One of the most critical labor shortages facing the U.S. involves the number of young adults entering careers in what's now commonly referred to as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Equally troubling is that the participation of blacks and Hispanics in STEM careers continues to lag that of whites and Asians. High school is…

A French version of the Fukuyama Profile completed by Swiss 14 and 15 year olds in 1984 and 1990 was compared to a Japanese sample. Strong similarities on the level of means and patterns of the indices were found, suggesting the usefulness of a program of preparation for occupational choice for this age group. (SK)

A model for a high school program for gifted/talented students is presented. Career exploration is emphasized in grade 9 while career choices are narrowed from four in grade 10 to two in grade 12 with an apprenticeship in one career choice. Curriculum concentrates on communication and media in grade 9, the physical universe in grade 10, humanities…

Describes organizational and web-based resources to assist counselors in helping students with career exploration and career choice. (SK)

Obtaining and evaluating career information is a beneficial activity for high school students. Although a potential source of this information is parents, students do not necessarily have meaningful career discussions with their parents. An activity, Thats My Mom / Thats My Dad was developed to encourage more parent-student career decisions. In…

This career awareness booklet provides information and activities to help youth prepare for career and explore jobs in the natural gas industry. Students are exposed to career planning ideas and activities; they learn about a wide variety of industry jobs, what workers say about their jobs, and how the industry operates. Five sections are…

Examined high school students' (N=240) awareness of internal vocational information useful in career decision making and examined the effect of a vocational awareness activity. Results indicated tenth graders were unstable in self-perceived internal information relating to career choice. Appendix contains the Vocational Awareness Scale. (JAC)

Presents overview of the primary components of Lent, Brown, and Hackett's social cognitive career theory and Weiner's attribution theory as they relate to career-related barriers. Discusses implications associated with each approach. Suggests that counselors need to help clients distinguish between barriers for which personal control and…

More research is needed on the effect of summer vocational exploratory programs for disadvantaged youth. Because of the limited number of high schools which offer a wide range of vocational courses, only one out of every five high school students has the opportunity to pursue viable technical or occupationally specific goals. However, research…

Examines the commitment to career choices process for at-risk urban high school students (N=189). Results indicate that students' level of commitment to their career choices was related to vocational identity, their need for occupational information, their perceived barriers to occupational goals, and the number of occupations they considered.…

A career/vocational assessment program with four participating high schools was developed. The major goal was to provide students the opportunity to identify and explore their specific vocational interests and opportunities. The target population consisted of 222 ninth-graders who were prevocational students or who had expressed an interest in…

Discusses seven components that comprise a comprehensive vocational education program, and describes Wisconsin's capstone course concept for high school seniors, which provides job training in a vocational area that the student has previously explored as part of the comprehensive vocational program involving career development, exploration, and…

High school seniors completed an ego identity interview with occupations considered coded for occupational prestige, substantive complexity, interest environment, and gender dominance; the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory; and a verbal ability measure. Breadth of exploration in the four career dimensions, particularly in gender dominance…

To study the relationship of the physical environment to high school students' academic achievement, 60 students participated in an experiential career exploration program at the Alabama Space and Rocket Center while 108 students participated in a traditional careers program. Tests indicated the former group improved more in career choice…

Reports a study conducted at a vocational-technical high school in eastern Massachusetts to develop an assignment procedure for a ninth grade career exploration program based on student preferences. The solution described here solved the assignment-by-preference problem by concentrating on measurement and composite-score scale construction. (TA)