Using career counselling with group life design principles to improve the employability of disadvantaged young adults

This article explores the effects of group life design counselling on unemployed young adults’ career adaptability skills. Purposive and criterion sampling were used to select 62 participants involved in a skills programme (mean age = 24.86 years, SD = 6.38 years). A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test comparison group-design, embedded in an intervention framework, was used to gather data. Intervention occurred in the quasi-experimental group. Paired t-tests were used to compare the difference between the pre- and post-test scores obtained on the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS). The scores on career concern and career control, as well as the total score on the CAAS, of the quasi-experimental group increased after the intervention. The results suggest that group career counselling interventions with life design principles enhanced the career adaptability in participants as a core element of employability. Future research should focus on more longitudinal research and tracing the long-term progress of participants to establish the value of the approach for diverse clients in (individual and) group contexts.     

Career Indecision: A Summary of the Research and Implications for Counselling

The vocationally-indecisive individual presents a major counselling problem. The theory and research behind career indecision is discussed and a counselling approach based on identity formation is outlined. Four identity statuses — Identity Achievements, Foreclosures, Identity Diffusions, and Moratoriums — are described and counselling approaches for each are explored.     

The influence of a career group experience on the vocational maturity of college students

The effects of a career group experience on the vocational maturity of theoretically grouped college freshmen and sophomores were investigated using Super's Career Development Inventory as the dependent measure. The dimensions of consistency/inconsistency and differentiation/nondifferentiation, as identified utilizing Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory, were investigated along with the dimensions of treatment/nontreatment and interaction effects. Predictions related to change in vocational maturity as a result of treatment were made for each dimension. The analysis sample was a group of 68 volunteer freshman and sophomore college students. Results indicated that students did significantly increase their vocational maturity as a result of the group experience. Furthermore, it was found, as predicted, that within experimental groups inconsistent and nondifferentiated students improved significantly more on some vocational maturity measures than consistent or differentiated students. Students who were both inconsistent and nondifferentiated showed consistently greater increases on virtually all vocational maturity measures than all other theoretical groups.     

Effectiveness of the career interest profile

This study examined the effectiveness of group‐based career counseling using the Career Interest Profile (CIP). The study used an experimental design involving 2 groups of Italian university students: an experimental group (42 participants) who received narrative career counseling and a control group (47 participants) who did not. Results indicated more specific life and occupational goals after the intervention among members of the experimental group in addition to a decrease in career decision‐making difficulties and an increase in career decision‐making self‐efficacy, thus suggesting the value of group‐based career counseling on the basis of the principles embodied in the CIP.     

Perceived career barriers and coping among youth in Israel: Ethnic and gender differences

This study investigated gender and ethnic differences in the perception of different types of career barriers among young adults in relation to their views of themselves as individuals (Personal Career Barriers) and their views of their gender and ethnic group (Group Career Barriers). This study also explored gender and ethnic differences in the sense of efficacy in coping with career barriers. The participants were 406 university students: 156 Israeli-born Jews, 133 Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union and 117 Arab-Israelis. The results indicated that their perceptions of the different types of career barriers and their sense of coping efficacy differ according to gender and ethnic group and that there are also joint effects of gender and ethnicity. The results showed that participants rated group barriers higher than personal career barriers. However, the discrepancies were different in each of the three ethnic groups. Perceived career barriers were negatively associated with the sense of coping efficacy and positively associated with non-productive coping strategies. The implications for future research and counseling for minority groups are discussed.     

Career self-efficacy, career outcome expectations and vocational interests among Japanese university students

The Social Cognitive Career Model proposes that career interests arise from beliefs about capability to execute a course of activity (self-efficacy), and beliefs about the consequences of performing particular activities (outcome expectations). In our study, 301 Japanese university students were given questionnaires including the Vocational Preference Inventory and scales assessing Career Self-efficacy and Career-outcome Expectations. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated both self-efficacy and outcome expectations were significantly related to vocational interests. Outcome expectations accounted for significant incremental variance in explaining interests across six of Holland's vocational environments. Implications of social cognitive theory for career development and interventions among Japanese university students are discussed.     

Results of a Citation Analysis of the Career Counselling Field from an African Perspective

The study examined research and trends in career counselling published in selected professional sources during the period 1980–2010. Citation analysis was used in this study to investigate documents which were indexed in the Web of Science related to career counselling. Career counselling and related keywords were used jointly in the search for documents. There were a total of 730 documents judged to be relevant to the field of career counselling and were citation analysed. The number of citations related to the career counselling field has been increasing continuously since 2000. Research publications on career counselling are projected to increase for both South African authors and the authors of other African countries.     

