Fred W. Vondracek, Ph.D.

Professor of Human Development

211E Henderson
(814) 865-2608
fwv@psu.edu

Research

During the past 20 years, my work has focused on the formulation of a developmental-contextual approach to career development. Working collaboratively with colleagues from the United States, Germany, Japan, and Canada, as well as with students, I have conducted empirical research that has been guided by this developmental-contextual framework. Of particular interest has been the influence of context and historical time on the timing and nature of career and family decisions and on the development of vocational identity. Contexts that have received particular attention in our research have included family, culture, and socioeconomic systems. Another focus of our research has been on the interrelationships among work values, vocational interests, and a variety of individual and family variables, and on exploring the relationships between vocational development in adolescence and young adulthood, on the one hand, and adjustment and mental health on the other

Education

Concord College, Athens, W.VA, B.A., 1964, Psychology
The Pennsylvania State University, M.A., 1966, Psychology
The Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D., 1968, Clinical Psychology/Philosophy of Science
U.S. Veterans Administration Hospital, Salem, VA., Post-Doc, 1968-69, Clinical Intern

Research and Professional Experience

Senior Associate Dean, College of Health and Human Development, 2007
Interim Dean, College of Health and Human Development, 2006-2007
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Outreach, College of Health and Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University, 2001-2005
Associate Dean for Outreach, College of Health and Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University, 2000
Honorary Professor, University of Jena, Germany, 1998-Present
Visiting Scholar, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan
Professor of Human Development, College of Health and Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University, 1990-Present
Visiting Scholar, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany, 1989
Director, Division of Individual and Family Studies, College of Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University, 1978-81
Associate Professor of Human Development, College of Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University, 1973
Assistant Professor of Human Development, College of Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University, 1969

Honors

Member, Blue Key, National Honor Society, 1964
Public Health Service Predoctoral Fellowship, 1965-1966
Public Health Service Predoctoral Fellowship, 1967-1968
Selected to Outstanding Young Men of America, 1972
President's Award, The Second Mile, Inc., 1984
Founder's Award, The Second Mile, Inc., 1985
Honorarprofessor Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany, 1998

Selected Publications

Porfeli, E. J., & Vondracek, F. W. (In press). Career development, work, and occupational success. In M. C. Smith & T. G. Reio (Eds.), Handbook of research on adult development and learning (pp. xxx). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Vondracek, F. W., & Porfeli, E. J. (2008). Social contexts for career guidance throughout the world: Developmental-contextual perspectives on career across the lifespan. In J. A. Athanasou & R. van Esbroeck (Eds.), International handbook of career guidance (pp. 209-225). New York: Springer Publishing.

Hartung, P. J., Porfeli, E. J., & Vondracek, F.W. (2008). Career adaptability in childhood. Career Development Quarterly, 57, 63-74.

Porfeli, E. J., Hartung, P. J., & Vondracek, F. W. (2008). Children’s development: A research rationale. Career Development Quarterly, 57, 25-37.

Skorikov, V. B., & Vondracek, F. W. (2007). Positive career orientation as an inhibitor of adolescent problem behaviour. Journal of Adolescence, 30, 131-146.

Vondracek, F. W. (2007). Editorial. Introduction and commentary: Studies of development in context. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 1-8.

Vondracek, F. W. (Ed.). (2007). Studies of development in context. Special Section, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 1-96.

