The Influence of the Family on Vocational Development

In accord with the growing interest in work and the family, this paper critically examines the issue of the family of orientation's impact on vocational development. First, limitations of the literature on vocational development and the family are discussed, specifically the failure to consider (a) vocational development, (b) the family as a functioning whole, and (c) familial and vocational changes over time. Second, the literature is viewed according to the impact of the family's (a) location in the broader social context, (b) structural features, and (c) process-oriented features, on vocational development. Various gaps in the literature are identified. In conclusion, conceptual issues are considered, and a framework with which to view the family as a context for vocational development is offered.