Coursework masters students' perspectives on career development learning

Coursework Masters’ students have been identified as a ‘forgotten’ cohort by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Careers and Employment (C&E) Service. Traditionally, these students have been included in undergraduate career development activities. However, coursework Masters’ students are arguably a specialised cohort due to the advanced learning implicit in many of their degrees. A brief survey was designed to better understand how to assist QUT coursework Masters students with career development activities. Students were emailed an invitation to complete a brief online survey asking for their assistance in planning appropriate career development activities for their cohort. Questions included reasons for undertaking a Masters degree and preferred topics and times for career development activities. 615 students completed the survey. This brief report will report the results of the survey and highlight suggestions for career development practitioners and services

Career Development in Childhood and Adolescence

"In the past few years, many career theorists have noted the dearth of literature in the area of career development in childhood and adolescence. A growing need for integrating theory and research on the early stages of vocational development within a systemic, life-span developmental approach has been articulated. This volume, the first book dedicated to career development of children and adolescents, provides a broad and comprehensive overview of the current knowledge about the key career processes that take place in this age group. Each of the eighteen chapters represents an in-depth examination of a specific aspect of career development with a focus on integrating modern career theory and ongoing research and further developing theory-practice connections in understanding child and adolescent career behaviour. Twenty-six authors, leading experts from eight countries, provide a state-of-the-art summary of the current thinking in the field and outline directions for future empirical work and practice."--publisher website

Sustainable creative career development pathways for young people in Tanzania : a case study

Tanzania has a rich and diverse cultural history based in community cultural life. However, at present, young people have limited opportunity to exploit this richness of traditional knowledge and engage in creative jobs as their means of future sustainable employment. Hence, the significant challenge remains: how to integrate and enhance the traditional knowledge in a learning strategy, while there is no “inter-ministerial action and institutional mechanisms” (United Nations 2008, 33-35) to promote creative employment for young people. This article reports on a case study that examined how the two Ministries of Culture and Education might work together to support Tanzania’s young people to secure, and engage successfully in creative jobs. The case study employed mixed methods, incorporating questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. The study was undertaken in Dar-Es-Salaam, Mwanza, Bagamoyo, Dodoma, Lindi and Morogoro from July to October, 2012. This paper discusses some of the issues and argues that there is no practical utilization of traditional knowledge and skills in “putting education to work” (UNESCO 2012, 170) for the better prospects of young people and to reveal the story of their lives. Although this study is specific to Tanzania, the case may also apply to other developing countries.

Career mentoring : a career development-enhancing strategy for university students in transition to employment

In 1992 the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Convocation initiated the Mentor Scheme to assist students to better prepare for the transition to employment. The scheme has developed over the past six years and in 1998 more than 130 pairs of employers and students from 12 different disciplines participated in it. Evaluations indicate the positive impact the scheme has made on both mentors and mentees, particularly in enhancing mentees' career development.

Career Development and Systems Theory : Connecting Theory and Practice [3rd edition]

"The 3rd edition of this classic book offers practitioners, researchers and students a comprehensive introduction to, and overview of, career theory; introduces the Systems Theory Framework of career development; and demonstrates its considerable contemporary and innovative application to practice. A number of authors have identified the framework as one of a small number of significant innovations in the career development literature. The Systems Theory Framework of career development was developed to provide coherence to the career development field by providing a comprehensive conceptualisation of the many existing theories and concepts relevant to understanding career development. It is not designed to be a theory of career development; rather systems theory is introduced as the basis for an overarching, or metatheoretical, framework within which all concepts of career development, described in the plethora of career theories, can be usefully positioned and utilised in both theory and practice. It has been applied to the career development of children, adolescents and women. Since its first publication, the Systems Theory Framework has been the basis of numerous publications focusing on theoretical application and integration, practice and research, with a growing number of these by authors other than the framework developers. Its application across cultures also has been emphasised. The theoretical and practical unity of the Systems Theory Framework makes this book a worthy addition to the professional libraries of practitioners, researchers and students, new to, or experienced in, the field of career development."--PUBLISHER WEBSITE

Towards understanding self-development coaching programs

Self-development resources are a popular billion -dollar industry worldwide used to improve individuals quality of lives. However, there are insufficient studies for a contemporary conceptualization, especially when it comes to live self-development programs. This paper provides a literature review about current self-development definitions, ideology, concepts, and themes; quality of material provided; quality and characteristics of self-development providers; and the features of the participants who seek such programs. The paper will also discuss the relationsh ip between self-development and related disciplines including coaching, training, mentoring, and motivational speaking. Finally, a new definition will be proposed for self-development coaching programs. Gaps of knowledge are highlighted for further research.

Patterns of entrepreneurial career development: An optimal matching analysis approach

Longitudinal studies of entrepreneurial career development are rare, and current knowledge of self-employment patterns and their relationships with individual difference characteristics is limited. In this study, the authors analyzed employment data from a subsample of 514 participants from the German Socio-Economic Panel study (1984–2008). Results of an optimal matching analysis indicated that a continuous self-employment pattern could be distinguished from four alternative employment patterns (change from employment to self-employment, full-time employees, part-time employees, and farmers). Results of a multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that certain socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., age and gender) and personality characteristics (i.e., conscientiousness and risk-taking propensity) were related to the likelihood of following a continuous self-employment pattern compared to the other employment patterns. Implications for future research on entrepreneurial career development are discussed.

The Systems Theory Framework of career development: 20 years of contribution to theory and practice

The development and sustained contribution of the Systems Theory Framework to career development theory and practice is well documented in national and international literatures. In addition to its contribution to theory integration, it has added to the growing literature on connecting career theory and practice, in particular for non-Western populations. In addition, it has been the basis of the development of a broad array of constructivist approaches to career counselling, and indeed specific reflective career assessment activities. This article begins with a brief history of the Systems Theory Framework which is then followed by a rationale for its development. The contribution of the Systems Theory Framework to theory and practice is then described prior to concluding comments by the authors.

The Systems Theory Framework of career development: Applications to career counselling and career assessment

Since its inception, the Systems Theory Framework of career development has afforded ready translation into practice, especially into career counselling and qualitative career assessment. Through its clearly articulated constructs and the clarity of its diagrammatic representation, the Systems Theory Framework has facilitated the development of qualitative career assessment instruments as well as a quantitative measure. This article briefly overviews these practical applications of the Systems Theory Framework as well as its application in career counselling through a story telling approach. The article concludes by offering a synthesis of and considering future directions for the Systems Theory Framework’s practical applications.

Ecological computer programs: the importance of being friendly

A discussion is presented on the topic of statistical data analysis in the field of ecology, emphasizing the importance of computer programmes being user friendly for the ecologist. Particular reference is given to TWINSPAN, CANOCO and PATN and the applications of these programmes to tropical fisheries and coastal zone management.

Coherent Behavior from Incoherent Knowledge Sources in the Automatic Synthesis of Numerical Computer Programs

A fundamental problem in artificial intelligence is obtaining coherent behavior in rule-based problem solving systems. A good quantitative measure of coherence is time behavior; a system that never, in retrospect, applied a rule needlessly is certainly coherent; a system suffering from combinatorial blowup is certainly behaving incoherently. This report describes a rule-based problem solving system for automatically writing and improving numerical computer programs from specifications. The specifications are in terms of "constraints" among inputs and outputs. The system has solved program synthesis problems involving systems of equations, determining that methods of successive approximation converge, transforming recursion to iteration, and manipulating power series (using differing organizations, control structures, and argument-passing techniques).