Applying Career Development Theories to the School-to-Work Transition Process

Responding to national and local initiatives, the career development profession has been engaged in efforts to aid understanding and facilitation of the school-to-work (STW) transition process. Vocational theory has been cited as one especially important area in which the career development field can contribute to the STW movement, yet career development theories do not typically highlight their relevance to the STW transition process. This special issue of The Career Development Quarterly features a set of articles that examine how several prominent career development theories (person-environment fit, social learning, developmental, and social cognitive) can be brought to bear on the STW process. Three discussants assess the theories' utility as templates for studying and facilitating the transition from school to work.     

A Match Made in Heaven? Career Development Theories and the School-to-Work Transition

This article discusses the major contributions (Krumboltz & Worthington, 1999; Lent, Hackett, & Brown, 1999; Savickas, 1999; Swanson & Fouad, 1999) to this special issue of The Career Development Quarterly on the application of career development theories to the school-to-work transition. Common thematic elements in these 4 articles include a focus on the individual who faces the transition from high school to work and an emphasis on the developmental aspects of the transition. The article concludes with a cautionary recommendation that theory-building efforts derived from the individual experiences of work-bound youth ought to be included in theoretical and intervention initiatives to facilitate the school-to-work transition.     

A Social Cognitive View of School-to-Work Transition

This article considers social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) as a vantage point from which to view the school-to-work transition process. Rather than emphasizing the period just before high school graduation, SCCT focuses on 6 developmentally linked themes that unfold throughout the school years. An emphasis on these themes (formation of self-efficacy and outcome beliefs, interest development, interest-goal linkages, translation of goals into actions, performance skills, negotiation of transition supports and barriers) suggests targets for developmental and remedial interventions that promote students' career development across the school years and after work entry.     

上海电子信息产品制造业转型升级的思路——目标、方向、关键点、路径与发展模式

上海电子信息产品制造业在上海六大重点工业行业中占重要地位,但产业表现出“大而不强”的特征;产业的自主创新能力亟待提升。在后危机时代上海商务成本逐渐高企,土地等资源条件紧张的产业发展环境下,电子信息产品制造业的转型升级显得尤为迫切。本文通过分析该产业发展现状和面临的问题,提出上海电子信息产品制造业转型升级的思路、升级的方向、升级的路径、发展模式和关键点,并提出保障上海电子信息产品制造业更快更好转型升级的对策建议：提升政府的服务水平,营造优越的产业发展生态环境;聚焦产业“高新高效高端”特征,打造优势产业链;加强创新服务,强化以知识与智力资本动态比较优势为禀赋的竞争优势。     

Circular literacy. A knowledge-based approach to the circular economy

ABSTRACT

This paper applies a knowledge-based approach to study the role of circular economy (CE) for sustainable development. An analysis of publications from practice-oriented CE advocates is deployed to study the types of knowledge actors foster when they pursue the transition towards a CE. With the proposed term ‘circular literacy’ (CL), an analytical framework is provided to differentiate between different types of knowledge relevant for a transition towards the CE: system, target, and transformation knowledge. The main emphasis is on identifying knowledge-related prerequisites that prevent or stimulate the transformative potential of CE thinking and practices for sustainable development. The analysis reveals how the CL in the sample is confined by a narrow economic vision of the CE, lacking a reflection of political and sociocultural aspects that are needed to be addressed in future research to gain a robust concept of a CE-driven systemic transition towards sustainability.     

“That's What Makes a Woman”: Infertility and Coping with a Failed Life Course Transition

Becoming a parent remains a key marker for the transition into adulthood, especially for many women. Infertility thwarts this transition. In this research, we investigate one aspect of the gendered nature of adult development within the life course. Specifically, this study examines interview data from 40 infertile women in order to explore how this group of women cope with what they perceive to be a failed life course transition and how it affects their sense of self. We find that this failed life course transition altered these women's relationships with others. Further, this change had a corresponding effect on their self. These women's inability to do gender by being mothers challenges their sense of themselves as normal adult women. Using West and Zimmerman's concept of doing gender, we argue that infertility can be experienced as a failed life course transition among women who desire children. We also demonstrate how this failed transition has a distinctly gendered component.     