Comparison of two group counseling approaches to enhancing confidence in planning careers by undecided Taiwanese college women

This is a report of research comparing two approaches to enhance the career confidence of undecided female college students. 30 women who requested enrollment in career counseling were assigned to two counseling groups (a cognitive reconstructing intervention group and a career decision-making skills training group) and one no-treatment control group based on time of request. After participating in the two career counseling groups for eight sessions in a month, the female college students rated their mean confidence as increased over that of the no-treatment group. Analysis indicated that the indecisive female college students benefitted from career group counseling with an emphasis on self-efficacy and that the cognitive reconstructing intervention was more effective.     

Effects of educational and career exploration system on vocational maturity

An experimental group of 792 tenth graders spent from 1 to 17 hr (average 3 hr) on ECES, a computer-based educational and occupational exploration system.Gains on a test of vocational maturity administered at the beginning and end of the school year were compared with a control group of 1453 tenth graders, matched on relevant variables. ECES users showed larger gains than nonusers in (1) degree of planfulness and (2) knowledge and use of resources for career exploration, as measured by the Career Development Inventory, not in information about education, occupations and career decision making. Gains were related to amount of time spent on ECES but male-female differences were not exhibited.     

The effect of a career adaptability psycho-educational programme on coping with career indecision and career adaptability: A pilot study

This study aimed to examine the effects of a career construction theory-oriented Career Adaptability Psycho-educational Programme on career adaptability and coping with career indecision in Turkish high school students. Twenty-six participants took part in the experimental design. A split-plot (mixed) design of 2 × 3 (experimental/control groups X pretest/posttest/follow-up test) was used. It was found that the Career Adaptability Psycho-educational Programme has a significant effect on coping with career indecision and career adaptability; the same effect was found for the follow-up measures completed 4 months later.     

Career decision-making difficulties of British and Chinese international university students

This study explored cultural and gender differences in career decision-making difficulties (CDMD) experienced by 109 British and 86 Chinese international university students, and the impact of cross-cultural adjustment on the CDMD of Chinese international students. Results showed no significant cultural differences in overall CDMD, and that the cross-cultural adjustment of Chinese participants was not correlated with their difficulty in career decision-making. Significant cultural differences on the sub-categories of the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (e.g. Chinese participants were significantly less ready than British participants to make career decisions) and some significant gender differences (e.g. male participants generally experienced fewer difficulties than female participants in career decision-making) were identified. Age and degree level were negatively related to the level of difficulty the participants experienced in career decision-making. Implications for career counselling and future research directions are discussed.     

Counselling Psychology in Canada

Counselling psychology in Canada has experienced tremendous growth and greater recognition within the last 30 years. However, there is little empirical research on the practice of counselling psychology in Canada and the characteristics of Canadian counselling psychologists. We administered a 74 item questionnaire to 79 counselling psychologists who were members of the Counselling Psychology Section of the Canadian Psychological Association, achieving a 35.4% response rate. The survey asked various questions organized under the headings of: Background Information, Theoretical Orientations, Professional Activities, Training and Career Experiences, and Future. Overall, these Canadian counselling psychologists seem to see the discipline as moderately different from clinical psychology and from counsellor education, and are largely satisfied with their choice of career in counselling psychology. Results further indicate that independent practice is the most common work-setting and that respondents spend a large share of their time providing individual, non-career related, counselling/psychotherapy of primarily a rehabilitative/treatment-oriented nature. A strengths-focused approach was also highly valued by the sample. The development of the field, distinctive characteristics of Canadian counselling psychology, the place of counselling psychology in the Canadian health care delivery system, credentialing, professional organizations, education and training issues, allied professions, opportunities for the field, and threats to the field are also discussed.     

Effects of short-term counseling on Career Maturity of tenth-grade students

The effectiveness of short-term counseling on Career Maturity of tenth-grade students as measured by the Career Maturity Inventory was studied. The Career Maturity Attitude Scale and the Self Appraisal subscale of the Competence Test were administered to a random sample (87 subjects) of tenth-grade students. The subjects whose scores fell below the mean were assigned randomly to experimental and control groups. The experimental group (17 subjects) received special counseling during a short term of 6 wk. Using repeated measures of analysis of variance, a statistically significant interaction was found with both the Self Appraisal subscale scores and the Total scale scores. Results indicate that career maturity as a developmental process can be measured and facilitated through counseling.     

