Training Career Practitioners

This article summarizes 8 presentations from Group 8 on the theme “Training of Researchers and Practitioners,” which were part of the 2007 joint symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association held in Padua, Italy. Three themes representing challenges for the profession emerged from the presentations: (a) the need for public policies addressing career development, (b) the need for greater competency standardization, and (c) the need to create innovative training programs. Discussion group participants presented creative strategies for addressing these challenges.     

Culture and Assessment: Nomothetic and Idiographic Considerations

This article summarizes presentations on career assessment delivered at the 2007 joint symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association. Notable among the many themes that emerged from this discussion group were the concepts of culture and assessment and the mutually beneficial outcomes of idiographic and nomothetic approaches to career assessment. Brief reviews of each presentation highlight these recurring themes.     

Problems With and Needs for Interdisciplinary Interactions in Vocational Guidance

This article summarizes 10 presentations in a discussion group of the 2007 joint international symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association held in Padua, Italy. This discussion group focused on interdisciplinary interactions in vocational guidance. The group engaged in dialogue to address the changing needs of world workers in the dynamic global economy by considering interdisciplinary research and practice implications. This article summarizes the major discussion topics and offers propositions for a way for the vocational guidance profession to move forward on these issues.     

Vocational Psychology and Career Guidance Practice: An International Partnership

Vast changes in the world of work spurred by rapid technological growth and globalization have called for a more inclusive, progressive, and forward thinking conceptualization of vocational theory, practice, training, and policy. Discussions across 8 discussion groups at the 2007 joint symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association addressed various topics in the field of vocational psychology and career guidance. Several themes emerged that have captured the attention of career scholars and practitioners across the globe: culture and context in theory and practice, research as a process within a contextual system, partnership and collaboration, and social responsibility and public policy.     

The Internationalization of Educational and Vocational Guidance

The authors identify and discuss the main themes from the discourse on the internationalization of educational and vocational guidance at the 2004 Symposium on International Perspectives on Career Development, cosponsored by the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance and the National Career Development Association. Participants from 46 countries discussed international perspectives on and comparative features of educational and vocational guidance. They concentrated on issues of designing and adapting models, methods, and materials for career education and counseling. Three additional themes revolved around the importance of public policy initiatives, training enough practitioners to meet the growing international need for career services, and the promise of information technology for expanding the delivery of educational and vocational guidance and for supporting career counselors.     

Introduction to the IAEVG‐SVP‐NCDA Symposium,Padua, Italy,September 2007

This special issue of The Career Development Quarterly (J. Trusty, R. Van Esbroeck, & P. A. Gore, 2009) presents summaries of the content and outcomes from the joint international symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association held in Padua, Italy, in September 2007. This symposium was themed and titled Vocational Psychology and Career Guidance Practice: An International Partnership. Included in this issue are (a) a summary of the keynote address by A. E. M. van Vianen (coauthored with I. E. De Pater & P. T. Y. Preenen, 2009), (b) summaries of 7 of the 8 discussion groups, and (c) conclusions presented by D. E. P. Schultheiss and R. Van Esbroeck (2009b). Each discussion group was composed of at least 1 chair, at least 1 recorder, and several professionals from around the world who presented material related to the topic assigned to the group.     

Do Regional Associations Meet the Career Needs of Teacher-Scholars?

Faculty members in tenure-track positions must demonstrate proficiency in teaching and scholarship, although different types of higher education institutions carry different sets of expectations and requirements in these areas. Teacher-scholars, who integrate teaching and research through diverse means, largely work at teaching focused institutions. Even in such teaching-focused institutions, however, there has been a growing demand for faculty to have high levels of scholarly productivity, typically in the form of peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations...At the same time, teacher-scholars, due to limited resources, do not have great access to national conferences, leading them to rely more heavily on regional conferences to display their scholarly work. This study examines the utility of regional associations in meeting the career needs of teacher-scholars. Examining conference programs from the Pacific Sociological Association for five recent years, and comparing them to the national conference (the American Sociological Association) we show that teacher-scholars rely heavily on regional conferences to highlight their successes, often extending beyond scholarship. Regional conferences also offer a more flexible program than the national conference for defining the work of teacher-scholars. While teacher-scholars and Ph.D. granting faculty alike engage at both the national and regional conferences, both conferences tend to perpetuate a hierarchy of academia that emphasizes more traditional standards of scholarly success.     

