Mindfulness and Decision‐Making Style: Predicting Career Thoughts and Vocational Identity

Mindfulness has been a focus of psychological research and practice in recent decades. Yet, there is limited research on the relationship between mindfulness and vocational decision‐making. This study’s purpose was to examine the role of mindfulness in a career context by investigating the relationships among mindfulness, decision‐making style, negative career thoughts, and vocational identity. The sample included 258 undergraduate students (204 women, 54 men) at a large southeastern U.S. university. Mindfulness was significantly (p < .01) associated with fewer negative career thoughts, external and thinking‐based decision‐making styles, and higher vocational identity. Multiple regression procedures found that mindfulness, coupled with decision‐making style, accounted for 31% of the variance in negative career thoughts and 22% of the variance in vocational identity. These findings suggest that more holistic career counseling interventions could incorporate mindfulness techniques to help reduce anxiety and negative thoughts while increasing self‐clarity and problem‐solving skills. Future research could include more diverse samples, additional constructs (e.g., choice volition, self‐efficacy), and a pretest–posttest design to examine the efficacy of mindfulness‐based career interventions.     

Student Veterans: Meaning in Life,Negative Career Thoughts,and Depression

Student veterans may experience challenges as they transition from military to student life, including adjusting to the academic environment, coping with mental health concerns, and redefining their identities. Research indicates that veterans may have difficulty finding meaning and purpose outside of the military (Brenner et al., 2008; Doenges, 2011). This study explored variables that may affect meaning and purpose in student veterans' lives, specifically negative career thoughts and depression. One hundred thirty-two student veterans at U.S. institutions were surveyed. The results revealed that both negative career thoughts and depression were statistically significant predictors (p < .001) of the presence of meaning in life, with 46% of the variance in the presence of meaning in life scores accounted for by participants' negative career thinking and depression levels. Pearson correlations indicated that all variables were statistically significant (p < .01). Future research could explore how other career readiness and self-assessment constructs are related to meaning and purpose in student veterans' lives, as well as the intersection of mental health and career factors. Interventions that focus both on the presence of negative career thoughts and depressive symptomatology may positively influence student veterans' report of meaning and purpose in life.     

Impact of Dysfunctional Career Thoughts on Career Decision Self‐Efficacy and Vocational Identity

This study examined the mediating role of dysfunctional career thoughts in the relationship between career decision self‐efficacy (CDSE) and vocational identity (VI). For this purpose, the data were collected from 446 Korean college students. The authors used the Hayes ( 2013 ) PROCESS tool to analyze the data. The results showed that CDSE positively correlated with VI, whereas all 3 types of dysfunctional career thoughts negatively correlated with CDSE and VI. The results also indicated that all 3 subscales of dysfunctional career thoughts partially mediate the association between CDSE and VI. We provide implications and limitations of the findings.     

The Effects of Simultaneous Developmental Processes: Factors Relating to the Career Development of Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Youth

C. Hetherington (1991) hypothesized that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents may experience a “bottleneck effect” in career development because of internal psychological energy focusing on issues surrounding sexual identity. This assertion has not yet been tested, however, in the career development literature. The authors examined the relationship between variables indicative of psychological resources being devoted to managing an LGB identity, social support, and career development. Survey data from 102 LGB youth demonstrated that inner sexual identity conflict and social support predicted unique and shared variance in career maturity and vocational indecision, lending empirical support to the bottleneck hypothesis.     

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.     

Neuroticism,Negative Thinking,and Coping With Respect to Career Decision State

Using structural equation modeling, the present study investigated relationships between neuroticism, coping strategies, and negative career thoughts within the context of attaining a positive career decision state. Results from the initial model, based on a sample of college students (119 women, 113 men; M = 20.3 years) enrolled in a career development course, revealed that coping strategies were not a significant contribution to the model. The final model, without coping strategies, showed that neuroticism had a significant indirect effect on career decision state through negative thinking and that the relationship between neuroticism and career decision state was also significant. Findings also indicate that in the presence of negative career thoughts, neuroticism becomes associated with a more positive career decision state. Practical implications include suggestions that counselors intervene on clients' negative career thoughts to potentially render their neurotic tendencies more productive in reaching a desired career decision state.     

Time Perspective and Vocational Identity Statuses of Emerging Adults

Achievement of a vocational identity is an important developmental task for individuals entering adulthood. The present study examined relationships between vocational identity statuses and time perspective in a sample of 165 emerging adults. Results of a canonical correlation analysis identified 2 interpretable variates. The 1st variate indicated that diffuse vocational identity status is associated with negative views of the past and lower orientation toward the future. The 2nd variate indicated that achieved vocational identity is associated with a largely hedonic view of the present, along with being mindful and less inclined to be fatalistic. These results suggest that differing views on time perspective accounts for some of the variation in different vocational identity statuses. Interventions based on time perspective may prove useful in helping individuals attain an achieved vocational identity. Future research should examine how time perspective relates to vocational identity status in individuals at later stages of career development.     

