Field Of Career Development Research Articles

The Career Development Facilitator Project: Then and Now

The National Career Development Association (NCDA) has consistently been involved in the professional training of individuals who provide career development services for youth and adults. It has provided outstanding leadership in the field of career development. NCDA's impact on the training of professionals and paraprofessionals working in the career development field is evident in its support of the Career Development Facilitator (CDF) project and delivery of CDF training. This article provides a history of the CDF project, its development and expansion from national to international use, current developments in the project, and its impact on the careers of those involved.

Competencies for the Contemporary Career

A new and promising area of research has recently emerged in the field of career development: career competencies. The present article provides a framework of career competencies that integrates several perspectives from the literature. The framework distinguishes between reflective, communicative, and behavioral career competencies. Six career competencies are discerned: reflection on motivation, reflection on qualities, networking, self-profiling, work exploration, and career control. Based on this framework, we developed the Career Competencies Questionnaire (CCQ) and preliminarily validated it in two samples of young employees between 16 and 30 years of age. The results provided initial support for the content, factorial, discriminant, and incremental validity of the CCQ. We hope to stimulate further discussion, research, and development of interventions in the area of career development. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.

Telling Stories of Career Assessment

In the field of career development, there is an acknowledged relationship between career assessment and career counseling. Traditional career assessment and more recent narrative approaches to career counseling are perceived as having an uneasy relationship because of their different philosophical bases. A sustainable future story for the field could be constructed that is guided by the complementarities of both. This article considers this potential complementarity and describes a qualitative Integrative Structured Interview (ISI) Process to construct stories about Holland’s Self-Directed Search (SDS). Narrative career counseling and the story telling approach are the foundation of a qualitative ISI process based on story crafting questions to demonstrate the complementarity of career assessment and story telling.

The Chaos Theory of Careers: a New Perspective on Working in the Twenty-first Century

This text outlines the application of chaos theory to the field of career development. It draws together and extends the work that the authors have been doing over the last eight to 10 years on the chaos theory of careers. The key themes include: factors such as complexity, change, and contribution; people's aspirations in relation to work and personal fulfillment; and contemporary realities of career choice, career development and the working world. This text represents a new perspective on the nature of career development. It emphasizes the dimensions of careers frequently neglected by contemporary accounts of careers such as the challenges and opportunities of uncertainty, the interconnectedness of current life and the potential for information overload, career wisdom as a response to unplanned change, new approaches to vocational assessment based on emergent thinking, the place of spirituality and the search for meaning and purpose in, with and through work, the integration of being and becoming as dimensions of career development.

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale With Korean Students: A Rasch Model Approach

The Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSE) is one of the most frequently used in the field of career development and counseling. In this study, using the Rasch rating scale model analysis, the CDSE Scale was evaluated by the content, structural, and substantive aspects of validity in a sample of college students from South Korea. Overall, the 5-point Likert-type format response categories are suitable for the scale. In addition, most items, except three (17, 13, and 25), form a unidimensional trait based on the results from item-fit statistics and principle component analysis with standardized residuals. For those three differentiated items, the content evidence of the validity of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale—Short Form (CDSE-SF) is suggested for future research.

Interview with Lester Oakes

Lester Oakes is the President of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance and the Chief Executive of New Zealand Career Services. He has been a leader in the career development field, contributing particularly to matters of public policy and creating a world class-career service in New Zealand. Lester is driven by the belief that the careers industry is a credible contributor to governments' broader economic and social development agendas and is central to achieving governments' education, employment, economic and social policy objectives. He is also a strong advocate for and practitioner of work-life balance.

Is Mixed Methods Research Used in Australian Career Development Research?

Mixed methods research has become a substantive and growing methodological force that is growing in popularity within the human and social sciences. This article reports the findings of a study that has systematically reviewed articles from the Australian Journal of Career Development from 2004 to 2009. The aim of the study was to provide a methodological map of the career development research reported through this academic journal and, in particular, the use of mixed methods research. A multi-strand conversion mixed model research design was employed for the study. The results were compared to similar research conducted in related discipline areas (psychology, school psychology and vocational education and training) to place the field of career development along the Creswell and Plano Clark (2007) framework for evaluating the level of acceptance of mixed methods research within disciplines.

Factors Influencing the Career Planning and Development of University Students in Jordan

The purpose of this study was to translate and validate an Arabic version of the career influence inventory for use in Jordan. The study also investigated perceptions of university students of the influential factors that have influenced their career planning and development. The validated career influence inventory was administered to 558 undergraduate students. Principle axis factoring with oblique rotation was used to uncover the underlying structure of the Arabic version of the career influence inventory. Results showed a latent factor structure highly consistent with the English version. Results also indicated that students' career planning was highly influenced by parents, teachers, friends, high school academic experience and self-efficacy, respectively. Ethnic-gender expectations and negative social events were perceived by students as having low levels of influence on their career planning. A number of recommendations are also offered for the field of career planning and development.

