A Brief History of Career Counseling in the United States

The author presents the 6 stages in the development of career counseling in the United States. In the 1st stage (1890–1919), placement services were offered for an increasingly urban and industrial society. In the 2nd stage (1920–1939), educational guidance through the elementary and secondary schools became the focal point. The 3rd stage (1940–1959) saw the focus shift to colleges and universities and the training of counselors. The 4th stage (1960–1979) was the boom for counseling and the idea of work having meaning in a person's life came to the forefront; organizational career development began during this period. The 5th stage (1980–1989) saw the beginning of the transition from the industrial age to the information age and the growth of both the independent practice of career counseling and outplacement counseling. The 6th stage (1990—present), with its emphasis on technology and changing demographics, has seen an increased sophistication in the uses of technology, the internationalization of career counseling, the beginnings of multicultural career counseling, and the focus on the school‐to‐job transition.     

Professional School Counselors' Career Development Practices and Continuing Education Needs

This study explored the practices of professional school counselors in their delivery of career counseling. School counselors were found to spend significantly less time on career development than on personal–social and academic development. In addition, new professionals placed more priority on career counseling compared with their more experienced counterparts. Continuing education opportunities, future research directions, and implications for school counselors are presented.     

Self‐Efficacy,Perceptions of Barriers,Vocational Identity,and the Career Exploration Behavior of Latino/a High School Students

This study explored the potential relationship between the social cognitive variables of career decision‐making self‐efficacy and perceptions of barriers and the outcome variables of vocational identity and career exploration behaviors in a sample of 128 urban Latino/a high school students. The results indicated that higher levels of career decision‐making self‐efficacy were related to both a more differentiated vocational identity and a greater engagement with career exploration tasks. Perception of fewer barriers was also found to be related to a more integrated vocational identity. Implications for career counseling and future research are discussed.     

Young Women's Work Values and Role Salience in Grade 11: Are There Changes Three Years Later?

Eleventh graders participated in a longitudinal study of career decision making in which they completed a series of career‐related inventories and follow‐up interviews. There was little change in work‐related values between the 2 administrations of the Values Scale (G.W. Fitzsimmons, D. Macnab, & C. Casserly, 1985); however, greater variation occurred on the Salience Inventory (G. W. Fitzsimmons et al., 1985), particularly Role Value Implementation. Role salience seems less stable than values, perhaps reflecting the transition from high school to postsecondary education or the world of work. Implications for D. E. Super's (1981, 1990, 1994, 1995) theory of career development and applications to career counseling are outlined.     

Self-Esteem,Vocational Identity,and Career Salience in High School Students

This study used Super's (1980) life span career development theory to investigate the relations between self-esteem level, vocational identity, and career salience in high school students. Two hundred fifty-one students were randomly selected from junior classes in urban, suburban, rural, and vocational schools. Results indicated that high self-esteem students scored significantly higher than low self-esteem students on vocational identity and career salience (participation, commitment, and values expectations) in school and home or family roles, but they did not differ on work, community, or leisure roles. Implications for life span career counseling are discussed.     

A Follow‐Up of Adult Career Counseling Clients of a University Extension Center

An unannounced, telephone follow‐up evaluation of 181 out‐of‐school adults who had enrolled in 1 of 2 programs of individual career counseling at a university extension center indicated that 78% were satisfied or very satisfied. Eighty‐five percent reported that they were following through on their counseling in a variety of ways, including pursuing further education (35%) and changing jobs or occupations (14%). Satisfaction was not related at a statistically significant level to completion of their allotted counseling interviews, program, gender, or education level. The discussion considers the implications for offering career counseling to adults and for future research.     

Expanding Career Options and Optimizing Abilities: The Case of Laura

The authors present a case of a 15‐year‐old Mexican American adolescent girl who is uncertain about her educational and career future. The ecological model of career development (E. P. Cook, M. J. Heppner, & K. M. O'Brien, 2002) is applied to the case. The authors suggest career counseling interventions for this client and discuss potential concerns and issues that may arise in career counseling with this client.     