开放条件下的经济增长、模式转型与企业发展研究——基于长三角的调查与思考

在对西方发达国家经济增长方式演化规律及中国经济增长模式和结构转变研究回顾的基础上,探讨在开放经济条件下,当前中国发展面临的困境及未来可能的模式转型和政策选择。同时,根据理论研究和实践调研结果,提出基于宏观经济发展模式转型和国情变化背景下,未来企业可能的一些发展方向。     

探索城市转型发展之路——以广州为例

转型发展,是指转变经济社会发展模式,实现又好又快的科学发展。近年来,广州从实际出发,以科学发展观为指导,率先探索转型发展之路,并且取得了积极成就,走在了全省和全国的前列。但是,广州的转型发展仍然是初步的。在建设国家中心城市的进程中,广州仍然面临着许多不容忽视的问题,需要继续探索符合本市实际的转型发展之路。     

International Financial Integration and Its Distinctions in Transition Economies

We discuss the main tendencies and forms of international financial integration in both developing and developed economies. Integration of financial markets is a topic of economic debates especially for developed and transition economies, particularly Armenia, because it is the most effective way of overcoming the main problems of financial-sector development of transition economies. But there are many problems on the way of financial integration, which are summarized into four groups: institutional problems, legislative problems, macroeconomic instability, and technical problems. All of these problems are analyzed in the article for Armenia, though they are quite relevant for most transition countries.      

推进转型发展，稳定经济增长——对上海转型发展与经济增长关系的若干看法

当前上海肩负着率先转变经济发展方式的历史任务。推进经济转型发展,必须适当降低经济发展速度,加大经济结构调整的力度。上海经济转型发展主要表现为城市功能高度化、经济结构合理化、运行质量集约化和发展环境优质化,并呈现出运行阶段的一些主要特征。对上海来说,处理好转型发展与经济增长的关系是贯彻落实科学发展观、加快建设“四个中心”和实现“四个率先”的关键。     

Conflict Frequency and Relationship Quality Across the Transition to Parenthood

Longitudinal data from 293 Dutch couples were used to examine the association between conflict frequency and relationship quality across the transition to parenthood, which is known as one of the most challenging events in the early stages of marriage. More frequent conflict during pregnancy was related to lower levels of relationship quality across the transition to parenthood, and lower levels of relationship quality during pregnancy were associated with more frequent conflict across the transition to parenthood. A comparison of two models showed that frequent conflict is more likely to be a determinant than a consequence of lower relationship quality. The results suggest a complicated but identifiable association between conflict frequency and relationship quality that may inform the development and modification of primary interventions targeting new parents.     

From government to grass-roots reform: the Ford Foundation's population programmes in South Asia, 1959–1981

This article traces the history of Ford's involvement in population work in South Asia from the 1950s to the mid-1980s. The primary focus is on the transition from large-scale technical assistance programmes rooted in government and academe, to work with grass-roots women's groups and community-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In the process, the Foundation also moved from quantitative efforts designed primarily to distribute contraceptives, to a more holistic approach focusing on maternal and child health. The article concludes by relating these trends to a larger shift from a belief in the power of ‘disinterested expertise’ and university-based policymaking that marked the efforts of the major American foundations since the Progressive era, to a new emphasis on ‘self-interested expertise’ and grass-roots social activist and development NGOs that emerged in the 1970s. Changing development paradigms, political trends and a growing disillusionment with large-scale technical assistance all contributed to this transition.     

The transition to parenthood and development of parents' personality and emotional competencies

To investigate the influence of the transition to parenthood on parents' personality traits and emotional competencies, the authors conducted a two-wave longitudinal research programme (during pregnancy and 6 months postpartum) on 307 parents (214 primiparous and 93 multiparous). At each wave, participants completed a questionnaire assessing personality traits (NEO-60) and emotional competencies (TEIQue). The main results showed few personality and emotional competencies mean-level changes, all gender and socio-economic status taken into account. Globally, the transition to parenthood does not lead to short-term changes, which confirms personality stability theory. Nevertheless, when gender effects were set aside, different developmental trajectories were observed between mothers and fathers. Parenthood seems to have a positive effect on the mother's development. Finally, SES differences in personality and emotional competencies development were not observed. Neither educational level, associated to cognitive flexibility, nor income level, allowing access to parental services and goods, affected parents’ personality development.     

The Transition From School to Work: A Developmental Perspective

Career development theory provides a comprehensive model for conceptualizing the school-to-work transition. Since the 1920s, this model has guided the design of a plethora of career education methods and materials that orient, teach, coach, and rehearse students for the transition from school to work. The developmental model, methods, and materials aim to increase students' awareness of the choices to be made and the information and planning that bears on these choices.     

