Career development and systems theory: Connecting theory and practice

The Systems Theory Framework was developed to produce a metatheoretical framework through which the contribution of all theories to our understanding of career behaviour could be recognised. In addition it emphasises the individual as the site for the integration of theory and practice. Its utility has become more broadly acknowledged through its application to a range of cultural groups and settings, qualitative assessment processes, career counselling, and multicultural career counselling. For these reasons, the STF is a very valuable addition to the field of career theory. In viewing the field of career theory as a system, open to changes and developments from within itself and through constantly interrelating with other systems, the STF and this book is adding to the pattern of knowledge and relationships within the career field. The contents of this book will be integrated within the field as representative of a shift in understanding existing relationships within and between theories. In the same way, each reader will integrate the contents of the book within their existing views about the current state of career theory and within their current theory-practice relationship. This book should be required reading for anyone involved in career theory. It is also highly suitable as a text for an advanced career counselling or theory course.

Young children, adolescents and alcohol - Part II: Reputation enhancement and self-concept

The research reported builds on our earlier work (Houghton, Carroll, & Odgers, 1998) which explored young children's and adolescents' views pertaining to knowledge and awareness of alcohol and alcohol-related issues. In this second study 640 (286 male and 354 female) school students randomly selected from five primary schools and five high schools in Perth, Western Australia participated. Data were obtained using The Which Group picture booklet questionnaire which comprises five parts and utilises illustrations (drawn by a professional children's artist) to gather information about children's and adolescents' orientations towards alcohol risk social situations, reputation enhancement, self-concept, and other related issues. Of the sample, 73% of males and 70.6% of females had tried alcohol, with beer being consumed most often. Significantly more participants in higher Year levels had tried alcohol. Over 90% said they drank at a party. Multivariate analysis revealed that nine of the 11 dependent variables contributed to the significant main effect of alcohol risk group, of which three were self-concept variables and six were reputation enhancement variables. It appears that individuals with the highest levels of orientation to alcohol risk believe that they are liked by their families, are physically attractive and have greater confidence in themselves. They also have higher levels of Admiration of Alcohol Related Activities and also of prosocial activities. While striving to attain a non-conforming reputation these individuals also wish to be ideally perceived by others as conforming. Gender and Age differences are investigated.

Educational characteristics of students with high or low self-concept

In response to methodological concerns associated with previous research into the educational characteristics of students with high or low self-concept, the topic was re-examined using a significantly more representative sample and a contemporary self-concept measure. From an initial screening of 515 preadolescent, coeducational students in 18 schools, students significantly high or low in self-concept were compared using standardized tests in reading, spelling, and mathematics, and teacher interviews to determine students' academic and nonacademic characteristics. The teachers were not informed of the self-concept status of the students. Compared to students with low self-concept, students with high self-concept were rated by teachers as being more popular, cooperative, and persistent in class, showed greater leadership, were lower in anxiety, had more supportive families, and had higher teacher expectations for their future success. Teachers observed that students with low self-concept were quiet and withdrawn, while peers with high self-concept were talkative and more dominating with peers. Students with lower self-concepts were also lower than their peers in reading, spelling, and mathematical abilities. The findings support the notion that there is an interactive relationship between self-concept and achievement. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Stereotype distinctiveness: How counterstereotypic behavior shapes the self-concept

Three experiments examined the relationship between distinctiveness and self-schematicity. Experiment I revealed that people were more likely to be self-schematic in domains of strong performance when they felt distinct from family and peers in those domains. Experiments 2 and 3 extended this finding into the arena of stereotypes by demonstrating that people were more likely to be self-schematic in domains of strong performance when their performance was counterstereotypic rather than stereotypic. In particular, African Americans and women were more likely to be schematic for intelligence than Caucasians and men if they performed well academically, whereas Caucasians-especially men-were more likely than African Americans to be schematic for athletics if they performed well athletically. These results suggest that counterstereotypic behavior plays a uniquely powerful role in the development of the self-concept.

Career versus motherhood? A case study describing a cognitive-existential approach to the dilemma

The present paper reports a case study concerning a professional woman in her 30s, who presented to the Occupational Health department of a metropolitan hospital with work stress stemming from accelerating work demands and marital problems related to the decision about whether to start a family or continue her career. No clinical diagnosis was warranted; however, Maslach Burnout Inventory Scores indicated a high degree of emotional exhaustion and moderate levels of depersonalisation, offset by a high sense of personal accomplishment in her work role. The client also demonstrated severe stress and moderate depression on the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale (DASS-21). The case was conceptualised from a combined cognitive-existential perspective. The woman's cognitions about her work, relationship, and prospective motherhood roles were identified, as well as underlying existential issues such as finding a meaning in life and a fear of being alone and unloved. Eight sessions of therapy incorporated components of cognitive and existential therapies, aimed at managing stress and improving marital adjustment. Posttreatment results showed substantial reductions in all the measures of distress, while personal accomplishment remained high. The woman and her husband decided to defer starting a family until other issues had been addressed.