Improving Prediction of Significant Career‐Related Constructs for High School Students With Learning Disabilities

Preparing students with learning disabilities (LDs) to make the transition into the world of work is considered an essential preparation that high schools can provide. However, existing services are limited for career development preparation, and available programs rely on assessments normed for samples of students without LDs. This study examined the predictability of critical career‐related constructs of dysfunctional career thoughts, career maturity, and vocational identity in high school students with LDs, using a sample of 139 such students. Data analyses were performed using multiple regression and t tests. Results indicate that it is possible to predict important career constructs for students with LDs using standardized instruments, which can inform subsequent interventions.     

Career decision-making,career exploration behaviors,and self-regulated learning

Helping individuals make a career decision is a key aim of career counseling. Determining how to encourage self-regulated learning and behaviors needed to achieve this goal often underlies career interventions. The English version of the Career Exploration Behavior survey (CEB-E) measures activities individuals engage in to learn about career options. The present study explored the psychometric properties of the CEB and its impact on various career outcomes. In the first study (N = 498), a good-fitting second-order factor model with four group-level scales and loadings was retained as the best model. In the second study (N = 143), convergent validity and incremental validity of the CEB dimensions were explored through correlation and regression analyses. The CEB predicted commitment making, metacognitions, and vocational identity. Results suggest the CEB-E is a psychometrically sound assessment of career exploration behaviors with potential utility for theory development, program evaluation, and monitoring client progress.     

Contextual Factors Related to African American Adolescent Career Development

African American adolescents’ career development has gained increased attention in light of various barriers affecting their educational and career development goals. The author examined relationships among career decision self‐efficacy, ethnic identity, and academic self‐concept of 104 African American high school students enrolled in Upward Bound programs. Participants responded to measures of career decision self‐efficacy, ethnic identity, and academic self‐concept. Results indicated that career decision self‐efficacy was significantly and positively correlated with ethnic identity and academic self‐concept. In addition, academic self‐concept was found to be a stronger predictor of career decision self‐efficacy than was ethnic identity. The results of this study may assist counselors, teachers, administrators, and parents to understand career decision self‐efficacy as it relates to ethnic identity, academic self‐concept, and demographic variables. This research supports the need for continued career‐related interventions within the schools designed to focus on factors related to ethnic minorities to help foster their career development.     

Differentiation Levels of College Students: Effects on Vocational Identity and Career Decision Making

This study assessed the effects of differentiation levels on the career development of college students. Participants were 231 college students who completed the Differentiation of Self Inventory (Skowron & Friedlander, 1998 ), My Vocational Situation (Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980 ), the Career Decision Profile (CDP; Jones & Lohmann, 1998 ), and demographic questions. The results supported the hypotheses that higher levels of the various components of differentiation would predict higher levels of vocational identity and fewer difficulties with career decision making. In particular, lower levels of emotional cutoff and emotional reactivity and higher levels of “I position” predicted higher levels of vocational identity and career decision making. Results suggest a more complicated picture for fusion, with higher levels being predictive of lower levels of decisiveness but not significantly related to vocational identity. Implications of the results for career counselors are provided.     

Comparing Career Development Outcomes Among Undergraduate Students in Cognitive Information Processing Theory–Based Versus Human Relations Courses

The effectiveness of undergraduate career courses has been demonstrated for multiple variables, including career certainty, maturity, decision-making skills, and reduction of dysfunctional career thoughts. Although such studies used the career course as an intervention, most failed to include a comparison course, nor were grounded in career theory. This study used a comparison group of 152 undergraduates enrolled in career development courses and 50 students enrolled in undergraduate human relations courses. Pre- and posttest comparisons indicated that the career course yielded significant improvements in career decision state, cognitive information processing (CIP) skills, career decision-making stage, knowledge of next steps, and anxiety about current career concern, but the human relations course did not. The CIP-based career course is supported as a valid career intervention, and individuals may benefit from targeted interventions depending on their CASVE cycle position. Future research might compare different career theory–based or atheoretical career courses on career development outcomes.     

