Deconstructing career myths and cultural stereotypes in a context of low resourced township communities

The current research presents the voices of black adolescents struggling to emerge from the shadow of the Apartheid legacy, focusing on the career beliefs that are perpetuated in low socio-economic communities and negatively influence career opportunities. Inaccurate information can result in career myths, which can have a negative impact on career development. The present study uses the Systems Theory Framework (STF) as a means of engaging with clients from marginalised groups. It also offers a mechanism to explore the impact of overlooked career influences such as culture, religion, community and socio-economic conditions. The qualitative career measure, My System of Career Influences (MSCI), was used to explore the factors that contribute to career decision-making. Specifically, widely shared irrational beliefs that had prevented participants from applying to tertiary institutions were examined. Career misconceptions were grouped according to Stead and Watson’s (1993) career myths, namely: 1) test myths; 2) misconceptions of exactitude; 3) self-esteem myths; and 4) career anxiety myths. The meaning-making that adolescents from disadvantaged contexts undergo, based on their unique constellation of contextual career influences and their resultant story-telling, is intrinsic to understanding local South African career identities embedded in township communities.Keywords: career beliefs; career decision-making; career development; career myths; My System of Career Influences; South African township; Systems Theory Framewor

Mixed-methods analysis of the applicability of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale for isiXhosa-speaking South African township adolescents

Please read abstract in the article.https://www-springer-com/journal/10775hj2021Educational Psycholog

Listening to new voices in the career development field

This is an editorial for an issue of the Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling focusing on new and early career researchers, particularly those associated with the ECADOC programme.N/

Deconstructing career myths and cultural stereotypes in a context of low resourced township communities

CITATION: Albien, A. J. & Naidoo, A. V. 2017. Deconstructing career myths and cultural stereotypes in a context of low resourced township communities. South African Journal of Education, 37(4):Art. # 1476, doi:10.15700/saje.v37n4a1476.The original publication is available at http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.zaENGLISH ABSTRACT: The current research presents the voices of black adolescents struggling to emerge from the shadow of the Apartheid legacy, focusing on the career beliefs that are perpetuated in low socio-economic communities and negatively influence career opportunities. Inaccurate information can result in career myths, which can have a negative impact on career development. The present study uses the Systems Theory Framework (STF) as a means of engaging with clients from marginalised groups. It also offers a mechanism to explore the impact of overlooked career influences such as culture, religion, community and socio-economic conditions. The qualitative career measure, My System of Career Influences (MSCI), was used to explore the factors that contribute to career decision-making. Specifically, widely shared irrational beliefs that had prevented participants from applying to tertiary institutions were examined. Career misconceptions were grouped according to Stead and Watson’s (1993) career myths, namely: 1) test myths; 2) misconceptions of exactitude; 3) self-esteem myths; and 4) career anxiety myths. The meaning-making that adolescents from disadvantaged contexts undergo, based on their unique constellation of contextual career influences and their resultant story-telling, is intrinsic to understanding local South African career identities embedded in township communities.http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/index.php/saje/article/view/1476Publisher's versio

A systematic review and conceptual model of international student mobility decision-making

CITATION: Albien, A. J. & Mashatola, N. J. 2021. A systematic review and conceptual model of international student mobility decision-making. Social Inclusion, 9(1):288–298, doi:10.17645/si.v9i1.3769.The original publication is available at https://www.cogitatiopress.comThis research synthesizes the most recent studies on the international student mobility of higher education students. Our aim is to begin to conceptualise and predict the barriers, enablers and determinants from an organisational psychology perspective that may contribute to the limited decision-making of higher education students to become internationally mobile. Previous studies were used to examine the uncertainties and difficulties documented in other international student groups to try to understand the determinants of internationally mobile versus non-internationally mobile students, and make transferrable conceptual links to South African higher education students. These conceptual links are framed in an organizational psychology perspective. This article uses a systematic review methodology and began by framing review objectives, identifying relevant publications, establishing criteria for selecting the studies that were analyzed, summarizing the evidence found, and drawing relevant conclusions. A conceptual model is proposed as an extension of the current international student mobility literature and merged with organizational psychology theory to develop a new future research line. Research limitations are addressed, and practical implications are discussed to assess whether interventions can be created to support international mobility decision-making amongst international students in general, and South African higher education students in particular, to create a globally competitive workforce and sustainable employment paths.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/3769/3769Publisher's versio

Developing a Moral Sensitivity Measure for Career Guidance and Counselling

Moral sensitivity, the ability to recognize ethical issues when they arise in practice, is a key premise for career practitioners\u2019 professional conduct of Career Guidance Counselling (CGC). Due to the diversity of ethical issues related to CGC and the situational contingency of ethical problems, the assessment of moral sensitivity is challenging. The purpose of this article is to develop a novel measure of moral sensitivity, consisting of triad judgment tasks, to assess whether career practitioners are capable of identifying ten ethical issues related to the CGC practice. In this article, we present our theoretical approach, the development phases of the Guidance Ethical Sensitivity Test (GUEST) and the fi rst administration of the GUEST. The reliability was assessed by performing Polychoric Correlations and Categorical Principal Components Analysis (CATCPA). Administrations showed that ethics experts and most groups with ethics training scored signifi cantly higher than others without ethics training. Future GUEST validations and implications for CGC research, training and policy are discussed