Context: Adolescence is the training ground for adult life. In a relatively short period, the adolescent will undergo a metamorphosis. During the high school years, the majority of adolescents move from persistent dependence to true independence, from logical thinking to abstract, complex and hypothetical thinking, from impulsivity to…

This study examines and assesses occupational knowledge among 300 high school males in eastern Washington. Interviews of these students about occupations available in their region and about job information they had received indicated that there was little increase in occupational knowledge during the high school years. The author concludes that…

The conceptual framework of vocational awareness, the development of theVocational Awareness Index, and implications for research and practice are presented. (Author)

While Holland's (1973) theory of personality types and vocational identity is widely used, the theory does not specify the developmental antecedents of the six personality types. To examine the relationship between membership in adolescent social cliques and vocational identity in early adulthood, four groups of college students (N=192)…

Existing theories of career development are based primarily on observations of white, middle-class males. This has prompted consideration of a separate theory of career development for women. Before a separate theory can be justified, it must be established that sex differences in the career development process do exist. A study attempted to…

The relationship between separate dimensions of vocational maturity and different self-concept and identity variables were examined. Subjects were Dutch students, age 14-18 years. The vocational maturity dimensions were measured by Dutch adaptations of American vocational maturity scales. Instruments for self-concept and identity measurement were…

Longitudinal data from Project TALENT are used to study how people's adult lives are patterned and how these patterns are related to their occupational achievement and perceived quality of life. Career is defined as a sequence of roles and associated activities that a person enacts within a particular life domain. The pattern of a person's life…

Investigated the relationship of self-concept, parental influence, race, sex, and socioeconomic status to occupational aspirations and expectations and career maturity in 259 10th graders. Black students seemed to have aspirations and expectations similar to whites but less career maturity. Parent influence was an important predictor for all…

Focuses on the perceptual distortions of both clients and career counselors and reviews the contribution of such distortions to unrealistic vocational aspirations. Provides several suggestions for dealing with unrealistic aspirations and for assisting clients to develop a balanced perception of reality. (Author/JAC)

A project was conducted to design, develop, and evaluate the effectiveness of bilingual (Spanish and English) career education materials for adult farmworkers with limited English-speaking ability. A career education manual, a series of audio- and video-taped interviews with former farmworkers employed in various job cluster areas, and a…

This report is an exploratory application of a dynamic mathematical model to express a theory of changes in youth's career expectations over time. Main content is divided into two focuses: (1) theoretical interpretations of the differential equations which embody the mathematical model and (2) reporting and discussion of the results of preliminary…