Narrative‐based career counseling perspectives in times of change: an analysis of strengths and limitations

There is an ongoing movement in the career development counseling field that focuses on narrative‐based approaches. The purposes of this article are to analyze the factors that led to a turn to narrative career counseling, to examine the strengths of narrative, and to outline potential limitations. The literature review examined scholarly work in the career development field. Contributions from other disciplines (e.g., medicine) were integrated to provide complementary perspectives. The author contends that there is an appropriate place for narrative in career and employment counseling. Suggestions for addressing limitations and applications for career and employment counselors are highlighted.

Career Development Research for Evidence-Based Policy

The contribution that the field of career development can make to national policy agenda and formulations on the basis of research are discussed. A precis of how career development can be used to improve students' educational experiences and outcomes, and how they can be used at an institutional level are highlighted.

Navigating the National Qualifications Framework (NQF): The role of career guidance

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) recently commissioned a review of the career development field in South Africa. The review was designed to clarify what SAQA’s role might be in assisting learners throughout life to navigate their ways through the complex array of education, training and work opportunities (including, but not confined to, those within higher education). This article situates the initiative historically and, in particular, in relation to the experiences in the late 1970s and 1980s of the first community-based non-governmental career development organisation, the Careers Research and Information Centre (CRIC). It also locates it in relation to policy developments internationally. It argues that the time is ripe for a high-level national career development initiative in South Africa that could act as a catalyst for career development services across all education, training and work sectors, both public and private, within a lifelong learning philosophy and approach.

Self in career theory and counselling: a discourse analysis perspective

ABSTRACT A rapidly changing postmodern working world demands revised conceptualisations of the self. Recent scholarship in discourse analysis invites an investigation into how selves are constructed and fabricated within a complex matrix of social discourses, and how this may impact on the field of career counselling and development. This paper examines the self in career counselling and development from a Foucauldian discourse analysis perspective in terms of the self's situatedness in history, narrative and power. In addition, counselling implications within a discourse analysis perspective are provided.

The predictors of subjective career success: an empirical study of employee development in a Korean financial company

Subjective career success has recently been discussed widely in the academic field of career development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictors of subjective career success. It examined the effects of the calling work orientation, the individual's career‐enhancing strategy and the organizational learning climate on the subjective career success of 253 employees in a company in the Korean financial sector. The results identified three significant predictors of subjective career success: creating opportunity, calling work orientation and continuous learning. Among the significant predictors, creating opportunity – part of the individual's career‐enhancing strategy – proved to be the best predictor of subjective career success. Conclusions were drawn and implications and limitations discussed.

The effects of organizational learning climate, career-enhancing strategy, and work orientation on the protean career

The concept of the protean career has been discussed in the career development field over the last three decades. The main purpose of this study was to conduct an empirical assessment of the individual protean career attitude and investigate the relationships between the protean career attitude and other variables such as organizational learning climate, individual career-enhancing strategy and work orientation. The hypotheses were investigated through a correlation and a path analysis of data from 244 employees of a Korean financial company. The results provide useful information on the direct effects of career-enhancing strategy and work orientation on the protean career attitude. In addition, an indirect effect of organizational learning climate was identified.

Interview with Professor Beryl Hesketh

Professor Beryl Hesketh is an internationally regarded figure in the field of career development. Professor Hesketh's leadership is acknowledged in her being a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia. She is also a Fellow the Australian Psychological Society and the USA Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She received the Elton Mayo Award in 1997 for her contribution to research and teaching in organisational psychology. Currently, Professor Hesketh is the Executive Dean of the College of Health and Science at the University of Western Sydney.

Applying Chaos Theory to Careers: Attraction and attractors

This article presents the Chaos Theory of Careers with particular reference to the concepts of “attraction” and “attractors”. Attractors are defined in terms of characteristic trajectories, feedback mechanisms, end states, ordered boundedness, reality visions and equilibrium and fluctuation. The identified types of attractors (point, pendulum, torus and strange) and their relevance to career development are described. The attractor concept is then applied to major barriers in career development and life transition by a consideration of closed and open systems thinking. It is contended that ultimately the context of human experience is an open system and that career development difficulties arise when closed systems thinking is used in an open systems reality. The practical counseling applications and counseling research evidence using attractors are briefly reviewed. The additional potential contributions of the Chaos Theory of Careers to the career development field are also outlined.

