Shame and the Psychosocial Costs of Contemporary Work: Implications for Career Intervention

This article explores the concept of shame and integrates it into career development and career counseling. The article begins with an overview of shame from a diverse conceptual framework, describing shame as a self-conscious emotion that occurs in response to interactions or events that evoke embarrassment, humiliation, self-doubt, and psychological distress. We discuss the prevalence of shame in work-based interactions and contexts, which is referred to as work shame. Building on this integrative review of shame within the working context, we describe the counseling implications and provide a case study to illustrate the ways in which shame emerges in clients' lives and potential strategies to resist and transcend shame.     

Early 20th-Century Career Counseling for Women: Contemporary Practice and Research Implications

The authors critically examine the development of career counseling for women during the early 20th century. The development of career counseling for women lagged behind career counseling for men. Challenges, such as feminization of occupations, restricted occupational opportunities, and societal norms, stunted the development of career counseling for women. Furthermore, career counseling for women varied based on racial groups. Early writings discussed opportunities specifically geared toward White, college-educated, nonimmigrant women. Although these beginning opportunities provided formal guidance to White women, many other women were excluded from formal career counseling and are not represented in these writings. Implications include training practitioners to recognize their own biases when working with women, how gender bias influences career counseling inventories and career theories, and how counselors can challenge these biases and stereotypes to provide the full range of career opportunities to women. Future research should address the impact of career counseling on women of color.     

Relationships Among Career Thoughts,Vocational Identity,and Calling: Implications for Practice

The concept of a calling in relation to career choice is a topic of interest in current literature. Exploring variables that may contribute to the presence of a calling is an important gap in the literature. This study examined career thoughts and vocational identity in relation to the presence of calling in a sample of 329 undergraduate university students enrolled in a career development course. The findings revealed significant relationships among all the variables of interest, as well as moderate predictive power, indicating that vocational identity and career thoughts may contribute to the formation of a calling to pursue a particular career. Limitations, implications for practice, and future research are discussed.     

Toward a Framework for Multicultural STEM‐Focused Career Interventions

Numerous federal and national commissions have called for policies, funds, and initiatives aimed at expanding the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and education investments to create a significantly larger, more diverse talent pool of individuals who pursue technical careers. Career development professionals are poised to contribute to the equity discourse about broadening STEM participation. However, few are aware of STEM‐related career development matters, career opportunities and pathways, or strategies for promoting STEM pursuits. The author summarizes STEM education and workforce trends and articulates an equity imperative for broadening and diversifying STEM participation. The author then offers a multicultural STEM‐focused career development framework to encourage career development professionals’ knowledge and awareness of STEM education and careers and delineates considerations for practice aimed at increasing the attainment and achievement of diverse groups in STEM fields.     

Inspiring Hope,Envisioning Alternatives: The Importance of Peer Role Models in a Mandated Treatment Program for Women

ABSTRACT

This article presents evidence from a program evaluation effort conducted with clients in a mandated treatment setting for drug-involved women charged with felony-level offenses. We present themes from qualitative interviews that stress the importance of identifying with a peer who is further along in recovery as a crucial mechanism for instilling hope and fostering program engagement. We also provide survey data that shows that a client's ability to imagine a life without using drugs, at intake, is a significant predictor of program success. Finally, the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness scale did not show any significant correlations with program success in this population. All women entered this program from very challenging situations, but we conclude that those who enter with the least hope and smallest (or absent) vision of any alternative future are especially vulnerable for a bad outcome. We urge researchers and practitioners to further explore the ways in which connections with peer role models facilitate engagement and successful outcomes; and to systematically evaluate the effect of interventions designed to foster such connections on program outcomes.     

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.     

Leaving Science: Gender Differences in Career Continuity Following a Job Loss

This study investigates gender differences in the postdisplacement experience of nonacademic science and engineering (S&E) workers. Using a pooled sample created from the Displaced Worker Surveys conducted between 1994 and 2008, it finds that (1) this S&E work force is particularly vulnerable to job loss and potential career disruption; (2) displaced female S&E workers are more likely than comparable male workers to exit the work force, a gender difference that is conditional on and explained by marital and parental status; and (3) reemployed female S&E workers are also more likely to leave science for non‐S&E occupations, but this gender difference is limited to unmarried workers. A concluding section discusses the implications of these findings for interpreting gender differences in career outcomes.     