Shattering the Myth of Invulnerability: Exploring the Prevention Needs of Sexual Minority Women Living with HIV/AIDS

Developing effective safer-sex programs for women living with HIV/AIDS (WLH/A) is a national HIV prevention priority. Existing programs focus predominantly on heterosexual women's experiences and ignore the needs of sexual minority women (SMW). Thus, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 sexual minority WLH/A to better understand their sexual risk behaviors and corresponding HIV prevention needs. Most of the interviewees were African American (75%) and poor (75%). We used strategies of Grounded Theory to code the interviews for key themes, which included the following: differences between relationships, risk, and protective behaviors in male and female relationships; links between substance abuse and unsafe sex; need for safer-sex or prevention programs to address SMW-specific skills and topics; and the importance of addressing women's resiliency and the social context of women's risk in prevention programs. Conclusions include concrete suggestions to make safer-sex programs more responsive to the needs of SMW.     

Context and Models for the Analysis of Individual and Group Needs

This article summarizes the papers presented in the discussion group focused on the theme “Models for the Analysis of Individual and Group Needs” at the joint symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association held in Padua, Italy, in September 2007 titled Vocational Psychology and Career Guidance Practice: An International Partnership. The predominant theme that emerged from papers and discussion was that theory and practice need to be positioned within their proximal and distal contexts, ranging from personal to societal contexts.     

Design Teams as Learning Systems for Complex Systems Change

Summary

Systems change in child welfare and cross-systems change involving other service sectors are needed in response to two developments: (1) New policy mandates (e.g., TANF, AS FA) and (2) Research on the co-occurring and interlocking needs of many child welfare families. A four-state initiative was structured in response to these needs. Collaborative learning and action research groups called design teams were structured to identify competencies and to develop new service delivery systems. Faculty facilitators representing social work education programs were assigned to these teams and charged with their development and evaluation. Facilitators served as linkage agents for university-communitystate agency partnerships, and they promoted curriculum change. These study reports two sets of findings related to these design teams: (1) Findings from semi-structured interviews of design team members; and (2) Findings from the participatory action research completed by two faculty facilitators. Key themes related to design team processes are presented. Drawing on these emergent themes, components that help explain effective design team processes are identified. Selected implications for social work education programs and faculty also are identified     

Vocational Guidance Requests Within the International Scene

This article summarizes the work of a diverse group of researchers and practitioners from 5 continents on “Vocational Guidance Requests Within the International Scene” presented in the discussion group at a symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, the Society for Vocational Psychology, and the National Career Development Association, in Padua, Italy. The role of societal and cultural forces in individuals' vocational decisions, the need to serve a larger percentage of the population with vocational guidance services, and suggestions to address these challenges in the field of vocational guidance were addressed.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Global Perspectives on Vocational Guidance

This special issue of The Career Development Quarterly presents the outcomes from an international symposium, titled International Perspectives on Career Development, jointly sponsored by the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance and the National Career Development Association. The articles in this special issue discuss international perspectives on and comparative approaches to educational and vocational guidance that differentiate career development practices in different nations. In addition to the articles in this issue, a selection of papers presented at the symposium has been jointly published in a thematic issue of the International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 5(2).     

Vocational Interests: A Look at the Past 70 Years and a Glance at the Future

This article reviews the literature on vocational interests. Ten themes about vocational interests are discussed: development, correlates, measurement, homogeneity and differentiation, career choice, sex differences, stability, structure, career counseling, and cultural influences. These 10 themes are similar to major issues discussed by Strong (1943) in his landmark book on interests Vocational Interests of Men and Women. Directions for future research are presented.     

