Students’ career concerns: challenges facing guidance providers in higher education

Abstract

The study reported here examined higher education career guidance at the University of Jyvä skylä in Finland. In a survey (N = 880), students were asked to describe how much thinking they had done about their future career and forthcoming transition from university to working life. The use of different sources of guidance and counselling service providers was examined from the perspective of a student-centred holistic model of guidance. On the basis of the empirical findings, challenges facing career guidance in higher education are discussed.Ré sumé Pré occupations de carriè re chez les é tudiants: les dé fis lancé s aux opé rateurs d'orientation dans l'enseignement supé rieur. L'é tude rapporté e ici porte sur l'orientation vocationnelle à l'Université de Jyvä skylä en Finlande. Au travers d'une enquê te (N = 880), des é tudiants ont é té invité s à dé crire leur espace de ré flexion relatif à leur future carriè re et à la transition qui les attend entre l'université et la vie professionnelle. On a examiné le recours à diffé rentes aides en orientation et à des services de conseil dans la perspective d'un modè le d'orientation holistique centré sur l'é tudiant. Sur la base de ré sultats empiriques, on discute les dé fis lancé s aux opé rateurs d'orientation dans l'enseignement supé rieur.Zusammenfassung Was fü r Studenten und ihre Berufslaufbahn von Bedeutung ist: Herausforderungen fü r die Anbieter von Berufsberatungsdienstleistungen im universitä ren Bereich. Die Arbeit, ü ber die hier berichtet

Assessment of Greek University Students’ Counselling Needs and Attitudes: An Exploratory Study

“…However, these numbers are lower than those reported by Warbah et al (2006) who reported that 21% of their sample faced some kind of psychological problems. In addition, the reported types of concerns stated above are consistent with previous research that indicates that students' highest ranked needs are in the social, personal, academic and career areas, both in Greece (i.e., Papadioti and Damigos 2003) and internationally (i.e., Bradley 2000;Güneri et al 2003;Lairio and Penttinen 2006). Significant gender differences were observed with regard to the participation of young men and women in the four problem groups.…”

Position, possession or process? Understanding objective and subjective employability during university-to-work transitions

“…The great majority of graduates experience uncertainty upon graduation as they question the role of education for employability (Lairio and Penttinen 2006). For overcoming such uncertainty and negotiating labour market barriers, careers research highlights the role of CSM.…”

Supporting students' pedagogical working life horizon in higher education

“…At the university, students build an academic identity and a work identity (Johansson, Kopciwicz, and Dahlgren 2008, 220;Archer 2008, 401;Pratt, Rockmann, and Kaufmann 2006, 256). Research at the University of Jyväskylä (Lairio and Penttinen 2006) indicated that over 90% of the students surveyed had a large number of career-related questions in the final stages of their studies and over 70% of the respondents reported career concerns at the very outset of their studies. Students' career concerns were divided into three categories of deliberating about the future.…”