This website chapter is about vocational psychology in the twenty-first century.
About a century ago, Frank Parsons established the Vocation Bureau in Boston
that ushered in the beginnings of the profession of counseling. Following the
hundred years of spawning of a multitude of counseling theories, approaches,
styles, and formulations, the essence of Parson’s basic vocational psychology is
being revisited, acclaimed, and integrated as a relevant perspective on career
decision making that includes both rational and alternative models. Indeed, as
Hartung and Blustein (2002, p. 41) have so cogently asserted, the return to its
“early roots in 20th century social and political reformation movements could
ultimately lead the profession to a renewed vision that comprehends career
decision making and counseling as a socially situated process entailing
purposeful reasoning, prudent intuition, and sustained efforts at ameliorating
social injustice.”