Innovation Meets Need: Career Counselling and Youth Populations in Uncertain Times

Abstract

According to the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (UNDESAPD) the world’s youth population between the ages 15–24 numbered 1.2 billion, approximately midway into the second decade of the 21st century (UNDESAPD, in Population Facts No. 2015/1: Youth population trends and sustainable development. United Nations, New York, 2015). The International Labor Organization (ILO) noted that the experiences of youth with employment and the world of work in the first decade of the 21st century were significantly impacted by the global economic crisis. The 13% youth unemployment rate that came between 2012 and 2014, as the crisis was stabilizing, reflected a more grim reality. Unemployed youth comprised 36.7% of the unemployed across the globe as of 2014 (ILO, in Global employment trends for youth 2015: Scaling up investments in decent jobs for youth. International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland, 2015). Scholars have recognized the delays experienced by youth populations as they seek to enter the world of work. As the second decade of this century approaches, the youth of the world are as in need now of career related services as ever before, if perhaps not more. The turn of the 21st century brought innovations within the field of career counselling in terms of theory, research, and practice. Particularly, life design (Savickas et al., in Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75(3):239–250, 2009; Savickas, in Journal of Counselling & Development, 90(1):13–19 2012, Savickas, in Life Design counselling manual. Rootstown, OH 2015) and career construction theory (Savickas, in Career choice and development. Jossey Bass, San Francisco, pp. 149–205, 2002; Savickas, in Career development and counselling: Putting theory and research to work. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, pp. 42–70, 2005; Savickas, in Career development and counselling: Putting theory and research to work. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, pp. 147–183, 2013) offer promising possibilities for working with youth populations.