The Islamic/Qur'anic concept of emancipation of women according to 'Bint al-Shati', 1913-1998

A presentation and an analysis of the Islamic concept of emancipation of women as it is proposed by Bint al-Shati (1913-1998), an Egyptian specialist of Qur'anic exegesis, will illustrate her exegetical method. thereafter, some difficulties of her interpretation will be raised, shedding light on contradictions that her exegesis, which seeks to be both Islamic and modern, cannot avoid.

Developing qualitative career assessment processes

Assessment has been integral to career counseling since the early 1900s. During that time, the greatest amount of attention was focused on quantitative assessment. Thus, there is still very little to guide the development and conduct of qualitative assessment in career counseling. The authors present an overview of qualitative career assessment and its theoretical underpinnings and propose suggestions that could guide the development of qualitative career assessment instruments.

Supervision and career counsellors: A little-explored practice with an uncertain future

While the supervision of counsellors has received much attention in the literature, there is a dearth of empirical and conceptual literature about the supervision of career counsellors. Career counselling has not to date followed other helping professions towards increased requirements for supervision or compulsory supervision. Recently there has been slight evidence of change and some advocacy of supervision for career counsellors in the literature. However, no previous studies related to supervision and career counsellors have been conducted. The Australian study reported here gathered information from members of a professional career counselling association about supervision through survey and focus group interviews. The findings revealed that supervision is not widely practised and that there are varying levels of understanding of and commitment to supervision.

How to be a chaste species pluralist-realist: the origins of species modes and the synapomorphic species concept

The biological species (biospecies) concept applies only to sexually reproducing species, which means that until sexual reproduction evolved, there were no biospecies. On the universal tree of life, biospecies concepts therefore apply only to a relatively small number of clades, notably plants and animals. I argue that it is useful to treat the various ways of being a species (species modes) as traits of clades. By extension from biospecies to the other concepts intended to capture the natural realities of what keeps taxa distinct, we can treat other modes as traits also, and so come to understand that the plurality of species concepts reflects the biological realities of monophyletic groups. We should expect that specialists in different organisms will tend to favour those concepts that best represent the intrinsic mechanisms that keep taxa distinct in their clades. I will address the question whether modes of reproduction such as asexual and sexual reproduction are natural classes, given that they are paraphyletic in most clades.

Career counseling: Applying the systems theory framework of career development

In recent years, career development and career counseling have increasingly been informed by concepts emanating from the constructivist worldview. For example, the Systems Theory Framework (STF; M. McMahon, 2002; M. McMahon I W. Patton, 1995; W. Patton I M. McMahon, 1997, 1999) of career development has been proposed as a metatheoretical account of career development. Furthermore, its theoretical constructs may be applied to career counseling. Thus, the STF provides a theoretical and practical consistency to career counseling and addresses concerns about a gulf between career theory and practice. This article discusses the practical application of the STF of career development as a guide to career counseling.

Multicultural career counseling: Theoretical applications of the systems theory framework

Increasing recognition of cultural influences on career development requires expanded theoretical and practical perspectives. Theories of career development need to explicate views of culture and provide direction for career counseling with clients who are culturally diverse. The Systems Theory Framework (STF) is a theoretical foundation that accounts for systems of influence on people's career development, including individual, social, and environmental/societal contexts. The discussion provides a rationale for systemic approaches in multicultural career counseling and introduces the central theoretical tenets of the STF. Through applications of the STF, career counselors are challenged to expand their roles and levels of intervention in multicultural career counseling.

Investigating the influence of achievement on self-concept using an intra-class design and a comparison of the PASS and SDQ-1 self-concept tests

Background. The formation and measurement of self-concept were the foci of this research. Aims. The study aimed to investigate the influence of achievement on academic self-concept and to compare the Perception of Ability Scale for Students (PASS, Boersma & Chapman, 1992) with the Self-Description Questionnaire-1 (SDQ-1, Marsh, 1988). Sample. The participants were 479 grade 5 (mean age 126.6 months) coeducational Australian students, located in 18 schools. Method. An intra-class research design was used to investigate the influence of frame-of-reference on self-concept development. Results. As students' academic scores rose above their class mean their self-concepts increased and as students' academic scores fell below their class mean their self-concepts decreased. Students' difference from class mean predicted their self-concept scores. This finding was consistently shown across the reading, spelling, and mathematics domains using test and teaching rating data. A comparison between the PASS and the SDQ-1 demonstrated concurrent validity across self-concept domains. Conclusion. The findings support the notions that the social environment is a significant agent that influences self-concept, and that teacher ratings and standardised tests of achievement and the PASS and the SDQ-1 are valid measures for self-concept research.