Using the Theory of Work Adjustment...

Using the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA; R V Dawis & L H Lofquist, 1984; L H Lofquist & R V Dawis, 1969) as a framework for identifying potential career challenges for lesbians, the authors explore the relationship between outnes and discrimination and the four primary ingredients of TWA. Career counseling implications are discussed, and specific suggestions are made for counselors.

Women who self-identify as lesbian depict a significant and invisible minority (Fassinger, 1991); now passing estimates suggest that as a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of as 3.6% of the population, or 2300000 women are lesbian (Diamond, 1999) Statistics from the U Bureau of the Census (2000) indicated that women as a collection earn only 72% of the amount earned by the agency of their male counterparts. Lesbian women report on a level more diminished earnings, at 5% to 14% les than the national average for women (Badgett, 1995) Reported incidents of office discrimination as well as hate crimes against lesbians have increased from one side of to the other the past 5 years (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2000) With these surpassingly real threats to economic and physical survival, it present the appearances that a lesbian would have solid reasons for maintaining secrecy regarding her sexual orientation. reciprocally using the high amount of pluck required to accomplish this may interfere with do job-work performance and satisfaction and may stall career increase and advancement (Fogarty, 1980). This di chotomy places lesbians in positions in which either choice may terminate in an outcome that is les than optimal, and possibly detrimental, to their careers. Lesbians must determine the greatest in quantity efficacious strategy for career advancement while balancing the importance of "outness" in succession the job against the potential for negative consequences

Black, Gates, Sanders, and Taylor (2000) set that as a group, individuals who self-report as lesbian or gay exist in all age categories, approximate the racial mix construct in the total population, and are better educated than the average individual. Many contemporary authors also emphasized the similarities between lesbians and heterosexual women in appearance, interests, goals, and identities (eg Loulan, 1990) Despite the similarities, however, lesbians frequently face more obstacles as they work to achieve their career goals, while following career paths that are ofttimes more circuitous and lengthy (Boatwright, Gilbert, Forrest, & Ketzenberger, 1996) than those of heterosexual women Perceived and actual threats to engagement security exist for lesbians and potentially limit self-disclosure. notwithstanding the process of sexual identity formation has been shown to transform, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, virtually all aspects of a lesbian's life, including her career (Fassinger, 1996)

There are pair specific concerns of lesbian career progression in a continuously ascending gradation that invite further exploration: the decision to disclose sexual orientation to others and the experience of discrimination that is based in succession sexual orientation. Because the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA; Dawis & Lofquist, 1984; Lofquist & Dawis, 1969) is a comprehensive career theory that incorporates career choice and following career development while addressing the one and the other individual characteristics and pertinent environmental factors, it is well-suited for application to lesbian career affairs Using TWA as a framework, we explore career make anxiouss of lesbians and discuss implications for career counseling.

Theory of Work Adjustment and Its Relationship to Lesbian Career Development

Career growth literature that specifically examined the career affairs of lesbians and gay men is limited, and little empirical work has been complet to date. Several traditional career theories have been evaluated for their applicability to lesbians and gay men including those of Holland (see Mobley & Slaney, 1996) Super (see Dunkle 1996) and Social Cognitive Career Theory (see Morrow, Gore, & Campbell, 1996) Although puissant cases are made in support of the applicability of these theories to lesbian career progress to maturity TWA seems to be an equally appropriate theory that is applicable to minority populations, particularly given TWA's focus upon the individual's interface with the work environment.

TWA is the issue of an integration of conceptions from several different theoretical orientations, including individual differences, learning theory, human relations, and vocational psychology paradigms (Dawis, 1994) The four prime elements of TWA are satisfaction, person--environment correspondence, reinforcement value, and ability. It is clear that lesbians face particular challenges within each of these four facets of career development

Career Satisfaction

Career satisfaction involves an individual's attitudes and feelings, or affective orientation, regarding his or her work parts within an organization. Dawis and Lofquist (1984) defined this as an employee's appraisal of for what cause well the work environment fulfils requirements for reinforcers or urgencys In addition, TWA addresses the satisfaction of the environment with the individual, a conception called "satisfactoriness" (Dawis, 1994). Variables that contribute to career satisfaction are construct within the individual and within the work environment (Lease, 1998) For lesbians, a specific environmental factor that inhibits career satisfaction is discrimination, the couple sanctioned and illicit, based solely upon sexual orientation.