The vocational development of 547 disabled students (ages 10-24) in the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany was classified by disability type and compared with able-bodied students, in terms of plans, realism, initiative, work values, commitment, and occupational awareness. Germans made specific training plans whereas U.S. students…

Over the past 15 years, post-secondary institutions have experienced a significant increase in the enrollment of students with disabilities. This study examined the career decision-making attitudes of 21 college students with disabilities and the impact of their disability on academic and career choices. Nineteen undergraduates and two graduate…

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)

While professional sports can be a rewarding career, school counselors should emphasize special considerations involved. These include grades, health, parental attitude, school location, and realistic probability. Students should consider other options, as well as sports, in making educational and career decisions. (JAC)

Examines theories of career development and vocational choice and discusses implications for the related functions of career education and guidance of Black youths. Urges that career education for Black children systematically counter environmentally fostered negative development in the affective domain. (RDN)

Reviews 278 studies published on vocational behavior and career development in 1982, in the following major categories: discrimination; performance; turnover; satisfaction; commitment and involvement; job analysis and evaluation; selection; life history experiences; performance appraisal; assessment centers; training; unions; alternate work…

This study, with 205 junior high school students (43 of whom were gifted), found that gifted students perceived fewer career barriers than did regular students and that gifted boys expressed a greater need for occupational information and a greater range of occupational aspirations than did gifted girls or nongifted students. (Author/DB)

Career education programs, such as co-operative education, have been shown to influence career development. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether secondary school co-operative education had the benefit of enhanced career maturity, as measured by the Career Development Inventory. An experimental design called the Solomon four-group…

This report describes a study that examined three types of change that affect career development: (1) changes in jobs and behavior that occur as people mature and age, (2) cultural changes that alter the opportunities and attitudes of people born at different times in history, and (3) changes in the environment that affect the opportunities and…

To determine aspects of the attitudinal dimension of vocational maturity among rural disadvantaged girls and boys of eastern Kentucky, samples of Grade 8 and 12 students were administered the: (1) Vocational Development Inventory-Attitude Scale, (2) Occupational Aspiration Scale, (3) California Test of Mental Maturity and the Otis-Lennon Mental…

This study was designed to examine the relationship of certain achievement-related constructs to individual motivation for social and occupational mobility. The specific achievement-related behavior which was studied centered on the decision to take advantage of the opportunity to participate in a union-sponsored college program offered to…

Lists and discusses eight career-damaging decisions that are often overlooked by engineering graduates, including staying too long in one job, professional isolation, "headhunter phobia," creeping obsolescence, premature announcements, letting office relationships slide, the company loyalty myth, and plateauing. (CW)