Career Theory From an International Perspective

The Career Theory in an International Perspective group highlighted 7 approaches: action theory, self-construction model, transition model, dynamics of entering the workforce, narrative in career guidance, dilemma approach, and interactive identity construction. Three main characteristics appear to be common to these different contributions: (a) emphasis on contexts and cultural diversities, (b) self-construction or development emphasis, and (c) a constructivist perspective. Such conceptualizations are quite distinct from the methods and tools most often used by career and school counselors in their daily activities. A proliferation of models was noted. The need for new models, methods, and materials probably originates (a) in the diversity of societal questions emerging in the field of career development and self-construction and (b) in some differing points of view regarding goals of personal and career development interventions.

Career Techniques and Interventions: Themes From an International Conversation

The need for appropriate, timely, and increasingly comprehensive career development and education programs continues to escalate. It is interesting that despite the differences in cultures, religions, economies, political systems, and education structures, many countries face similar challenges when designing and implementing career development programs. Sharing and adapting career development interventions and techniques cross-culturally appear to be viable strategies for implementing or enhancing programs, provided the concepts and materials are tailored to the countries' unique requirements. Across the world, a large number of career development and education interventions have received wide recognition and been adapted for use by a number of countries. According to research and anecdotal data, many of the adaptation results have proven effective. Others, however, have fallen short of their intended outcomes, apparently because of a variety of factors; however, interest in adapting theories, programs, and materials for use beyond the environments for which they were designed remains high. Consequently, part of the symposium International Perspectives on Career Development was dedicated to understanding, on a deeper level, the factors that influence cross-cultural and cross-national intervention adaptations. Group 3, one of seven small groups charged with specific symposium tasks, explored issues around career development techniques and interventions. Encouraging input from international specialists in the field of career development, this cross-cultural, cross-national group focused on the following questions: * Can career intervention techniques be used cross-culturally? * What are the considerations in applying career intervention techniques cross-culturally? * What are the difficulties in adapting career intervention techniques for cross-cultural use? This article is a synopsis of Group 3's findings. Using the key points of each of the presented papers and ensuing group discussions, we examine the three questions that guided Group 3, identify common themes and findings, and present the group's conclusions. The article ends with suggestions for further discussion and research. Question 1: Can Career Intervention Techniques Be Used Cross-Culturally? Evidence supports the contention that several career intervention techniques are being used cross-culturally. In fact, it appears that many countries share similar types of relatively sophisticated career development and planning programs. In his paper, George Richard (2004) reviewed international literature for exemplary career planning programs and, in the process, found several commonalities across countries. Using metaanalyses conducted in multiple countries, he noted five specific intervention components that significantly contributed to effect-size variability: * Written exercises such as keeping journals, diaries and logs; and using workbooks * Direct, individually focused interpretations of self-appraisal information, career planning activities, and decision-making strategies * Practical, up-to-date career and occupational information * Modeling and exposing clients to individuals who have attained success in career decision-making, and who demonstrate the process of career exploration, decision making, and implementation * Helping clients build networks of people (including family members and others in the client's social network) who are supportive and facultative of their career choices and plans, and help reduce the effects of perceived barriers and environmental influences (p. 2) Richard (2004) categorized his multinational, cross-cultural findings into three main areas-(a) content, (b) process and method of delivery, and (c) infrastructure of career planning and development programs-and noted their combined importance in successful client outcomes. * Content: Content elements focus on clients achieving important career development competencies, such as self-appraisal, self-management, and employability skills. …

Constructing a Life That Works: Part 2, An Approach to Practice

The 1st article (C. Campbell & M. Ungar, 2004) of this 2‐part exploration of postmodern approaches to family therapy and narrative approaches to career counseling explored the differences between traditional trait and factor counseling models and postmodern approaches using life narratives and social constructionism. In this 2nd article, the authors discuss 7 aspects of their practice as postmodern career counselors that ask clients to (a) know what you want, (b) know what you have, (c) know what you hear, (d) know what constrains you, (e) map your preferred story, (f) grow into your story, and (g) grow out of your story. Several case studies demonstrate the applicability of these theories to practice.

The Role of the Church in Career Guidance and Development: A Review of the Literature 1960-Early 2000s

In the last ten years, professional and popular literature focused on the relatedness of spirituality and career. The field of career guidance and development is beginning to integrate individuals' religious and spiritual beliefs. Likewise, it seems the Church would be a source of career assistance. This paper reviews professional literature, from 1960-early 2000s, regarding the role of the Church in the United States in career guidance and development. The focus is on vocational themes in relation to the Church, Church involvement in career guidance and development programs, and recommendations for the role of the Church in career guidance and development. The review concludes that over the past 40 years, the professional literature on this topic has declined. The Church has made grassroots efforts at providing career guidance, but only through improved communication of ideas and program results will the Church provide effective career programming on a larger scale.