Field Of Vocational Psychology Research Articles

Economic Justice and Vocational Psychology: Towards Community Change

In the present paper, we join the current dialogue in the field of vocational psychology regarding how neoliberal economic trends across the world have influenced the development of theory and approaches to vocational psychology. We propose an alternative perspective, that viewing career development from an economic justice lens, can provide an alternative to the existing neoliberal influence. An economic justice lens may aid us in moving from solely focusing on individual interventions and outcomes to those that help to create community-level change which in turn help create a more just economy for all. This is more than simply providing interventions to individuals in a community but requires shifting the locus of change to the community level. We detail four proposed career outcomes that center community-level change: Networking, Conscientization, Participation, and Liberation. Opportunities to utilize participatory action research, social network analysis, and other practice methods are encouraged. Finally, we offer examples of how vocational psychologists can take active roles in an economic justice approach to vocational psychology.

Making a Commitment to Your Future: Investigating the Effect of Career Exploration and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy on the Relationship between Career Concern and Career Commitment

Career commitment refers to individuals’ dedication to their career; in the field of vocational psychology, career commitment is considered a vital factor for promoting a sustainable career. The current study examined a mediation model of career concern related to career commitment with career exploration and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy (CDMSE) as two mediators. The participants were 1105 high school students (males = 594, females = 511) recruited from three main cities in Jiangsu Province, China. Results indicated that the hypotheses were all confirmed: the direct effect of career concern on career commitment was significant (β = 0.598, p < 0.001); the indirect effect of career concern on career commitment through career exploration and CDMSE was also significant (β = 0.255, p < 0.001); and career exploration and CDMSE mediated the relation from career concern to career commitment. Finally, the authors discussed the implications of the findings which could be applied to improve a high school student’s career commitment and the sustainability of career development. The limitations of the study and the future research needed to complement the current work are also discussed.

How Do Students Become Good Workers? Investigating the Impact of Gender and School on the Relationship between Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Career Exploration

In the field of vocational psychology, career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) and career exploration (CE) are considered the crucial factors for developing a sustainable career. This study investigated the relationship between CDMSE and CE among Chinese high-school students, as well as the moderating effects of gender and school. From 2019 to 2021, 24,273 students from 13 different high schools were recruited in the study (male = 15,050, female = 9223; urban schools = 12,327, rural schools = 11,946). The results showed that (i) male students scored significantly higher than female students in both CDMSE and CE, (ii) students from urban schools scored significantly higher than students from rural schools in both CDMSE and CE, (iii) CDMSE positively predicted CE, and (iv) school moderated the relationship between CDMSE and CE, with the effect of CDMSE on CE stronger among rural school students; a moderating effect of gender was not found. These findings indicate that promoting CDMSE can lead high-school students, especially rural school students, to engage more in CE to ensure sustainable career development under the protean and boundaryless career orientation.

Labour-Market Integration by Responding to Work Motives: Lessons from a Study of Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Women

Low employability among specific populations (e.g. religious/traditional women, the elderly, disabled workers, and immigrants) has unfavourable consequences on the unemployed individual, society, and the state economy. The latter include poverty, a heavy toll on welfare budgets, diminished growth, and an increase in the ‘dependency ratio’. We suggest a rather novel policy (borrowed from the field of Vocational Psychology) that could lead to successful integration into the labour market of low-employability populations: The design of tailor-made training programmes that respond to work motives, coupled with a working environment that caters to special needs/restrictions, and complemented with counselling and monitoring. The suggested strategy is illustrated using a case study of Israeli ultra-Orthodox women, who exhibit lower employment rates than other Israeli women. The motives behind their occupational choices are explored based on data collected by a survey. Factor Analysis is employed to sort out the motives behind their occupational choices, and regression analysis is used to associate job satisfaction with work motivation. Policy implications are suggested based on the findings. There is already some evidence on the successful outcomes of the proposed strategy.

Career adaptability: A meta-analysis of relationships with measures of adaptivity, adapting responses, and adaptation results

Career adaptability, a psychosocial resource for managing career-related tasks, transitions, and traumas, is a central construct in career construction theory and the field of vocational psychology. Based on the career construction model of adaptation, we conducted a meta-analysis to examine relationships of career adaptability with measures of adaptivity, adapting responses, adaptation results, and demographic covariates. Results based on a total of 90 studies show that career adaptability is significantly associated with measures of adaptivity (i.e., cognitive ability, big five traits, self-esteem, core self-evaluations, proactive personality, future orientation, hope, and optimism), adapting responses (i.e., career planning, career exploration, occupational self-efficacy, and career decision-making self-efficacy), adaptation results (i.e., career identity, calling, career/job/school satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, job stress, employability, promotability, turnover intentions, income, engagement, self-reported work performance, entrepreneurial outcomes, life satisfaction, and positive and negative affect), as well as certain demographic characteristics (i.e., age, education). Multiple regression analyses based on meta-analytic correlations demonstrated the incremental predictive validity of career adaptability, above and beyond other individual difference characteristics, for a variety of career, work, and subjective well-being outcomes. Overall, the findings from this meta-analysis support the career construction model of adaptation.

