Despite its importance as a core counselling competency, less attention is given to career counselling than to other counselling specialties and it is often dismissed as a non-essential category in the counselling field. Because students' perceptions of career counselling are affected by peer and faculty attitudes it is important to examine the…

A student's expectation for a positive outcome for their future career development is referred to as career optimism. Career Services, a common university department, utilizes the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to understand how students form career interests and make educational and vocational choices. Then Career Services can assist…

This qualitative study centers on the career narratives of seven Black youth enrolled at an urban public school in the Midwest. We used critical race theory to analyze participants' responses to a narrative career counseling intervention, My Career Story (Savickas & Hartung, 2012). The four interconnected themes found were (a) persistence…

In this paper, I address Jacque Lacan's theory of the four discourses, namely, master/slave, university, hysteric and analyst. The four discourses are explored via interviews with five postgraduate business students from a leading Irish business school. Three of the students were prepared to abdicate responsibility for career decision-making to…

The present study examined the role of social class in the career decision-making of undergraduate students attending a private university. Grounded theory was used to describe the process of social class and undergraduates' career interests and plans. Interviews with undergraduate students (N = 21) resulted in four categories and 13 axial codes.…

Limited research exists on rural student academic aspirations from a counseling perspective. Much of the existing research focuses on the high school years and their implications for college. This study explores the relationship between place attachment, academic self-efficacy, and academic aspirations in rural elementary students. The sample…

Traditional undergraduate students fall in an age range known as emerging adulthood, a development stage of life characterized by freedom and exploration in pursuit of understanding one's identity. This is an important developmental process because a failure to discern this identity and what one finds meaningful can be associated with numerous…

The authors explored attitudes regarding career counseling. Interview data were analyzed and conceptualized using grounded theory methods. Peers, faculty, and programs influenced participants' attitudes. Participants' observations regarding instruction and developed understanding of their own career development figured into favorable attitudes…

Today, millions of students cross geographic, cultural, and educational borders for their higher education. Trends of international student mobility are significant to universities, educators, business leaders, and governments to increase revenue and campus diversity in the global marketplace. As such, it is vital to examine recent trends in…

This article examines two questions of research. Can we make educational vocational information sessions effective by applying commitment theory (Kiesler, 1971) to this particular aspect of career counseling? Does commitment as part of an initial low-cost behavior (taking part in an information session) have a direct effect or is the effect a…

Introduces the practicing school counselor to a theoretical framework known as the "social influence model," which has been found effective in promoting attitude change. Provides an example of how counselors can evaluate their efforts in attempting to dispell career myths through this model. (ABB)

Participants (85 women and 30 men) responded to measures pertaining to careers. Findings reveal that a larger proportion of women than men perceived past barriers as associated with family-related issues. Results also reveal a significant negative relationship between perceived occupational barriers and career maturity for some individuals.…

A study was conducted to determine which of nine theories of career development and occupational choice were (1) ranked as most important in regard to the role each played in the subject's own career development and (2) were ranked as most important in regard to the usefulness of the theory in teaching and/or counseling students. Each of…

For students to successfully compete in the 21st century workforce, schools should prepare them to meet the demands of a dynamic and global job market, linking core knowledge with technical know-how, before they graduate. Integrating career curriculum into all grades and courses of study helps teachers to: (1) increase students' career awareness…