Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Career Development of Gifted Students

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
International Handbook of Career Guidance

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is on the career development of gifted students, a group whose exceptional abilities may mean that they have the greatest potential among the various student groups to produce achievements that have a substantial impact on others in society. After an examination of the unique set of issues that influence the career development of gifted students (e.g., areas of ability, personal interests and values, multipotentiality, perfectionism, a need for intellectual stimulation, expectations of others, career prestige, income, expectations relating to gender role, and living up to one’s potential), attention is directed to the manner in which these highly capable students commonly approach their careers. Thereafter, the career aspirations of these students are discussed, including a repeatedly identified preference for traditional, unoriginal, and investigative-type careers that involve analytical, intellectual, and scholarly activities. The chapter concludes with a discussion of two career theories that may be among the most relevant to understanding the career development of gifted students (i.e., the theory of circumscription and compromise and the theory of work adjustment), multiple empirically verified models of the career decision-making processes of gifted students, and prospects for the career development of gifted students in the future.

Work relating to parts of this chapter was funded by the Australian Research Council under the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award scheme (DE130100015).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Achter, J. A., & Lubinski, D. (2005). Blending promise with passion: Best practices for counseling intellectually talented youth. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (pp. 600–624). Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Achter, J. A., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (1996). Multipotentiality among the intellectually gifted: “It was never there and already it’s vanishing”. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 56–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Achter, J. A., Benbow, C. P., & Lubinski, D. (1997). Rethinking multipotentiality among the intellectually gifted: A critical review and recommendations. Gifted Child Quarterly, 41, 5–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Achter, J. A., Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P., & Eftekhari-Sanjani, H. (1999). Assessing vocational preferences among gifted adolescents adds incremental validity to abilities: A discriminant analysis of educational outcomes over a 10-year interval. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 777–786.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Autor, D. H. (2015). Why are there still so many jobs? The history and future of workplace automation. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29, 3–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casey, K. M., & Shore, B. M. (2000). Mentors’ contributions to gifted adolescents’ affective, social, and vocational development. Roeper Review, 22, 227–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, C. P., & Wong, J. (2013). Career counseling for gifted students. Australian Journal of Career Development, 22, 121–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chudzikowski, K. (2012). Career transitions and career success in the “new” career era. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81, 298–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creed, P. A., Patton, W., & Prideaux, L. A. (2006). Causal relationship between career indecision and career decision-making self-efficacy. Journal of Career Development, 33, 47–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawis, R. V. (2005). The Minnesota theory of work adjustment. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (pp. 3–23). Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawis, R. V., & Lofquist, L. H. (1984). A psychological theory of work adjustment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Fabio, A., Palazzeschi, L., Asulin-Peretz, L., & Gati, I. (2013). Career indecision versus indecisiveness: Associations with personality traits and emotional intelligence. Journal of Career Assessment, 21, 42–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, F. A., Lapsley, D. K., & Hanchon, T. A. (2004). An empirical typology of perfectionism in gifted adolescents. Gifted Child Quarterly, 48, 95–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dries, N., Van Acker, F., & Verbruggen, M. (2012). How ‘boundaryless’ are the careers of high potentials, key experts and average performers? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81, 271–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmett, J. D., & Minor, C. W. (1993). Career decision-making factors in gifted young adults. Career Development Quarterly, 41, 350–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferriman, K., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2009). Work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students and the profoundly gifted: Developmental changes and gender differences during emerging adulthood and parenthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 517–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiebig, J. N. (2008). Gifted American and German adolescent women: A longitudinal examination of attachment, separation, gender roles, and career aspirations. High Ability Studies, 19, 67–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frost, R. O., Marten, P., Lahart, C., & Rosenblate, R. (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 449–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagné, F. (2003). Transforming gifts into talents: The DMGT as a developmental theory. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagné, F. (2009). Building gifts into talents: Detailed overview of the DMGT 2.0. In B. MacFarlane & T. Stambaugh (Eds.), Leading change in gifted education: The festschrift of Dr. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska. Waco: Prufrock Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. H. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career decision making. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 510–526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gittins, R. (2017, December 13). Robots aren’t stealing jobs: truth behind claim scaring pants off our graduates. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/robots-arent-stealing-jobs-truth-behind-claim-scaring-pants-off-our-graduates-20171211-h02y18.html

