The disengagement that leads to school dropout may start as early as middle school, but may be interrupted by motivational interventions. One approach is to promote the relevance of content through explanations and demonstrations of the value of this content to students' futures. CareerStart is an intervention that provides teachers prepackaged…

It appears--and this is apparent from school documentation--that every school considers its duty to support career orientation. At the same time, it is obvious that guiding the process of making career choices exists only on the level of references. As we did not question teachers, we have only tiny fragments what is done for the sake of career…

Why do girls perform so well academically yet lose ground as professional women? This diminishing number of women up the leadership hierarchy is often referred to as the "leaky pipeline," and attributed to many factors: external ones such as work environments not conducive to work/life balance, and internal ones such as women's own…

In this comparative, longitudinal case study, the author investigates the two different pathways that have been most strongly advocated for certifying middle school social studies teachers: the specialized middle school and subject-specific secondary pathways. Drawing on classroom observations, interviews, documents, teacher and student work…

A frequent applied method in career assessment to elicit clients' self-concepts is asking them to predict their interest assessment results. Accuracy in estimating one's interest type is commonly taken as a sign of more self-awareness and career choice readiness. The study evaluated the empirical relation of accuracy of self-estimation to career…

Details a collaborative venture to develop, implement, and evaluate a career intervention program for 7th-grade students who were at risk for vocational underachievement. Suggestions are provided for improving on the development and evaluation of career exploration programs to enhance career self-efficacy and broaden the career horizons of…

Evaluates the effect of a computer-assisted career guidance system on the career maturity of 38 students in a rural middle school. Was investigating whether a relatively brief interaction with the program affects the career maturity of such students. Results indicated significant gains in career maturity among students in the treatment group. (RJM)

A study evaluated experimentally a technology education program designed to provide mastery experiences described in Bandura's self-efficacy theory (1986) and predicted to improve career decision making. Seventh graders (n=97) and eighth graders (n=72) were stratified on grade level and randomly assigned either to a commercially published…

The study investigated the interaction of personal and environmental factors influencing seventh graders' selection of career exploration courses for increased exploration in the eighth grade. A stratified random sample (496 students) was drawn from the Pittsburgh Public School's Occupational, Vocational, and Technical Exploratory Program.…