The concept and essence of professional self-determination
The article talks about the concept and essence of professional self-determination. The levels and stages of professional self-determination are considered. Psychologists approach issues of professional self-determination in different ways. Some believe that decisions about choosing a profession, specialty and place of work arise before an individual throughout his life. Hence, professional self-determination at different stages of personality development is resolved differently.
The development of a professional’s personality is considered as the integration of two processes: the development of personality in ontogenesis (along the entire life course) and its professionalization (from the beginning of the period of self-determination to the end of active work). It is on these positions that models of professional development and classification of stages of human development are built.
Key words: professional self-determination, self-actualization, self-realization, self-realization, self-transcendence.
The shifts taking place in Kazakh society are reflected in the complication of socialization processes and contradictory trends in the creation and behavior of young people. On the one hand, young people are dominated by the desire for wealth, and on the other hand, they feel the impossibility of achieving it through legal means and through traditional work activities.
In these conditions, the life goals of young people and the planned means of achieving them are an important factor in their social activity and at the same time an important indicator of the fundamental changes taking place in Kazakh society. The criteria for her social development are, first of all, the acquisition and change of her own social status, which is associated with professional self-determination, the formation of civic identity in the process of achieving social maturity and social subjectivity.
When interpreting the concept of “self-determination,” some researchers proceed from the content of the verb “self-determination,” which means to become aware of oneself, one’s public interests, to determine one’s own existence, one’s place in life, in society, to begin to exist independently. According to another interpretation, self-determination is a central factor in the formation of a mature personality, understanding oneself, one’s capabilities and aspirations, understanding one’s place in human society and one’s purpose in life. Consequently, self-determination indicates that an individual has achieved a fairly high level of development.
The term self-determination has many definitions. Let's look at a few of them. Below are the terms of “self-determination” in Table 1.
Table 1
The meaning of the term "self-determination"
| Content | Characteristic |
| Determine your place in life, society, realize your social, class, national interests. | There are three types of human self-determination: - to the purpose and meaning of your life; − to the norms of social behavior and to one’s contribution to the life of society; − to the standards of professional activity |
| Self-determination as a process of determining one’s position in the world is directed outward, but also implies certain internal work. | Directed outward means that a person determines his way of participating in external reality. A certain internal work associated with self-determination consists in developing an acceptable way for oneself, one’s own way of participating in external events. |
| A person not only stands in a certain relationship to the world, but also determines this relationship himself, which is the conscious self-determination of a person. | Conscious self-determination of a person arises only when a person determines his attitude to the world. A person who does not define his attitude to the outside world becomes either a slave to his spontaneous consumer instincts or an easy victim of manipulators. Forming the “attitude” they need, or the object of “forceful” influence on the part of representatives of society, demanding that the individual accept and comply with social norms. |
The concept of “self-determination” fully correlates with such currently fashionable concepts as self-actualization, self-realization, self-realization, self-transcendence. At the same time, many thinkers associate self-realization and self-actualization with work activity. For example, A. Maslow believes that self-actualization manifests itself “through passion for meaningful work.” K. Jaspers connects self-realization with the “deed” that a person does. I. S. Kon says that self-realization is manifested through labor, work and communication. P. G. Shchedrovitsky Fr. [1, p.6]
According to K. A. Abulkhanova - Slavskaya, self-determination is understood as an individual’s awareness of his position, which is formed within the coordinates of the system of relations. At the same time, she emphasizes that the self-determination and social activity of the individual depend on how the system of relations develops (to the collective subject, to one’s place in the team and to other members). [2, p.9]
S. N. Chistyakova considers self-determination as a complex dynamic process of formation by an individual of a system of his basic relationships, key competencies (professional, labor, moral, personal), mastery of which allows him to act in changing social, economic and cultural conditions, to make decisions adequate to his value meanings . [3, p.19−23]
From the point of view of psychology (S. L. Rubinstein, B. G. Ananyev, etc.), self-determination is considered as a process in which a personality is formed, capable of independent, active construction of one’s own life activity. External influences on a person are realized only indirectly through internal conditions. This, according to scientists, is the meaning of the principle of determinism, expressed in emphasizing the role of the internal moment of self-determination, loyalty to oneself, and not unilateral submission to the external. The authors prove that the problem of self-determination cannot be solved in isolation from the issues of a person’s relationship with the outside world, since a person’s attitude towards himself is a key point in understanding the phenomenon of self-determination and largely depends on his attitude towards others and those around him. [4, p.65−67]
Self-determination is considered by P. P. Sobol to be a side of self-realization. In it, according to the author, the main thing is the individual choice of the goal and ways to achieve it at a given period, stage of the subject’s life and self-restraint, which is not an obstacle to the development of the individual. The main function of self-determination is considered to be the choice of the direction of activity on the basis of which self-realization is carried out. [2, p10]
E. A. Klimov, analyzing the concept of “professional self-determination,” emphasizes that this is not a one-time act of decision-making, but constantly alternating elections. The most relevant choice of profession becomes in adolescence and early youth, but in subsequent years the problem of revision and correction of a person’s professional life arises. The choice of profession reflects a certain level of personal aspirations based on a person’s assessment of his abilities and capabilities.
