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Despite the acknowledgement of the developmental nature of careers, little attention has been focused on identifying shaping influences during childhood. This noticeable deficiency in the literature marked the start of the current longitudinal study which was designed to provide information on the career development of nine to twelve-year old South African children. In South Africa research focusing on preadolescent career development is limited with existing research indicating the need to further explore how children s career choice process initially develops. The study aimed to explore and describe the changes that occur, if any, over a four- year period in terms of occupational interest typology, occupational status levels, occupational gender stereotypes and occupational gender traditionality. The present study gained valuable insight into how the process of career development occurs in preadolescent children.

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Ewald Crause is a graduate of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa where he obtained his Master´s degree in Counselling Psychology. The author is currently employed by the Department of Education in the South Cape/Karoo region as a Psychologist.

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