The role of personality in specialty choices of speech-language pathology (SLP) students was examined. Specialty choices were obtained using a demographic questionnaire, and personality was measured with the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) in an electronic survey. The personalities of SLP students were compared to students in nine…

To explore the ways context may shape career choices, we used a qualitative approach to analyze interviews with college-oriented high school students from the rural Central Appalachia region of Virginia. Using social cognitive career theory, we analyzed pathways to career choices and relevant contextual factors, using data from 24 interviews.…

The purposes of this study are to (1) examine the factorial validity of Schein's career anchors orientation inventory (COI), comparing the original eight-factor model with an alternative nine-factor model, (2) examine the cross-cultural invariance of the COI and its factor structure across two countries, (3) investigate whether core…

This study examines how first-generation, low-income college students make meaning of their career development process during their first year of college. Photovoice was employed to collect visual data and accompanying narrative texts providing a rich data set created by students during their transition to college. Four findings emerged from this…

There is an increasing concern that the demand for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers in the United States will exceed the supply. In the United States, very few students, and underrepresented students in particular, are pursuing STEM educational and occupational goals that underscores the need for school counselors to…

Once associated with lifetime employment, policing and teaching have become increasingly associated with employee attrition. We used a life course research design to explore career turning points and transitions, in the context of preceding and following careers. Former police officers ("n" = 9) and former teachers ("n" = 15)…

Religion is a shaping force in the world today, increasingly expressed and integral to the flow and function of the workplace. The relationship between religious identity and work function is clearly present. However, no lines of research have explored how religion explains the variations in vocational interest, despite speculation that it does…

Reflecting the need for a better and broader understanding of the factors influencing the choices to enter into or exit an entrepreneurial career, this article applies a structured, normative model of career management to the career decision-making of entrepreneurs. The application of a structured model can assist career counselors, college career…

This article examines the process and outcome of a life design counseling group intervention with students in Grades 9 and 12. First, we applied a quasi-experimental methodology to analyze the intervention's effectiveness in promoting career certainty, career decision-making, self-efficacy, and career adaptability in a sample of 236 students.…

Little is known about the career development of youth with a history of criminal activity and the factors that influence their career development. The ability to secure employment is important in predicting successful outcomes for this population, but unfortunately youth who have been involved in crime are likely to face a myriad of obstacles to…

Data from a national survey are used to examine how individual characteristics and social structural factors may influence college graduates choosing an occupation that is congruent with their undergraduate field of study. Analysis is conducted separately for males and females and for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

New models of career education are needed to prepare young people for changes and challenges in the world of work. We propose that the psychology of working framework/theory (PWF/PWT) has the potential to shape career education in transformative ways that are attentive to shifting dimensions of the local context and the marginalization of large…

This study examines the role of dysfunctional career thoughts between two-wave longitudinal data (Time 1 and Time 2) in career decision-making self-efficacy during school-to-work transition periods. Career decision-making self-efficacy was measured before (Time 1) and after college graduation (Time 2). The results indicated that the growth of…

We surveyed Australian adolescents and parents to test differences and congruence in perceptions of adolescent career development tasks (career planning, exploration, certainty, and world-of-work knowledge) and vocational identity. We found that, for adolescents (N = 415), career development tasks (not career exploration) explained 48% of the…

Mentoring is reputed to support the career choices and development of individuals in various contexts. This study is one of the few that investigates the effect of mentoring on career satisfaction and retention of novice entrepreneurs. We surveyed 360 novice entrepreneurs who had been supported by a mentor. Our analyses demonstrate the direct…