A Literature Review on the Role of Hope in Promoting Positive Youth Development across Non-WEIRD Contexts

Theoretical and empirical evidence has identified hope as a key adolescent strength that is linked to positive youth developmental outcomes. Although hope must be understood from a cultural lens, most of the evidence regarding adolescent hope is derived from samples of white youth from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) nations. Therefore, in order to have a more comprehensive and global understanding of the antecedents, outcomes, and processes of hope, we apply a positive youth development perspective in order to review the literature (N = 52 studies) on hope from diverse cultural and international contexts. In organizing the findings by global region, our review provides evidence of the shared function of hope in promoting positive youth developmental outcomes and the usefulness of the Child Hope Scale across contexts. Family and parental relationships were identified as key assets in promoting hope; however, there exists cultural and contextual variation in what aspects of these relationships promote hope. We conclude this review by considering the priorities for research, practice, and policy, based on these findings.

Exploring Perceptions of the Path to Work/Life Success Among Middle School Students of Color

There are limited empirical studies examining career-related activities for Black and Latino/a students during the middle school years. Using a constant comparison method, this study examined the narrative data of 63 Black and Latino/a middle school students regarding their perceptions of work and life success. The results of this analysis revealed five overarching themes: exposure, support, attainment, family, and effort/persistence. Implications for career and school professionals, as well as the significance of school–family–community partnerships, are discussed.

Linking Decent Work With Academic Engagement and Satisfaction Among First-Generation College Students: A Psychology of Working Perspective

Links between decent work and academic outcomes among a sample ( N = 1,231) of first-generation college students were examined based on Psychology of Working Theory (PWT). A theory-driven mediation model was proposed by placing decent work as a mediator between predictors of PWT and academic outcomes. The predictor component of PWT was supported. Future decent work perceptions positively predicted academic engagement but not academic satisfaction. Support for the mediation results was mixed. Overall, findings suggested that positive future decent work perceptions may boost academic engagement for university students. Thus, interventions that aim to improve student academic satisfaction should be implemented. Two malleable psychological factors, namely, work volition and career adaptability appear to be two malleable psychological factors that could be used as targets when working with this group. Theoretical contributions and future research directions are discussed.

Applying the Psychology of Working Theory for Transformative Career Education

New models of career education are needed to prepare young people for changes and challenges in the world of work. We propose that the psychology of working framework/theory (PWF/PWT) has the potential to shape career education in transformative ways that are attentive to shifting dimensions of the local context and the marginalization of large segments of the world population in seeking access to decent work. In this article, we present theory and research supporting the PWF/PWT and its application for career development intervention, with specific attention to the constructs of youth purpose and critical consciousness as important resources for coping with massive changes in the world of work and growing inequality. We provide examples of how this might be done, drawing from our current research–practice partnerships that are designing, delivering, and evaluating PWF-/PWT-informed career intervention.

Facets of Career Development in a New Immigrant Destination: Exploring the Associations Among School Climate, Belief in Self, School Engagement, and Academic Achievement

With contemporary career challenges facing Latino/a youth, particularly those from immigrant communities, counselors and career development professionals may find it challenging to provide effective career services for this unique population. Students from one middle school and one high school located in a new immigrant destination were surveyed to test the hypothesis that belief in self and school engagement (i.e., behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement) played a serial mediating role in the association between school safety and academic achievement (i.e., grade point average). Moderation of the mediation model by ethnicity was also examined. Results from the sample ( N = 877) indicated that school safety was associated with higher levels of belief in self, which in turn was associated with higher levels of school engagement. Only behavioral engagement, however, was associated with greater academic achievement. Associations did not differ by ethnicity. Career implications on the importance of behavioral engagement among teachers, counselors, career development professionals, and administrators to support the academic achievement of marginalized youth are provided.

Academic Well-Being, Mathematics Performance, and Educational Aspirations in Lower Secondary Education: Changes Within a School Year

It has been suggested that both performance and academic well-being play a role in adolescent students' educational attainment and school dropout. In this study, we therefore examined, first, what kinds of academic well-being (i.e., school burnout, schoolwork engagement, and mathematics self-concept) and mathematics performance profiles can be identified among lower secondary school students (Ngrade 7 = 583, Ngrade 9 = 497); second, how stable these profiles are across one school year during the seventh and ninth grades; and, third, how students with different academic well-being and mathematics performance profiles differ with respect to their educational aspirations. By means of latent profile analyses, three groups of students in seventh grade: thriving (34%), average (51%), and negative academic well-being (15%) and four groups of students in ninth grade: thriving (25%), average (50%), negative academic well-being (18%), and low-performing (7%) with distinct well-being and mathematics performance profiles were identified. Configural frequency analyses revealed that the profiles were relatively stable across one school year; 60% of the students displayed identical profiles over time. The thriving students reported the highest educational aspirations compared to the other groups. In addition, the low-performing students in the ninth grade had the lowest educational aspirations just before the transition to upper secondary school. Practical implications as well as directions for future research are discussed.

