Career development in context

The biography and work of Fred Vondracek are inseparable. The contributions of the authors who have had the privilege of being close to the research and the life of Fred Vondracek provide a clear picture of him as an exemplary paradigm of the concept of person in context. His agency in contexts of dramatic structural changes and transitions in society are representative of both his personal experience and his scientific position. Fred’s ability to bring new insights into the field of developmental psychology has opened our minds to the need for new research paradigms, which his colleagues and followers testify to in this book. Combining classical approaches to human development with ecological and living systems emergent models, Fred Vondracek’s work reveals a modern and harmonious view of life. Individuals and social structures are no longer separate pieces in an unresolved puzzle, but instead produce developmental synergies. In the elegance and rigor of his writings we perceive his impetus to advance the theoretical and conceptual development, as well as the methodologies to guide research and pratical intervention, always illuminated by his magnificent soul – a true representative of the “alma mater conimbrigensis”.