The Oxford Handbook of Career Development

Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Career Development provides a comprehensive overview of the career development field. It features contributions from 42 leading scholars, addressing the context, theory, and practice of career development in the contemporary world. The volume defines career development as an inclusive term that relates to all individuals regardless of class, gender, sexuality, ability, geography, or ethnicity. It contains cutting edge research, theory, and thinking which approach career development as a transdisciplinary field, drawing from sociology, psychology, education, and organizational studies as well as other areas. Chapters explore what personal, political, societal, economic, and cultural factors influence our careers and how a diverse range of theoretical traditions has sought to account for the phenomenon of career. It also addresses what can be done to improve and enhance people's careers through a range of educational, counselling, and employment interventions.