The future of career education in New Zealand secondary schools: A review of the literature

Traditionally career education in New Zealand secondary schools has been provided by a dedicated career advisor, but the effectiveness of this model is increasingly being questioned. This review examined approaches to career education in order to recommend a more appropriate model for the future. A review of 14 articles revealed that career education is increasingly important for secondary school students and that advantages exist in an integrated whole-school approach. The authors argue that such an approach is desirable, but acknowledge the issues to be addressed to ensure success. These include professional development for career advisors, principals and teachers, changing entrenched attitudes, reimagining the role of the career advisor and providing increased resourcing. While this review is focussed on New Zealand, it is apparent that other countries are grappling, similarly, with the issue of career education for secondary school students.

Career Adaptability, Hope, Optimism, and Life Satisfaction in Italian and Swiss Adolescents

The consequences of economic crisis are different from one European context to the other. Based on life design (LD) approach, the present study focused on two variables—career adaptability and a positive orientation toward future (hope and optimism)—relevant to coping with the current work context and their role in affecting life satisfaction. A partial mediational model between career adaptability and life satisfaction, through a positive orientation toward future (hope and optimism), was tested across Italian and Swiss countries. Seven hundred twenty-six Italian and 533 Swiss young people between the ages of 12 and 16 years were involved. Results provided support for the model in the Italian group and a full mediation model for the Swiss one. The data suggest that the context may have an effect on how career adaptability has an impact on general life satisfaction. These results have important implications for practice and underscore the need to support adolescents in their LD process.

The Academic Self-Efficacy of Urban Youth

To inform effective school-to-work programs, this study evaluates the effect of a school-based psychoeducational intervention on the academic self-efficacy of urban youth enrolled in the ninth grade. Using a mixed-methods design, data were collected using a quantitative measure of academic self-efficacy and eight semistructured interviews over the course of an academic school semester. As hypothesized, t tests did not reveal a statistical difference in academic self-efficacy between preintervention (Time 1) and postintervention (Time 2). A consensual qualitative analysis of the interviews, however, indicated enhanced developmental specificity concerning use of academic skills and articulation of goals between Time 1 and Time 2. Limitations of the study and future directions for research are discussed.

Advanced Applications of Structural Equation Modeling in Counseling Psychology Research

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a data-analytic technique that allows researchers to test complex theoretical models. Most published applications of SEM involve analyses of cross-sectional recursive (i.e., unidirectional) models, but it is possible for researchers to test more complex designs that involve variables observed at multiple points in time or variables implicated in reciprocal feedback loops (i.e., bidirectional models). Given SEM’s popularity among counseling psychology researchers, this article aims to introduce three SEM designs not often seen in the counseling psychology literature: cross-lagged panel analyses, latent growth curve modeling, and nonrecursive mediated model analysis. For each design, the authors provide a brief rationale regarding its purpose, procedures for specifying a model to test the design, and a worked illustration.

Integrated career education in senior high: Intern teacher and student recommendations

Intern teachers in Southern Alberta, Canada participated in two career education courses. As a culminating activity, intern teachers created and delivered integrated career education projects in their final practicum placements, submitted project reports, and collected standardized evaluation surveys from their students. This nonexperimental study analyzed 10 intern teachers’ senior high projects and 170 corresponding student evaluation surveys to determine trends in project strengths, challenges, and recommendations for future career education. Senior high students benefited from engaging in self-exploration and career research activities, as students often expressed that they found career education to be helpful and relevant to their futures. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

A Qualitative Inquiry of the Roles, Responsibilities, and Relationships Within Work-Based Learning Supervision

Although meaningful work experience and the support of caring adults are recognized as factors that promote positive youth development, research has given minimal attention to the role of the work-based learning (WBL) supervisor. Interviews with 12 supervisors, from work sites that were identified as successful by leaders from a Catholic high school known for its high-quality work-study program for low-income adolescents, reveal that the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of WBL supervisors are complex and multifaceted. Supervisors seek to balance the goal-directed demands of managing a productive workplace with a relational commitment to teaching and mentoring young people. The results are discussed in light of relational theories of working and youth mentoring. Implications are explored for strengthening the selection and preparation of WBL supervisors who strive to enhance the life chances for low-income students of color.

Preparing Elementary School Counselors to Promote Career Development

Career development at the elementary level is an important developmental function to ensure all students graduate college and career ready. However, the training and continuing education needs of elementary school counselors have been largely ignored in the professional literature and in training programs. This article explores the theoretical and empirical support for career development at the primary level and the challenges in training elementary school counselors. Recommendations for modifications to school counselor educator programs are offered, and future research and continuing education needs for school counselors are explored.

