Adolescent Career Development Research Articles

Career development during childhood and adolescence

Identity development is central to the career development of children and adolescents. This article reviews the literature pertaining to identity development as being composed of career exploration, commitment, and reconsideration and offers some implications for career interventions.

Adolescent Career Development in Urban‐Residing Aboriginal Families in Canada

The purpose of this study was to understand how urban‐residing Aboriginal adolescent–parent dyads (n = 11) jointly constructed and acted on goals and strategies with their social supports (n = 17) to facilitate the adolescents' career development. A modified protocol following the qualitative action‐project method was used. A discrete joint project was identified for each family. These joint projects can be clustered into 3 joint career development projects: (a) navigating toward a safe future, (b) negotiating school continuance, and (c) intergenerational continuity through tradition of care. A 4th project emerging from the data was family survival. Family survival projects supplanted participants' efforts to engage in career development projects.

Critical Perspectives on Adolescent Vocational Guidance in Chile

In this article, the lens of critical psychology is applied to adolescent career development and vocational guidance in Chile. The authors describe and critique the status of adolescent vocational guidance in Chile, the reproduction of extant social inequities in Chilean education, and offer recommendations for enhancing vocational guidance practice, training, and research. The authors’ recommendations may be applicable to other contexts in which social disparities limit the vocational potential of significant groups in society.

Antecedents of Foreclosure in Young Adolescents’ Career Decision-Making

Exploring one’s occupational possibilities is one of the major developmental tasks in adolescent career development and a lack of exploration is considered especially troublesome. This longitudinal study explored antecedents of foreclosure in career decision-making, i.e. the tendency to prematurely commit to a career choice without prior throughout exploration of the available possibilities. Participants were 334 Swiss students in eighth grade. The results show that social-cognitive variables of generalized self-efficacy (GSE) , externality of control beliefs, and perceived barriers and vocational interest variables of interest profile differentiation, consistency, and elevation significantly predicted foreclosure compared to achievement or diffusion. Specifically, male gender, less GSE, and less elevation predicted foreclosure compared to achievement. Male gender, less perceived barriers, less differentiation, and less consistency predicted foreclosure compared to diffusion. The initial developmental status was the strongest single predictor of later status. Implications for counseling practice are discussed.

Sociopolitical development, work salience, and vocational expectations among low socioeconomic status African American, Latin American, and Asian American youth.

Structural barriers constrain marginalized youths' development of work salience and vocational expectations. Sociopolitical development (SPD), the consciousness of, and motivation to reduce, sociopolitical inequality, may facilitate the negotiation of structural constraints. A structural model of SPD's impact on work salience and vocational expectations was proposed and its generalizability tested among samples of low-socioeconomic-status African American, Latin American, and Asian American youth, with Educational Longitudinal Study data. Measurement and temporal invariance of these constructs was first established before testing the proposed model across the samples. Across the three samples, 10th-grade SPD had significant effects on 10th-grade work salience and vocational expectations; 12th-grade SPD had a significant effect on 12th-grade work salience. Tenth-grade SPD had significant indirect effects on 12th-grade work salience and on 12th-grade vocational expectations for all three samples. These results suggest that SPD facilitates the agentic negotiation of constraints on the development of work salience and vocational expectations. Given the impact of adolescent career development on adult occupational attainment, SPD may also foster social mobility among youth constrained by an inequitable opportunity structure.

Positive Adolescent Career Development: The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Work Values

This longitudinal study of 268 Swiss adolescents, spanning across 8th grade, investigated the relation of intrinsic and extrinsic work values to positive career development in deciding, planning, and exploring. Results showed that girls reported more intrinsic and fewer extrinsic work values compared with boys. Students with an immigration background reported more extrinsic values than did students of Swiss nationality. When gender, nationality, and scholastic achievement were controlled, more general work value endorsement was a significant predictor of an above‐average increase in career development over the course of the school year. Endorsement of more intrinsic but not extrinsic work values was related to positive career development.

