Psychology

Abstract
Personal input in career development is not the only aspect that will facilitate success in a persons career, there are environmental aspects that will also determine career development among men and women and an example of an environmental aspect addressed herein is ethic and gender differences.
Many theories that discuss career development are based on theories of personality and personal input. This is because they try to establish a relationship between an individuals personality and their careers. For example Vernon G. Zunkers book deals with a holistic approach in the study of career counseling, it emphasizes on the whole person that is, a persons characteristics as a whole and this includes his or her talents, values, passions and temperament. Zunker argues that these characteristics are important in order to determine an individuals best career fit.

The members of a minority ethnic or racial group encounter more barriers to their career development. It is also important to note that women from a minority racial or ethnic group encounter more barriers than their male counterparts. This is because male chauvinism has made it that way. These barriers are in the form of harassment and employment discrimination among others as illustrated by McWhirter (1997)

 In many cases, personal input, for example hard work does not necessarily lead to high career achievement for women and ethnic minorities. This is because ethnic minorities have fewer opportunities available to them than others. In this case their careers are do not have the chance to grow.

However, it is also possible that personality traits may help to counteract the negative impacts of environmental barriers on career achievement. This is evident as seen when outstanding men and women from minority groups excel in their career fields.