Group Career Construction Counseling: A Mixed‐Methods Intervention Study With High School Students

This study investigated the value of group career construction counseling in a high school context. The author used purposive sampling to select participants who had sought career counseling. A mixed‐methods intervention study design was also used. Participants (N = 57) completed the Career Adapt‐Abilities Scale–South Africa (CAAS‐SA) before the 1st and after the 2nd intervention. The Career Interest Profile and the Maree Career Matrix were used to facilitate the intervention, and the CAAS‐SA was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings revealed that the boys’ and the girls’ career adaptability had improved meaningfully on all of the CAAS‐SA subscales. No gender‐based differences were found. However, differences were detected between both the boys’ and the girls’ pre‐ and posttest Control and Confidence subscale scores. The findings demonstrate the value of career construction counseling in group settings. More longitudinal research with diverse participants is needed.     

Career Counseling in Hong Kong: Meeting the Social Challenges

The article describes and examines the recent development of career development and counseling in Hong Kong in 3 major settings: school, university, and community. Convergence and divergence in career counseling between Hong Kong and the United States are discussed, in reference to a number of areas, including the freedom to choose and compromise, collectivism and individualism, school‐to‐work transition, use of tests, and types of career intervention. Areas of collaboration between the 2 regions are identified and discussed.     

Possible Selves Among Urban Youths of Color: An Exploration of Peer Beliefs and Gender Differences

Drawing from possible selves theory (H. Markus & P. Nurius, 1986), this study explored the roles of peer beliefs about school and gender differences in the development of academic and occupational visions of the future among 216 urban youths of color. Peer beliefs were not related to career and educational possible selves. No gender‐based differences were found in educational possible selves; however, boys were more likely to report hoped‐for and expected possible selves with lower occupational prestige than were girls. Directions for future research and the implications for practice in counseling urban youths of color are discussed.     

Career‐Ready Students: A Goal of Comprehensive School Counseling Programs

This article opens with a rationale for and a definition of student career readiness. Next is a presentation of the qualities and attributes of career‐ready students. Then discussion follows about what students need to become career ready. Following this is a presentation of how comprehensive school counseling programs help students become career ready, including discussion of the delivery system for school counseling programs that provide the activities and services that contribute to student career readiness. The article closes with the critical point that helping all students become career ready requires a whole school–community approach.     

Integrating Existentialism and Super's Life‐Span,Life‐Space Approach

As workers face a changing and ever‐complex employment landscape, traditional career theories and approaches may not be sufficient in meeting career challenges. Calls for integrated career theories have emerged as more people seek meaning and purpose in their lives and careers. This article proposes a career counseling option that integrates existentialism and Super's (1990) life‐span, life‐space approach to establish a foundation for a broader approach to career development that views clients holistically by exploring life and career meaning and purpose from a developmental perspective. A case example and interventions are provided to demonstrate practical application and a contextual framework, along with implications for counselors.     

Effective Techniques: The Career‐in‐Culture Interview: A Semi‐Structured Protocol for the Cross‐Cultural Intake Interview

The authors introduce the Career‐in‐Culture Interview (CiCI), a flexible, semistructured interview protocol designed for the career counseling intake session. The contents of the CiCI are based on recent theoretical advances in multicultural counseling and on the social cognitive model of career development. The authors describe a pilot evaluation of the interview and present guidelines for using the CiCI in practice.     

Internationalizing Career Counseling: Emptying Our Cups and Learning From Each Other

The symposium International Perspectives on Career Development included a plenary session that addressed career counseling in a world of limited resources. Panelists representing diverse areas of the world shared their perspectives on career counseling in their countries and the specific problems they faced. They identified common concerns and prospects for the future of cross‐national career counseling in 3 domains: (a) counselor training and human resources, (b) career service delivery practices, and (c) resources and sources of support. Harnessing the energy and capital of the global career counseling community will better equip career development professionals to deal with existing limitations and realize the common goal of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance and the National Career Development Association to internationalize career counseling.     

