Attending college is like embarking on a journey of self-discovery and transformation. Education as a heroic journey transforms students in such a way that it will invite them to re-examine their conceptual structures, as well as internalized cultural norms. While heroes make their way through their journey, they are often viewed as drawing upon…

The challenges faced by youth can hinder them from reaching their full potential or help them grow and develop as they overcome their challenges. Grit and resilience provide young people with the skills, confidence, and perseverance to overcome challenges, pursue their goals and thrive. In this article, the authors examine the complex constructs…

The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of primary pre-service teachers engaged in a peer-group mentoring program during a professional experience placement. Pre-service teachers completed weekly questionnaires and an interview about their experiences. Questionnaire and interview responses were coded and analysed according to three…

Interest in youth purpose is growing among scholars around the world. With globalization, better understanding of life purposes in different countries becomes more important as this generation's youth are influenced by ideas and events anywhere. This special issue contributes to this inclusive, worldwide frame of mind by showcasing work done…

Current prominent models of identity face challenges in bridging across divergent perspectives and apparent dichotomies such as personal or social-collective, conscious or unconscious, and epigenetic or discursive-relational, and affording pursuit of research questions that allows integrative answers. This article presents a coherent theoretical…

There is a significant body of literature highlighting the impact of unwanted sexual experiences (USEs) on undergraduate health, disproportionately affecting female students compared to their male counterparts. Although we know much about the negative consequences of this concerning social and public health issue, we know little about survivor's…

Historically, identity researchers have placed greater emphasis on processes of identity development ("how" people develop their identities) and less on the content of identity ("what" the identity is). The relative neglect of identity content may reflect the lack of a comprehensive framework to guide research. In this article,…

Researchers contend that committing to an inspiring purpose in life is an important component of healthy identity development for adolescents; however, little research has focused on how identity and purpose develop together. Therefore, the study followed a sample of eight adolescent purpose exemplars for five years in order to develop a grounded…

Recently there has been growing empirical and theoretical attention to the role of meaning in grief, along with increased recognition of the need for more sophisticated definitions of meaning. The present article highlights philosophical issues inherent in the study of meaning and grief, reviews the place of meaning in current theories of grief,…

Biology faculty at an East Coast university believed their undergraduate students were not being well served by the existing academic advising program. The purpose of this mixed methods project study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the academic advising model in a biology department. Guided by system-based organizational theory, a learning…

Proposes an approach for supervising mental health counseling interns that integrates the developmental model of Littrell, Lee-Borden, and Lorenz, and Bernard's discrimination model. This approach integrates supervisor role, intern skills, and stages of the supervision process. It provides a practical tool for conceptualizing and implementing the…

It is well known that human development is influenced by social change. In particular, as evidenced by research on German unification, the rapid change of social institutions can impact on various aspects of behaviour and development. Based on my own research experience in this field, I want to show the necessity for a better interdisciplinary…