School engagement is a multifaceted psychosocial process that functions as a key mediator of academic achievement, motivation, and school dropout. This study investigated the effects of vocational exploration and racial identity on behavioral (attendance, attention, time spent on class work) and psychological (identification with school) factors…

Over the past decade, practitioners and scholars have struggled to explain women's career choices. The current language, including "opting out," "on and off ramping," and "mommy track," is not only inadequate but assumes a deviation from an accepted norm. We challenge the relevance of the paradigm against which women are being judged, namely, the…

Vocational psychology has recently begun examining the career development of marginalized and underrepresented populations. Social cognitive career theory provides a theoretical understanding of how cultural differences, resources, and barriers may affect the vocational choices and actions of individuals from minority populations. Contextual…

Individual (gender and acculturation), microsystem (social support), exosystem (socioeconomic status), and macrosystem (racism) variables were examined as predictors of career decision-making self-efficacy in a sample of 85 Vietnamese adolescents in the Washington, D.C., area. English language acculturation and peer support accounted for unique…

A study of 192 undergraduates attempted to clarify why giving people more occupational information often results in decreased differentiation in career choice. Making the constructs more personally meaningful to students appeared to reverse the decrement in differentiation. (JOW)

A study determined that women who choose a traditional career (1) do not differ in sex-role orientation; (2) do not differ in the importance they place on specific work values; and (3) show an interaction between sex-role orientation and work values such that some work values are clearly associated with different sex-role orientations. (JOW)

Summarizing the articles in this special issue on personal construct theory, the author discusses using career constructs to scan the environment and suggests future research needs. (SK)

Clients of a university career center (n=102) used the System of Interactive Guidance and Information (SIGI) Plus and completed Holland's My Vocational Situation and Vocational Preference Inventory. Persons with higher Social and Enterprising scores rated SIGI Plus lower as a tool to acquire self and occupational knowledge. (SK)

The main purpose of this study is to examine the dimensions of career indecision among a sample of Greek high school students (N = 848) and to classify the students of the sample in regard to their career decision status. A second objective is the investigation of the relationship between career decision status groups and generalized…

Proposes that an Expectancy-Valence model of motivation provides a promising framework for motivating women to consider a wider variety of career options. Explains expectancy theory and discusses how the model can be used to understand women's inclinations toward nontraditional options. (JOW)

Describes plans of a research team in the former Soviet Union to implement the Fukuyama Profile for vocational guidance. (SK)

Of 101 female undergraduates, 10 preferred traditional, 49 nontraditional, and 16 neutral occupations; 26 were undecided. Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale scores indicated that nontraditional preference did not correlate with higher career self-efficacy. Undecided women had significantly lower career self-efficacy. (SK)

Explains Kelly's (1955) Personal Construct Theory and illustrates the uses of two techniques for using personal constructs in career assessment: the Role Construct Repertory Test and the laddering technique. (SK)

The Goals Review and Organizing Workbook (GROW) is a structured exercise based on personal construct psychology. It is designed to increase self-understanding for making career-related decisions. (SK)

Through study of 32 students' narratives about coping with external threats to their career goals (e.g., denial of admission to the major of their choice), this study examines the following issues: (a) the coping mechanisms student use when faced with threats that loom large, (b) the relation between coping methods employed and whether the goal is…