The Role of Career Barriers in High School Students' Career Choice Behavior in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of career barriers in social cognitive career theory (R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994). The participants were 584 high school students in Taiwan, Republic of China. The gender differences in perceived career barriers and career self‐efficacy were significant. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that some of the perceived career barriers were significant in predicting individuals' career choice behavior after controlling for career self‐efficacy in certain career types.     

A Context-Rich Perspective of Career Exploration Across the Life Roles

Building on the recent contributions of Donald Super (e.g., 1980), this article presents a broadened lens with which to view theory, research, and practice in career exploration. Super's contributions on career adaptability and the life-career rainbow (e.g., Super, 1990; Super & Knasel, 1981) were applied to current areas of ambiguity in the career exploration literature, yielding potentially useful ideas about the antecedents and consequences of career exploration. Based on an integrative analysis guided by Super's recent contributions and related conceptual innovations, a context-rich perspective is proposed to broaden the attentional focus of discourse about career exploration. The article discusses the theoretical implications of the context-rich view and provides suggestions for counseling practice.     

Testing an Integrative Contextual Career Development Model With Adolescents From High‐Poverty Urban Areas

Variations in the economic recovery rate across the United States have led to even greater chasms that separate the employed, unemployed, and underemployed (DeSilver, 2017 ). Therefore, understanding and supporting the career development of future generations is critical—especially for those who live outside the context of social privilege. The authors examined the applicability of the integrative contextual model of career development (ICM; Lapan, 2004 ) to a sample of 220 adolescents (129 boys, 91 girls) from a high‐poverty urban area. Results indicated that a canonical variate comprising foundational ICM skills (e.g., career exploration, goal setting) predicted a variate composed of ICM outcomes (e.g., self‐efficacy, vocational identity), thus supporting the usefulness of the ICM framework for this population. The skill of setting viable career goals was an especially strong predictor of outcomes. Implications for career counseling with adolescents living in high‐poverty urban areas and directions for future research are discussed.     

The Constructivist Résumé: Promoting the Career Adaptability of Graduate Students in Counseling Programs

The authors present the constructivist résumé, an original approach developed to promote professional identity development and career adaptability (i.e., concern, curiosity, confidence, and control) in students completing graduate‐level counselor training programs. The authors discuss underlying theories, including Super's (1990; Super, Savickas, & Super, 1996) life span, life space theory and Peavy's (1998) SocioDynamic Counseling Model, and their applications to career counseling. They also provide a detailed case illustration, make practical recommendations, and note the advantages and limitations of the approach.     

Older Professional Women's Views on Work: A Qualitative Analysis

This qualitative study reports on the career experiences of older professional women using consensual qualitative research. Thirteen women over age 50 were interviewed regarding the influences of gender and age on work. In general, all participants reported career adaptability, and many participants also reported specific subthemes of career adaptability (i.e., concern, control, curiosity, and confidence) as resources. These subthemes denote participants' future orientation, self‐discipline as evidenced by their conscientiousness in career decisions, active information seeking, and certitude that they have the ability to solve career‐related problems. Relationships with colleagues were also considered critical, and participants acknowledged the benefits and drawbacks of being a woman and being older. These women were able to achieve flexibility and autonomy in their work and spoke about the importance of work–family balance and boundaries. Practitioners are encouraged to consider how career adaptability is manifested within the interplay between gender and age, because this can influence career counseling with older women.     

Coming Full Circle: Reoccurring Career Development Trends in Schools

Current state and national mandates focusing on academic achievement have drawn critical counseling resources away from career development. As the world of work radically changes and economic situations remain uncertain, the call for a return to school counseling roots based in career guidance has never been louder. The authors explore reoccurring career guidance trends throughout the history of school counseling to expand awareness of the basis of today's career and technical education discussions and increase understanding of the interconnectedness of career guidance and counseling and educational reform.