Career counselling with secondary school-aged youth: Directions for theory, research, and practice

Abstract

In the midst of an information age and a global economy, people around the world continue to face significant inequities at school and in the workforce. Career counselling thus finds itself in a paradigm shift that increasingly stresses the influences of culture and sociopolitical context. One area in which the profession can advance a social justice agenda is through the school-to-work movement. In this article, directions for theory, research, and practice with secondary school-aged youth are discussed using a psychology of working perspective. Specifically, the roles of self-determination theory, critical consciousness, and social support are presented as synergistic mechanisms for fostering school engagement and preventing school dropout. To this end, higher education is viewed as a key institutional partner with programmes based inside and outside of the school.

School Engagement as a Mediator of Academic Performance Among Urban Youth: The Role of Career Preparation, Parental Career Support, and Teacher Support

“…Teachers may also be a key (although overlooked) source of support for helping urban youth prepare for their careers, which would help them become more engaged in school. Because urban youth may not have regular access to parental career support for a variety of reasons (e.g., chronic poverty, negative life events, underemployment, family stressors), teachers might assume a more prominent position in their process of thinking about who they want to become in the world of work (Perry, 2009). The role of parental career support in career development, school engagement, and other lines of developmental adjustment among urban adolescents is still in its early stages of inquiry.…”

Enabling resilience: Shifting the intergenerational career expectations of South Africans challenged by structural disadvantage

“…The value of this role in post-1994 South Africa, in which historically marginalised communities generally continue to be structurally violated, is intuitive. Still, as previously suggested for novel career counselling approaches (Morgan 2010;Perry 2009), the merits and practicalities of heightening whole communities' awareness of 21 st century career opportunities -as part of championing the resilience of marginalised young people -requires empirical verification. This will include: (i) training career counsellors to recognise the diversity of 21 st century career paths;…”

“…However, in South Africa, colleges offering TVET qualifications are not popular choices (Nkomo et al 2015). This is, in all likelihood, linked to the inequitable colonial and apartheid education practices (referred to above) which effectively barred academic career pathways for the majority of South Africans; TVET is associated with the non-academic education tracks that were scripted for black South Africans (Perry 2009). There are similar responses elsewhere in post-colonial Africa.…”

“…As part of the community career education agenda, insight into how best to offer support to first generation college/university students is important (Perry 2009). It would be helpful for parents and others to understand that showing interest -even though they have no personal experience of tertiary education -lessens the pressure and isolation first generation students experience.…”

Validation of a Measuring Instrument to Ascertain the Effectiveness of Career Guidance Provided as Part of the Subject Life Orientation

“…South Africa is faced with the conflicting task of rebuilding its workforce by means of an integrated education system, while at the same time, attempting to address prevailing unemployment (Perry 2009). As such career guidance has become increasingly important in facilitation of the match between supply and demand factors in the labour market, reducing unemployment and addressing prevailing social exclusion (Lundahl & Nilsson, 2009).…”