Digital storytelling: a tool for life design career intervention

Abstract

Life design is a postmodern paradigm in career interventions for which technology plays an important role in helping clients in career decision-making process. Accepting the role of technology and information technology in life, this study aims to investigate the effect of digital storytelling on career counseling process with life design paradigm. This is a quasi-experimental study with pretest, posttest, and follow-up with control group. For this purpose, 45 students in Tehran were randomly selected to participate in the labor market entrance course and they were assigned to (i) the digital storytelling (15 students), (ii) the face-to-face storytelling (15 students), and (iii) the control (15 students) groups. The career decision-making and the career decision-making self-efficacy questionnaires were completed in the pretest, the posttest, and the follow-up test. The findings showed that career decision-making and career decision-making self-efficacy of the subjects in the intervention groups increased relative to the control group and the group in which the digital storytelling was used for career interventions obtained higher career decision-making self-efficacy than other groups. According to the findings, it can be said that although no difference exists between students’ use of the digital storytelling and the face-to-face storytelling, the use of the digital storytelling results in higher career decision-making self-efficacy of students.