Correspondence of children's anticipated vocations, perceived competencies, and interests: Results from an Italian sample

Relations among anticipated vocations, self-assessments of competence, and interests in sample of 190 Italian children were examined. Children were asked what activities they liked, those they thought they were good at, and what job they expected when they grew up. The responses were coded into RIASEC Holland codes and agreement across the three questions was examined using kappa statistics. Results indicated that there was no relation between anticipated occupations and either interest or perceived competence. Thus, these anticipated occupations appear to be based on unrealistic criteria and the validity of studying such early expressions of interest is questionable. Conversely, results demonstrated a correspondence between interest and competence and this correspondence was similar for boys and girls and increased with age

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as a career counselling strategy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has potential to contribute to career counselling. In this paper, the theoretical tenets of ACT and a selection of its counselling techniques are overviewed along with a descriptive case vignette. There is limited empirical research into ACT’s application in career counselling. Accordingly, a research agenda is presented for the aim of integrating ACT with career counselling. This agenda includes suggestions to address conceptual convergence, practitioners’ perspectives, counselling processes, measurement of impact, and applications in counselling

Evolving stories of child career development

Herein, the contributions to this special issue and positions the field of child career development in terms of its past, present, and future are considered. There is an initial brief overview of past developments in the field, specifically as described in seminal reviews. The article then considers the present status of and future agenda for the field in relation to four identified themes: advances in child career development theory; innovations in practice and assessment related to child career development; child career development in diverse settings; and policy implications of child career development theory, research and practice. The article concludes by proposing seven directions for future research in child career development

Parental influences on youths' career construction

Increasingly, scholars are urging that there should be a careful examination of the role of social relations, especially those between parents and children, on the professional development of youth. In this chapter, we first present the recent models and theoretical approaches (e.g., contextual action theory, social cognitive model, and the life design approach) that recognize the need to carefully consider the role that parents play in their children\u2019s career development. Next, the parental support role in their children\u2019s professional development is explored, in relation to socioeconomic circumstances. Poverty, unemployment, precariousness, and underemployment are becoming characteristic of the context even in the richest countries; thus today\u2019s parents find themselves playing their support role in their children\u2019s professional development within much more complex societies. Some parents, especially those with low socioeconomic status (SES), are pessimistic in their overall perception of the economy, and, despite being concerned about their children\u2019s future, may find it hard to plan for it; thus, they do not encourage their children and do not start interactions centered on the future with them. Adolescent career development is affected by two interdependent contextual family factors: (a) structural family variables and (b) process family variables (e.g., parents\u2019 aspirations, parental support, family interactions). As regards structural variables, we examined socioeconomic background and social class. In research across multiple cultures, youth from families of low SES and social class have been found to have more limited opportunities for career development and more difficulties in accessing educational and social opportunities. Social class is a more difficult structural variable to define than SES. It is characterized as a cultural, psychological, and subjective factor internalized by the individual which goes beyond income, upbringing, and education, and shapes the construction of the self. As regards contextual process family variables, we focused on parental support and family interactions. Across ethnic groups (e.g., African-Americans, Italian, North Americans, French), adolescents who report greater support and more positive interactions with their parents are more engaged in designing their school\u2013career future. Specifically, greater parental support and positive relationships between parents and children are associated with more career decision-making, vocational exploration, career self-efficacy beliefs, career adaptability, less irrational career beliefs, and a greater propensity to optimism and hope in youth. In addition, it is in the family that children begin to give meaning to the world of work and construct their idea of education and work and of their career lives. Lastly, in relation to the relevance of relationships between parents and their children for the latter\u2019s career development, in this chapter we discuss how to help parents to support the realization of their children\u2019s professional projects. Parents are a key source for enabling youth to achieve preventive goals related to career education. Specifically, we provide two examples of parent training programs that are aimed at promoting parental skills in supporting their children\u2019s career construction