An Intersectional Social Capital Model of Career Development for International Marriage Immigrants

The phenomenon of women immigrating to marry has resulted in changing labor markets and increasing workforce diversity. However, because of a lack of social capital in their new country, immigrant women face significant barriers to gaining employment, have access to only limited work arenas, or remain at home as housewives. Existing studies of immigrant women are mainly limited to their human rights or cultural issues; there are few studies focusing on career development for them. This article uses social capital and intersectionality theories to create an intersectional social capital model of career development for immigrant women. The application of the model is explicated through the context of South Korea. The positive career development interventions as described in the model can help immigrant brides overcome multiple career‐related barriers and find new roots.     

We are strong and we are resilient: Career experiences of women engineers

With the purpose of breaking down socially derived, implicit assumptions regarding women and highlighting their resilience and strength within organizations, this study focused upon career experiences of women engineers. Findings indicated women constantly navigated gendered social and organizational norms to develop their careers. We found them to employ three distinct coping strategies, conforming to play by the rules, negotiating to play around the rules and defying to establish own rules. The ways in which participants arrived at and enacted on these coping strategies is illustrative of their strength, forethought and self‐directedness. All participants demonstrated high self‐concept and the ability to learn and adapt. The study allowed us to acknowledge prevalence of gendered norms and expectations, while also highlighting women's strength in navigating their careers. We hope that the study is able to illuminate persistence of male perspective in the literature and promote a perspective of women as strong and resilient professionals.     

Women,Gendered Work and Gendered Violence: So Much More than a Job

This article explores the experiences of individuals who work with men who are violent, focusing in particular on the differential gendered impacts of this area of practice. Violence intervention is widely recognized as work that is difficult, demanding and, frequently, confronting. It is less often recognized that such work is not only experienced differently by men and women, but significantly, that it may weigh more heavily, with impacts that are both broader and more profound, on the women working in this area. Building upon an understanding of the gendered nature of work and the workplace, this research reveals the distinctively gendered nature and impact of work with men who are violent, highlighting the complex interplay of gendered individuals, in the gendered workplace, in relation to a specifically gendered activity, that of men's violence.     

Building Career PATHS (Postschool Achievement Through Higher Skills) for Young Women With Disabilities

The PATHS (Postschool Achievement Through Higher Skills) curriculum is designed to address the career development needs of young women with disabilities and other barriers. Participants (N = 110) in a pilot test of the curriculum showed increases in vocational self‐efficacy, social efficacy, and awareness of disability/gender issues related to career planning, whereas those in the comparison group did not make similar gains. Qualitative findings from focus groups (N = 68) revealed that PATHS participants improved in self‐confidence, self‐awareness, ability to identify strengths, knowledge of multiple career options, and the capacity to set goals and plan for future careers.     

Assessing Acceptability and Perceptions of a Novel Condom Use Intervention for Young Women

Objectives: To assess the acceptability of a novel condom use intervention for women, the Home-Based Exercises of Responsible Sex, that focuses on condom use experience, application skills, and self-efficacy. Method: Two hundred eighty women (M age 22.63, SD = 3.65) completed an online survey containing questions on condom use errors, experiences, ability, and self-efficacy, and on intervention acceptability. Results: Eighty-one percent reported that the intervention was acceptable. Significant positive predictors of acceptability were condom use ability (β = .18) and self-efficacy (β = .20). Discussion: Findings suggest that the intervention is acceptable and that different options for completing the intervention should be offered.     

Relevance,Vision, and Career Development: Thinking About the Next Generation of Professionals in Sociology

The commentary seeks to differentiate sociology as a discipline and as a profession. The concepts of relevance, vision, and professional development are suggested as necessary building blocks to more intentionally develop the profession of sociology. Finally, a program of local professional development is offered as a step in positively influencing the next generation of practicing sociologists.     

Women,Economic Development,and HIV/AIDS: Transforming Systems of Care for Sustainable Change

ABSTRACT

In this concept article, the authors utilize Maslow's Hierarchy to define and discuss a proposed conceptual treatment framework that includes economic development efforts with examples of successes that have been demonstrated in the literature. The authors posit that HIV/AIDS treatment practitioners should not overlook the interconnectedness and interdependency of economic equilibrium and public health and suggest that the creation of treatment plans based on multi-dimensional interdisciplinary approaches are necessary to achieve maximum benefit for care and resource dollars.     

Career resilience of female professionals in the male-dominated IT industry in Sweden: Toward a process perspective

Sweden is known to be one of the most gender-equal societies in the world. Thus, it remains as an enigma why a large discrepancy continues to exist regarding the gender balance in career choice and progression in many professions. Drawing on Hirdman's (1988) theory of gendered systems, in this paper, we explore the role of career resilience in the career progression of women who choose to work in the male-dominated IT sector. We draw attention to how the day-to-day process of practicing career resilience in a gendered workplace tends to evolve as women progress in their careers. Based on an interview study with 50 female IT professionals as well as a discourse analysis of 502 newspaper articles on women in this sector, we develop a process model of career resilience in gendered professions, outlining different coping strategies that allow women to develop and enhance such resilience over time. We conclude the paper by providing some practical recommendations.     

