In hoping for a brighter future of self-government and self-determination, Canadian Aboriginal communities have placed great hopes and expectations on their youth. The complexity and uniqueness of career-related issues pose a formidable challenge in the development of career counseling programs for Aboriginal youth. This digest describes the…

Preparation for productive employment in a global economy is one aspect of National Education Goals 3 and 5. Career education can help people realize the opportunities and meet the challenges of the international workplace. The emergence of flexible, information-based technologies is a primary factor in the evolution of the global economy. New…

The changing workplace has altered workers' roles and forced them to assume primary responsibility for their own career development. Continued employment is increasingly being tied to lifelong learning and ongoing skill development. Just as workers are recognizing the need to ensure their marketability to employers, so too are employers facing…

The diverse, multicultural population that constitutes today's work force faces ethical dilemmas on the job that bring pressures to protect their own or their company's interests, at the risk of losing their personal integrity. Employers and vocational and career development personnel are recognizing the need for decision-making and…

Because career development is a lifelong process, adults frequently need career planning assistance. The adult education classroom is a natural environment for individuals to seek and receive help with career planning. Given the heterogeneity of the adult population, the career development needs of adults vary widely. While many adults only need…

Career educators and counselors have long recognized that factual information about careers and employability skills, presented in traditional classroom formats, do not prepare students to enter the workplace. This digest explores the move toward stronger experiential learning in career education. Career education initiatives such as work…

The demographic characteristics of teenaged parents reveal a majority who are aged 18-21, live in poverty, have dropped out of school, and are unemployed and unmarried. Their potential for high school graduation is often dependent upon their support network and life course adaptation. Employment patterns of teen parents show high unemployment and…

Changes in the composition of the work force and changing work values require new life span and career development models that account for individual, gender, and cultural differences in experience. Age/stage models form one school of thought in developmental theory. A major criticism of prevailing theories is that they are based on male…

The need for a collaborative effort between school and family in the area of career guidance is considered in this digest. Issues relevant to this effort are discussed, including family determinants of children's career development, stages of children's career development, counselor guidelines for starting parent programs, and counselor…

Some intervention programs have responded to the magnitude of the difficulties that career transitions present for adults. This digest examines one program which aims to improve the career adaptability of adults seeking employment. The interventional procedures outlined here are intended to accelerate vocational development by helping people…

Career education is moving away from addressing careers as a single choice in time, or as one unit or course in a curriculum. This digest discusses the infusion of skills (research, thinking, questioning) into the regular school curriculum and describes one such infusion program. Research indicates that instilling these skills into education…

Communities, frequently with government and school assistance, can implement programs that help teenage and young adult males develop into caring and responsible fathers. This digest briefly describes program components shown to be most effective. Effective programs take account of ethnic differences and use culturally sensitive outreach…

Adults experience cyclical periods of stability and transition throughout life. The conflict between role cycles may spur career change. Personality differences between voluntary changers and nonchangers have been identified in research. Career changes may be triggered by factors ranging from the anticipated (marriage, empty nest) to the…

Intended for employers, human resource staff, and adult educators, this digest addresses the purposes of career development programs in the workplace and describes the components of such programs. In the first section, the term career development is defined and labeled as just one component of organizations' human resource management. Eight…

Low-income African American and Latina adolescent females need extensive support for developing and implementing career plans. This digest discusses ways schools and other institutions can provide an education that furthers career development. Interventions that have been shown to be effective with disadvantaged African American and Latina female…