Porfeli, E. J., & Vondracek, F. W. (2007). Development of work values. In V. B. Skorikov & W. Patton, (Eds.), Career development in childhood and adolescence (pp. 105-126). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Skorikov, V. B., & Vondracek, F. W. (2007). Vocational Identity. In V. B. Skorikov & W. Patton, (Eds.), Career development in childhood and adolescence (pp. 143-168). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Vondracek, F. W. (2006). Identity. In J. H. Greenhaus & G. A. Callanan (Eds.), Encyclopedia of career development, Vol. 1 (pp. 371- 374). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
Hartung, P. J., Porfeli, E. J., & Vondracek, F.W. (2005). Child vocational development: A review and reconsideration. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 385-419.
Vondracek, F. W., & Porfeli, E. J. (2004). Perspectives historiques et contemporaines sur la transition de l’école au travail: Apports théoriques et méthodoliques du modéle développemental-contextuel (Historical and contemporary views on the transition from school to work: Theoretical and methodological advances from adevelopmental-contextual perspective.) L'Orientation Scolaire et Professionnelle, 33 (3), 351-374.
Vondracek, F. W. (2004). Youth employment. In C. D. Spielberger (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology (pp. 741-743). Oxford, UK: Elsevier Ltd.
Vondracek, F. W., & Porfeli, E. (2003). World of work and careers. In G. R. Adams & M. Berzonsky (Eds.), The Blackwell handbook of adolescence (pp. 109-128). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.).
Wiesner, M., Vondracek, F. W., Capaldi, D. M., & Porfeli, E. J. (2003). Childhood and adolescent predictors of early adult career pathways. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63, 305-328.
Vondracek, F. W., & Porfeli, E. (2002). Life-span developmental perspectives on adult career development: Recent advances. In S. G. Niles (Ed.), Adult career development: Concepts, issues, and practices (3rd. ed., pp. 23-40). Tulsa, OK: The National Career Development Association.
Vondracek, F. W., & Porfeli, E. J. (2002). Counseling psychologists and schools:Toward a sharper conceptual focus. The Counseling Psychologist, 30 (5), 749- 756.
Schmitt-Rodermund, E., & Vondracek, F. W. (2002). Occupational dreams, choices, and aspirations: Adolescents’ entrepreneurial prospects and orientations. Journal of Adolescence, 25, 65-78.
Vondracek, F. W., & Hartung, P. (2002). Innovating career development using advances in life course and life-span theory: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61, 375-380.
Vondracek, F. W., & Porfeli, E. J. (2002). Integrating person- and function- centered approaches in career development theory and research. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61, 386-397.
Juang, L., & Vondracek, F. W. (2001). Developmental patterns of adolescent capability beliefs: A person-oriented approach. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 59, 34-52.
Reitzle, M., & Vondracek, F. W. (2000). Methodological avenues for the study of career pathways. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 57, 445-467.
Vondracek, F. W., Silbereisen, R. K., Reitzle, M., & Wiesner, M. (1999). Vocational preferences of early adolescents: Their development in social context. Journal of Adolescent Research, 14 (3), 267-288.
Vondracek, F. W., Reitzle, M., & Silbereisen, R. (1999). The influence of changing contexts and historical time on the timing of initial vocational choices. In R. K. Silbereisen & A. von Eye (Eds.), Growing up in times of social change (pp. 151- 69). New York: DeGruyter.
Schmitt-Rodermund, E., & Vondracek, F. W. (1999). Breadth of interests, exploration, and identity development in adolescence. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 55, 298-317.
Reitzle, M., Vondracek, F. W., & Silbereisen, R. K. (1998). Timing of school- to-work transitions: A developmental-contextual perspective. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 22, 7-28.
Vondracek, F. W. (1998). Career development: A life-span perspective: Introduction to the Special Section. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 22, 1-6.
Vondracek, F. W., & Skorikov, V. B. (1997). Leisure, school, and work activity preferences, and their role in vocational identity development. The Career Development Quarterly. 45, 322-340.
Vondracek, F. W. & Kawasaki, T. (1995). Toward a comprehensive framework for adult career development theory and intervention. In W. B. Walsh & S. H. Osipow (Eds.), Handbook of vocational psychology (2nd ed., pp. 111-141). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Vondracek, F. W., Schulenberg, J., Skorikov, V., Gillespie, L. P., & Wahlheim, (1995). The relationship of identity status to career indecision during adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 18, 17-29.

Vondracek, F. W., Lerner, R. M., & Schulenberg, J. E. (1986). Career development: A life-span developmental approach. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.