Experiences of internal and hybrid employee assistance program managers: Factors associated with successful,at-risk,and eliminated programs

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) originated as workplace-focused programs delivered largely by peer employees. Over the past 25 years, the once standard internal EAP has largely been replaced by internal/external hybrid programs or outsourced EAP vendors. Many long-standing internal programs have been downsized or eliminated, along with their internal program manager positions. This qualitative study examined the organizational, leadership, and programmatic characteristics associated with the internal and internal/hybrid EAPs from the perspectives of EAP managers working in programs that have thrived and those that have depreciated. Twenty-four current and former internal or internal/hybrid EAP managers were interviewed using a semistructured interview schedule. Qualitative methods were used to identify patterns and themes within the data to describe the experience of internal and internal/hybrid EAP managers and the critical success and risk factors associated with their positions and programs. Five final themes, with 15 subthemes emerged from the data, suggesting that both individual and organizational characteristics of EAP internal and hybrid programs are important to the program’s sustainability. These findings offer insights regarding best practices and critical success factors to EAP professionals, EAP purchasers, and the EAP industry.     

What Is Valued in Gay and Lesbian Specific Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment?

Little is known about what gay and lesbian clients value about culturally specific alcohol and other drug treatment programs. This study involves a sample of clinical staff and former clients (N = 40) of four culturally specific alcohol and other drug treatment programs to clarify what is addressed and deemed valuable for the specific needs of gay and lesbian clients. Through the lens of the recovery capital conceptual framework, this qualitative research emphasizes resiliency and the supports necessary for long-term recovery. Results indicate three major themes that make this type of treatment valuable: (1) a separate treatment unit or facility, (2) a safe and supportive therapeutic milieu, and (3) specific tailored treatment approaches. Findings are discussed to include implications for ways to improve services for this all too often understudied population of potentially vulnerable individuals who can benefit from culturally sensitive care.     

Positive Manhood Development: A Look at Approaches and Concerns from the Frontline

This mixed methods study, using the perspectives of administrators and frontline workers, identified the key developmental needs of African American boys involved in manhood development programs. Five conceptual themes emerged: values and behavior; men needed for guidance; successful organizations; economics and systems; and stable quality parenting. Themes from the conceptual clusters are compared to themes in the positive youth development literature, specifically the 40 developmental assets framework proposed by the Search Institute. The resulting distinctive ecological focus is rarely discussed in the youth development literature and may have implications for youth development interventions that target positive African American manhood development.     

Between Scylla and Charybdis: Designing,Implementing, and Assessing Innovations in the Annual PSA Meetings

For the 2013 meeting cycle, the Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) implemented subtle but important changes in the processes by which the program is constituted – centralizing the processes of review and assignment, and making distinctions between presentation types. Those changes, the product of several years of discussions, were designed to address member concerns about the uneven quality of presentations, as well as shifts in membership composition which had led to a predominance of student members and a shrinking proportion of faculty members from doctoral-granting institutions. The changes were intended to increase the overall quality of presentations (and reestablish PSA’s reputation as a venue for disciplinary leading research) while retaining the programmatic diversity and culture of inclusion so valued by PSA members. Assessment of annual member survey data suggests that members across all membership components evaluated the changes positively. Specific patterns suggest that while the creation of research-in-progress sessions was seen as an inclusionary change, the centralization of program development processes was seen as exclusionary. We discuss the implications of the data for considering the contemporary role of regional sociological associations.     

Jesse Buttrick Davis (1871–1955): Pioneer of Vocational Guidance in the Schools

Jesse Buttrick Davis is considered to be the 1st school counselor in the United States because he was the 1st to implement a systematic guidance program in the schools. Through his work in the Michigan public schools, he became an important leader in the development of vocational guidance in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His pioneering work in the Detroit and Grand Rapids public schools laid the foundation for the counseling specialties of career counseling and school counseling. He was also 1 of the founders of the National Vocational Guidance Association (now National Career Development Association) and National Association of Secondary School Principals.