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.     

Men Who Make Nontraditional Career Choices

A summary of research findings showed that men who choose female-dominated occupations likely possess many of the same traits and characteristics often attributed to women in the same jobs. Contrary to stereotypes, men generally are comfortable with themselves and their masculine sexuality, although they score lower in Bem's masculine identity than traditional men. A framework for the process of men's nontraditional career choice is presented based on previous career development models for traditional careers plus a review of the empirical research literature. Implications for professional counselors and organizations are discussed.     

The Effects of Problem-Solving Training on Adolescents' Career Exploration and Career Decision Making

Of three career guidance methods, namely guided field trips, cognitive, and behavioral problem-solving training, the latter had more influence on 11th graders' career exploratory and career decision making behaviors.     

The Relationship Between Career Aspiration-Current Occupation Congruence and the Career Maturity of Undergraduates

This investigation examined the relationship between career aspiration-current occupation congruence and the career maturity of 134 undergraduates (103 women and 31 men) attending a large midwestern community college. Results revealed a significant relationship (p < .01) between aspiration-occupation congruence and two separate measures of career maturity.     

Congruence and Career Change in Employed Adults

Holland's theory of congruence was applied to adults changing careers. Forty-two nontraditional students attending college to attain a new occupation were surveyed. The group's average experience in the work force was 14.5 years, and their average age was 34.4 years. Using theCindex (Brown & Gore, 1994) and Kwak and Pulvino's (1982) K-P index to measure congruence, data supported the hypothesis that employed adults in the process of changing their careers move in a direction of greater congruence. Further, job satisfaction was correlated significantly with congruence as operationalized by theCindex (r= .33,p< .03) and the K-P index (r= .32,p< .04).     

Career Development in Business and Industry

Mihal, W., Sorce, P., & Comte, T. (1984). A process model of individual career decision making. Academy of Management Review, 9, 95–103. Stumpf, S., & Hartman, K. (1984). Individual exploration to organizational commitment or withdrawal. Academy of Management Journal, 27, 308–329.     

Career Counseling With Juvenile Offenders: Effects on Self‐Efficacy and Career Maturity

This study investigated the effect of career counseling on a juvenile offender population (N = 22). Results indicated the intervention produced significantly higher levels of career maturity and self‐efficacy for the treatment group compared with a control group.     

Gender Differences in College Students' Career Maturity and Perceived Barriers in Career Development

Gender differences in 401 college students' career maturity were investigated. Quantitative measures included career-mature attitudes, career decision-making skills, and vocational congruence. Analyses revealed that female students scored significantly higher than did male students on each of the career maturity measures (p < .005). Nearly one third of the students (n = 128) were also interviewed. Qualitative analyses of the interviews revealed that the perception of barriers may serve as a motivating force in many students' career development. Findings suggest that current theories of career development may be lacking in their application to many of today's college students. Ideas for future research on the perception of barriers to career attainment are discussed.     

Pyramid Power in Career Development

Stewart and Nejedlo discuss the use of the Career Development Pyramid as a model for career development and as a practical aid in career counseling. The model graphically depicts the synergistic relations of career choice factors, life-style, self-concept, and the specific job. The authors discuss the relationship between the quadrihedral model and current career development theories. They suggest applied uses of the pyramid and provide a working plan for copy and use by career development counselors.     

Career Aspirations of Pregnant Teens

This study examined the career aspirations of pregnant teens enrolled in a program designed to minimize their chances of dropping out of high school. The teens completed a demographic data form that included questions on their career aspirations. The data were coded by Holland type using the Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes. Trends were discussed in light of the future labor market and critical need for career counseling for this at-risk population.     

Spousal Perceptions of Midlife Career Change

The impact of midlife career change on the changer's family is the focus of the study. It identifies several family adaptations characterizing the career change process.     

Career Counseling in New Zealand

The author examines articles published in a special issue of the New Zealand Journal of Counselling that highlight career topics in New Zealand. Parallels are drawn between these topics and similar ones identified by M. Savickas (2003a) for advancing career counseling in the United States. The author argues that the similarity of career issues in both New Zealand and the United States indicates that these issues are universal concerns and need to be addressed for career counseling to develop as a profession.     

Job Satisfaction Among Type C Career Changers

Type C careerists perceive their second occupations as being more intrinsically, extrinsically, and generally satisfying than they did their initial occupations.     

Interactive versus Ipsative Measurement of Career Interest

Measurement of interests via the self-report type of inventory takes either of two forms—the interactive or “free-response” variety, or the ipsative or “forced-choice” variety. There are many differences between the two forms but little empirical evidence concerning the validity of one as compared to the other. This study is an investigation of the difference in concurrent validity between an interactive and an ipsative form of a short career preference inventory for college males, using several of the scales on the Strong Vocational Interest Blank as criteria. The results indicate that despite the theoretical and practical differences in the two forms, neither holds any substantial advantage in statistical validity.     

Moving at Mid‐Career

Abstract. Discernment about when to make career moves is often clouded by a host of competing desires and motivations. In this essay the author peels back layers of vocational choices in order to begin to reveal motivations behind those choices. Questions pertaining to notions of prestige, imaginative projection into a new position, clarity about what one values in theological education, and shifts in thinking about pedagogy in a new context are explored.     

Influential Factors in Academic and Career Self‐Efficacy: Attachment,Supports, and Career Barriers

The integration of attachment theory with social cognitive career theory provided a clear and comprehensive theoretical framework for this study. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that perceived support and career barriers mediated the relationship between attachment and efficacy in students (N = 486). Participants who were more securely attached perceived greater social supports and fewer career barriers and had higher efficacy in both academic and career domains. Theoretical, practice, and research implications are discussed.     

Mentoring as a Career Enhancement Strategy for Women

Swoboda, M.J., & Millar, S.B. (1986). Networking-mentoring: Career strategy of women in academic administration. Journal of NAWDAC, 49, 8–13.     

Challenges in a Dialectical Conception of Career Evolution

This article seeks to clarify the differences between traditional and dialectical perspectives on career development. The application of a dialectical model to career evolution is based on the assumption that an individual's work experiences and other life experiences exert an ongoing, reciprocal effect on career development.