Vocational Guidance: After the Fall

Despite the recent condemnations of vocational guidance, the importance of Parson's contributions for current theory and practice remains unaltered. A number of commonly held assumptions regarding the use of tests as self-appraisal devices, classification of the work environment, primary versus vicarious experiences, sequential study of self and work, dissemination of occupational information, and modern theories of vocational development, are considered and discussed.     

Vocational Guidance for Adults: A Study of Demand

A sample study was conducted of economically active adults and of non-employed adults who intended to return to work. It demonstrated first, considerable uncertainty concerning the existence of adult vocational guidance; second, substantial public support for guidance provision; and third, widespread demand. The correlates of demand are investigated. It is not merely those seeking work who require guidance. Strong demand emanates from those in employment, too. The types of guidance demanded by adults are described.     

Alienated Youth: the Counselor's Task

A serious problem facing counselors in today's schools is the increasing number of youth who are alienated from their schools. In dealing with this situation, counselors frequently regard it as one which stems from a dysfunction within the individual student; although this may be true in some cases, it is the thesis of this article that the problem often stems from the structure of the school. The theoretical background and causes of alienation in today's youth are discussed. Implications for counselors and the schools are presented along with recommendations for possible courses of action.     

New Maps for Old: Guidance and the Reform of Vocational Qualifications

The reform of occupational qualifications in England and Wales being undertaken by the National Council for Vocational Qualifications will affect the qualifications of those who work in guidance and counselling, and the opportunities open to their clients. While early development work concentrated on lower-level qualifications, attention is now turning to higher levels, including occupations like guidance and counselling where interpersonal skills play a major part. The principles underpinning the reform of qualifications are outlined; the project work carried out up to the end of 1991 is described; and some of the implications and issues arising from this work are identified, both for the professional qualifications available, and for the map of the broad fields of guidance and counselling.     

Career,Marriage, and Family: Values in Adult Roles and Guidance

Use of occupational, marriage, and parenthood values may help young women to distinguish values that can be satisfied in major adult roles and assist in the earlier formation of a vocational identity.     

A Reconceptualization of Values Clarification: Values Conflict Resolution

Values Clarification (VC) waxed during the 1970s and waned during the 1980s. Today, psychology lacks an empirically based intervention for helping individuals to clarify their values. In this article, the meteoric rise and then precipitous decline of VC are first described. Conservative religious and political criticisms as well as conceptual flaws within VC are discussed. A reconceptualization of VC that addresses the criticisms and flaws is then proposed. The goal of the reconceptualization is to revitalize the topic of values conflict and clarification, to stimulate a new generation of research, and to establish an empirically based guidance for practice.     

Work Values of School Counselors Attending NDEA Summer Guidance Institutes

The work values of 164 men and 108 women school counselors, experienced and qualified, and enrolled in advanced summer guidance institutes, were studied by means of the Work Values Inventory. Sex, institutional, and occupational comparisons were made. Women counselors stress esthetic, intellectual, and way-of-life values more than men counselors, who put more emphasis on economic returns, managing, and surroundings. In comparison with other occupational groups studied, men counselors stress economic returns, security, and prestige, and attach less importance to esthetics, creativity, and intellectual stimulation.     

Observed Variability and Values Matter: Toward a Better Understanding of Information Search and Decisions from Experience

The search for different options before making a consequential choice is a central aspect of many important decisions, such as mate selection or purchasing a house. Despite its importance, surprisingly little is known about how search and choice are affected by the observed and objective properties of the decision problem. Here, we analyze the effects of two key properties in a binary choice task: the options' observed and objective values, and the variability of payoffs. First, in a large public data set of a binary choice task, we investigate how the observed value and variability relate to decision‐makers' efforts and preferences during search. Furthermore, we test how these properties influence the chance of correctly identifying the objectively maximizing option, and how they affect choice. Second, we designed a novel experiment to systematically analyze the role of the objective difference between the options. We find that a larger objective difference between options increases the chance for correctly identifying the maximizing option, but it does not affect behavior during search and choice. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Young People's Perceptions of their Vocational Guidance Needs: Ii. Influences and Interventions

Questionnaire responses from 1,366 pupils at 20 schools in England were used to develop a scale tentatively interpreted as reflecting vocational development. This interpretation was evaluated by concurrent assessments from local careers officers and by its predictive value in the first months on the labour market. Influences on scores included reading ability, social and economic factors, and features of the school. Careers interventions were effective in increasing vocational awareness. Schools providing formal careers education in the fourth or fifth years had pupils whose scores suggested a gain of six months' vocational awareness. The input of the Careers Service was also related to the scale, pupils at schools with more active careers officers appearing more advanced in their vocational development.     

Mind and Matter: A Physicist's View

Physics explores a universe of wonderful order, expressed in terms of beautiful mathematical equations. Mathematics itself is understood to be the exploration of a realm of noetic reality. Science describes matter in terms of concepts with mind-like qualities. The psychosomatic nature of human persons is best understood in terms of a dual-aspect monism, in which matter and mind are complementary aspects of a unitary being. The new science of complexity theory, with its dualities of parts/whole and energy/information, offers modest resources for the speculative exploration of this idea. The intrinsic unpredictabilities present in nature afford the metaphysical opportunity to consider dissipative systems as exhibiting top–down causality.