Self-Concept,Attitudes Toward Career Counseling,and Work Readiness of Malaysian Vocational Students

The authors examined the relationship between self-concept, attitudes toward career counseling, and work readiness among 574 Malaysian vocational students. Attitudes toward career counseling have been studied in Western cultures; however, little is known about how career counseling is perceived in Eastern cultures. Attitudes toward career counseling were examined as a potential mediator of the relationship between self-concept and work readiness. The authors applied structural equation modeling to explain these relationships. Value of career counseling was found to significantly mediate the link between self-concept and work readiness. Results supported a direct relationship between positive self-concept and work readiness skills. This may be due, in part, to a heightened value of career counseling among vocational students that increases career awareness and thus enhances work readiness. Future research could include samples with more female participants and additional constructs, such as self-efficacy and career adaptability.     

The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Issues and Implications for Career Research and Practice

The accelerating digitization and automation of work, known as the 4th industrial revolution, will have an enormous impact on individuals’ career experiences. Yet, the academic literature in vocational psychology and career research has been remarkably silent on this trend so far. This article summarizes some of the most important issues of the 4th industrial revolution as they pertain to career development. The author then critically reviews how current models and frameworks of career development are suitable for addressing these emerging issues. Opportunities for future career development research and practice are outlined.     

Eliciting reconceptualization innovative moments to foster change in Career Construction Counseling

This study tests an add-on procedure to foster change in Career Construction Counseling by eliciting reconceptualization innovative moments. After the career counseling intervention with 42 participants, 21 participants were allocated to the add-on procedure, consisting of two additional sessions focused on eliciting reconceptualization innovative moments In turn, participants in the comparison group attended two extra intervention sessions in which the lifetime task was used. Outcome measures assessing vocational behavior and psychological distress were applied at the onset, at the end of counseling and after the two additional sessions. The findings show that Career Construction Counseling was effective, allowing a significant increase in vocational certainty, vocational identity, career decision-making, and a decrease in psychological distress. After counseling, participants in the add-on intervention fostering reconceptualization innovative moments revealed greater gains in vocational identity and psychological distress than those in the comparison group. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Salience of a Career Calling Among College Students: Exploring Group Differences and Links to Religiousness,Life Meaning,and Life Satisfaction

The authors examined the degree to which 1st‐year college students endorse a career calling and how levels of calling differ across demographic variables and religiousness, life meaning, and life satisfaction. Forty‐four percent of students believed that having a career calling was mostly or totally true of them, and 28% responded to searching for a calling in the same fashion. Students seeking advanced professional degrees were more likely to feel a career calling, and the presence of a calling was found to weakly correlate with religiousness and life satisfaction and moderately correlate with life meaning. Practice implications are suggested.     

Multicultural and International Research in Four Career Development Journals: An 11‐Year Content Analysis

In an increasingly diverse and global society, it is important to evaluate the cultural responsiveness of vocational research. The authors examined trends in the publication of multicultural‐focused articles from 2005 to 2015 in 4 journals: The Career Development Quarterly, the Journal of Career Assessment, the Journal of Career Development, and the Journal of Vocational Behavior. Methodological, thematic, and construct trends were examined across the identity categories of gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability status, religion/spirituality, age, immigration status, and international research. Results showed increases in social class and international research but continued neglect of sexual orientation, gender identity, and ability status. The themes of career exploration and promoting agency received the most attention; equity in work settings received the least. Findings suggest that more research with underrepresented groups is needed and that counselors may need to rely on resources outside the current literature to ensure best practices with these clients.     

Occupational Engagement and Academic Major Satisfaction: Vocational Identity's Mediating Role

This study examined vocational identity as a mediator of the relationship between occupational engagement (i.e., participation in a breadth of activities and interactions) and academic major satisfaction. Furthermore, the authors evaluated whether satisfaction with academic major related to academic success (i.e., grade point average). The mediational model was tested in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 215). Results indicated that occupational engagement significantly predicted academic major satisfaction and that vocational identity fully mediated that relationship. These findings support occupational engagement as an important contributor to adaptive career decision making and encourage research on occupational engagement as an intervention point for career counselors.     

From Invisibility to Integration: Lesbian Identity in the Workplace

This article represents a first step toward a vocational psychology of lesbians that incorporates scholarship in lesbian and women's identity development and that is considered within the larger framework of women's career development. First, literature in lesbian and women's identity development is reviewed, followed by a discussion of the vocational issues of lesbians as related both to identity development and to the literature in the vocational psychology of women. The article concludes with suggestions for research and practice.     

Negative Career Outlook and the Working Alliance in Career Counseling

The authors investigated 3 dimensions of the working alliance—goal, task, and bond—and the reduction of negative career‐related thoughts. A pretest–posttest design revealed a significant reduction in negative career thoughts after an initial career counseling interview was provided to college students (N = 87). Regression analyses revealed that task predicted negative career thoughts. The findings offer evidence of the effectiveness of career counseling and of the contribution of working alliance to counseling as a process and outcome variable.