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Recognizing that vocational choice is influenced by four facts: the reality factor, the influence of the educational process, the emotional factor and individual values this theory proposes that it is a development path that leads to career choice. Starting in preteen and ending in young adulthood, individuals pass through three stages: fantasy, tentative and realistic. In the fantasy stage, the child is free to pursue any occupational choice. Through this process the child’s preferred activities are identified and related to future career choices. Beginning in the preteen years and continuing through high school, the young person further defines their interests in, capacity for and values of an occupational choice. The cumulative effect of the process is the transition process in which the adolescent begins the career choice process, recognizes the consequences and responsibility of that choice. The realistic stage, spanning from mid-adolescence through young adulthood, has three sub-stages: exploration, crystallization and specification. In the exploration stage the adolescent begins to restrict choice based on personal likes, skills and abilities. In the crystallization stage an occupational choice is made. Followed by the specification stage where the individual pursues the educational experiences required achieving his career goal.
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