The development of coping strategies for young people to construct their identity in times of the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a major impact on young people across the world. Many students struggle to complete their studies amidst the pressure of the pandemic and have many difficulties constructing their identity and career which is crucial at this period of life. An overview of the main effects of the pandemic on their identity and career development is presented.Objectives: The first objective is to highlight the challenges faced by youth regarding their identity and career development, particularly the challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The next objective is to explore different strategies that may be implemented to ameliorate the effects of the career shock induced by the pandemic. Lastly, the goal is to propose career guidance and counselling interventions that professionals may utilise to help young adults to cope with the career-related consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.Method: This article was informed by an overview of the current psychosocial literature. Relevant literature was reviewed and critically analysed. It was also informed by the review of an empirical experience with a group of students who kept diaries during pandemic confinement periods.Results: The analysis resulted in three sets of psychosocial strategies that youth can develop in order to face the difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Each set of coping strategies is related to a specific career intervention that may be implemented by career guidance and counselling practitioners.Conclusion: To support the development of adaptive coping strategies for the youth, career and counselling professionals need to address the three main types of challenges that are described.

Positive parenting, career aspirations, and exploration: A study of third-year urban undergraduate students

Career exploration reflects activities conducted to collect information about oneself and potential occupations to become self-aware and understand the job market. Career exploration guides the realization of career aspirations and is thus crucial for young adults. It helps the youth make appropriate career-relevant decisions. However, it is unknown whether career aspirations mediate the links between positive parenting and career exploration activities undertaken by urban third-year undergraduate students. This study aimed to bridge this gap in the literature, and to this end, a survey was administered to 125 third-year undergraduate students attending a state university in Semarang, Central Java. The Career Exploration Scale, Career Aspirations Scale, Positive Parenting Subscale, and questions on demographic characteristics were employed for data collection. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that career aspirations fully mediated the path between positive parenting and career exploration. The findings of this study underline the importance of career aspirations in translating the effects of positive parenting into specific career exploration activities undertaken by college students. Finally, suggestions based on the study results are offered for third-year undergraduate students, parents, and practitioners.

Creating a Culture of Activism in the Education Doctorate

Attempting to combine activism and scholarship would seem natural because most academic research is born out of a deep-rooted desire to change, eradicate, or transform a societal issue. As such, translating research into practice by way of activism would seem conventional for most scholars, because it is “informed by both personal and political values and the need to engage our emotional responses to the world around us” (Derickson & Routledge, 2015, p. 5). However, the elite, “ivory-tower” of the academy is not so accepting of scholar-activists. Perhaps it is because activism places higher education in the cross hairs of the criticisms, critiques, and call-outs that activism seeks to influence. Institutions of higher education have done a mediocre job at cultivating spaces for academics to freely engage in activism, as academics who desire to participate in activism face considerable and specific career-related risks (Flood et al., 2013). Loss of tenure, reduced opportunities for collaboration, decreased funding, isolation, and oftentimes physical threats are but a few strategies used against academics who openly participate in activism. While many activist movements have been birthed on college and university campuses, very few demonstrate a willingness to embrace the causes or individuals involved in these activist movements. As institutions of higher education try to strengthen both the policies and practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion it is imperative that they also examine the oppressive structures, antiquated hiring practices, and exclusionary curriculum that inhibit the culture of activism from thriving. These three specific areas are the focus for this article.

DISPOSITIONAL TRAITS AS PREDICTORS OF SELF-EFFICACY

Introduction: We started from Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, the onion model of achievement motivation according to Schuler & Prochaska, and the 5-factor personality theory by Costa & McCrae. The study aimed to analyze the predictive power of achievement motivation and personality traits on general self-efficacyand domain-specific career decision self-efficacy. We expected the more significant relationship of stable personality characteristics with general self-efficacy than with specific-domain career decision self-efficacy. Methods: 690adult participants (university students and working adults) completed a career decision self-efficacy questionnaire,and 268of them a general self-efficacy scale. All participants also fulfilled an achievement motivation questionnaire and afive-factor personality theory questionnaire. Results: All five personality traits, combined with four dimensions of achievement motivation (dominance, confidence in success, self-control, and competitiveness) explain 61% of general self-efficacy variability. Extraversion, agreeableness, andconscientiousness with six achievement motivation dimensions (dominance, engagement, confidence in success, fearlessness, competitiveness, and goal setting) explain 42.5% of career decision self-efficacy variability. Discussion: Stable traits and achievement motivation dimensions had more significant predictive power on general self-efficacy than on domain-specific career decision self-efficacy. For further research, there is a suggestion about a theoretically and empirically integrated model of dispositional and social-cognitive approaches.

