Disengaging From Unattainable Career Goals and Reengaging in More Achievable Ones

an article by Peter A. Creed and Michelle Hood (School of Applied Psychology and Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia) published in Journal of Career Development Volume 42 Number 1 (February 2014)

Abstract

Participants were 181 university students who completed measures of career development (self-efficacy, perceived barriers, distress, planning, and exploration) and goal adjustment capacity (disengagement and reengagement).

We expected
     (a) that when contemplating unachievable goals, those with a higher capacity to adjust their goals (i.e., to disengage and reengage) would report less distress, more career planning, and more exploration; and expected
     (b) that the relationships between goal adjustment and the outcome variables (distress, planning, and exploration) would be moderated by self-efficacy and perceptions of barriers.

We found that those with a higher capacity to adjust their goals by disengaging and reengaging reported more exploration. Less distress was associated with disengagement, but not reengagement, whereas more planning was associated with reengagement, but not disengagement.

Additionally, we found moderating effects for self-efficacy and perceptions of barriers; that is, having higher levels of efficacy and perceiving fewer barriers protected when goal adjustment capacity was lower.

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An Overwhelming Climb: The Complexities of Combining College, Full-Time Work, and Company Tuition Assistance

an article by Janelle L. Gagnon and Becky Wai-Ling Packard (Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, USA) published in Journal of Career Development Volume 39 Number 6 (December 2012)

Abstract

This paper examines the complex experiences of full-time employed adults trying to climb the career ladder in their company by making use of company tuition assistance to earn their first college degree.

Guided by Savickas’ (2005) career construction theory, emphasising the personal agency and meaning-making within career development, we conducted phenomenological interviews with a purposive sample of eight men and women from six different companies using company tuition assistance while working full-time.

Participants held complex feelings toward dual roles of work and school including feeling overwhelmed and delayed in their progress as well as experiencing positive synergy between school and work roles.

Workplace features such as flexible scheduling and having an encouraging supervisor facilitated progress.

Implications for understanding and supporting the career development of full-time employed adults are discussed.

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A Critical Perspective of Contemporary Unemployment Policy and Practices

an article by David L. Blustein, Mary Beth Medvide and Carol M. Wan (Boston College, MA, USA) published in Journal of Career Development Volume 39 Number 4 (August 2012)

Abstract

This article explores the challenges of unemployment via the lens of critical psychology.

The conventional discourse on unemployment is critiqued, revealing ways in which conventional policies and practices serve to further marginalize the lives of the unemployed and impede the development of ethical, effective, and empathic individual interventions and structural changes.

In the practice realm, the importance of inclusion of mental health treatments in work-based interventions is highlighted based on the prevalence of psychological problems as a direct outcome of unemployment. New directions in research and public policy emerging from a critical analysis of existing are also outlined.

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Perceived Career Barriers for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Individuals

an article by Martha Keeton Parnell, Suzanne H. Lease and Michael L. Green (Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research, The University of Memphis, USA) published in Journal of Career Development Volume 49 Number 3 (June 2012)

Abstract

This study examined career-related barriers that gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) individuals had encountered in the past and anticipated in the future and the degree of hindrance associated with future barriers.

Two hundred forty-one GLB participants (126 women and 115 men) completed the Career Barriers Inventory–Revised and 11 additional items developed to address sexual orientation–related career barriers. Sexual orientation barriers were the third most highly anticipated future barriers and the second most hindering.

Lesbian and bisexual women had encountered significantly more barriers related to sex discrimination, career–child conflict, and choosing nontraditional careers. They also anticipated more gender-role–related future barriers and expected more hindrance from gender and multiple role career barriers.

There were no gender differences on sexual orientation barriers. GLB individuals encountered and anticipated career barriers similar to those encountered by heterosexual individuals while also anticipating barriers unique to their sexual orientation.

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