Occupational information: What children want to know

The present exploratory-descriptive cross-national study focuses on what information children believe they need to find out about jobs. In total, 511 South African and 372 Australian children participated in the study. The present paper reports on the findings related to one item of the Revised Career Awareness Survey used in the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that the nature of information the children needed to find out was related to life/career implications and life/career management tasks and to a lesser extent to interests and personal characteristics and the nature of work. The implications of the findings for career guidance and counseling practice are discussed.

Pelon ja toivon välissä : Pätkätyöläisen urakerronta

This study analyzes the forming of the occupational identity of the well-educated fixed-term employees. Fixed-term employment contracts amongst the well-educated labour force are exceptionally common in Finland as compared to other European countries. Two groups of modern fixed-term employees are distinguished. The first comprises well-educated women employed in the public sector whose fixed-term employment often consists of successive periods as temporary substitutes. The other group comprises well-educated, upper white-collar men aged over 40, whose fixed-term employment careers often consist of jobs of project nature or posts that are filled for a fixed period only. Method of the study For the empirical data I interviewed 35 persons (26 women and 9 men) in 33 interviews, one of which was conducted by e-mail and one was a group interview. All the interviews were electronically recorded and coded. All the interviewees have two things in common: fixed-term employment and formal high education. Thirteen (13) of them are researchers, four nurses, four midwives, four journalists, and ten project experts. I used the snowball method to get in touch the interviewees. The first interviewees were those who were recommended by the trade unions and by my personal acquaintances. These interviewees, in turn, recommended other potential interviewees. In addition, announcements on the internet pages of the trade unions were used to reach other interviewees. In analysing process I read the research material several times to find the turning points in the narrative the interviewees told. I also searched for the most meaningful stories told and the meaning the interviewees gave to these stories and to the whole narrative. In addition to that I paid attention to co-production of the narrative with the interviewees and analyzed the narrative as performance to be able to search for the preferred identities the interviewees perform. (Riesman 2001, 698-701). I do not pay much attention to the question of truth of a narrative in the sense of its correspondence with facts; rather I think a working life narrative has two tasks: On the one hand one has to tell the facts and on the other hand, he/she has to describe the meaning of these facts to herself/himself. To emphasize the double nature of the narrative about one’s working life I analyzed the empirical data both by categorizing it according to the cultural models of storytelling (heroic story, comedy, irony and tragedy) and by studying the themes most of the interviewees talked about. Ethics of the study I chose to use narrative within qualitative interviews on the grounds that in my opinion is more ethical and more empowering than the more traditional structured interview methods. During the research process I carefully followed the ethical rules of a qualitative research. The purpose of the interviews and the research was told to the interviewees by giving them a written description of the study. Oral permission to use the interview in this research was obtained from the interviewees. The names and places, which are mentioned in the study, are changed to conceal the actual identity of the interviewees. I shared the analysis with the interviewees by sending each of them the first analysis of their personal interview. This way I asked them to make sure that the identity was hidden well enough and hoped to give interviewees a chance to look at their narratives, to instigate new actions and sustain the present one (Smith 2001, 721). Also I hoped to enjoy a new possibility of joint authorship. Main results As a result of the study I introduce six models of telling a story. The four typical western cultural models that guide the telling are: heroic story, comedy, tragedy and satirical story (Hänninen 1999). In addition to these models I found two ways of telling a career filled with fixed-term employments that differ significantly from traditional career story telling. However, the story models in which the interviewees pour their experience locates the fixed term employers work career in an imagined life trajectory and reveals the meaning they give to it. I analyze the many sided heroic story that Liisa tells as an example of the strength of the fear of failing or losing the job the fixed term employee feels. By this structure it is also possible to show that success is felt to be entirely a matter of chance. Tragedy, the failure in one’s trial to get something, is a model I introduce with the help of Vilppu’s story. This narrative gets its meaning both from the sorrow of the failure in the past and the rise of something new the teller has found. Aino tells her story as a comedy. By introducing her narrative, I suggest that the purpose of the comedy, a stronger social consensus, gets deeper and darker shade by fixed-term employment: one who works as a fixed term employee has to take his/her place in his/her work community by him/herself without the support the community gives to those in permanent position. By studying the satiric model Rauno uses, I argue that using irony both turns the power structures to a carnival and builds free space to the teller of the story and to the listener. Irony also helps in building a consensus, mutual understanding, between the teller and the listener and it shows the distance the teller tells to exist between him and others. Irony, however, demands some kind of success in one’s occupational career but also at least a minor disappointment in the progress of it. Helmi tells her story merely as a detective story. By introducing Helmi’s narrative, I argue that this story model strengthens the trust in fairness of the society the teller and the listener share. The analysis also emphasizes the central position of identity work, which is caused by fixed-term employment. Most of the interviewees talked about getting along in working life. I introduced Sari’s narrative as an example of this. In both of these latter narratives one’s personal character and habits are lifted as permanent parts of the actual professional expertise, which in turn varies according to different situations. By introducing these models, I reveal that the fixed-term employees have different strategies to cope with their job situations and these strategies vary according to their personal motives and situations and the actual purpose of the interview. However, I argue that they feel the space between their hopes and fears narrow and unsecure. In the research report I also introduce pieces of the stories – themes – that the interviewees use to build these survival strategies. They use their personal curriculum vitae or portfolio, their position in work community and their work morals to build their professional identity. Professional identity is flexible and varies in time and place, but even then it offers a tool to fix one’s identity work into something. It offers a viewpoint to society and a tool to measure one’s position in surrounding social nets. As one result of the study I analyze the position the fixed-term employees share on the edge of their job communities. I summarize the hopes and fears the interviewees have concerning employers, trade unions, educational institutions and the whole society. In their opinion, the solidarity between people has been weakened by the short-sighted power of the economy. The impact the fixed-term employment has on one’s professional identity and social capital is a many-sided and versatile process. Fixed-term employment both strengthens and weakens the professional identity, social capital and the building of trust. Fixed-term employment also affects one’s day-to-day life by excluding her/him from the norm and by one’s difficulty in making long-term plans (Jokinen 2005). Regardless of the nature of the job contract, the workers themselves are experts in making the best of their sometimes less than satisfying work life and they also build their professional identity by using creatively their education, work experiences and interpersonal relations. However, a long career of short fixed-term employments may seriously change the perception of employee about his/her role. He/she may start concentrating only in coping in his/her unsatisfactory situation and leaves the active improvement of the lousy working conditions to other people. Keywords: narrative, fixed-tem employment, occupational identity, work, story model, social capital, career  

