as being a
member of the upper social class relates to more “money activities” (e.g., golf) and more
intellectually engaging activities in retirement than individuals from middle-class and
lower class backgrounds (Brown et al., 1996).

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 Diemer, Ali / Social Class in Vocational Psychology    259

Summary: Social Class

and Career Development
In sum, social class needs to be more fully integrated and explored in extant career develop-
ment theories and in our understanding of vocational behavior and occupational attainment.
Research that examines social class’s impact upon access to learning experiences and the
development of self-efficacy beliefs would illuminate the role of social class vis-à-vis SCCT.
Qualitative investigations that examine adolescents’ perceptions of occupational prestige
would illuminate the social class dimensions in processes of circumscription and compromise.
Perhaps informed by the psychology of working perspective (e.g., Blustein, 2006), the integra-
tion and articulation of social class within existing theories would provide a more comprehen-
sive framework from which researchers and practitioners can conceptualize the impact of
social class upon career development processes. Furthermore, a fuller consideration of social
class in career development theories provides space for vocational psychologists to address the
salient but often overlooked impact of social class in research and practice.
Social class impacts access to resources and, accordingly, multiple aspects of career
development across the lifespan. Social class appears to influence being tracked into a college
preparatory curriculum (Burwood, 1992), access to educational and vocational resources in
one’s school and community (Constantine et al., 1998), greater educational and vocational
expectations from one’s teachers (Sewell & Hauser, 1975), access to vocational role models
(Ladany et al., 1997), and greater access to parental support (Blustein et al., 2002) and social
networks (Jacobs et al., 1991), among other domains. In turn, these social class–based resources
affect work salience (Diemer, 2007), vocational expectations (Diemer & Hsieh, 2008), occu-
pational self-concept implementation (Blustein et al., 2002), academic preparedness for col-
lege (Argyle, 1994), readiness for the school-to-work transition (Blustein et al., 2002),
occupational attainment and earnings (Sewell & Hauser, 1975), workplace experiences
(Kliman, 1998), and finally retirement (Brown et al., 1996).
The pervasive impact of social class on career development, vocational behavior, and occu-
pational attainment holds a number of practice implications. Clearly understanding social
class, its impact on career development, and its role in one’s own life may best prepare and
motivate vocational psychologists to address these class inequities in their practice.

Practice Implications of Addressing

Social Class in Career Counseling
Career counseling is replete with social class issues and implications, yet scholarship
and training processes underconsider social class and how practitioners may address these
issues. As argued above, race/ethnicity and social class are closely intertwined in the
United States (American Psychological Association Task Force on Socioeconomic Status,
2007; DeNavas-Walt et al., 2007). Therefore, career counselors should be cognizant of
these intersections when considering social class and race/ethnicity in their work. Here, we
discuss the implications of social class, as an isolated variable, on career counseling to bet-
ter understand its unique implications on practice. It is impossible to extricate the process
of career counseling from social class as most of the activities involved in career counseling

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260    Journal of Career Assessment

are promoting certain types of career choices. For example, helping first-generation college
students to attain occupational goals that are different from their familial social class group
is replete with social class issues.

Internalized Classism and Career Choice

Although it may seem intuitive that social class is a multicultural consideration to be
incorporated into career counseling, it can be difficult to do so (Ali, Fridman, Hall &
Leathers, 2006). Social class and classism are very rarely discussed in general society, and
it is not always clear to counselors, let alone clients, the role that social class plays in their
lives and/or career development (Storck, 1997). Whereas most individuals understand that
there are stratifications in society such as upper, middle, and lower class, the impact this
has upon one’s career development is less frequently understood.
Liu et al. (2004) proposed that one way to address social class in counseling is to directly
link it to classism experiences. For example, an individual’s economic culture has the
potential to exert considerable influence upon what occupations are deemed acceptable.
Furthermore, this internalized classism occurs subtly and insidiously—individuals often
internalize class-related messages regarding occupations without realizing it (Liu, 2002).
For example, some rural communities may strongly value “working with one’s hands” (Ali
& McWhirter, 2006), whereas immigrant communities may focus on obtaining higher educa-
tion or becoming a medical doctor. Helping make these subtle class-related messages
explicit may help clients clarify how they have constricted occupational choices and the
impact of these messages upon vocational decisions.

Employment and Change

in Social Class Status
Blustein (2006) argued for the integration of career-related issues into psychotherapy,
suggesting their explicit discussion in “traditional” therapy. Transitions related to job loss
and accompanying social class issues would most likely emerge in these therapeutic discus-
sions. Whereas much of the attention (historically) has been paid to the psychological
ramifications of the job loss, very little of the clinical attention is paid to the change in
social class as the result of this job loss. Liu (2002) suggested that directly addressing the
loss of social status and both external and internalized classism pressures in therapy may
help men (in particular) to make sense of the effects of job loss on their identity.
Ali, Lewis and Sandil (2006) discussed how contextual and political factors constrain the
occupations immigrants and refugees pursue. Being raised in one environment and then being
transplanted to another with a different language, customs, and occupational structure may
profoundly impact the types of jobs one pursues. Usually, this results in immigrants’ securing
employment in lower status, lower paying jobs. This change in occupational options and
social status may result in lowered self-esteem, shame, depression, anxiety, and internal-
ized classism. Career and employment counselors could help immigrants address how the
change in social status is impacting their well-being while helping them pursue career
options that fulfill basic needs.

