This paper examines the challenges involved in implementing an action research project. It discusses a project which uses a series of interventions (unfreezing techniques, cases studies in conjunction with analogical encoding and lecturer input) to encourage students to critically reflect on their approach to career decision-making. This paper…

This paper is based on in-depth interviews carried out with students in their first and final years of undergraduate study. The paper examines how students approached career decision-making and the rationale underpinning the approach they adopted. The research found that students were not utilising the type of rational approaches to career…

This article is based on an action research project that involved working with undergraduates to improve the way they engage in the process of career decision-making. The article focuses on the role networks play in career decision-making. It analyses the students' rationale for utilising particular forms of social capital and examines how they…

Purpose: This study adopts an action research approach with the aim of improving the process of career decision making among undergraduates in a business school at a "new" university in the UK. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilised unfreezing techniques, multiple case studies in conjunction with the principle of analogical…

The evidence suggests that working-class students are disadvantaged in the graduate labour market. This article focuses on the extent to which students from working-class backgrounds are disadvantaged in the career decision-making process because of their lack of social capital. The study is based on in-depth interviews with 30 final-year…

The literature suggests that members of the working class value informal ("hot") information rather than formal ("cold") information. They are also said to lack a future orientation; have a fatalistic (and pessimistic) attitude to life; and have low aspirations. These values should influence the way students from working-class backgrounds approach…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which term-time employment influences two specific aspects of the student experience in higher education: working collaboratively and preparing for entry into the graduate labour market. The paper also aims to consider the extent to which the students are able to appreciate the…