International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance 

About: International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Career development & Career counseling. It has an ISSN identifier of 0251-2513. Over the lifetime, 403 publications have been published receiving 6587 citations.

Life-Long Self-Construction

Abstract: In today’s industrialized societies, the current societal issue underlying personal and career development interventions (counselling or education) can be summed up as follows: “How can individuals be helped to direct their own lives within their own human societal context?” This question can be converted into the following scientific question: “What are the factors and processes of life-long self-construction?” In order to answer this question, three major propositions (sociological, cognitive and dynamic-semiotic) need to be articulated. This articulation gives rise to a theoretical construct that differentiates universal processes and specific processes and contents.

An educational–psychological conceptualisation of interest

Abstract: In educational psychology, the concept of interest is interpreted as a content-specific motivational variable that can be investigated and theoretically reconstructed. An important analysis lies in the manifold interrelations between interest, learning and human development. This paper presents a “person–object theory of interest” and outlines developmental aspects such as: (a) the ontogenetic transition from situational to individual interest, (b) the relation between interest development and (c) the growing “self” and the assumption of a dual regulation system.

Career Guidance Policies in 37 Countries: Contrasts and Common Themes

Abstract: This paper synthesises the main findings from three co-ordinated reviews of national career guidance policies carried out by OECD, the European Commission and the World Bank. Some important differences are evident, with services in middle-income countries being less well-developed than in high-income countries. But the dynamics of globalisation, together with “policy borrowing”, have led to a great deal of convergence. In all countries, career guidance is viewed as a public good, linked to policy goals related to learning, the labour market and social equity. These goals are being reframed in the light of lifelong learning policies, linked to active labour market policies and the concept of sustained employability. Career guidance accordingly needs to be accessible not just to school-leavers and the unemployed, but to everyone throughout their lives. With career guidance taking increasingly varied and disparate forms, there is a need within countries for stronger mechanisms to articulate a vision and develop a strategy for delivering such access.

Gender Differences for Optimism, Self-esteem, Expectations and Goals in Predicting Career Planning and Exploration in Adolescents

Abstract: An Australian sample (N = 467) of high school students was administered scales tapping optimism, self-esteem, career expectations, career goals, career planning and career exploration. The study tested a career mediational model based on social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and cognitive-motivational-relational theory (CMR). It was hypothesised that the stable person inputs of optimism and self-esteem would predict career planning and career exploration through the variables of career expectations and career goals differentially for young males and females. For males, optimism and self-esteem influenced career expectations, sequentially predicting career goals, career planning and career exploration. A different pathway was identified for females, with optimism directly influencing career goals, which subsequently predicted career planning and career exploration. Self-esteem predicted career expectations, which then directly influenced career planning and career exploration by bypassing career goals. Results are discussed in the context of SCCT and CMR.

The Role of Social Context and Serendipitous Events in Career Decision Making

Abstract: The role of contextual and unplanned factors on career decision-making was explored. Six hundred and fifty one university students at all levels were surveyed to collect data on career intentions, current enrolments, perceptions of influence of family, friends, teachers and the media, the role of serendipitous events and the education and current work of their family members. Results indicated that students perceived family and teachers to be significant influences on their career decisions. Furthermore, distal influences such as the media and web-based information were also significant. Students’ current course enrolments and career intentions were significantly more likely to be in interest categories congruent with their father’s job. Unplanned and serendipitous events were very commonly perceived to influence career decisions. The results are interpreted as providing support for an open systems theory of career decision-making. Practical counselling and future research implications are discussed.