E. A. Klimov distinguishes two levels of professional self-determination:
1) gnostic level (restructuring of consciousness and self-awareness);
2) practical level (real changes in a person’s social status).
I. S. Kon examines the process of professional self-determination, linking it with the development of age-related personality characteristics. He identifies four main stages in the formation of the process of professional self-determination.
The first stage is children's play, during which the child takes on different professional roles and “plays out” individual elements of the behavior associated with him.
The second stage is teenage fantasy, when a teenager sees himself in his dreams as a representative of one or another profession that is attractive to him.
The third stage, covering the entire adolescence and most of adolescence, is the preliminary choice of profession.
The fourth stage is the practical application of the decision, the actual choice of profession. [5, p.23−24]
Having examined the concept and essence of professional self-determination, we can draw the following conclusion:
- Professional self-determination is the selective attitude of an individual to the world of professions in general and to a specific chosen profession.
- The core of professional self-determination is the conscious choice of a profession, taking into account one’s characteristics and capabilities, the requirements of professional activity and socio-economic conditions.
- Professional self-determination is carried out throughout professional life: the individual constantly reflects, rethinks his professional life and asserts himself in the profession.
- The actualization of a person’s professional self-determination is initiated by various kinds of events, such as graduation from a secondary school, a vocational educational institution, advanced training, change of place of residence, certification, dismissal from work, etc.
- Professional self-determination is an important characteristic of the socio-psychological maturity of an individual, his need for self-realization and self-actualization.
Literature:
- Pryazhnikov N. S. Theory and practice of professional self-determination. Tutorial. − M.: MGPPI, 1999. − 97 p.
- Klimov E. A. Psychology of professional self-determination / Textbook for students. higher ped. textbook establishments. M.: Publishing House, 2004. 304 p.
- Safin V.F. Psychology of personality self-determination: Textbook/Sverd. ped. in−t. Sverdlovsk, 1986.−142 p.
- Chistyakova S. N. The problem of self-determination of high school students when choosing a profile of study / S. N. Chistyakova // Pedagogy. — 2005. — No. 1.- P. 19–26
- Shevkieva N.B. Prevention of crises of professional self-determination of psychologists at the stage of university education / Abstract of thesis. diss. ...cand. psychological Sci. - Stavropol: 2006.
