Careers guidance and social mobility in UK higher education: practitioner perspectives

This paper reveals findings from a small-scale research project which explored how university careers advisers experience their role in guiding clients within a labour market where barriers to social mobility prevail. The research discovers that advisers' daily work gives them a depth of insight into social mobility. The professional turbulence in which advisers operate and the evolution of their role from in-depth work to a focus on breadth is chronicled. University environments vary with regard to the scope advisers have to impact lives, but a strong set of values anchors them. Recommendations are made with regard to how high quality careers information, advice and guidance can support social mobility for traditionally disadvantaged students into the labour market.     

Professionalism in career guidance and counselling – how professional do trainee career practitioners feel at the end of a postgraduate programme of study?

This paper explores the extent to which students on a vocational postgraduate programme identify with characteristics and competences that define a professional career guidance and counselling practitioner. Literature suggests professionalism in careers work is characterised by a focus on the needs of the client with the practitioner in a facilitative role. Competences are often couched in developmental terms, with practitioners moving from inexperienced to experienced. Students identified the most valued characteristics as adherence to professional values and ethical standards with an emphasis on person-centred practice. They recognised that competence was a developmental process, characterising themselves as at an early stage on completion of their course. Supporting the client took precedence over issues such as advocating for the profession, supporting employers and social responsibility. Generally, students saw completing a programme of study either as a beginning to a process of development of professionalism or as part of their professional development.     

Negotiating professional and personal biographies in a liquid world: creating space for reflexive innovation in career counselling

This paper explores the constraints to innovative, creative and reflexive careers counselling in an uncertain neo-liberal world. We draw on previously reported research into practitioners’ use of a narrative model for career counselling interviews in England and a Europe-wide auto/biographical narrative study of non-traditional learners in universities. The latter draws on a number of narrative interviews with an asylum seeker, to debate whether such a way of working with people, ‘in a clinical style’, offers contextualised insight into people's struggles to construct a career and a methodology for doing so. The paper also examines the difficulties of creating a ‘good enough’ professional, psychosocial space for experimentation with creative approaches in a marketised guidance world, where more is expected from less.     

Training and development for career management and talent development in wholesale and retail industry in South Africa

The study investigated ways to achieve sustainable career management as well as talent management for employees of a wholesale and retail industry operating in the city of Polokwane, South Africa. Employees (n = 85; females = 47%) completed a questionnaire on their perceptions and experiences of the use of training and development activities to support career management and talent development in their organisation. Data were analysed to predict the extent to which aspects of career management and talent development were explained by training and development within the work setting. Findings from the regression analysis indicate significant effects of the frequency of training needs assessment on career and talent management effectiveness. Significant effects of induction, career-focused job rotation practices, provision of mentors on career and talent development effectiveness are also shown. Career-focused training programmes and development variables appear to have a complementary effect on career management and talent management effectiveness.     

The Olympic Games as a career change-event: Israeli athletes' and coaches' perceptions of London 2012

ObjectivesThis study used the Scheme of Change for Sport Psychology Practice (SCSPP; Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011a) to examine athletes' and coaches' personal characteristics, perceptions of, coping with, and perceived outcome of the London 2012 Olympic Games (OGs). We also contrasted several sub-groups (e.g., Olympic and Paralympic athletes) in certain variables, and examined the decision-making and support systems involved in the OGs change process.Design and methodsA cross-sectional and retrospective design was used. Israeli Olympic and Paralympic athletes and coaches (N = 61) completed measures of change-event experiences (Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011b) and athletic/coaching identity (AI/CI; Brewer & Cornelius, 2001) two years after the London 2012 OGs.ResultsOlympic athletes trained more, and had higher motivation and AI than Paralympic athletes. The OGs were perceived as a significant and positive change-event in the participants' careers. AI/CI was associated with the perceived significance of the OGs. At the time of Olympic qualification, the participants tended either to ignore this change-event or cope with it independently. Most participants reported making a decision to change related to adjustment and coping. Professional support was mainly available prior to and during the OGs. During this experience the participants did not consider using sport psychology services, but retrospectively, valued the usefulness of this support. Athletes' motivation after the OGs was predicted from their satisfaction of coping, and their perceived outcome of this change-event was predicted from their satisfaction of competition results.ConclusionsPsychological support must be provided as part of the Olympic cycle, especially in promoting a decision to change. Maintaining realistic expectations may be critical for facilitating a positive perception of this change-event.     

未来工作自我:概念、测量及其相关研究

未来工作自我是一个未来导向概念,反映的是个体关于工作希望和抱负的未来形象的表征,是可能自我在工作领域的应用,为理解人们的主动职业行为提供了新视角。未来工作自我具有清晰度和详细度两个属性,并与职业可能自我存在区别。目前,研究证实:自尊、主动性人格和职业探索能够预测未来工作自我;未来工作自我又会影响主动职业行为、求职结果、创造力和工作绩效。未来研究可以关注:未来工作自我的弹性和易得性、认知的预测作用、情感的中介作用、领导风格的调节作用以及干预研究。     

工作使命感:一个正在复苏的研究课题

将工作看成是使命(view work as calling)一直被人类社会文化所倡导。近年来,使命感成为西方学术界的研究热点。西方学者围绕使命感的概念内涵、测量以及对在职人员的主观幸福感、工作态度与行为的影响进行了大量研究。使命感的未来研究议题应当在:探讨使命感的来源;从正面和负面继续探讨使命感的影响效果;考察使命感的前因变量。关于研究方式方法,未来研究应当:强化理论导向、强化纵向和跨层次研究、开展本土化研究。