PROSPECT (HE): An Evaluation of User Responses

The main features of PROSPECT (HE), a major new computer-aided guidance system for higher education institutions, are described. The results of its field trials within six higher education careers services show that the reactions of students and staff to the system are predominantly positive and that it has already established credibility with its users. There are, however, some 'tensions' between some of the principles on which the system is based: between matching and exploration; between coherence and flexibility; and between a phenomenological approach and an approach based on objective realism.