Incongruities between values,motives, and skills: exploring negative effects of self-exploration in career coaching

ABSTRACT

Psychometric tools are increasingly applied during coaching, but little is known about their effects on clients’ well-being. We investigated the effects that are evoked when psychometric tools reveal incongruities between career-related values, motives, and skills during career coaching within an early-career sample. Results reveal a negative effect of within-person incongruities on life satisfaction and self-efficacy over time. Further, we compared these effects across different career coaching settings (one-on-one coaching vs. group coaching). Compared to clients in group coaching, clients who received feedback on their incongruities during a one-on-one coaching session experienced a decline in life satisfaction. The results indicate that psychometric tools should carefully be incorporated in career coaching interventions. Further practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Transforming career stories through poetry: a group-based career counselling intervention

ABSTRACT

Contemplating the school to work transition in the insecure and unpredictable twenty-first century world of work can be anxiety inducing for college students. Consequently, college students may develop disempowered career stories in which they feel ill prepared to explore career prospects or engage with the world of work. This paper describes a career counselling intervention aimed at transforming the disempowered career stories of college students into more empowered versions. Grounded in career construction theory and designed as a group modality, the intervention employs poetry therapy to enhance the development of internally defined and motivated career stories among the group participants. Although this paper highlights the Kenyan context, the intervention itself can easily be adapted to other contexts.     

Factorial validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) across occupational groups in Norway

Nerstad, C.G.L., Richardsen, A.M. & Martinussen, M. (2009). Factorial validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) across occupational groups in Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. The present study investigated the factorial validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) among 1266 participants from ten different occupational groups. Confirmatory factor analyses of the total sample, as well as multi‐group analyses and analyses of each of the ten occupational groups separately, indicated that a three‐dimensional model of both the UWES‐17 and the short version, UWES‐9, provided a better fit to the data than a one‐ and two‐dimensional model. The results of multi‐group analyses and analyses of each of the groups separately, indicated that with a few exceptions, the three‐factor model of work engagement provided the best fit. Results indicated factorial invariance and the internal consistencies were acceptable. The fit of the UWES‐9 was slightly better than the UWES‐17. It is concluded that the Norwegian short version may be recommended over the UWES‐17.     

‘ … and now it’s over to you’: recognising and supporting the role of careers leaders in schools in England

ABSTRACT

There is a long history of teachers and schools being involved in the delivery of career education and guidance. As the breadth of career education and guidance activity in English schools grew throughout the twentieth century it became increasingly necessary to have an individual within the school responsible for leading and managing this activity (the careers leader). The transfer of responsibility for career guidance from local authorities to schools following the Education Act 2011 has intensified the need for this role. There have been various attempts to conceptualise and professionalise the role of careers leader and to develop appropriate training and support. This article defines the role and the rationale for the role, sets out its history and makes recommendations for the future professionalisation of the role. It is argued that this will include recognition of the role by policy, professionalisation and the development of a career structure and the development of appropriate training and CPD.     

And justice for all: Revisiting the Global Belief in a Just World Scale

The Global Belief in a Just World Scale (GBJWS) has been widely used in measuring the Belief in a Just World (BJW) personality trait. Despite its widespread application across the social sciences, the validity of this scale has not been sufficiently tested in the literature. In this research, the authors examine the internal and external validity of the GBJWS using both standard correlational analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM). Specifically, the authors test the concurrent validity, internal consistency, unidimensional structure, convergent validity, and both measurement and latent mean invariance of the scale across gender and culture. The results of a pilot study suggest strong concurrent validity of the GBJWS with other BJW scales, and the findings of the two main studies support the internal and external validity of GBJWS across gender and culture. The authors’ results further show an overall greater level of BJW of Chinese individuals compared to Americans. The present research provides a much needed investigation of the validity of the GBJWS, and answers calls for research examining the scale’s utility across different populations.     

The Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale: Development and psychometric validation

As interest grows in near-death experiences (NDEs), it is increasingly important to accurately identify them to facilitate empirical research and reproducibility among assessors. We aimed (1) to reassess the psychometric properties of the NDE scale developed by Greyson (1983) and (2) to validate the Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale that quantifies NDEs in a more complete way. Internal consistency, construct and concurrent validity analyses were performed on the NDE scale. Based on those results and the most recent empirical evidence, we then developed a new 20-item scale. Internal consistency, explanatory and confirmatory factor, concurrent and discriminant validity analyses were conducted. Results revealed (1) a series of weaknesses in the NDE scale, (2) a 5-factor structure covering relevant dimensions and the very good psychometric properties of the NDE-C scale, including very good internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.85) and concurrent validity (correlations above 0.76). This new reliable scale should facilitate future research.     

2020 Reflections from a Mid-Career Academic Psychologist: Select Tips for Prospective Graduate Psychology Students

Abstract

This paper provides some personal and academic reflections from a mid-career academic psychologist. In doing so, several select tips and suggestions are offered to prospective graduate psychology students, in particular. This paper strikes to encourage such students to seriously and thoughtfully consider why they wish to attend graduate school and some of the realistic possible negative consequences of doing so. Several select additional suggestions are noted for those students who ultimately decide to attend graduate school with a particular emphasis on the value and importance of forging a productive and collegial relationship with one’s graduate mentor.