Systemic Influences on Career Development: Assisting Clients to Tell Their Career Stories

A challenge for career theory informed by constructivism is how to apply it in practice. This article describes a career counseling intervention based on the constructivist Systems Theory Framework (STF) of career development and the qualitative career assessment instrument derived from it, the My System of Career Influences (MSCI; M. McMahon, W. Patton, & M. Watson, 2005a, 2005b; M. McMahon, M. Watson, & W. Patton, 2005) refection process. The article provides an overview of the STF, describes the MSCI, and illustrates the application of the MSCI in a counseling process with an adolescent.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2000

The authors summarize the career counseling and development literature that appeared during 2000 in refereed journals, book chapters, and full‐length books. The review of literature is divided into 5 major categories: (a) theoretical and conceptual advances, (b) career counseling and development of identified populations, (c) assessment in career counseling and development, (d) career counseling programs and interventions, and (e) resources for the professional development of career counselors and vocational psychologists.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2002

The authors present a review of the 2002 career development literature. The literature review is divided into the following areas: career theory, career assessment, career counseling interventions and practice, career counseling training and professional issues, and international issues in career counseling. The authors discuss the implications of the findings in this literature for career counseling practice.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2003

This annual review of the research and practice literature related to career counseling and development published during 2003 is presented in 6 major areas: professional issues, career assessment, career development, career theory, career interventions, and technology. The authors discuss the implications of the findings in this literature for career counseling practice.     

Hidden Resources and Barriers in Career Learning Assessment With Adolescents Vulnerable to Discrimination

The authors maintain that the social learning theory of career development and counseling has not been applied to diverse populations. To address this gap in the literature, the authors conducted a qualitative analysis of interviews with 21 middle school students in a low‐income, culturally diverse, inner‐city public school. Four themes emerged, reflecting the influence of discrimination on participants' career learning: contextual barriers and resources for learning, and psychological barriers and resources for learning. The authors provide a conceptual framework for assessing resources and barriers and a rationale for why these aspects often remain hidden or unexamined in career assessment with clients who are vulnerable to discrimination.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2004

This article reviews professional literature published in 2004 related to career counseling and career development. The literature is divided into 4 broad areas: professional issues, career theory and concepts, career interventions and practice, and career assessment and technology. The authors summarize and discuss the implications of the findings for career counseling practice and research.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2005

This article reviews professional literature published in 2005 related to career counseling and career development. The literature is divided into 4 broad areas: professional issues, career theory and concepts, career interventions and practice, and career assessment and technology. The authors summarize and discuss the implications of the findings for career counseling practice and research.     

Annual Review: Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—1998

The article reviews the practice and research literature in career counseling and development in 1998. The literature is presented and discussed under the following topical headings: contexts and populations, career processes, transitions, career assessment, and career counseling, services and programs.     

The Influence of Communism on Career Development and Education in Romania

Contemporary career counseling research has awakened career counselors to the reality that their theories of development, assessment, and intervention have been constructed within the capitalistic structure of the late‐20th‐century labor force in the United States. The social transition model of career counseling outlined by M. Pope (2000) has identified changes in developmental theory, assessment techniques, and intervention strategies, reflecting changes in U.S. culture in the new millennium. With the career counselor's focus on enhancing multicultural awareness, cultural sensitivity, and globalization, this project presents the societal forces within a Communist environment that influenced the career development process, illustrated by a case history.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2007

This annual review of the research and practice literature related to career counseling and development during 2007 is presented in 9 areas: professional issues, career assessment, career development, career theory and concepts, career interventions, advances in technology, personnel selection and job placement, international perspectives, and book reviews. Professional issues of a multicultural, multiethnic, and diversified workforce have become among the most frequently enumerated themes of the 2007 career development literature. The author summarizes and discusses the implications of the findings in this literature for the practice of career counseling.     

