The significance of occupations in work careers: An empirical and theoretical review

The central position of occupations in work careers has been a widely accepted position in the study of careers. Furthermore, it has also been commonly believed that most work careers follow the temporal sequence of occupational choice, occupational preparation and training, and occupational entry and retention. An analysis of research findings, however, shows that most individuals do not make stable occupational choices as the first step in their work careers, nor do they show a strong commitment to a particular occupation during their work careers. On the contrary, occupational mobility is far more characteristic of most work careers than occupational stability. One possible explanation of the high rates of occupational mobility is that individuals are responding to opportunities that develop during the course of their careers. As opportunities unfold during work careers, individuals use those opportunities to make future career and occupational choices. Thus, careers may be more accurately considered as a series of responses to a succession of opportunity situations than the effort to realize a predetermined occupational goal.     

Expectations, recall and evaluation of careers guidance interviews by pupils and careers advisers: a preliminary study

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the perceptions of initial careers guidance interviews as expressed by pupils and careers advisers. A sample of 51 careers guidance interviews were studied, which were carried out by 16 qualified careers advisers operating under normal working conditions. The school pupils were from the lower streams of 16 different secondary level schools, half were male, and the majority were either unsure of leaving or were planning to leave school at the earliest opportunity. The study adopted a quantitative repeated measures design where both interview participants completed pre-interview expectation questionnaires, post-interview recall questionnaires and scales measuring interview evaluations. The results suggested a range of differences between careers advisers' and pupils' expectations, recall and evaluations of careers guidance interviews. However, both participants' overall satisfaction with the careers interview was significantly related to the interpersonal aspects of the process, while the provision of careers advice contributed to overall satisfaction expressed by careers advisers only. The findings are discussed in relation to evaluation of provision and the preparation of clients for participation in careers guidance interviews.     

Careers education and counselling in Northern Ireland: A historical outline

Vocational guidance services have been developing in Northern Ireland for about thirty years. Recently the careers service has been transferred from an education to a manpower services base, while the schools have been given greater opportunity, and responsibility, for the provision of careers education. The changes have given considerable impetus to careers teacher training, and to the appointment of schools' careers staffs. The possibility of further development of the partnership between careers officers and careers teachers is examined.     

What are careers officers thinking of? How information cues are selected and used in careers interviews

This paper explores the information-seeking practices of careers officers during careers interviews. Research in decision-making is used to establish hypotheses, with a focus on findings in the fields of heuristics, cognitive mapping and medical diagnostics. Sensitive areas for careers guidance providers in this research field are outlined. A small-scale research project is described, which indicated support for several of the hypotheses. A model is suggested of how careers officers may elicit and use information cues in order to mentally match clients' post-16 choices against perceived opportunities. The implications for careers officer practice and careers service fundholders are discussed.     

Improving the quality of careers guidance: Towards an understanding of the development of personal models

The process by which careers officers develop personal models of guidance through the interaction of theoretical knowledge with their experiences of training and practice is examined. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 careers officers. Questions were asked about the training and development of careers officers in the practice of careers guidance and counselling with young people. The responses are considered in relation to theories of careers choice, careers counselling and guidance, models of counselling, and the supervisory role in the development of individual practice. Some recommendations are made for improvements to training and supervision for careers guidance.     

Yes,but how?: Development and evaluation of careers education in higher education by careers advisers

Contrasting approaches to the evaluation of careers education activities are outlined, one based on the organisational needs of careers services (an 'accountability' model), the other based on individual needs of careers advisers (a 'developmental' model). The case is considered for adopting educational research methods developed from the ethnographic research tradition, such as action research, to help careers advisers meet the challenges facing them in the development, delivery and evaluation of careers education in higher education. Practical experience is cited, together with some positive outcomes that have arisen from undertaking fieldwork research. The difficulties and dilemmas in carrying out such research are presented.     

Careers lessons and career awareness of fifth-form students

A questionnaire designed to assess the 'career awareness' of fifth-form students was completed by 274 students from six different schools. The results were used to investigate differences between students who were having and not having regular careers lessons. The results indicated: (a) that those having regular careers lessons, especially the less-able, had a greater knowledge of the world of work than their peers who had no such lessons; (b) that those having regular careers lessons were less reliant on their family for careers advice, and in general used a wider range of sources for career knowledge; and (c) that those having regular careers lessons were more aware of the preparations necessary for job interviews.     