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 Diemer, Ali / Social Class in Vocational Psychology    261

Social Class and Career Intervention Groups

Social class issues arise in career intervention groups, particularly when participants are
from different social class backgrounds. Chronister (2006) noted social class dynamics that
emerged in a career intervention for female survivors of domestic violence. Participants
with more economic resources reported feeling “better off” than other participants and
questioned if they truly needed the intervention. Participants with less economic resources
reported feeling that other participants “were looking down upon them.” In both cases,
participants doubted whether they belonged in the group because of social class differ-
ences. Rather than separating groups by social class, Chronister helped the women acknowl-
edge and directly address these social class dynamics. This example highlights how
interventionists should anticipate social class issues and how to address them in career
interventions. Successfully negotiating and addressing social class differences may help all
participants maximally benefit from career interventions.

Social Class and Career Assessment

Career assessment has historically played a large role in career counseling and career
interventions. Although comprehensive reviews have examined the use of vocational
assessments with racially/ethnically diverse populations (e.g., Eby, Johnson, & Russell,
1998), the use of career assessment tools across social class groups is less clearly understood.
Given the pervasive impact social class has on disparate indices of career development,
social class considerations should also affect how practitioners use and interpret career
assessments. Furthermore, many career assessments are guided by the assumption that all
individuals experience volition and autonomy in their work lives, which may be true for
middle-class/upper class individuals but is less often the case for poor/working-class populations
(Blustein, 2006).
For example, because vocational interests are influenced by the occupations that one is
exposed to and poor/working-class youth are exposed to a more circumscribed range of
occupations (Constantine et al., 1998), interest inventories may not identify potentially
satisfying occupations for poor/working-class youth. Practitioners could complement
assessments of vocational interests with occupational information (e.g., Dictionary of
Occupational Titles) that may expand the range of occupations that poor/working-class
youth have been exposed to. This exposure, coupled with narrative explorations of youths’
interests, would help poor/working-class youth consider occupations from a fuller range of
occupational possibilities (cf. Blustein, 2006; Ali, Liu, Mahmood, & Arguello, in press).
Social class may also have important, but underconsidered, effects upon self-efficacy
beliefs and outcome expectations. Along with race/ethnicity, social class is a “person input”
within the SCCT model (Lent et al., 1994, 2000) that may constrain or widen the range of
learning experiences that facilitate self-efficacy and outcome expectations. For example,
urban youth who attend underfunded schools would have more limited opportunities to
develop perceptions of math/science self-efficacy, given more limited access to math/science
clubs, quality laboratory equipment, and occupational role models that serve as “building
blocks” of youths’ math/science self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations (Constantine
et al. 1998). In particular, SCCT-informed assessment should carefully consider the social

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262    Journal of Career Assessment

context in which poor/working-class individuals’ self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expec-

tations are formed. Practitioners could address class-based inequities in access to learning
experiences by facilitating youths’ access to mentoring programs or community math/science
organizations, for example.
Finally, narrative assessment tools, in conjunction with traditional quantitative assess-
ments, may yield a comprehensive picture of clients’ subjective experience (Savickas,
1993). This may be useful for clients of varying social class backgrounds and is consistent
with the psychology of working perspective (Blustein, 2006) and the SCWM (Liu et al.,
2004). Using narrative therapy would elicit information about how clients view their own
social class situation and how this limits or enhances their options. Narrative tools, such as
autobiographies, can also have very practical applications. For example, clients whose
employment history is disjointed or who have been employed in a series of low-wage jobs
often discount their experiences and do not readily identify these experiences as “real”
work experience. An autobiography may reveal a series of odd jobs or employment in a
family member’s business that can be framed as positive work experiences and used to
demonstrate skills and employability. An autobiography would help practitioners get a clear
sense of the client’s employment history and help the client frame these previous activities
as relevant work experience on his or her resume and/or job application.

Summary and Conclusions

Social class plays a salient role in career development and occupational attainment but is
underrepresented in vocational psychology scholarship and practice (Diemer, 2006, Brown
et al., 1996). To complement emerging understanding of racial/ethnic factors in vocational
psychology, this article reviewed traditions in conceptualizing and operationalizing social
class, the consideration of social class by theories of career development, the impact of social
class on aspects of career development, and practice implications of integrating social class into
vocational psychology. Through facilitating scholarly understanding of social class; illuminat-
ing its pervasive impact upon career development, vocational behavior, and occupational
attainment; and delineating how it may be more fully integrated into vocational psychology
scholarship and practice, we hope that this article spurs vocational psychologists to more fully
address the myriad implications of social class in vocational psychology.

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