Women with disabilities making the transition back to work: Psychosocial barriers and interventions

The economic impact of disability on employment, earnings, and education appears to be more devastating for women than for men. Women with disabilities who are making the transition either back into the workforce or into the workforce for the first time often face barriers that are unique to this population. Many researchers have described women with disabilities as having a "double disadvantage" that results in social and psychological barriers to their transition back to work. The purpose of this article is to help vocational and career development programs better address the psychosocial needs of women with disabilities by (a) describing key psychosocial barriers faced by women with disabilities in their transition back to work and (b) providing career development strategies designed to ease this transition process for women with disabilities and enhance their employment outcomes.     

Student Veteran Career Transition Readiness,Career Adaptability,and Academic and Life Satisfaction

Student military veterans pursuing higher education present with unique career development needs. To better understand these needs, the authors conducted an exploratory study to examine career transition readiness, career adaptability, academic satisfaction, and satisfaction with life among 134 student military veterans (34 women, 100 men). Results indicated statistically significant positive correlations between satisfaction with life scores and scores on measures of career transition readiness and career adaptability. Regression results demonstrated that career transition readiness and career adaptability predicted satisfaction with life, but not academic satisfaction. The findings suggest a need to understand the complexity of student veterans’ career and academic development in both research and practice.     

Canadian Fossil Capitalism,Corporate Strategy,and Post‐Carbon Futures

This study investigates the relationship between the carbon extractive sector in Canada and renewable energy development. Specifically, it examines the strategies employed by Canadian carbon‐capital firms to shape and control alternative energy and considers if we are witnessing signs of “transition capture” as some oil, gas, and coal firms invest in a gradual shift toward “climate capitalism.” I investigate first, investments by large Canada‐based fossil fuel companies in renewable energy and second, interlocking directorate relations between the fossil fuel sector and the renewables industry. Findings suggest the possibility of a long‐term strategic orientation toward a climate capitalist model of development by some carbon‐capital firms; however, this alignment remains highly tentative, with evidence pointing to an industry that is largely without plans for energy transition.     

Family Instability and the Transition to Adulthood

Children's experience of repeated family structure change has a robust association with compromised development across the early life course. Implicit in prior research is the expectation that disparities in cognition and behavior accumulate through childhood and adolescence to influence the transition to adulthood. The authors assessed the association of early and later family structure instability with events in the transition to adulthood up to age 24 using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 8,841).They found that early and later family instability are associated with low rates of college completion, early union formation and childbearing, and an early entry into the labor force. The associations are explained by family structure, delinquency, and academic performance in adolescence.     

Innovation Policy Challenges in Transition Countries: Foreign Business R&D in the Czech Republic and Hungary

R&D expenditures of national firms decreased considerably and structural changes of R&D financing followed the fall of planned economy in the transition period of Central Eastern European economies. In the middle of the 1990s, business R&D started to grow in the Czech Republic and Hungary due to investments of foreign affiliates and restructuring of domestic companies. Nowadays multinational companies have a decisive share in business R&D in these countries, which entails special challenges for national innovation policy. In this paper, we look through the development of the Czech and Hungarian innovation policy considering MNEs R&D. We use case studies of the Czech automobile industry, the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry, and the new MNE-related university units and private universities to show how these companies influence innovation systems in transition economies.      

Using primary and secondary stakeholders to define facility-to-community transition needs for adjudicated youth with disabilities

Stakeholder participation, specifically the primary beneficiary, enhances evaluation results by increasing the overall validity of the evaluative measure. This article provides an example of how the addition of adjudicated youth, the primary beneficiary, as a stakeholder group in a needs assessment provided additional information important for program development of a multi-agency transition program. The needs assessment consisted of five regional community forums comprised of youth correctional facility and community-based service providers (n=127), as secondary stakeholders. A nominal group process was completed defining both supports and barriers to the development of the service delivery model. Additionally, qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted on adjudicated youth (n=33) to describe their perception of the barriers and supports necessary for a successful transition from either a youth correctional facility or off of probation. Both groups identified and ranked the top 12 supports and barriers. Common themes emerged from both groups with substantive differences providing information that helped shape the program service delivery model to accommodate needs of both the adjudicated youth and secondary stakeholder participants. Implications for the development of the service delivery model are described.