  • Gottfredson, L. S. (1981). Circumscription and compromise: A developmental theory of occupational aspirations. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 545–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottfredson, L. S. (2002). Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription, compromise, and self-creation. In D. Brown (Ed.), Career choice and development (4th ed., pp. 85–148). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottfredson, L. S. (2003). The challenge and promise of cognitive career assessment. Journal of Career Assessment, 11, 115–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottfredson, L. S. (2005). Applying Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription and compromise in career guidance and counseling. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (pp. 71–100). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene, M. J. (2006). Helping build lives: Career and life development of gifted and talented students. Professional School Counseling, 10, 34–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (2006). Exceptionally gifted children: Long-term outcomes of academic acceleration and nonacceleration. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 29, 404–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamachek, D. E. (1978). Psychodynamics of normal and neurotic perfectionism. Psychology, 15, 27–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartung, P. J., Porfeli, E. J., & Vondracek, F. W. (2005). Child vocational development: A review and reconsideration. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 385–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, B., Pallant, J., & Harvey, D. (2004). An evaluation of the factor structure of the Frost multidimensional perfectionism scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64, 1007–1018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, C. C., Watt, H. M. G., & Sinclair, K. E. (2006). Psychometric properties of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale with Australian adolescent girls: Clarification of multidimensionality and perfectionist typology. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 1001–1022.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herr, E. L. (2003). The future of career counseling as an instrument of public policy. The Career Development Quarterly, 52, 8–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herr, E. L., & Cramer, S. H. (1996). Career guidance and counseling through the lifespan: Systematic approaches (5th ed.). New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments (3rd ed.). Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingworth, L. S. (1942). Children above 180 IQ Stanford-Binet: Origins and development. Yonkers: World Book.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Höpfl, H., & Atkinson, P. H. (2000). The future of women’s career. In A. Collin & R. Young (Eds.), The future of careers (pp. 130–143). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y. (2012). Giftedness as a developmental construct that leads to eminence as adults: Ideas and implications from an occupational/career decision-making perspective. Gifted Child Quarterly, 56, 189–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y. (2013). The cognitive processes associated with occupational/career indecision: A model for gifted adolescents. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 36, 433–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y. (2014). Modeling the occupational/career decision-making processes of intellectually gifted adolescents: A competing models strategy. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 37, 128–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y. (2017). Occupational/career decision-making thought processes of adolescents of high intellectual ability. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 40, 50–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y. (2018). Occupational/career amotivation and indecision for gifted and talented adolescents: A cognitive decisionmaking process perspective. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 28, 143-165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y. (2019). The career decisions of gifted students and other high ability groups. Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y., & Evans, P. A. (2016). The career decisions of child musical prodigies. In G. E. McPherson (Ed.), Musical prodigies: Interpretations from psychology, music education, musicology and ethnomusicology (pp. 409–423). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y., & McCormick, J. (2011). The occupational decision: A cultural and motivational perspective. Journal of Career Assessment, 19, 75–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y., & Young, M. (2017). Occupational/career indecision for economically disadvantaged high school students of high intellectual ability: A mixed methods cognitive process model. Psychology in the Schools, 54, 718–735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y., McCormick, J., Gregory, G., & Barnett, K. (2011). Culture, motivation, and vocational decision-making of Australian senior high school students in private schools. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 21, 85–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, K. R., & Cobb, S. J. (1991). A profile of the career development characteristics of young gifted adolescents: Examining gender and multicultural influences. Roeper Review, 13, 202–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr, B. A., & Colangelo, N. (1988). The college plans of academically talented students. Journal of Counseling and Development, 67, 42–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr, B. A., & Sodano, S. (2003). Career assessment with intellectually gifted students. Journal of Career Assessment, 11, 168–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kher-Durlabhji, N., Lacina-Gifford, L. J., Carter, R. C., & Lalande, L. K. (1997). A career in teaching: Comparing views of gifted and talented adolescents. Journal for Secondary Gifted Education, 9, 21–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45, 79–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leung, S. A. (1998). Vocational identity and career choice congruence of gifted and talented high school students. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 11, 325–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leung, S. A., Conoley, C. W., & Scheel, M. J. (1994). The career and educational aspirations of gifted high school students: A retrospective study. Journal of Counseling and Development, 72, 298–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Littleton, S., Arthur, M. B., & Rousseau, D. (2000). The future of boundaryless careers. In A. Collin & R. Young (Eds.), The future of careers (pp. 101–114). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lofquist, L. H., & Dawis, R. V. (1991). Essentials of person-environment-correspondence counseling. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubinski, D. (1996). Applied individual differences research and its quantitative methods. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 2, 187–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2000). States of excellence. American Psychologist, 55, 137–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makel, M., Kell, H. J., Lubinski, D., Putallaz, M., & Benbow, C. P. (2016). When lightning strikes twice: Profoundly gifted, profoundly accomplished. Psychological Science, 27, 1004–1018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marland, S. P. (1972). Education of the gifted and talented: Report to the Congress of the United States by the U. S. Commissioner of Education. Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, D. J., & Foster, J. F. (2005). Mystery to mastery: Shifting paradigms in gifted education. Roeper Review, 28, 64–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell, M. (2007). Career counseling is personal counseling: A constructivist approach to nurturing the development of gifted female adolescents. The Career Development Quarterly, 55, 206–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milgram, R. M., & Hong, E. (1999). Multipotential abilities and vocational interests in gifted adolescents: Fact or fiction? International Journal of Psychology, 34, 81–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, K., & Cummings, G. (2009). Gifted and talented students’ career aspirations and influences: A systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 6, Article 8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Missett, T. C., & McCormick, K. M. (2014). Conceptions of giftedness. In J. A. Plucker & C. M. Callahan (Eds.), Critical issues in gifted education (2nd ed., pp. 143–158). Waco: Prufrock Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muratori, M. C., & Smith, C. K. (2015). Guiding the talent and career development of the gifted individual. Journal of Counseling and Development, 93, 173–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Passaretta, G., & Wolbers, M. H. (2019). Temporary employment at labour market entry in Europe: Labour market dualism, transitions to secure employment and upward mobility. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 40, 382–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, J. B. (1992). Intelligent enterprise. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renzulli, J. S. (1978). What makes giftedness? Reexamining a definition. Phi Delta Kappan, 60, 180–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renzulli, J. S. (1988). A decade of dialogue on the three-ring conception of giftedness. Roeper Review, 11, 18–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, M. S. (2000). A new perspective for counselors: From career ideologies to empowerment through work and relationship practices. In A. Collin & R. Young (Eds.), The future of careers (pp. 197–211). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rysiew, K. J., Shore, B. M., & Carson, A. D. (1994). Multipotentiality and overchoice syndrome: Clarifying common usage. Gifted and Talented International, 9, 41–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rysiew, K. J., Shore, B. M., & Leeb, R. T. (1999). Multipotentiality, giftedness, and career choice: A review. Journal of Counseling and Development, 77, 423–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sajjadi, S. H., Rejskind, F. G., & Shore, B. M. (2001). Is multipotentiality a problem or not? A new look at the data. High Ability Studies, 12, 27–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, J. P., Jr., & Chason, A. K. (2008). Helping gifted and talented adolescents and young adults make informed and careful career choices. In S. I. Pfeiffer (Ed.), Handbook of giftedness in children: Psychoeducational theory, research, and best practices (pp. 327–346). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Savickas, M. L. (2003). Special issue: Career counseling in the next decade. The Career Development Quarterly, 52, 87–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, D. B., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (1998). Validity of assessing educational–vocational preference dimensions among intellectually talented 13-year-olds. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 45, 436–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuler, P. A. (2000). Perfectionism and gifted adolescents. The Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 11, 183–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, A. B., & Mallinckrodt, B. (2005). Parental emotional support, science self-efficacy, and choice of science major in undergraduate women. The Career Development Quarterly, 53, 263–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow, R. E., & Lohman, D. F. (1989). Implications of cognitive psychology for educational measurement. In R. L. Linn (Ed.), Educational measurement (3rd ed., pp. 263–331). New York: Collier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sosniak, L. A. (1985). Learning to be a concert pianist. In B. S. Bloom (Ed.), Developing talent in young people (pp. 19–67). New York: Ballantine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparfeldt, J. R. (2007). Vocational interests of gifted adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 1011–1021.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, J. B. (1999). Career counseling for the academically gifted student. Canadian Journal of Counseling, 33, 3–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Storey, J. A. (2000). “Fracture lines” in the career environment. In A. Collin & R. A. Young (Eds.), The future of career (pp. 21–36). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Störmer, E., Patscha, C., Prendergast, J., Daheim, C., Rhisiart, M., Glover, P., & Beck, H. (2014). The future of work: Jobs and skills in 2030. London: U. K. Commission for Employment and Skills.