Reliabilität von retrospektiven Berufsverlaufsdaten. Ein Vergleich zwischen dem öffentlichen Dienst und der Privatwirtschaft anhand von Panel-Daten

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird die Zuverlässigkeit retrospektiver Angaben der Befragten zu beruflichen Tätigkeiten in ihrem Berufsverlauf untersucht. Insbesondere ist ausgehend von einem Befund von De Graaf und Wegener (1989) zu klären, ob generell Beschäftigte des öffentlichen Dienstes ihren Berufsverlauf unzuverlässiger erinnern als Staatsbeschäftigte. Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass gerade Beamte aufgrund der institutionellen Besonderheiten ihrer Beschäftigung größere Schwierigkeiten haben, ihren Berufsverlauf konsistent zu rekonstruieren als andere Befragte. Empirische Analysen von Panel-Daten erhärten diese Vermutung, was die Anzahl der beruflichen Tätigkeiten anbelangt. Jedoch machen Beamte zu anderen Attributen ihres Berufsverlaufs ebenso zuverlässige Angaben wie andere Befragte auch. Diese beamtenspezifischen Erinnerungsprobleme sind bei zukünftigen Erhebungen mittels ereignisorientierter Befragungsinstrumente zu berücksichtigen.

How Cantonal Education Systems in Switzerland Promote Gender-Typical School-to-Work Transitions

The paper asks how cantonal education systems in Switzerland promote gender-typed school-to-work transitions and gender segregation at work. Data from the Swiss TREE youth panel study is used to analyse the impact of cantonal provision of vocational education and training (VET) on gender-typical educational trajectories. The findings show that education systems with higher VET rates have higher allocations of men in gender-(male-) typical occupational careers. The paper concludes that the pronounced and persistent gender segregation on the Swiss labor market is partly due to a prominent VET system, which urges early gender-typed occupational career decisions.