For a Psychosocial Approach to Decent Work.

The notion of decent work was developed by the International Labour Organization 20 years ago. The notion is now well known by lawyers, economists, and sociologists, and even if it appears difficult to define it clearly, it constitutes a useful general framework with which to think of the relationships between policy practices, work market globalization, and human rights principles. The fields of career guidance and counseling psychology are highly concerned by questions of social justice and human rights that people experience through work. Career choices being made in a liquid and unstable society, incompatibility between individualist values and collective work issues, increasing psychological health problems at work, work-family balance in precarious job situations, the growing necessity of mobility, adaptability or flexibility… all of these questions are at the heart of current career counseling practices, and concern the decent work debate. Nevertheless, the notion of decent work is not well developed in the field of vocational psychology. Despite its relevance, it is difficult to operationalize the policy and human rights principles during career counseling sessions. The article aims to explore the usefulness of the concept for career counselors, and to propose a psychosocial framework that incorporates decent work in career counseling practices. The first part of this article presents the theoretical bases of the notion of decent work and their possible use in the field of psychology. It deals with the necessity of a multilevel and psychosocial perspective, that takes into account both objective and subjective dimensions of decent work. The second part focuses on a case study illustrating how the notion of decent work emerges during counseling sessions. Four levels of the work experience linked with subjective and objective dimensions of decent work are explored; the personal level, the activity level, the collective level, and the social level. Finally, the third part discusses and proposes a framework based on the analysis of the four dimensions of work (activity, trade, others and society) in order to integrate a psychosocial view of decent work into career counseling.

The Work–Family Interface: Integrating Research and Career Counseling Practice

This article addresses the work–family interface by reviewing research using Frone's () bidirectional model of work–family conflict and facilitation. The review demonstrates that work–family conflict is associated with various detrimental outcomes and that work–family facilitation is positively correlated with enhanced mental and physical well‐being. After summarizing the research, the authors discuss recent models and perspectives from the field of vocational psychology, connect these models and perspectives to existing work–family literature, and propose theoretically based interventions for increasing facilitation and decreasing conflict.

Vocational Psychology and Ex-Offenders’ Reintegration: A Call for Action

Failure to find steady and rewarding employment and stabilizing economic resources are key contributors to recidivism among ex-offenders. Within 3 years of their release, almost two thirds of ex-offenders return to prison. Ex-offenders face formidable barriers to employment including legal limitations and those specific to their skills, education, and training. In addition to these real barriers and the stigma associated with having a criminal record, the ex-offender’s prospect of securing employment is further complicated by the high national unemployment rate that is characteristic of our current economic downturn. Furthermore, due to limited and or restricted hiring opportunities, ex-offenders may be unable to pursue jobs that best fit their interests. Discussion of the role of work in the lives of ex-offenders has been scarce in the vocational psychology literature. Hence, this article illuminates the ex-offender’s reintegration process and the vocational implications of having a criminal record. The author argues that the field of vocational psychology is distinctively qualified to assume a greater presence in the scholarly literature relevant to the vocational needs of ex-offenders.

Justiça social em psicologia vocacional: que formação para os profissionais de psicologia?

Este artigo aborda, numa primeira parte, o conceito de justiça social, a sua origem e a forma como se tem definido na atualidade, bem como algumas técnicas de consulta psicológica que podem conduzir à sua promoção. Seguidamente, centra-se nos pressupostos que atualmente guiam a prática vocacional e que permitem concretizar a justiça social no campo da psicologia vocacional. Tendo em conta que esta é uma abordagem relativamente recente e que existem poucos exemplos da sua implementação, pareceu oportuno fazer um levantamento e referência a alguns casos concretos implementados em Escolas de Ensino Superior nos E.U. A. Termina-se com uma breve análise da realidade escolar portuguesa e com algumas sugestões para a formação das e dos profissionais de psicologia, com base nos casos apresentados e na fundamentação teórica mais relevante.