Methods for diagnosing self-awareness, their advantages and disadvantages
In the field of diagnosing self-awareness, the following classes of techniques are used:
● standardized self-reports (test questionnaires, checklists, scale techniques;
● non-standardized self-reports;
● ideographic techniques;
● projective techniques (including refractive techniques)
| Name | annotation |
| 1) Tennessee Self-Concept Scale 2) Peirce–Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale 3) Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale 4) Self-Attitude Questionnaire (V.V. Stolin, S.R. Pantileev) | Standardized self-reports include, first of all, test questionnaires consisting of statements concerning: 1) the subject’s attitude towards himself in various areas of life; 2) feelings, thoughts regarding certain events in the subject’s life; 3) behavioral manifestations; 4) relationships with other people. The response method varies widely from 2 to 7 alternative choices, with verbal and non-verbal agreement. |
| Test of 20 statements for self-attitude (Kuhn M., McPartland T., 1966) | Non-standardized self-reports represent a detailed self-description, in which the “Self-concept” is manifested in one way or another. To process a set of tests, a content analysis procedure is used |
| Repertory Grid Techniques by J. Kelly | Ideographic techniques are based on the use of psychosemantic patterns, the analysis of individual matrices, in which the space of self-description and its meaningful axes are not set a priori on the basis of averaged data, but are identified in a specific subject. The results are interpreted not by comparison with norms, but in relation to other characteristics of the same subject |
| Methods of drawing a person K. Matover Symbolic tasks to identify the “social self” (developed by B. Long, R. Ziller and R. Henderson) TAT | Projective techniques . Projective indicators are used to analyze aspects of attitude that escape the analysis of direct self-report: 1) unconscious components of self-attitude (intrapersonal defenses); 2) “undesirable self-esteem”, i.e. self-esteem that conflicts with socially acceptable personality patterns |
Refractive techniques
These are procedures in which people evaluate some of their attributes without realizing that they are evaluating themselves. For example, Guided Projection Technique.
The subject is presented with his own verbal portrait under the name of a portrait of another person, as well as a portrait of his fictitious opposite.
Checklists are a type of standardized self-report measure.
Brevity of points, down to individual adjectives. For example, G. Goh's adjective checklist contains 300 personality adjectives arranged in alphabetical order. The subject chooses adjectives that correspond to him.
Provides a measure of global self-esteem.
Similar lists have also been developed in Russian (works by A.G. Shmelev, 1983, title: “Personal semantic differential”).
Pros and cons of checklists
| Advantages | Flaws |
| Easy to use and handle | They impose on the subject an assessment based on parameters that may not be significant for his “I-concept”; making categorical judgments regarding personal parameters that are significant for the subject against internal resistance (social norm of modesty). For example, “kind”, “truthful”, etc. |
The scale technique is a type of standardized self-report. For example, C. Osgood's Semantic Differential. It is used in the analysis of “I-concept”.
The book is dedicated to the theory and method of Charles Osgood: Petrenko V.F. Introduction to experimental psychosemantics: A study of the form of representation in ordinary consciousness. – M., 1983.- 176 p.
Methods for measuring locus of control.
An integral characteristic of self-awareness that connects a sense of responsibility, readiness for activity and the experience of “I”. Localization of control over events that are significant for oneself: internal and external.
1) Rotter scale;
2) in domestic psychology:
a) original Rotter scale;
b) (USK) Questionnaire of the level of subjective control (Bazhin E.F.; Golynkina E.A. and Etkind A.M.);
c) (OSLC) Questionnaire for subjective localization of control (Pantileev S.R. and Stolin V.V.).
Advantages and disadvantages of methods of psychodiagnostics of self-awareness
| Class of techniques | Advantages | Flaws |
| Standardized self-reports | Ensure comparability of results, independence from the experience of the experimenter and a quantitative approach | They appeal to more conscious aspects of self-attitude and are potentially influenced by “self-presentation” strategies; in addition, they limit the subject to a given framework of selected statements. |
| Non-standardized self-reports | The limitations of the subject are removed by a predetermined framework of statements (self-attitude is expressed in the subject’s language). A wealth of shades of self-description | More labor-intensive and difficult to quantify and more susceptible to the influence of the subject's linguistic abilities. Self-presentation strategy. |
| Ideographic techniques | Space of self-description in the subject’s language | The problem of differentiating the system of diagnostic conclusions and their validity. |
| Projective methods | Eliminates the direct influence of self-presentation strategy | Lack of simple and valid criteria for comparing projective indicators of self-attitude; the need to prove that projective production relates to self-attitude and not to other psychological characteristics; theoretical problem of developing a well-founded system of categories for coding projective content |
