Understand Careers -Life Role Interaction

Introduction

In today's world, it is necessary to take on multiple life roles. Each role comes with its own set of responsibilities. Despite trying our level best to be perfect in each role, given the varying responsibilities per role, at some point we are bound to end up disappointing someone. Even though multiple life roles have many drawbacks, research has found that multiple life roles can be richly rewarding and can also improve performance, as these roles enable us to develop our skills and social networks.

Another downside to multiple life roles is that the pressures of these roles can cause conflict and time pressures, which can then increase strain and stress levels. Multiple roles often compete for our attention. Often these roles force our time to be divided unequally between each role, which may result in a sense of winning or losing in particular roles. For example, if I devote more time to my work project, and consequently arrive 30 minutes late to pick up my daughter from school, this may in turn give rise to a feeling of being a bad parent.

What are multiple life roles?

In the area of multiple life roles, American psychologist Donald Super made an incredible contribution to the subject. He argued that career theories, in general, ignored the fact that people still had a life whilst they were working. He further stated that a job role was just one of several roles an individual has, and that each role works to help shape the other roles. A woman, for example, can be an employed woman, who is also a mother, a wife and a student. It can therefore be said that when a person makes a decision or choice about their working or professional life, this is usually made as per the circumstances imposed by their other social roles. All these roles give meaning and purpose to a person's life. When looking at life roles, a useful model is Super's Life Career Rainbow Model.

Super's Life Career Rainbow

Psychologist Donald Super created many groundbreaking ideas within career development. In 1980, Super created the Life Career Rainbow model. This theory was unique, as it looks at career development and how it develops in terms of an individual's life stages and their multiple life roles.

Work-life balance

It is important to maintain a healthy balance between your work and your personal life. This is called the "work-life" balance. As a person plays these different roles and goes through their different life stages, this also impacts their career. These roles place certain demands on people and on their work. Sometimes stressful situations arise when the different life roles collide.

According to Super's model, the life structure is always in development and is dynamic. In the Life Career Rainbow, this model or concept encourages people to think about and look at the roles they have played at different points in their lives.

Rainbow

The Life Career Rainbow Model is an interesting model which both reflects a rainbow and is a visual model. In this model, life roles are displayed in colourful strips of a rainbow. The age of the individual is then added under or above these colourful strips.

The different spheres of the rainbow indicate different things, such as:

The outer edge of the rainbow — this area depicts the life cycle of career development. It works by beginning at the bottom left and moving in chronological order. This sphere can be used to plan up to five years ahead.

Above and in the middle of the rainbow — this area is said to describe the situation an individual is in. These can be factors such as their background, history, economic status, or any other situation that has an influence over their lives.

Under and in the middle of the rainbow — this section of the rainbow looks at aspects that impact our personal development. These are factors such as psychological and biological factors.

Life Career Rainbow: Lifespan

In this model, Super suggested that a person's life had a lifespan, made up of different life stages. Five stages were identified. Each stage is made up of its own characteristics. These stages are:

1. Growth stage (youth), 0 to 14 years. This phase looks at the very early stages of life. The main focus here is physical growth. Other aspects, such as capacity, talents and interests, will develop as well.

2. Exploration stage (adolescence), 14 to 25 years. This is the stage of growth and exploration towards adulthood. In this phase, puberty plays a vital role. It is in this phase that young adults will experience their first jobs and learn what success entails in different careers. By the end of this stage, individuals will be aware of what their career prospects are.

3. Establishment stage (young adulthood), 26 to 45 years. In this stage, an individual is said to be stable or settled. The individual has completed a study programme, found a family, and secured a stable job. A major characteristic of this stage is the individual's personal satisfaction and sense of responsibility arising from their job.

4. Maintenance stage (middle age), 46 to 65 years. In this stage, the need for job security is high. Individuals in this stage may change their jobs several times at the start of this phase.

5. Withdrawal stage (late adulthood), from age 65 onwards. In this stage, an individual will look back on their working life. This is also the stage of acceptance, and the major point of this stage is that the emphasis moves from paid employment to relaxation.

Life roles of a person

When trying to explain the structure of life, Super identified eight main roles that a person will fill in their life. These roles are also part of the Career Rainbow. These roles are:

1. Child. Every person is a child of someone. Naturally, the role of "child" begins at the time of birth and continues until both parents pass away. When a child is born, they need assistance with everything, but as the child grows older, they will eventually take care of their parents.

2. Student. The average person will spend many years as a student and at school. This usually starts around the age of four and ends at the age of 18. When the schooling period has ended, some people may choose to study further or attend workshops, seminars and so on. In this role, the student is curious and wants to learn more.

3. Leisurite. This is a concept coined by Super. It refers to people who are able to relax and recreate. Super found that many young people and pensioners occupied this role.

4. Citizen. This is a social role. People usually occupy this role through acts such as volunteer work and caring for family or friends.

5. Employee. This role refers to paid employees. These employees are accountable for completing the work for which they were hired.

6. Parent. This refers to the role of a parent. The role entails looking after the children, educating them and being responsible for them. This task, however, decreases as the child grows.

7. Partner. This role refers to the commitment one shares with a life partner. This role can even extend into friendships.

8. Housemanager. This role is not gender-specific, but rather refers to anyone who is responsible for their own household.

Application of Super's Life Career Rainbow

It is believed that through the use of the Life Career Rainbow model, a person would be able to find a balance between work and life, as it provides insights and ways this balance can be improved. There are five steps to the Rainbow model when applied directly. These are:

Step 1. Step one is the evaluation of the balance between a person's personal life and their work. This is based on the eight roles listed above. The individual will give a percentage per role as to how much time they spend in each role.

Step 2. To an individual, how would they describe the perfect balance between their personal life and their work? What do they find important? How much time do they give to the things that are important? In this step as well, the individual will indicate the amount of time spent per role.

Step 3. This step is a step to reflect. As an individual, what do you want in five years in terms of your work-life balance? What type of lifestyle do you desire?

Step 4. This step is a little more confronting. In this step, the individual will look at the percentage from step 1 and the amount of time and desires from steps 2 and 3. This action helps to identify differences. The individual will then try to find the causes of these differences.

Step 5. The final step is the start of the actual action plan. It is in this step that goals are created. These goals are created with the purpose of developing that perfect work-life balance. Where there are to be drastic changes to the work-life balance, these goals must be prepared carefully and well thought-out.

Conclusion

The concept of multiple life roles is an intriguing, fascinating one, which, when determined and understood properly, can help a person with many career-related concerns in their lives. The model by Donald Super is an extremely useful tool which allows people to understand how their different roles and work-life balance impact their lives and careers, and to find ways to improve that balance.