Practice and research in career counseling and development--2006.

In Israel, Flum and Cinamon examined 338 teachers' attitudes toward career education. They hypothesized that teachers' attitudes toward career education plays a crucial role in the successful implementation of relevant career-related programs in the school curriculum. Results demonstrated similarity in the general pattern of ranking of importance of career education goals for Arabic and Jewish teachers, but significant differences emerged in relation to several issues (e.g., self-knowledge, familiarity with range of occupation, and experience with choice making). Differences are discussed as they reflect diverse worldviews, the disparity between majority and minority status, and differences in social structure.

In Southern Alberta, Canada, the Comprehensive Career Needs Survey was used to assess the career plans of senior high school students in a study conducted by Witko, Bernes, Magnusson, and Bardick. They examined senior high school students' perceptions regarding (a) their future plans, (b) confidence in attaining their career goals, (c) importance of remaining in their community, and (d) where they anticipated working. They found that a majority of respondents planned to combine full-time education with part-time work. They were confident in executing their career plans and anticipated finding work in their country. Results indicated a need for programs that address career decision making and the combining of education and work experiences.

In New Zealand, Higgins and Nairn investigated young people's perspectives on transition during their last year of school. The processes by which they made choices about postschool destinations were also investigated. In particular, they examined the extent to which the transitions the students negotiated were shaped by the institutional infrastructure that guided the transition process. Although Higgins and Nairn expected some degree of mismatch between the complexities of participants' lives and the linear transition process implicit in policy, they found instead a combination of traditional assumptions (e.g., that transition would be a straightforward, linear process) and late-modern assumptions (e.g., that elective biographies would be constructed through active choice). These assumptions combined to produce a particular perception of risk among participants.

Career Concerns in Specific Groups

Busacca and Wester examined career concerns of 152 counselor trainees in seven master's-level programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. Results indicated that near four fifths of the students reported a high degree of interest for meeting the exploration and establishment stages of career development. More specifically, the students were concerned about the efforts required to gain more information about themselves and about occupations. They were also concerned about how to express their self-concept in an occupational role. In conclusion, counselor trainees with high levels of concern for establishment-stage tasks reported significantly higher levels of overall career concerns. Busacca and Wester asserted that counselor educators must strive to be more aware of the career development of graduate counselor trainees.

Gender Perspective

Lambert, Eby, and Reeves compared gender differences in white-collar job-seekers' network system. They found that age showed a curvilinear relationship with network diversity. A proactive personality (e.g., one characterized by initiative and aggressiveness) was found to be positively related to network intensity. However, no effects were found for gender or race.

Schmidt and Nilsson agreed with the "bottleneck hypothesis" proposed by Hetherington (1991). Schmidt and Nilsson hypothesized that a bottleneck effect may interfere with the career exploration of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals because their sexual identity development process might supersede development in other areas (e.g., career development). This hypothesis was tested in Schmidt and Nilsson's study with 102 LGB youth. The results indicated that career maturity was predicted by inner sexual identity conflict and social support, with a large effect size. Both inner sexual identity conflict and social support were also found to predict career indecision.

Career Uncertainty

Trevor-Roberts indicated that career uncertainty is a fundamental experience that affects people's vocational behaviors, attitudes, and emotions. He asserted that people experience uncertainty because of the changed nature and structure of the world of work. He discussed three approaches to interpret uncertainties experienced by individuals: protean career, identity, and social constructionism. People feel uncertain regarding their career for many reasons. They may be uncertain about the meaning of "success" or uncertain about "who they are" no matter how advanced they are in their career development. People may also feel uncertain about themselves because of their perceptions of the expectations society imposes on them. Because of the many possible uncertainties, career counseling for uncertainty is necessary. Positive uncertainty, planned happenstance, and complexity theory are three approaches discussed in this article for career counseling practice targeting both individuals and organizations.

Another perspective that attempts to explain career uncertainty is the chaos theory, which Pryor and Bright examined in their article. They also proposed a quadrant to help counseling practitioners understand the relationship between different theoretical perspectives and practical interventions. Practical techniques such as the signature exercise, the sometimes magic exercise, and the parable of the ping pong ball were also presented as examples of the concept of chaos theory in career services.

Boundaryless Career and Social Context Embedded Career

R. Harrison used landlines and cell phones as metaphors for how changes in technology and the world of work have affected the lives and identities of workers today. In the postmodern world, changes in the social context and global perspectives have changed the properties of career to one that is described as mobile, self-determined, employer independent, and free of hierarchy (DeFillippi & Arthur, 1994). How an individual, as the center of meaning of career, creates narrative for his or her career is an important issue for making sense of that individual's career. The process of narrative construction is grounded in cultural, political, religious, and social values. Thus, the narrative approach to career counseling will become more prevalent in creating a meaningful self and career through dialogue embedded in the client's social context.

Career Competence and Ability

Career competence for the modern career was investigated by Kuijpers and Scheerens. They asserted that the working environment is now characterized by increased mobility, an increased level of support from employers, and a variety of dynamics in the work environment. It is argued that the following six competencies are needed to cope with the modern career: career development ability, reflection on capacities, reflection on motives, work exploration, career control, and networking. The authors also asserted that having a mobility perspective is important for career development and networking. In addition to personal characteristics, networking and support from the dynamic work environment are important to both internal and external career success. To further investigate the relationships between career competencies and career, Kuijpers, Schyns, and Scheerens invited 1,579 employees in 16 Dutch companies to complete a competence inventory that included the six competencies discussed in the previous study (i.e., Kuijpers & Scheerens). Personal and situation-linked variables were also measured. Results indicated a negative relationship between motivation and intrinsic as well as extrinsic career success. Employees who examined whether their job corresponded with their personal values experienced less career success than those who did not examine their job in this way. It seems that individuals who are dissatisfied with their career success might be more aware of the absence of these preferences in their work. It might also be possible that there was lack of support from the organization's staff. Overall, career control and networking factors were strongly associated with career success. Kuijpers et al. indicated that in addition to personal characteristics such as motivation, reflection, and networking, career support from the work situation and a dynamic work environment were found to be related to the participants' career success.