Inter-relationships among attachment to mother and father, self-esteem, and career indecision

This study investigated the mediating role of adolescents’ global self-esteem, based on the relationship between adolescents’ mother or father attachment and their career indecision; as well as the mediating role of adolescents’ career indecision on the relationship between mother or father attachment and self-esteem. Two hundred and forty-one adolescents completed a self-report questionnaire that measured the difficulty in making decisions about their future academic and vocational careers, their global self-esteem, and their attachment to their parents. Results showed that the more adolescents felt attached to their mother and father the easier it was for them to make career decisions. The self-esteem mediation hypothesis is supported as a function of parent and adolescent gender. Similarly, the mediating role of career indecision is confirmed and depends on the gender of both parents and adolescents. Interpersonal context, identity development, adolescent career development and the relationship between them are discussed.

Book Review: Career Development in Childhood and Adolescence

Review(s) of: Career Development in Childhood and Adolescence, Vladimar B. Skorikov and Wendy Patton (Eds.) (2007) The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 360 pp, US$49.00, ISBN 9789087901592 (Pbk.) Includes figures.

Measuring Perceived Teacher Support and Its Influence on Adolescent Career Development

This article examines available measures of perceived teacher support and presents findings from two studies exploring the psychometric properties of the Teacher Support Scale (TSS). In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis suggested a hierarchical structure with four first-order factors (Invested, Positive Regard, Expectations, and Accessible subscales) loading onto a single, higher order factor, excellent reliability, and concurrent validity. Perceived teacher support was significantly correlated with career decision-making self-efficacy and vocational outcome expectations. In Study 2, a confirmatory factor analysis did not provide replication of the initial model in a separate sample. However, the four, first-order factors explained a statistically significant amount of the variance in question items, and support was provided for their strong relationship to a single, higher order construct of teacher support. Recommendations for future practice and research on the role of teacher support in adolescent career development and suggestions for modifications to the measure are provided.

The Role of Parental Influences on Young Adolescents' Career Development

The relationship between specific parental behaviors and the career development of young adolescents was assessed. Regression analyses revealed that parental behaviors did relate to the career development of middle school students, after controlling for student grade level and gender. Parental behaviors tended to relate more to career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) than to career maturity, and general psychosocial parenting behaviors appeared to be more salient than career-focused parent behaviors. Five specific behaviors were found to be predictive of participants' career development. The discrepancy between adolescents' and parents' views of family relationships was also shown to relate to the adolescents' career decision-making self-efficacy. The results from the current study further expand on the results from other studies in this area by providing insight into the effects of specific parental behaviors. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

South African Adolescents' Career Development through the Lens of the Systems Theory Framework: An Exploratory Study

Adolescent career development has predominantly been studied in the context of middle class Eurocentric cultures and there have been calls for greater attention to the career development of non-dominant and disadvantaged groups. Further, there have been calls to explore career development in terms of its context and process. In this regard, the need for research measures and approaches sensitive to adolescents and particular cultures has been recognised. This is particularly the case in South African career psychology. The present study used a qualitative career assessment instrument, My System of Career Influences, to explore influences on the career development of disadvantaged South African adolescents living in a children's home. Consistent with previous international and national studies, parents were shown to be an important influence. Unlike previous studies, the influence of working overseas was also identified as an important influence. The MSCI was shown to be effective in providing insight into both the context and process of career development and as a research instrument that may be used with adolescents. Recommendations for future research are made.

Analysis of Research in the Influence of Parents on the Adolescent Career Choice and Development

Analysis of Research in the Influence of Parents on the Adolescent Career Choice and Development

Individualism and Collectivism: A Framework for Examining Career Programs through a Cultural Lens

Cultural diversity and the cultural context of adolescent career development are explored through the lens of the cultural syndromes of individualism and collectivism. The individualist cultural value orientation of some of the main theoretical perspectives that underpin career education and counselling practice in schools is highlighted. In particular; the self-concept and career maturity segments of Super's (1990) lifespan, lifespace theory, career interests, career decision making and the career counselling process are examined with reference to the cultural syndromes of individualism and collectivism. Also discussed is the potential inappropriateness of theoretical perspectives that reflect an individualist cultural value orientation for the career development of all students. Finally, Leong and Serafica's (2001) cultural accommodation approach to enhancing the cultural relevance of existing career theories and models is outlined. Some examples of strategies are presented that might fill cultural gaps, which may exist in career education and counselling practices in schools.

Stability and change in interests: A longitudinal study of adolescents from grades 8 through 12

The pattern of RIASEC interests and academic skills were assessed longitudinally from a large-scale national database at three time points: eight grade, 10th grade, and 12th grade. Validation and cross-validation samples of 1000 males and 1000 females in each set were used to test the pattern of these scores over time relative to mean changes, stability, crystallization, and interest–career choice congruence as well as how these patterns were moderated by gender. Results indicate that the pattern of interests was fairly stable in grades 8–12 for males and females. Interests were also found to become more crystallized over time; however interest–career choice congruence evidenced an inverted V pattern. With further examination, student interests became less people based and their career choices more people based in grade 12. The results support the importance of grade 12 as a time of focus for research and intervention, and for continuing investigation of gender differences in adolescent career and academic development.

Native American Adolescent Career Development

Within the framework of Social Cognitive Career (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994, 2000), this study examined the associations among career interests, career efficacy expectations, gender, and perceived parent support among Native American and Caucasian middle school adolescents. Consistent with previous research, results indicated that Native American young people had greater interests in Realistic and Conventional occupations, and in occupations that typically require a high-school diploma, a trade school certificate, or 2 years of post high-school education. However, contrary to previous findings, they had as great a range of interests in and self-efficacy expectations for Investigative, Artistic, Social, and Enterprising occupations as Caucasian adolescents, and similarly high levels of interests, efficacy, and perceived parent support for careers typically requiring 4 or more years of post-high school education.

Career Self‐Efficacy and Perceptions of Parent Support in Adolescent Career Development

The authors examined the relative contributions of both proximal and distal supports to the career interests and vocational self‐efficacy in a multiethnic sample (N = 139) of middle school adolescents. Consistent with Social Cognitive Career Theory, it was found that (a) vocational self‐efficacy and career planning/exploration efficacy consistently predicted young adolescents' career interests across Holland (J. L. Holland, D. R. Whitney, N. S. Cole, & J. M. Richards, 1969) themes; (b) gender and career gender‐typing predicted interests in Realistic, Investigative, and Social careers; and (c) perceived parent support accounted for 29% to 43% of the total unique variance in vocational self‐efficacy for all Holland theme careers.

Career development in adolescence as a family project.

This study conceptualizes and investigates career-relevant parent-child conversations and other actions over time as a family project. Dyads composed of a parent and an adolescent from 20 families participated in a videotaped career-related conversation to determine a family career-development project that was subsequently monitored for a 6-month period and followed up with a 2nd videotaped conversation. On the basis of a systematic qualitative analysis, several dimensions were identified as facilitating the family career-development project, including joint goals, communication, goals-steps congruence, and individuation. These family career-development projects were organized as part of broader relationship, identity, parenting, and cultural projects that also played a decisive role in the success of the family career-development projects themselves.

Career development in adolescence as a family project.

Career development in adolescence as a family project.

Following Super's Heritage: Evaluation of a Career Development Program in Spain

One of Super's most important contributions has been his emphasis onthe fact that careers develop over a life span. He proposed thatcounsellors measure career development through the construct ofvocational maturity, by identifying the coping methods used in facing avocational task at each chronological age. To complement the constructof maturation as the central process in adolescent career development hedevised measures of career maturity, such as the Career DevelopmentInventory – School Form (CDI-SF). Adopting an integratedperspective akin to Super and the specific concepts he identified ascomprising Career Maturity, the author reviewed recent advances inguidance and counselling theories to lay the theoretical foundations forthe design of her Career Development Program: Tu Futuro Profesional– TFP (Your Future Career). This article shows that, althoughthe concept of career maturity has its limitations, the CDI can be usedto measure the outcome of the Program – TFP and to evaluate itseffectiveness. This procedure was used in a pre-post-test research with4991 Spanish students from the 7th to 11th grade.

Infant Attachment Security as a Discriminant Predictor of Career Development in Late Adolescence

This longitudinal study examined the predictive value of infant attachment security at 1 year for career development attitudes and educational aspirations at 18 years. Participants were drawn from an archived longitudinal study and assessed with Waters’ Attachment Q-set through secondary analysis of infancy records. Career development attitudes at 18 years were rated from participant interviews. In addition, parental derogation and idealization at 18 years were assessed to examine the importance of concurrent parent-child relationship factors for career development. Regression analyses revealed that infant attachment explained variance in career development attitudes at 18 years, with secure orientations related to better career development outcomes. Parental idealization and derogation at 18 each explained unique variance in career development indices. As expected, correlational analyses revealed that infant attachment security was unrelated to participants’ educational aspirations at 18 years.