Project HOPE: Evaluation of Health Science Career Education Programming for Rural Latino and European American Youth

Project HOPE comprises a health science career pipeline program based in social cognitive career theory. The program aims to promote health science career exploration for rural and Latino middle school students while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of achieving in math and science subjects. The authors conducted 2 studies to evaluate Project HOPE using baseline and follow‐up evaluation data. Results of Study 1 indicated that Project HOPE was associated with increases in math/science self‐efficacy for both Latino (n = 42) and European American (n = 31) students. Results of Study 2 indicated that Project HOPE was associated with higher health science career self‐efficacy beliefs for European American students (n = 22) and higher health science career interests for Latino students (n = 28). These results suggest that domain‐specific career interventions for middle school students that focus on jobs tied to the local economy may be a useful way to engage students in career exploration.     

Gendered Economic,Social, and Cultural Challenges to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Intervention for Chinese Women

ABSTRACT

China is experiencing the most rapidly expanding HIV prevalence in the world, with the percentage of Chinese women living with HIV/AIDS also increasing significantly. Chinese women's risk of HIV infection is heavily influenced by patriarchal cultural beliefs, Confucian doctrines, and rapid social and economic changes in China. Chinese women generally have a low level of awareness of HIV/AIDS. With inherent inferior social status and economic disadvantage, their vulnerability to HIV infection is heightened by adverse impacts of massive rural-to-urban migration, explosion of the commercial sex industry, and prevalence of gender-based violence. In order to target HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs for Chinese women, their specific needs and gendered obstacles must be addressed and tackled. These include strategies that aim to fight against poverty, improve education, enhance HIV/AIDS awareness, facilitate new life-skills acquisition and behavior change, make available woman-centered services for testing and treatment of HIV, and eradicate gender-based discrimination and violence. There is also an urgent need to further develop various public health infrastructure in China, especially in remote and rural areas. The pool of gender experts in China should also be expanded to conduct a thorough gender analysis and design a national response to address the evolving HIV/AIDS epidemic in Chinese women.     

“Yes,I Can”: Testing an Intervention to Increase Middle School Students’ College and Career Self‐Efficacy

Middle school is the appropriate time for students to begin exploring careers and improving self‐efficacy; however, empirically supported career and college readiness interventions for U.S. middle school students are limited. Examining the effect of an intervention that combined a virtual experience and a local college visit on middle school students (99 girls, 74 boys), the authors found that participating students had higher levels of college and career self‐efficacy than did nonparticipating students. The study shows that a workshop of the online Florida CHOICES program coupled with a campus visit increased middle school student career and college self‐efficacy. Future research should include longitudinal studies and use of diverse populations to improve generalizability of study results.     

Utilizing Social Work Skills to Enhance Entrepreneurship Training for Women: A Ghanaian Perspective

ABSTRACT

This article describes a women's entrepreneurship exchange program that was designed and facilitated with the cooperation of various governmental and nongovernmental entities in Ghana for Ghanaian women. The article briefly reviews the entrepreneurship development literature from an international perspective and discusses the Entrepreneurship Program as a targeted approach for empowering and sustaining women's economic situation in Ghana. Emphasis is placed on understanding the impact of cultural and social networks and the women's ability to succeed as entrepreneurs through the use of social work skills.     

Women’s empowerment and its effect on community development in Oman: predictive model and indicators for best practices

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the level of women’s empowerment in Omani society from the point of view of female university students from three public universities with respect to educational opportunity, equality in employment and their social status in the community. The study proposes a model for how to empower women based on the perceptions of university females and the factors that must be considered for improving the status of women in Oman. The model also provides indicators for social and community practices using confirmatory factor analysis and Path Analysis to determine pertinent factors and their effects on women’s development. The results showed a strong direct effect of women’s empowerment in Oman on community development. Despite the latest developments in Oman, as long as cultural rigidity remains, tradition upholds a conservative viewpoint of women, and families adhere to their uncompromised principles, women will remain subordinated by these factors according to the viewpoint of participants. This study concludes with recommendations for further research, including enrolment of females in all areas of specialisation creating more job opportunities for women, encouraging women’s leadership, and additional education of women’s rights and needs.