Chapter 1: The Asca Model and the Educational Trust: The Changing Role of Career Counselors in the Schools

Prior to the start of the 20th century, career choice was almost nonexis tent. People, for the most part, did not select a career; young males usu ally followed their fathers’ pursuits such as farming and carpentry; while the females simply followed after their mother’s work, which was usually on the farm. However, during the time of the industrial revolution, this all began to change. Because big business and industry began to develop, such as railroads, shipping, automobiles, construction, banking, and steel, the economy started to change. This attracted people from the farms and rural areas who wanted to make more money and improve their standard of living and wanted these new careers. This was also the time in which im migrants were coming to America—the land of opportunity to start their lives over. Inside all of this new freedom was the responsibility to make a good career plan and ultimately a career choice (Reardon, Lenz, Sampson, & Peterson, 2000).