Vocational Psychology and Career Guidance Practice: An International Partnership

Vast changes in the world of work spurred by rapid technological growth and globalization have called for a more inclusive, progressive, and forward thinking conceptualization of vocational theory, practice, training, and policy. Discussions across 8 discussion groups at the 2007 joint symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association addressed various topics in the field of vocational psychology and career guidance. Several themes emerged that have captured the attention of career scholars and practitioners across the globe: culture and context in theory and practice, research as a process within a contextual system, partnership and collaboration, and social responsibility and public policy.

Metacognition and Multicultural Competence: Expanding the Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling Model

The authors focus on the significance of the counselor's cultural contexts in effective career interventions vis‐à‐vis the incorporation of multicultural metacognition. They briefly summarize and critique extant career counseling models for racial/ethnic minority clients and then describe an expanded model for career counseling that incorporates metacognition processes for addressing counselor‐related cultural factors.

Career self-management: Its nature, causes and consequences

In a recent special issue [Journal of Vocational Behavior 59 (2001) 284], scholars noted that the field of vocational psychology needs a better understanding of career self-management. This article proposes a conceptual framework of career self-management, based on Crites’ [Vocational Psychology, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1969] model of vocational adjustment. It argues that people use three types of career self-managing behavior (positioning, influence, and boundary management) as adaptive responses to career development tasks. These behaviors are used to respond to or eliminate thwarting conditions or career barriers, and thereby lead to vocational adjustment. Suggested determinants of this behavior are self-efficacy, desire for control, and career anchors. Career self-management can enhance perceptions of control over the career, leading to career satisfaction, but it may also be associated with negative outcomes and maladjustment. The framework is suggested to apply both to bounded ‘organizational’ careers and to more flexible, improvised careers. The article concludes by considering the implications for research and practice.

Vocational Psychology: An Analysis and Directions for the Future

In the past decade, research and practice in the field of vocational psychology has substantially enhanced our understanding of individuals' career choices, decisions, adjustment, and work performance. With the changing definitions of careers in the workplace, the field faces some exciting challenges and opportunities. The purpose of the present article is to briefly review some of the key directions that the field of vocational psychology has taken and to articulate a vision for the future.

Career choice and orality

The field of vocational psychology is replete with schemata for the determinants of career choice in adulthood (e.g., A. Roe, The psychology of occupations. New York: Wiley, 1956 ; D. E. Super, The psychology of careers. New York: Harper &Row, 1957 ; J. O. Crites, Vocational psychology: The study of vocational behavior and development. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969 ). A view not given much weight in empirical research in this area is that of psychoanalytic theory relating career choice to unresolved childhood conflicts and their derivatives. To examine the validity of this psychoanalytic prediction, students' Rorschach protocols were analyzed to yield an index of frustrated oral needs. The students were given decks of careers to rank from most to least preferable. Results showed that the ranking of the oral careers was a function of the Rorschach index of frustrated oral needs for women only but not for men.

Job choice: The impact of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on subsequent satisfaction and commitment.

One hundred and eight recent Master's of Business Administration graduates were surveyed immediately after accepting jobs and again 6 months later. It was hypothesized that subjects who made job choices on intrinsic bases (e.g., intrinsic interest in the job, opportunity for advancement) would be more satisfied and committed than those who made the decision based on extrinsic factors (e.g., external pressures such as family concerns and preference for geographic location). Results showed both intrinsic and extrinsic decision factors to be positively related to subsequent satisfaction and commitment. Canonical correlation analysis showed an extrinsic job feature (salary) to be positively related to future tenure intention and negatively related to job satisfaction. These findings suggest that job satisfaction and commitment may be related to both the intrinsic and extrinsic factors considered when the original job choice is made. In a recent article on organizational entry, Wanous (1977, p. 601) noted that much of the research literature on job choice was organizationally rather than individually oriented, that is, focused on the organizational activities associated with recruitment and selection rather than on the individual choice process. Although representatives of organizations need to devise methods for attracting and choosing new members, the individual must also make a decision to choose one firm and job over others offered. On what basis does an individual make this decision? The field of vocational psychology has contributed much to our understanding about how individuals choose particular occupations (e.g., Crites, 1969; Holland, 1973). The selection of an occupation, however, is typically a more extended process than the decision to accept a job. The latter activity, as Wanous (1977) observed, is far more of a conscious personal decision than the lengthy process involved in entering an occupation. Occupational entry is often in

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND CAREER IN THE APPLIED SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCHES

Theoretical and empirical advances in the major vocational and career development studies have been reviewed. The main ideas and important implications for helping young people make correspondent choices and address problems in satisfaction after occupational entry. There are ongoing concerns about real and potentional gender differences in career development. Individual differences measures are central in the field of vocational psychology and can be used to predict job performance, career choice and intrinsic and extrinsic career success.