Adapting the Career Development Inventory-Australia for cross-cultural research

This paper describes the adaptation of the Career Planning and Career Exploration scales of the Career Development Inventory-Australia for use in a Thai cultural context. One hundred and fifty-nine Thai high school students participated in the study. The results were compared with data from Australian students collected in earlier studies and from a group of Australian students participating in a career education program. The results indicate that only the Career Planning scale minus one biased item was found to be equivalent across Thai and Australian cultural contexts. The Career Exploration scale was found to be an unreliable measure of career exploration of Thai Year 11 males and its structure was found to be incongruent across Thai and Australian cultural contexts.     

Integrating personality and career adaptability into vocational interest space

The relations between interests, personality and career adaptability were explored in two separate studies. In the first study, the RIASEC measure Occupational Preference Scale was applied along with personality inventories HEXACO-PI-(R)-100 and IPIP-50 on a sample of 602 university students and young adults. In the second study, PGI-Short, HEXACO-60 and Career Adapt-Abilities Scale were applied on a sample of 981 high-school graduates. Results from both studies were discussed together, and general conclusions about overlapping of interests, personality and career adaptability domains were drawn on the basis of correlational analyses and property vector fitting. Both studies have shown weak to moderate relations between interests and personality. In the HEXACO framework, it was found that Openness to Experience was positively related to creative interests, Emotionality was positively related to social interests and negatively related to technical interests, Extraversion was positively related to social and managing interests, and Honesty–Humility was negatively related to interests for business and finance. In the Big Five framework, Agreeableness was related to Social and Artistic interests, and Intellect to Artistic interests. The HEXACO personality domains showed predictive advantage for explaining interests in comparison to Big Five dimensions. The relation between career adaptability and interests was weak, and almost negligible when personality was included in hierarchical regression analysis. Career adaptability was weakly related to highly prestigious interests. Adaptability facets Concern, Control and Confidence were oriented toward data pole of interest space. The general factor of interests was weakly correlated with Openness Extraversion, Career Adaptability, and adaptability facets Confidence and Curiosity. Observed findings are as expected and in line with previous research.     

Career Counselling: The Usefulness of the Career Interest Profile (CIP)

This study reports the findings from exploratory career counselling with Italian undergraduate university students using the Career Interest Profile (CIP). The participants (n = 178, females = 51.69%; mean age 22.28, SD = 1.59 years) received elective career counselling on campus. The students completed the CIP and the Self-Directed Search (SDS). Data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The CIP yielded satisfactory results with regard to trustworthiness and intercorrelations with the SDS and provides career counsellors with a useful instrument for the identification of interest profiles of Italian undergraduate university students. Participants reported being enabled to explore prospective career interest areas using career-story narratives for constructing life trajectories and enhanced development of their career stories.     

Career counselling: A process in process

Career counselling, career guidance, and career interventions are terms in the process of evolution. Historical and contemporary factors in the US experience that have changed and expanded the needs for career counselling and related career interventions are discussed. For many work-adjustment problems, in particular, there is a growing acknowledgement that career and personal counselling must fuse. Where this fusion occurs, on a continuum from choice, indecision, and situational concerns to change, indecisiveness, and personal concerns, is analysed.     

Interests of career and homemaking oriented women

The women's form of the SVIB and a Career Orientation questionnaire were administered to a sample of 90 undergraduate women. The sample was divided into two groups, career and homemaking oriented, on the basis of high-low career orientation scores. The two groups obtained significantly different scores on 25 of the 57 occupational scales on the women's SVIB. Career orientation correlated significantly with the academic achievement interest and homemaking basic interest scales of the SVIB but not with the femininity-masculinity scale. Results are discussed in terms of the interest patterns of career and homemaking-oriented students.     

Evaluation of two test-anxiety reduction treatments in a secondary prevention program

The study evaluated the effectiveness of both a new anxiety management training program and a cognitive modification procedure as part of a secondary prevention effort to identify and treat test anxiety early in the academic career of college students. Subjects were 40 college freshmen who had been identified as high test-anxious in an initial mail-out survey of the Test Anxiety scale. Subjects were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: anxiety management training, a cognitive modification procedure, and a no-treatment control group. Results indicated that both the cognitive modification and anxiety management training treatments were effective in reducing test anxiety on a posttreatment administration of the Test Anxiety scale. Especially interesting, a significant difference in academic performance emerged between treatment and control groups three semesters after treatment, underscoring the preventive value of the program.