Career Development for At-Risk Youth: A Program Evaluation

At-risk populations pose a major challenge to the counseling profession. This article describes a career development program for at-risk youth and delineates both the process and the outcomes of a combined quantitative and qualitative program evaluation. The results suggest that at-risk youth can benefit significantly from this career development program. A combination of work and curricular experiences seemed to be effective with this population.     

Career Counseling and the Information Highway: Heeding the Road Signs

Traveling the “information highway” in the process of career counseling or providing career counseling services via the Internet pose additional challenges for counselors. In this article, the authors use current ethical guidelines to guide discussion of, and possible resolutions to, challenges posed by incorporating the Internet into career counseling.     

Annual Review: Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—1997

This article reviews literature published in 1997 related to career counseling and career development. The authors' review revealed that researchers and practitioners continue to productively contribute to a dynamic understanding of career-related issues. The literature was organized into 4 sections: career development throughout the life span, cultural and contextual factors, issues related to assessment, and theoretical advances.     

Individualized Career Counseling Outcome Assessment: A Case Study Using the Personal Questionnaire

Career counseling has evolved to include practices that attribute a central importance to context variables and meaning‐making processes. Accordingly, there is a need for client assessment tools that consider the subjectivity and cultural specificity of clients and the interface between their work and life concerns. The idiographic assessment of outcomes, which uses individualized measures that involve clients in the definition of person‐specific items, is a promising approach. This article explores the use of the Personal Questionnaire (PQ) as an individualized outcome measure that complements standardized outcome career measures. The authors identify the factors leading to the emergence of idiographic assessment in career counseling, review existing research relevant to the need for the PQ, and present a case study of career construction counseling that illustrates how the PQ helps counselors to obtain sensitive and contextualized assessments of career counseling outcomes, guides interventions, and facilitates meaning making.     

The Practice of Career Counseling by Specialists and Counselors in General Practice

This study sought to identify which career counseling work behaviors are unique to the specialty of career counseling and which career counseling work behaviors are an element of general counseling practice. Career counseling work behaviors related to assessment and counseling were judged to be fundamental to the general practice of counseling. Career counseling work behaviors related to program management, information, and consultation were judged to be fundamental to the specialty practice of career counseling. Implications for counselor certification and counseling program accreditation are discussed.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2010

This review of the 2010 career counseling and development research presents the breadth and depth of topics published in the field ranging from children's conceptions of career to employee burnout. The review covers topics in the career literature on professional issues, career theory and concepts, career development, the world of work, career assessment and technology, and career interventions. The author summarizes the 2010 research to provide information and direction to career practitioners, theorists, and researchers.     

Annual Review: Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—1996

The National Career Development Association's (NCDA) Professional Standards Committee (1997) has recently identified 11 competency areas (career development theory, individual and group counseling skills, individual and group assessment, information resources, and program management and implementation, consultation, diverse populations, supervision, ethical legal issues, and research evaluation, and technology). These competencies were used as categories for classifying research on career development and counseling published in 1996. Two primary areas of research activity were identified: making career counseling theory useful for more clients, and emphasizing the role of contextual factors in shaping career development. Four competency areas not addressed sufficiently by researchers were also identified: consultation, supervision, technology, and ethics. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Annual Review: Vocational Behavior and Career Development—1994

This article reviews the literature in the areas of theoretical contributions to career development, vocational assessment, individual differences, and career counseling written in 1994. It also reviews relevant career books that appeared on the scene. Areas covered in the review as noted above for the most part are consistent with other reviews and represent the contemporary research thrusts in the field.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2011

The Career Development Quarterly celebrated its 100th anniversary during the past year and continues to provide high‐quality research and conceptual articles of import to the study of career development and intervention. This article reviews the 2011 career counseling and development literature to highlight advances in theory, assessment, and intervention presented within the following themes: (a) from the past to the future, (b) work and well‐being, (c) diversity and career, (d) career theory and concepts, (e) career assessment, (f) career intervention, (g) career development: life‐span perspectives, and (h) international perspectives.