Measuring the Advising Alliance for Female Graduate Students in Science and Engineering

Faculty advisors play an important role in the development of graduate students. One group for which the advising relationship has been shown to be especially crucial is women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We designed two studies to assess the advising alliance for women in STEM graduate programs using the student version of the Advisor Working Alliance Inventory (AWAI) along with additional content developed by our team. Study 1 ( N = 76) was developed to assess item performance and the initial structure with a pilot sample of undergraduate and graduate students in science and engineering. Study 2 ( N = 293) was designed to assess the advising alliance exclusively for women in STEM graduate programs. Our results indicated that an alternative alliance structure may exist for women in STEM and in Study 2 two factors emerged, which indicated that instrumental support and psychosocial support are two salient factors for women in STEM.

The Role of Social Support and Work-Related Factors on the School Engagement of Italian High School Students

This article explores the role of selected work-based constructs and social support in the prediction of school engagement in a sample of Italian high school students. A total of 137 high school students from Central Italy completed measures of social support (including teacher, peer, and parental support), career decision-making satisfaction, career planfulness, and school engagement, each of which had been translated to Italian from English. The results reveal that high levels of career decision-making satisfaction, career planfulness, and teacher support were statistically significant predictors of school engagement. The findings are discussed in relation to career development theory, educational and counseling practice, and prevention.

Cape Verdean Immigrants’ Career Development and School Engagement

This study examined the contribution of perceptions of discrimination, career planning, and vocational identity to the school engagement experiences of first- and second-generation immigrants among a sample of 125 Cape Verdean high school students. Perceived ethnic discrimination was found to moderate the association between both vocational factors and school engagement. Students who perceived high levels of discrimination and endorsed a strong vocational identity also endorsed high levels of school engagement. When endorsing high levels of career planning, individuals reporting different levels of perceived discrimination did not differ in school engagement. However, large differences in school engagement were noted at low levels of career planning, with individuals reporting low levels of perceived discrimination endorsing higher engagement in school than those who perceived higher levels of discrimination. The findings highlight the importance of considering perceptions of ethnic discrimination as one explores the academic and vocational functioning of immigrant students of color.

Advisor-Advisee Relationships in Graduate Training Programs

Advisor—advisee relationships are an important aspect of the career development of professionals in many fields; however, limited scholarship has focused on these relationships. In the three articles of this special section, the authors attempt to help remedy this situation by articulating a culturally infused model of advising relationships in graduate training. This article lays the foundation for the authors’ model by reviewing the literature relevant to advising and mentoring. In the subsequent articles, the authors propose that it is critical to understand how within-group cultural variables affect the advising relationship. Articulating a framework for understanding the advising relationship as a multicultural endeavor may help educators prepare the next generations of professionals and facilitate increased empirical attention to this important, yet underexamined construct.

School Engagement as a Mediator of Academic Performance Among Urban Youth: The Role of Career Preparation, Parental Career Support, and Teacher Support

Drawing from the contributions of vocational psychology, this study examined school engagement as a mediator of academic performance through the effects of career preparation (career planning, career decision-making self-efficacy), parental career support, and teacher support among diverse urban youth in middle school and high school ( N = 285). Based on structural equation modeling, all structural paths of the proposed hypothetical model were significant. The effects of teacher support and parental career support on school engagement were mediated by career preparation; in turn, the effect of career preparation on grades was mediated by school engagement. Teacher support also had a direct effect on school engagement.The middle school students had significantly higher grades than the high school students, but there were no significant grade-level differences in terms of school engagement, career preparation, parental career support, or teacher support.The limitations of the study and its implications for research, practice, and public policy are discussed.

The Career Institute

Career development is integral to students' academic and social—personal development, and addressing students' needs in this area is recognized as an important responsibility of the professional school counselor. However, efforts to address students' career development tend to be lacking or services are provided in a disconnected manner. This article provides a brief overview of the literature on career development in schools and presents a schoolwide career development program that is integrated into the school curriculum, collaboratively implemented with teachers, and begins in the sixth grade. The value of this programmatic effort is discussed, and recommendations for program development are offered.

School Engagement Among Urban Youth of Color

School engagement is a multifaceted psychosocial process that functions as a key mediator of academic achievement, motivation, and school dropout. This study investigated the effects of vocational exploration and racial identity on behavioral (attendance, attention, time spent on class work) and psychological (identification with school) factors of school engagement among urban youth of color ( N = 197). Hierarchical multiple regression and criterion-pattern analysis revealed a predictive profile marked by high levels of positive racial internalization and career planning combined with low levels of racial dissonance. The study's limitations, directions for research, and implications for practice are discussed.