Statusreproduktion und Mobilitätseffekte beruflicher Weiterbildung

Es wird für Westdeutschland untersucht, ob sowohl der intergenerationale Abstieg als auch der intergenerationale Statuserhalt Beweggründe für berufliche Weiterbildung sind. Des Weiteren wird untersucht, ob mit beruflicher Weiterbildung ein intergenerationaler Abstieg ausgeglichen oder das Risiko für intergenerationale Abwärtsmobilität minimiert werden kann. Mit Längsschnittdaten der Deutschen Lebensverlaufsstudie finden sich für westdeutsche Frauen und Männer in fünf aufeinander folgenden Geburtskohorten im Zeitraum von 1949 bis 1999 Indizien dafür, dass das Statuserhaltmotiv ein Weiterbildungsmotiv für Personen sein könnte, die einen intergenerationalen Statusverlust erfahren haben. Mit Weiterbildungsanstrengungen können im weiteren Berufsverlauf intergenerationale Abstiege ausgeglichen werden. Ferner haben statuskonsistente Teilnehmer geringere Risiken für einen intergenerationalen Abstieg als Nichtteilnehmer. Berufliche Weiterbildung hat statusreproduzierende Wirkungen im Berufsverlauf.

Mein Leben als mein Thema - auch für andere. Biographische Reflexion über das Heranwachsen bis zum 30. Lebensjahr bei ehemaligen Gymnasiasten

Die Untersuchung will (1) zeigen, daß die positive oder negative Wertung des eigenen Lebens eine allgemeine Dimension der biographischen Selbstreflexion ist, der eine psychische Realität entspricht und die in einer standardisierten Befragung erhoben werden kann, und (2) die Struktur dieser Wertung in verschiedenen Dimensionen beschreiben. Untersuchungsgruppe sind 1989 30jährige ehemalige Gymnasiasten. Sie sollten in drei offenen Fragen, die sich auf Entscheidungen, Ereignisse und Entwicklungen („Modi") bezogen, ihr bisheriges Leben bewerten. Als wichtigste Ergebnisse zeigen sich eine hohe Antwortbereitschaft und eine Struktur der biographischen Selbstreflexion, die positive Wertungen mit dem Privatleben und negative Wertungen mit dem Berufsleben verbindet. (DIPF/Orig.)

Hans Siebert - zur erziehungsgeschichtlichen Spur eines emigrierten politischen Pädagogen

Hans Siebert war als exponierter SED-Funktionär der wirkungsstärkste Vertreter stalinistischer Erziehungsauffassungen in der SBZ und frühen DDR. Die nachstehende biographische Recherche erhellt insbesondere die Entstehungsgeschichte seiner Auffassungen im englischen Exil. Dabei wird den bislang kaum beachteten Erziehungs- und Schulungsunternehmungen der KPD nachgegangen. Es wird deutlich, daß Siebert, der besonders eng an sowjetische Vorbilder gebunden war, nur bis in die fünfziger Jahre tatsächlich Einfluß auf die Bildungspolitik hatte und danach in eine Außenseiterposition geriet. (DIPF/Orig.)

Interactive support effects on career agency and occupational engagement among young adults.

The PIC model by Gati and Asher describes three career decision making stages: pre-screening, in-depth exploration, and choice of career options. We consider the role that three different forms of support (general career support by parents, emotional/instrumental support, and informational support) may play for young adults in each of these three decision-making stages. The authors further propose that different forms of support may predict career agency and occupational engagement, which are important career decision precedents. In addition, we consider the role of personality traits and perceptions (decision-making window) on these two outcomes. Using an online survey sample (N = 281), we found that general career support was important for career agency and occupational engagement. However, it was the combination of higher general career support with either emotional/instrumental support or informational support that was found to lead to both greater career agency and higher occupational engagement. Personality also played a role: Greater proactivity also led to greater occupational engagement, even when there was little urgency for participants to make decisions (window of decision-making was wide open and not restricted). In practical terms, the findings suggest that the learning required in each of the three PIC processes (pre-screening, in-depth exploration, choice of career options may benefit when the learner has access to the three support measures.

