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.     

A practitioner's notes on the free-associative method as existential praxis

Freud's pre-1914 texts demonstrate why he consistently asserted that his free-associative method was the sine qua non of his discipline. Prior to 1914, Freud's theorizing was intimately and inextricably connected to his lived experience with the discovery of this method. After 1914, he became more speculative in this thinking and writing; his models of the “mental apparatus” and its functioning drew increasingly on conceptual sources other than his experience with free association. The four fundamental coordinates of his discipline (the methodical disclosure that self-consciousness is repressive, the nonlinear “time of the mind,” the significance of our sensual embodiment or libidinality, and the formation of the repression barrier by the incest taboo) are all closely tied to free-associative experience. By contrast, post-1914 theoretical preoccupations (from object relations to the structural-functional model, and other formulations generated after Freud's life) are comparatively divorced from such experience. These conceptual edifices imply a conventional depiction of the theory–practice relationship, which is radically challenged by free-associative discourse. The notion of praxis is introduced as contesting the prevailing depiction of practice as an application of theory, and as serving to rescue psychoanalysis from the somewhat “sterile debates” over its scientific status and over the relevance of metapsychological speculation to clinical treatment. Against the normative ideology of theory and practice, the lived experience of free-associative discourse, with its potential for change and healing, can only be understood in terms of this notion of praxis, and this justifies Freud's claim to have initiated “a critical new direction in science.”     

The professional career on the right track: A study on the interaction between career self-management and organizational career management in explaining employee outcomes

This article explores the relationship between organizational career management and career self-management and addresses the impact on employee outcomes. Within six large organizations, a sample of 491 employees reported on their career self-management initiatives, on their expectations towards organizational career support, and on their commitment and career success. This was complemented by information from their supervisors on career management support offered by HR and line management to these employees. Results show that individuals who take more initiatives to manage their career expect more career support from their employer. Career self-management positively impacts affective commitment and perceived career success, while organizational career management is positively related with affective commitment and career progress. Career self-management moderates the relationship of organizational career management with affective commitment and subjective career success.     

Patriarchal influences on the lives of African adolescent girls from child-headed households

This study examined the gendered experiences of patriarchal family life by adolescent girls from a low socio-economic status (SES) neighbourhood in South Africa. The informants were nine girls from an urban setting, three of whom were from child-headed homes. The six others lived with extended family and served to provide typical experiences for girls from the same community. Data on the girls’ experience of patriarchal values were gathered using focus group discussions and a photo-voice booklet. Thematic analysis of the data suggested pervasive patriarchal value influences on the adolescent girls – including pressure from within themselves to prove their academic abilities, as well as being competent and responsible in daily living responsibilities. The informant girls perceived their greater educational aspirations to be discounted by their male peers, who did not seem to take them seriously.     

Career-related dispositional factors in relation to retention within the retail sector: An exploratory study

The study aimed to explore the extent to which employees’ organisational commitment and career adaptability predicted employee retention factors in the South African retail sector; taking employee demographics into account. A sample of 224 early to mid-career permanent retail employees participated in the study (single?=?51.3%; female?=?53.1%; mixed-race?=?50.9%). The participants responded to surveys on their organisational commitment, career adaptability, and retention factors. A stepwise regression analysis was computed to predict employee retention factors from their organisational commitment and career adaptability. Results suggested the organisational commitment and career adaptability to explain 16% of the variance in employee retention factors. Of the organisation commitment factors, affective commitment was the most predictive of employee retention; followed by normative commitment. The career adaptability factor of curiosity predicted work-life balance. Talent retention in the retail sector appears to be explained by organisational commitment factors relatively more so than by career adaptability factors.     

Influences on Career Choice Among Psychology Undergraduate Students: Role of Social Agents

The study explored factors that mediate the choice of psychology as a major subject by undergraduate students. Participants were a convenience sample of 368 students from two higher education institutions in Southern Africa (males =186, females =182, mean age = 22.35 years, SD=2.84 years). Data were collected using a survey that investigated social agents that are considered important in students' career choices. The data were analysed to explore differences by family and peer influences. The findings suggest that the students in the sample regarded social influences important in their choice of psychology as a major subject.     

Work-related counselling-a psychodynamic approach

Abstract

The paper sets out to stimulate interest in counsellors and therapists about the unconscious relationships which people form with their work, through describing and analysing what goes on in work-related counselling with a psychodynamic approach. The author draws on twenty-five years of experience to reflect on the changing nature of what was once termed ‘vocational guidance', and offers some short case studies, as examples of ways in which a person's world of work can become intertwined with their internal world in a confusing and disabling way. The core concepts and techniques which have evolved are identified and discussed; attention is directed particularly to the importance of the client's expectations, die effect of time limitation, the place of work in the whole life, and dealing with transference.     

The Power of Feelings

Abstract

The relationship between myth, the dream, narrative and career are explored in order to understand better the underlying factors that influence career development and will thus inform the work of career counsellors. A case study is used to illustrate how these insights can be used in practice.     

False dawns,bleak sunset: the Coalition Government's policies on career guidance

ABSTRACT

The Coalition Government's policies on career guidance are analysed. Its rhetorical concern for career guidance provision is based largely on its support for social mobility, and its recognition of the role of career guidance in moving towards a demand-led skills system. Initial policy statements affirmed its intention to establish an all-age careers service, to revitalise the professional status of career guidance and to safeguard the partnership between schools and external provision. But these policies have been undermined by its commitment to school autonomy and to public expenditure cuts, exacerbated by indecision and delays due to difficulties in resolving the tensions within its policies. The result is a significant erosion of the all-age vision, and a likely major reduction in the extent and quality of careers help for young people.     

Career counsellors and suicide risk assessment

ABSTRACT

Recent discussions suggest that career counsellors need to be trained in more holistic frameworks in order to deal with the career and psychological issues of their clients. In particular, research shows a strong connection between employment and suicidality, including changes in socioeconomic status, disruption in employment, sudden unemployment, learning disabilities, occupational stress, difficulties at work and interpersonal conflicts. Many people struggling with work-related issues are likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, isolation or substance misuse, all significant risk factors associated with suicidal ideation. Therefore, by becoming competent in dealing with both vocational and personal issues, career counsellors might be in a unique position to be effective in assessing suicidal risk due to their less stigmatised role in the field.