Women's career development in a “relational context”

Relational models of women's identity development offer new ways to conceptualize and understand particularly women's career development but also potentially men's career experience. Two relational models, Gilligan's theory of relational identity formation and Belenky and associates' theory of cognitive development will be applied to the area of career. These theories are shown to have implications for understanding women's career choice, stages of career development, multiple life roles, career decision-making process, and definitions of career success. Viewing career behavior from the context of relationship is a significant addition to the development of career theory which is truly descriptive and applicable to many women's lives. Implications for direct career counselling practice are discussed throughout the paper.