Exploring processes of change in a life-design career development intervention in socio-economically challenged youth

Previous research has sought to identify the underlying processes and mechanisms that lead to lasting changes in a client's career development, yet more research needed to understand what elicits effective changes. The present research will explore how life-design career counselling supports change in a group of disadvantaged South African adolescents. The present research study will focus on a post-intervention qualitative strand, which included evaluative worksheets completed post-intervention (n = 265) and a focus data six months later (n = 6). Braun and Clarke's (2006) content analysis was used to group themes according to the Career Construction Theory (CCT) and process constructs of narrative career counselling. Qualitative findings provide evidence that the intervention had elicited long-term changes in career development and facilitated reflective processes. Implications and recommendations for research and practice will be discussed.

Career counselling with life design in a collectivist cultural context: An action research study

Large-scale macro forces are restructuring forms of work in urban India creating the need for alternative methods of career counselling. This research explores the application of a US-based approach to constructing careers i.e. Life-Design Career Counseling (i. e., LDC) with two mid-career professionals in India. Data consisted of client responses to different narrative career counselling exercises such as a lifeline activity, a career construction interview and semi-structured feedback interviews. Action research's focus on reflexivity helped integrate theory with practice to contribute to knowledge production and meaningful innovations within practice. Findings from this research underscored the importance of relationship, reflection and sense-making and the need for India to utilise a culturally resonant career intervention. The study holds value for career professionals, in India and beyond where LDC is still unexplored. Moreover, LDC practitioners in non-Western countries and collectivist societies will benefit from a contextual adaptation that encourages focus on client learning.

Exploring the boundary between narrative research and narrative intervention

Researchers need to be cautious and reflective about the boundaries between narrative research and narrative intervention. Pursuing the ethics of care and the responsive and responsible practice of narrative inquiry obliges qualitative researchers to remain sensitive about the implications of engaging participants in narrative inquiry. This is accentuated with narrative inquiry into the life experiences of marginalised or disempowered populations. This study explored the implications of engaging recently resettled young African participants in narrative inquiry interviews. Thematic analysis uncovered four themes and 11 subthemes from the interviews. The Future Career Autobiography (FCA; Rehfuss, 2009, 2015) was used to understand these participants’ narrative themes and explore the possibility of narrative change as a result of participating in narrative inquiry interviews. The findings illustrate the transformative function of narrative inquiry as uncovered by the FCA, and how narrative inquiry could potentially cross a boundary with narrative interventions such as narrative career counselling.

How can creative practice facilitate reflection on self-learning? Implications for narrative career counselling

This study uses an individual case study to explore how creative practice can facilitate reflection on self-learning from a narrative career counselling perspective. The case study features the original creative output and associated writing task produced by a higher education student as part of a skills award. The study considers what is meant by creativity and the use of creative practices in narrative career counselling. Based on the case study, it considers the potential implications for narrative career counselling regarding the use of creative practice to facilitate both reflection and stimulate internal and external dialogues around self-learning.

Narrative career counselling: A tension between potential, appeal, and proof. Introduction to the special issue

Narrative career counselling is becoming ubiquitous as its inherent appeal has seen it become more widely adopted in practice. A tension between its potential, popular appeal and proof has emerged. It is over 40 years since the need for a change in direction in theory and practice was first flagged, and it is timely to reflect on the past, present and future stories of narrative career counselling. This article considers the nature and purpose of narrative, the foundation for narrative approaches to career counselling. It overviews the relationship between narrative and identity, the philosophical underpinnings of narrative career counselling, the influence of narrative on career counselling and critiques of narrative career counselling. The article concludes that the potential and popular appeal of narrative career counselling have been realised, but that further supporting proof is needed. A possible future story could see researchers and practitioners working together more closely to build the evidence base for and stimulate theory development about narrative career counselling.

Advancing a cross-cultural narrative approach to career counselling: The case of Vietnam

The purpose of this paper is to advance the concept of narrative approaches to career counselling from a cross-cultural perspective by investigating the case of Vietnam. It offers an account of the sociocultural context of Vietnam as it shifts from its traditional Confucian and communist values to a modern globally integrated market economy. Current approaches to career counselling in Vietnam for students in secondary and tertiary education are outdated and so fail to respond to the challenges that this shift is creating. It is argued that narrative career counselling has the potential to reconcile the tension between the need for flexibility and self-direction in work and career in a society that continues to be heavily influenced by Confucian ethics and collective notions of the self. The paper concludes with a call for future research on the practice of narrative career counselling cross-culturally to test its suitability.

Adults changing careers through university education: Making meaning of quantitative career assessment scores through an integrative structured interview

Orientation: Career change in adulthood is becoming a norm and university education is a pathway to new careers. Career psychologists are well positioned to assist adult career changers. Contemporary approaches to diverse client groups and integrating career assessment with narrative career counselling are needed. Research purpose: This article reports on an innovative approach to assisting adult career changers through the complementarity of an integrative structured interview (ISI) and the self-directed search (SDS) career assessment questionnaire. Motivation for the study: The overall aim of this research was to explore the career transition experiences of adult university learners. The secondary aims were to investigate the complementarity of quantitative career assessment (i.e. the SDS) and narrative interviewing (i.e. the ISI) and how adult university learners engaged with the ISI. This article reports on the secondary aims by considering excerpts from case study interviews. Research design, approach and method: This qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, multiple case study research presents case studies of two adult university learners: an Australian male student and a South African female student. Participants completed the SDS prior to engaging in a four-part semi-structured interview that incorporated the ISI. Main findings: The findings revealed that the participants told rich stories that related past, present and future life and work experiences to their SDS three-letter codes. Their stories revealed how quantitative career assessment scores and narrative career counselling may be integrated through a structured interview. Practical and managerial implications: Adult career changers told meaningful stories about their quantitative SDS scores. The findings suggest that narrative career counselling may be useful for adult career changers and that the ISI could provide a model for career psychologists who support them. Implications of the findings suggest that managers and human resource personnel working in organisations may assist adult career changers by offering them access to psychological support that uses quantitative career assessment as a foundation for career story telling. Contribution or value-add: The research provides an innovative response to challenges in career psychology to develop contemporary responses to diverse client groups and to integrate career assessment with narrative career counselling.