Occupational therapists' experiences of career progression following promotion

BACKGROUND/AIM: The recruitment and retention of a skilled occupational therapy workforce is highlighted as a key issue for the profession, and yet there have been relatively few studies into the career progression of occupational therapists. METHODS: A qualitative, naturalistic approach was adopted to answer the research question, using semi-structured interviews to gather data. Eleven purposefully selected participants at an Australian health service were interviewed as part of this study. Categories representing the most common themes and topics supplied by participants within their individual interviews were identified and consolidated by the research team. The trustworthiness of this study was supported by strategies to maximise its credibility, dependability and confirmability. RESULTS: Four main themes were elicited from the data - (i) Readiness for progression, (ii) Tools and processes, (iii) Expectations and (iv) What I wish I had known first. Within these themes, related findings were also identified by both Grade 2 and Grade 3 staff. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the readiness of occupational therapists to climb the career ladder is influenced by the tools and processes they can utilise, and the expectations they have around the realities of their new position. With hindsight, participants highlighted some things they wish they had known at the time of transition, which appeared to have been implicit. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY: This study is the first to address the common issues for occupational therapy staff around progression between grade levels. It therefore provides a basis for further research in other practice settings and for the development of supports for therapists climbing the career ladder.

Synchronous and Time-Lagged Effects between Occupational Self-Efficacy and Objective and Subjective Career Success: Findings from a Four-Wave and 9-Year Longitudinal Study

We integrated research on the dimensionality of career success into social-cognitive career theory and explored the positive feedback loop between occupational self-efficacy and objective and subjective career success over time (self-efficacy → objective success → subjective success → self-efficacy). Furthermore, we theoretically accounted for synchronous and time-lagged effects, as well as indirect reciprocity between the variables. We tested the proposed model by means of longitudinal structural equation modeling in a 9-year four-wave panel design, by applying a model comparison approach and indirect effect analyses (N = 608 professionals). The findings supported the proposed positive feedback loop between occupational self-efficacy and career success. Supporting our time-based reasoning, the findings showed that unfolding effects between occupational self-efficacy and objective career success take more time (i.e., time-lagged or over time) than unfolding effects between objective and subjective career success, as well as between subjective career success and occupational self-efficacy (i.e., synchronous or concurrently). Indirect effects of past on future occupational self-efficacy via objective and subjective career success were significant, providing support for an indirect reciprocity model. Results are discussed with respect to extensions of social-cognitive career theory and occupational self-efficacy development over time.

The Career Satisfaction Scale in Context: A Test for Measurement Invariance Across Four Occupational Groups

This study analyzed the influence of the occupational context on the conceptualization of career satisfaction measured by the career satisfaction scale (CSS). In a large sample of N ¼ 729 highly educated professionals, a cross-occupational (i.e., physicians, economists, engineers, and teachers) measurement invariance analysis showed that the CSS was conceptualized according to occupational group membership, that is, 4 of the 5 items of the scale showed measurement noninvariance. More specifically, the relative importance, the response biases, and the reliabilities associated with different career satisfaction content domains measured by the CSS (i.e., achieved success, overall career goals, goals for advancement, goals for income, and goals for development of new skills) varied by occupational context. However, results of a comparison between manifest and latent mean differences between the occupational groups revealed that the observed measurement noninvariance did not affect the estimation of mean differences.

Called and Burnout: Integrating career research with occupational health psychology

People are increasingly in search for meaning in their work and private life. They want to increase their self-awareness and reach personal fulfillment. People who are not able to cope with life‘s challenges often suffer from burnout, anxiety and depression. Consequently, the construct of calling becomes more and more important in the occupational context because of its positive consequences regarding numerous work (e.g. organizational commitment) and non-work-related outcomes (e.g. depression, life satisfaction) for individuals as well as for organizations. Building on first promising findings, the aim of the following chapter is to investigate the association of experiencing a calling in one‘s job and burnout (here defined as psychological phenomenon of prolonged exhaustion and disengagement at work, cf., Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). Our findings suggest that experiencing one‘s work as a calling is negatively related to burnout. Especially with regard to the sub-dimension of disengagement, experiencing a calling turned out to be a protective factor. Further, the burnout sub-dimension of disengagement mediated the relationship between the experience of a calling and job satisfaction. Implications for further research and health-related preventive strategies are discussed.

Career planner : United States Navy occupational handbook.

Cover title: Navy career planner.