Career Performance Trajectories of Professional Australian Football Players

Purpose: To develop position-specific career performance trajectories and determine the age of peak performance of professional Australian Football players. Methods: Match performance data (Australian Football League [AFL] Player Rank) were collected for Australian Football players drafted via the AFL National Draft between 1999 and 2015 (N = 207). Players were subdivided into playing positions: forwards (n = 60; age 23 [3] y), defenders (n = 71; age 24 [4] y), midfielders (n = 58; age 24 [4] y), and ruckmen (n = 18; age 24 [3] y). Linear mixed models were fitted to the data to estimate individual career trajectories. Results: Forwards, midfielders, and defenders experienced peak match performance earlier than ruckmen (24–25 vs 27 y). Midfielders demonstrated the greatest between-subjects variability (intercept 0.580, age 0.0286) in comparison with ruckmen, who demonstrated the least variability (intercept 0.112, age 0.005) in AFL Player Rank throughout their careers. Age had the greatest influence on the career trajectory of midfielders (β [SE] = 0.226 [0.025], T = 9.10, P < .01) and the least effect on ruckmen (β [SE] = 0.114 [0.049], T = 2.30, P = .02). Conclusions: Professional Australian Football players peak in match performance between 24 and 27 years of age with age, having the greatest influence on the match performance of midfielders and the least on ruckmen.

Mentoring Across Teacher Career Stages

In education, mentoring is generally defined as a supporting and guiding relationship between an experienced teacher and a preservice or in-service teacher with less experience. Individual studies regarding mentoring in teachers’ specific career trajectories have been conducted; however, a meta-study chronicling such trajectories—of published works on the mentoring of teachers across their career stages, phases, or trajectories—has not been accomplished. Based on a critical review of 1,051 studies, an overview of practical insights for those who mentor teachers or for teachers who are mentored across career levels, as well as an example of a teacher career phase model with mentoring can be observed.

Upskill/Backfill Model of Career Pathways Advancement: The Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation Approach

Current trends in vocational rehabilitation (VR) increasingly value career pathways and career advancement as important components for success. Simultaneously, employers and businesses have great needs for retaining and advancing incumbent workers in order to better meet their workforce demands. This article describes the Career Pathways Advancement Project (CPAP), the first state VR agency use of the upskill/backfill model for advancing former clients in specific career clusters in Nebraska VR by providing them access to additional training, certification, or specialized skills necessary to advance within that career sector. The model also provides access to entry-level jobs in the same businesses for current VR clients by “backfilling” the vacated positions left by the worker who is advancing. The upskill/backfill model appears to be an effective means for advancing former VR clients in their careers and providing substantial gains in income and employer-provided benefits. The model may require additional modifications in order to better serve new clients with backfill positions that were created by those who successfully advanced. Policy considerations for embedding this model in VR are addressed in light of evolving workplace dynamics and employer needs.

Paths 2 the Future: Evidence for the Efficacy of a Career Development Intervention for Young Women With Disabilities

Young women with disabilities face unique barriers in the transition from school to adulthood, yet very few studies have examined the effectiveness of gender-specific career interventions. Using an intent-to-treat analysis, this study tested the efficacy of the Paths 2 the Future (P2F) career development curriculum to produce beneficial impacts as compared to business-as-usual career and transition services within a clustered, school-randomized trial. The sample included 366 young women with disabilities enrolled in 26 high schools. Controlling for student and school characteristics, multilevel growth models showed that young women in the P2F intervention schools grew in career development skills at a greater rate relative to those in the control schools. Findings suggest that P2F was effective in promoting individual student differences in career development skills for young women with disabilities and support the need for further research examining effectiveness of gender-specific career interventions in special education.

Perceptions of Medical Students Regarding Career Counseling in Korea: A Qualitative Study

Current medical school education focuses on acquiring appropriate knowledge with relatively little interest in developing the career selection skills of medical students. We investigated medical students’ perceptions of career problems and the required types of career counseling programs. Five focus group discussions were held with 23 medical students. The consensual qualitative study method was used to analyze the recorded discussion process. The medical students were more influenced by parents and grades than by subjective choices when deciding on admission to medical school. In future career choices, medical students considered the stability and feasibility of the career and expected quality of life. However, there were several opinions that it is essential to understand oneself. Objective and specific career information was lacking, and meeting with the professor was not very helpful for career counseling. Most medical students expected the effectiveness of the career counseling program but hoped the program would proceed with voluntary participation. Medical students wanted a variety of concrete and objective information, such as specialty information for choosing residency training, trainee hospital information, and post-residency training information in the career counseling program. Most medical students are not ready for career-related problems, therefore making it necessary to develop a career counseling program suitable for them.