Managing and developing a boundaryless career: Lessons from dance and drama

Abstract

As the structure of employment opportunities has been transformed by economic and technological changes, we have been forced to re-examine our ideas about what careers involve. We expect to make more and different sorts of career transitions and to have to take more responsibility for managing our own careers. It is suggested that information from the pattern of employment and career opportunities in dance and drama can provide useful insights into the skills that many more of us will need to manage and develop our careers in the future. This article uses data from a study of careers and training in dance and drama (Jackson, Honey, Hillage, & Stock, 1994) to identify key features of the ways careers are managed in this labour market. Implications from this analysis are discussed as part of a review of the way careers are changing.     

Toward a relational perspective of the psychology of careers and working: A social constructionist analysis

This article explores the contributions of social constructionist thought to the development of a relational approach to careers. In this article, the term “careers” is defined as encompassing the working lives of all individuals. Using a social constructionist perspective to critique existing assumptions about careers, work, and relationships, the authors develop a conceptual framework that expands the theoretical opportunities inherent in a relational approach to the study of careers. The article concludes by highlighting implications of a social constructionist analysis of a relational approach to careers for theory development, research, practice, and public policy,     

Crisis, taboos and careers guidance

The relevance of the idea of 'crisis' for careers and careers guidance is examined, together with some of the critical responses that have been made to recent crises. It is argued that careers guidance generally responds to such challenges by seeing them as external problems rather than as changes which may alter its very assumptions and methods. Two particular taboos are noted in this context concerning the value of work and of working for an organisation. The questioning of these taboos leads to four models of alternative careers: the Uncareer, the Guerilla Career, the Cop-Out Career, and the Non-Career. These forms of career raise the broader issues of order and disorder within careers, with their associated implications for careers guidance.     

Expatriate career intentions: Links to career adaptability and cultural intelligence

Given the increasing rate of global mobility, it is important to have a greater understanding of the factors that influence intentions for expatriate careers. Guided by the Career Construction Theory and Intelligence Theory, this study takes the view that self-initiated expatriation as a form of global mobility is an adaptive vocational behavior driven by an individual's self-regulatory capacity to thrive in another country and work to build one's career. This study posits that individuals who want to work overseas rely mainly on their adaptive resources to develop their careers. Additionally, career adaptability, as a self-regulatory competency, is posited to be reinforced by an individual's intercultural capability (i.e., cultural intelligence). To test these assertions, data were collected in a sample of university students (n = 514) in the Philippines, a country reported to have high rates of overseas migration for economic and career-related reasons. Career adaptability was found to be positively and significantly related to overseas career intentions. In addition, cultural intelligence was found to moderate the said relationship. These results offer the groundwork for understanding the earlier stages of expatriate careers and, in particular, how the intention to have a career in another country is developed and influenced by the interaction between the self-regulatory characteristics and intercultural capability of individuals.     

Mathematics—a Critical Filter for STEM-Related Career Choices? A Longitudinal Examination among Australian and U.S. Adolescents

Although women have made progress in entering scientific careers in biology, they remain underrepresented in mathematically intensive fields such as physics. We investigated whether gender differences in mathematics motivation and socialisers’ perceptions impacted choices for diverse STEM careers of varying mathematical intensity. Drawing on expectancy-value theory, we tested structural equation models in which adolescents’ preferred careers related to each of physics, biology, chemistry, and mathematics were predicted by prior mathematical performance, motivations, and mothers’ perceptions. We explored potential differences in gendered processes of influence using multigroup models. Samples were 331 Australian adolescents followed from 9th to 11th grade in 1998 and 277 U.S. adolescents from 9th to 12th grade in 2009–10. In both samples female adolescents preferred biological careers more than males did; male adolescents preferred physics-related careers and also mathematical careers in the Australian sample. Mothers’ perceptions were important to female and male adolescents’ mathematics motivations; gendered motivations were more evident in the Australian sample. Mathematics interest played the strongest role in male adolescents’ preferred careers, whereas actual or perceived mathematical achievements were most important for females, demonstrating the impacts of mathematical motivations on preferences for diverse STEM careers.     

The construction of a test of occupational information

No established test of occupational information is at present in use in British secondary schools. This article describes the construction of an objective test from which the student can determine the Index of Reality of his occupational information and compare his personal values with those of participants in the occupation. The item content is based on five systems of classifying occupational characteristics. After a pilot investigation to test the vocabulary, the test was completed by 1,516 students in 37 British secondary schools. Two sets of experimental norms were compiled in 29 occupations by 1,221 participants and 311 careers officers. Suggestions for further development, based on this experience are indicated.     