    Google Scholar 

  • Subotnik, R. F., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Worrell, F. C. (2011). Rethinking giftedness and gifted education: A proposed direction forward based on psychological science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 12, 3–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, S. E. (1999). The changing nature of careers: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 25, 457–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang, M. (2003). Career counseling in the future: Constructing, collaborating, advocating. The Career Development Quarterly, 52, 61–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tannenbaum, A. J. (1986). Giftedness: A psychosocial approach. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 21–52). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tannenbaum, A. (2000). History of giftedness in school and society. In K. A. Heller, F. J. Monks, R. J. Sternberg, & R. F. Subotnik (Eds.), International handbook of giftedness and talent (2nd ed., pp. 23–53). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tannenbaum, A. J. (2003). Nature and nurture of giftedness. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (3rd ed., pp. 45–59). New York: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terman, L. M. (1925). Genetic studies of genius, volume I: Mental and physical traits of a thousand gifted children. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verbruggen, M. (2010). Career counseling in the new career era. Review of Business and Economics, 55, 2–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vock, M., Köller, O., & Nagy, G. (2013). Vocational interests of intellectually gifted and highly achieving young adults. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 305–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watts, A. G. (2000). The new career and public policy. In A. Collin & R. Young (Eds.), The future of careers (pp. 259–275). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • White, N. J., & Tracey, T. J. G. (2011). An examination of career indecision and application to dispositional authenticity. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78, 219–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Jae Yup Jung

Authors
  1. Jae Yup Jung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jae Yup Jung .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sydney, NSW, Australia

    James A. Athanasou

  2. College of Education University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    Harsha N. Perera

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Jung, J.Y. (2019). The Career Development of Gifted Students. In: Athanasou, J.A., Perera, H.N. (eds) International Handbook of Career Guidance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25153-6_15

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25153-6_15

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25152-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25153-6

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation