Career Guidance Interventions Research Articles

Exploring the Role of Sustainable Development Goals in Enhancing Courage, Proactive Career Behaviors, and Life Satisfaction

Understanding the current challenges addressed in the goals of the 2030 United Nations Agenda can influence career choices, encouraging individuals to pursue careers that contribute positively to addressing them. This study examines the association between the propensity to consider the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to future educational and career paths, courage, proactive career behaviors and life satisfaction, and the mediating role of courage and proactive career behaviors on the association between the propensity to consider the SDGs in relation to future educational and career paths and life satisfaction. The study sample consisted of 314 Italian university students. The serial multiple mediation model was used to examine the direct, indirect, and total effects. The results showed that the propensity to consider SDGs in relation to future educational and career paths, through courage and proactive career behaviors, has a positive impact on life satisfaction. The findings of this study have led to several actionable policy recommendations. These advocate for the integration of activities related to modules on the SDGs into their curricula. In addition, practical implications for career guidance interventions are proposed to consider the role of the SDGs in future career planning.

Profiles of Career Indecision: A Person-Centered Approach with Italian Late Adolescents

Choosing career paths in today’s contemporary labor market complexity is becoming more and more challenging for adolescents and young people. Career indecision could take over, and assessing its facets could guide career interventions to support the career decision-making process. To create increasingly tailored career guidance interventions, using a person-centered approach, this study aimed to understand whether profiles of late adolescents based on their career decision-making difficulties might be circumscribed. A total of 776 Italian late adolescents took part in this study. The assessment of career decision-making difficulties was conducted through the Career Decision-Making Questionnaire (CDDQ). To determine the optimal number of profiles, a Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) using the stepwise approach was used. Moreover, a multinomial logistic regression was conducted to study whether school grade and sex predicted profile membership. LPA revealed a four-profile model: “Lower Indecision” (Profile 1, 39%), “High Indecision” (Profile 2, 23%), “Very High Indecision” (Profile 3, 7%) and “Moderate Indecision” (Profile 4, 31%). Being enrolled in the last year of high school significantly predicted belonging to Profile 2 and Profile 3. Practical implications were discussed in light of these findings.

A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Investigation of Hopelessness Among University Students in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is of vital importance to explore its impact on the psychological wellbeing of the students in higher education. Accordingly, this research investigated hopelessness among students at a state university in Turkey throughout the pandemic. The research was conducted in two separate studies, one cross-sectional and the other longitudinal. Study I examined students’ hopelessness level in relation to gender, job or income loss, social media use, academic unit, and grade. Study II compared students’ hopelessness level during the distance and hybrid education periods. The data were collected online through Personal Information Form and Beck Hopelessness Scale in both studies. The findings of Study I indicated significantly higher hopelessness scores in females, students who experienced job or income loss, and seniors at faculties. It was also found that the level of hopelessness increased as the duration of social media use rose. In addition, Study II revealed that students’ hopelessness scores significantly decreased during the hybrid education in contrast to the distance education. Based on these findings, we suggest that during distance education in times of crisis, psychological counseling and career guidance interventions should be planned and coordinated according to the characteristics of risk groups, and e-learning models offering the highest social interaction should be preferred.

Effectiveness of career guidance workshops on the career self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and career goals of adolescents: an intervention study

ABSTRACT Studies consistently show the demand among adolescents for structured career guidance support programmes. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the career guidance workshop intervention by examining changes in career self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and career goals with 47 high school students in grades 10–12 (aged 16–18 years). Based on a five-step model including self-awareness, career exploration, school and career paths, real encounters, and decision-making, the career guidance workshop combined lectures, discussions, individual activities, and pair and group work. Data were collected through career self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and career goal questionnaires and analysed using a pre- and post-test design with a single intervention group. Results suggested a significant improvement in participants’ career self-efficacy and their career goals. Although the findings on outcome expectations were not significant, the findings also showed an increase after the intervention. Thus, career guidance intervention is considered a valuable basis to improve adolescents’ career decision-making skills.

Career Choices, Representation of Work and Future Planning: A Qualitative Investigation with Italian University Students

Choosing a career is one of the most challenging for young adults, and the representations of work could influence how people make decisions and build their career paths. This qualitative study examined the career choices, representations of work and future plans of 58 Italian university students. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed using a consensual qualitative research procedure. The results emphasize the centrality of environmental conditions and internal factors such as vocation and internal resources in career choice processes. Also crucial is students’ discussion of the meaning attributed to work as good for oneself and others. Finally, most students present in their narratives, clear future plans. Findings suggest themes to explore in career guidance interventions. Unpacking the influences of choices and working on the meaning attributed to work appears pivotal to career counseling interventions to orient young people toward powerfully pursuing their career choices.

Efficacy of school-based career guidance interventions: A review of recent research

This paper aims to examine the impacts of career guidance interventions on school students’ career-related skills, knowledge and beliefs by combining relevant empirical studies conducted in the last 10 years. A random-effects meta-analytic technique was employed for this purpose. After screening, electronic databases using pre-defined eligibility criteria, nine studies involving a total of 1,433 participants were included in the final meta-analysis. The analysis yielded a weighted mean effect size of 0.42 (95% confidence interval = 0.19, 0.65; z = 3.61, p < 0.01) which may be construed as a moderate-to-high effect size with a significant difference between the treatment and control conditions at post-treatment. As a result, post-test career-related outcomes in students who received career guidance were significantly higher than in non-guidance groups. The results suggest that career interventions may provide some modest developmental progression in school-age children and adolescents particularly through improving learners’ career decidedness and attitudes such as future time perspective. These findings might have strategic implications for policy and practice. This paper extends past research on career guidance effectiveness by identifying the combined effect size of relevant career interventions.

Willingness to Compromise Scale: Italian Validation and Assessment of the Relationship with Career Decision Self-Efficacy and Career Adaptability during School-to-Work Transition.

Willingness to compromise is defined as the propensity to accept an alternative career-related option that was not the one initially desired. In the literature, there is a validated scale for measuring willingness to compromise but not an Italian validation. Thus, Study 1 aimed to test the psychometric proprieties of the Willingness to Compromise Scale in a sample of 282 Italian university students. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed showing a second-order factorial structure with two well-separated first-order factors, i.e., compromising and adapting. Study 2 focused on the predicting role of willingness to compromise on career decision self-efficacy and the mediating role of career adaptability in this relationship. The sample consisted of 237 Italian university students. A mediation analysis with a 5000-bootstrap resampling procedure was computed. The results showed that willingness to compromise predicts both career decision self-efficacy and career adaptability, while career adaptability mediates the relationship between willingness to compromise and career decision self-efficacy. These findings allowed the discussion of practical implications for career guidance intervention aimed to support school-to-work transitions.

What future are you talking about? Efficacy of Life Design Psy-Lab, as career guidance intervention, to support university students' needs during COVID-19 emergency.

The pandemic increased world's uncertainty, and led to deep change in daily habits, generating disorientation, and inevitably affecting people life and professional plans. Young adults and students' future perspective and satisfaction with life were widely affected, especially for those facing school/ work transitions. Nevertheless, it was of primary importance for career guidance psychologists to intervene to support students despite having to navigate "on sight" and with little literature available. This paper will thus describe how the Life Design Psy-Lab, a career guidance service from Bicocca University (Milan, Italy) implemented a thematic online group intervention with 103 students enrolled. The intervention was based on the theoretical model of Life Design and was performed by career counselling psychologists. The intervention's goal was to foster students' development of skills and mindset to face complexity and unpredictability, shifting their time perception from an uncertain present to a more optimistic future scenario. The intervention's impact was assessed using pre and post online questionnaires. Results show how students increased their precepted level in a set of skills to face change and complexity after participating to the intervention. In more detail, students' precepted levels of career adaptability, courage, time perspective and resilience rose. Also, data show how the intervention strengthened students' life satisfaction. This paper will thus contribute to expand the growing yet still newborn set of knowledge about career guidance interventions in times of COVID-19 emergency, specifically addressing the issue of design interventions that can improve young adults' skills to visualize and project present and future for themselves, especially during uncertain times.

Logics of career choice - concept and results of an approval-sensitive career guidance workshop.

To manage the transition from school to work, young people need to learn about occupations, explore their own (professional) interests, skills and values, and make career-related decisions. According to Gottfredson's Career Construction (CC) theory (1981), young people - influenced by their need for social approval - have already narrowed down their spectrum of acceptable occupations by the time they participate in school-based career orientation programs. Therefore, we focus on career guidance interventions that take into account their need for social approval. We present first results of an intervention study of a newly developed approval-sensitive workshop, "Logic of Career Choice." It challenges students' mostly unconscious need for social approval, raising awareness and prompting reflection and action on this aspect of their career choices. By analyzing a sample based on a quasi-experimental treatment-control group research design, we examine to what extent this workshop can contribute to reaching its objectives [n = 1236 students in secondary schools; treatment group (n = 766); control group (n = 470)]. Confirmatory factor analyses indicate the reliability of the new measurement instruments. The six examined constructs include (1) the relevance of social approval, (2) the feeling of autonomy, (3) interest in career choice, (4) reflection of needs, (5) intention to act, and (6) reported career choice activities. The results reveal partial confirmation of hypothesis (1) regarding the importance of social approval and (2) the feeling of autonomy. However, the constructs (4) reflection of needs and (5) intention to act show parallel developments in both the treatment and control groups, leading to the rejection of these hypotheses. The constructs (3) interest in career choice and (6) retrospectively reported activities regarding career choice show unexpected effects of the workshop. Interest in career choice decreases significantly more in the treatment group than in the control group, and the treatment group reports significantly more retrospective career choice activities. The discussion interprets the results in the context of their scientific and practical implications, with special attention given to the decrease in interest in career choice in the treatment group and the increased retrospective reporting of career choice activities.

Subjective Well-Being and Future Orientation of NEETs: Evidence from the Italian Sample of the European Social Survey

The acronym ‘NEET’ includes adolescents and young people aged 15–34 years not engaged in education, employment or training programs. According to recent studies, NEET represents a high-risk category to suffer from lower well-being and mental health problems. Following a life course approach, this study examined the self-reported subjective well-being and the future orientation of NEETs. To do this, the study used the latest European Social Survey data (Round 9—2018), limiting our analysis to Italian respondents aged 15–34 years. The final sample included 695 participants. Descriptive analysis and Student’s t-test were performed to compare the subjective well-being and the future orientation of NEETs with those of non-NEET young adults. We hypothesize lower subjective well-beings in the NEET group and more difficulties in future planning than in the non-NEET group. Then, a mediation path model was carried out to study the relationship between employment condition (non-NEET/NEET) and subjective well-being through future orientation. The path model showed the mediator role of future orientation. Results indicated that future orientation plays a role in mitigating the effect of the unemployment condition on well-being. Starting from these findings, practical implications regarding career guidance interventions are discussed.

Exploring the impact of a career guidance intervention program in schools: Effects on knowledge and skills as self-assessed by students

Exploring the impact of a career guidance intervention program in schools: Effects on knowledge and skills as self-assessed by students

Teacher Evaluation of a Self-Directed Career Guidance Intervention for South African Secondary School Learners Amidst Severe COVID-19 Restrictions.

The South African government’s COVID-19 pandemic risk mitigation strategies significantly limited social contact, which necessitated a novel approach to existing face-to-face career guidance practices. The Grade 9 Career Guidance Project, originally developed as a group-based career development intervention, required radical adaptation into a self-directed, manualized format to offer career guidance to Grade 9 learners from low-income communities amid a global pandemic. The adaptation and continuation of the project was deemed essential as secondary school learners in low-income communities have limited career guidance support. Furthermore, a close collaboration with the teachers at eight resource-constrained South African secondary schools was vital for successful implementation. To assess the success of the adaptation to a self-directed format, a mixed-methods design was employed, and Life Orientation teachers’ evaluative feedback was solicited (n = 11). Favorable quantitative results were obtained; majority of teachers agreed that learners enjoyed the booklet (manualized format) and that it was deemed an adequate substitute to the previous contact-based format of the Career Guidance Project. This was also confirmed by the qualitative findings revealing teachers’ satisfaction with the booklet’s content, specifically that the booklet is complementary to the Life Orientation curriculum. Qualitative findings identified specific contextual barriers that contributed to some learners struggling to use the booklet optimally. The results suggest that it is feasible and acceptable to implement a self-directed career guidance intervention among secondary school learners amid a global pandemic. Teachers recommended ways to integrate the booklet, resources, and contact sessions as a preferred way forward. These findings have important implications for similar resource-constrained settings that may not have readily access to in-person career guidance and counseling human development.

Developing a self-directed career guidance intervention for South African high school learners amidst severe COVID-19 restrictions

Background: South African schools have been severely impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. State-imposed restrictions to mitigate the spread of the infection have significantly limited direct interpersonal contact, curtailing the existing career guidance and counselling activities in schools. Crucially, in low-income settings, the social distancing regulations implied that in a year of increasing anxiety and uncertainty, many high school learners would have had to make important career-related decisions with limited or no tacit career guidance.Objectives: In response to these challenges, this study developed a self-directed career guidance intervention to provide continued career guidance support for Grade 9 learners amidst the unfolding global pandemic.Method: A cross-sectional mixed-methods design was employed to evaluate feasibility and acceptability of the intervention amongst a sample of 498 learners across eight high schools in the Cape Winelands district, Western Cape province, South Africa.Results: Favourable quantitative results were obtained assessing learners’ experiences of participating in the intervention and on the perceived impact of the intervention on their career preparedness. Participants reported a mean score of 41.25 (out of 50) for acceptability of the intervention. In addition, they reported a mean score of 17.1 (out of 20) for perceived impact of the intervention on their career preparedness. In terms of feasibility, qualitative findings revealed that the intervention improved learners’ self-knowledge and career directionality.Conclusion: The mixed-methods results confirm the feasibility and utility of implementing a self-directed career guidance intervention amongst secondary school learners. Whilst learners reported positive evaluations of the self-directed career guidance booklet, they also expressed the need for one-on-one or group engagement with the intervention content.

Increasing students’ career readiness through career guidance: measuring the impact with a validated measure

ABSTRACT Career readiness is an important short-term outcome of career guidance activities in England. This research (1) details the development of a career readiness measure and (2) tests the relationship between career guidance interventions and career readiness among secondary school students. The measure was piloted on pupils (Study 1, N = 1508) in England taking part in a career guidance pilot programme. The instrument fitted a nine-item one-factor structure. In Study 2 (N = 2240), we found further evidence the factor structure was a good fit to the data. In Study 3 (N = 5242), we tested the relationship between career guidance activities and career readiness. Greater participation in career guidance activities was significantly associated with increased career readiness. These findings have implications for policymakers and researchers.

Beyond the Individual: A Group-Based Career Development Intervention Implemented in Resource-Constrained Schools in South Africa

ABSTRACT In South African high schools, many learners have limited support in making career related decisions to prepare them for the world of work after school. An important early transition for career-related decision-making is at the end of Grade 9 when learners are expected to decide which subjects they will select for the last phase of high school. Grade 9 is also the juncture where adolescents may decide to exit their formal schooling and enter the labor market. To support Grade 9 learners in making informed career-related decisions, this study examined the effectiveness of a group-based career guidance intervention implemented in eight secondary schools located in resource-constrained communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. The intervention aimed to improve learners’ career decision-making readiness and aid in making subject choices and subsequent career choices. The intervention consisted of interest assessment conducted in a group-format with the learners, after which a workshop was facilitated to share relevant information pertaining to their interests, other career attributes and pending subject choices. The results of this study demonstrate a significant impact of early adolescents’ career adaptability and ability to engage in the career decision-making process. These results show promise in the implementation of group-based career intervention, supporting learners to make informed decisions in relation to their career paths.

‘Looking to the Future and the University in an Inclusive and Sustainable Way’: A Career Intervention for High School Students

Career guidance needs new perspectives, considering the challenges that characterize our future, and it cannot exist without solidarity, inclusion, and attention to environmental challenges. It should also positively influence stakeholders to invest in the values of the 2030 Agenda recently proposed by the United Nations, and its encouragement to think about some of the emergencies that new generations will have to face in the future. Based on these premises, we designed and validated a sustainable career guidance intervention for high school students. The participants (N = 75) were assigned to an experimental or a control group. All of the participants answered questions pre- and post-intervention to measure career adaptability, training, future investment, and wishes about the feature. The students from the sustainable career intervention group increased their post-intervention scores on control, curiosity, confidence, training, and future investment. They also indicated future wishes that take into more account attention to relationships and social challenges.

Exploring the impact of a career guidance intervention program in schools: Effects on knowledge and skills as self-assessed by students

The study aimed to test the impact of a career counselling intervention program (JOBS - Job Orientation. Training in business and schools) intended to improve students’ knowledge and skills related to employability’ preconditions. The intervention program was implemented as an optional subject for lower secondary and secondary education. Data were collected using a Solomon design from 1737 students, distributed in intervention and control groups, with and without pre-test, over one school year. The results showed no interaction between treatment and pre-test when self-assessed skills were tested and a small significant effect in case of self-assessed knowledge, but pre-test simple effect was not significant. Two conclusions emerged: intervention was effective, and pre-test did not improve the results by itself. The intervention program had significant effects on enhancing students’ knowledge and skills that are useful in career decisions. Taken outside the classroom, a career counselling intervention could offer more valid research data, but it also might have a smaller impact on student ability to cope with the requirements of social and work environment.

Bimbingan Karier dengan Teknik Modeling untuk Mengembangkan Kematangan Karier Peserta Didik

Career maturity is the readiness of an individual in choosing their career. This research aimed to examine the effectiveness of career guidance with modeling techniques to develop the students’ career maturity. This research implemented quasi-experimental research with nonequivalent control group design. Career maturity questionnaire was used as the research instrument. The participants consisted of nine experimental group students and nine control group students. The research samples were determined by implementing a purposive sampling technique. Data analysis used the Independent Sample T-Test. The results of data analysis showed the t value of 10.678 > t table 1.746, then the career maturity of the experimental group students after given career guidance intervention with modeling techniques was higher than the control group students who were not given intervention. It can be concluded that career guidance with modeling techniques effective to develop students' career maturity.

Career Guidance for Unaccompanied Young Migrants. A Report on an Italian Experience

Unaccompanied foreign minors are migrant children without their parents, relatives, or other adults. In Italy, especially in Sicily, an increasing number of young, non-European Union foreigners arrive daily in search of a new life and work opportunities. Despite this increasing phenomenon, interventions to support young migrants in career projects are infrequent and occasional within the host communities. With the aim of developing a career guidance intervention suitable for unaccompanied foreign minors, we propose a case study presenting a career guidance intervention for a group of unaccompanied foreign adolescents. The framework is the life design paradigm. The conductors of the activities were career counsellors, with the support of a cultural mediator and/or an educator. The setting of the interventions was individual and small groups. The instruments and procedures were predominantly qualitative. This paper includes a discussion of the strengths and weakness of this intervention, including the results of the post-intervention evaluation and the follow-up after one year.

What kinds of career options do rural disadvantaged youth want to know about? Career needs assessment framework and findings from two different contexts in India

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present a framework to examine the kinds of careers that rural disadvantaged youth would like to know about in a career guidance intervention as also related findings from two different rural disadvantaged contexts in India. Differences across gender, age group, region, and participation/non-participation in youth programmes are also explored. The results validate the importance of comprehensive career needs assessment and provide specific directions for designing and adapting career guidance interventions for rural disadvantaged youth. Implications for research and practice are discussed in general as well as for the specific contexts included in this study.