Career trajectories of Dutch pop musicians: A longitudinal study

Systematic studies of artistic careers are scarce and this is the first large-scale study on the career development of pop musicians. Using a prospective longitudinal approach we followed a sample of aspiring pop musicians in the Netherlands (N = 369) over a three-year period. First we identified four groups of pop musicians with different career patterns, that is, upward careers, downward careers, stable successful careers and stable unsuccessful careers. By means of a multigroup growth mixture model we examined how career success was influenced by social support, professional attitude and professional network. Results showed that successful pop musicians experience more social support, have a stronger professional attitude and a more extensive professional network. Moreover, our study shows that these findings were consistent both between and within the different career pattern groups.     

Measuring clients' experience of careers guidance interviews: Exploratory studies

Initial findings of the development of a measure of client experience of the careers guidance interview are reported. Initially based on the Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (Wolf et al., 1978), items were derived which sampled across affective, cognitive and behavioural components of careers interviewing. The scale is pilot tested on 60 15 and 16 year-old school pupils, of low academic potential and all of whom had experienced a careers interview with a careers officer. Initial results are only partially supportive of the findings of Wolf et al. (1978). Results of a further field study of the 20-item scale based on 54 careers interviews are also reported where factor analytic data are promising. The contribution of the scale in testing related hypotheses (e.g. met expectation hypothesis) is indicated.     

Is guidance an applied science?: The role of theory in the careers guidance interview

Some of the findings of a study investigating careers officers' use of theoretical models in the careers guidance interview are discussed. Data were collected through visits to institutions offering Diploma in Careers Guidance courses, a large-scale questionnaire survey of careers officers, and semi-structured interviews and group discussions. There was evidence that in initial training, theory is used to support, rather than determine, the development of skills. Results also suggested that practising careers officers are familiar with a fairly wide range of theories, although in their interviewing they tend to apply broad principles of theory, rather than specific elements. Careers officers who trained some time ago were less familiar with theories than were those who trained more recently, and there was no support for the hypothesis that long service leads to a greater recognition of the relevance of theories generally. Familiarity with guidance and counselling theories appears to be more influential than knowledge of career theories on the way careers officers think about interviewing. Overall, the findings cast doubt on the view that careers guidance is an applied science.     

The career states system model: A new approach to analysing careers

The changing careers of research scientists under the influence of contemporary pressures are examined, drawing on original case-study research covering four settings: higher education institutions, industrial R&D, government research laboratories, and research institutes. Moving away from the traditional linear model of career progression, a dynamic model of career states is introduced. This acknowledges that investment of individual and organisational energy in careers will ebb and flow under the influence of a range of contextual and personal variables. It is proposed that the career states system model can be used as an aid to careers guidance for both men and women. Some of the issues to which scientists must be alert in order to manage their careers effectively are addressed     

Careers guidance and choosing a job

Data from the 16-year-old follow-up of the National Child Development Study relating to certain aspects of careers guidance are examined. These include the proportion of the 12,000 study children who were in schools with teachers responsible for careers guidance, the amount of training these teachers had received, and whether they were paid a special salary. The children's expected age of leaving school, their plans for further education and work, and their choice of likely first full-time jobs, are considered in relation to the presence of teachers with some training in careers guidance and to contacts with careers officers. The use made of sources of information about job choices is also described.     

GRADSCOPE: An Analysis of the Item Structure and a Survey of Usage

Two studies of GRADSCOPE, the most widely-used system for computer-assisted careers guidance in higher education in Britain, are reported. The first is an item analysis of the GRADSCOPE questionnaire. The six-factor solution from this factor analysis suggests that, with the exception of the Artistic theme, the content domain of the GRADSCOPE questionnaire covers Holland's occupational themes, and that GRADSCOPE is primarily concerned with the motivational component rather than the performance requirements of jobs. The second study, a postal survey of careers services and careers advisers about their experiences of using the interactive version of GRADSCOPE, aimed to examine the potential of interactive systems to effect change in careers work.     

Careers,clusters and employment mobility: The influences of psychological mobility and organizational support

Industry-specific, innovation-driven regional clusters have become a central focus for economic development and government intervention, and invite a deeper understanding of cluster participants' careers. In the extant research on careers and clusters, most studies have focused on examining employment mobility levels of the individuals involved. However, so far little research has tried to understand the psychological mechanisms and processes behind those careers. This paper aims to contribute to the research gap by investigating how individuals' participation in regional inter-firm collaborations affects their careers, and with what consequences for their employment mobility. Based on two-wave qualitative data from a French competitiveness cluster, we identify a set of psychological constructs, and offer a model depicting links that describe the career consequences of individuals' inter-firm collaborations. The paper concludes with a discussion of these findings in light of their contributions for future research.