Predictors of Networking Intensity and Network Quality Among White-Collar Job Seekers

Networking has been identified as an important predictor of both reemployment and career success. This research examines the extent to which several sociodemographic variables (gender, race, and age) and one personality variable (proactive personality) predict the intensity with which individuals engage in networking and the perceived quality of their networks. Consistent with our expectations, age demonstrates a curvilinear relationship with network diversity, and proactive personality is positively related to networking intensity. No effects are found for gender or race. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Mining the Internet for Career Information: A Model Approach for College Students

This article examines the impact of the Internet on the provision of career information and describes the development of a career and educational information web site. Three models for linking career assessment to career information are evaluated: Print-based, Computer-Assisted Career Guidance systems, and Internet-based. The design of Career Exploration Links is described in detail as a case study in organizing career and educational information on the Internet and guiding a diverse college student population toward accessing this information in meaningful ways. This case demonstrates a number of advantages that underlie the Internet-based model as a vehicle for linking career assessment with career information.

Seeking Career Services on Campus: Racial Differences in Referral, Process, and Outcome

The lack of research that examines usage of career development services by racial/ethnic groups has been noted. The current study attempts to explore the relationship between students' racial/ethnic backgrounds and their experiences of a university career counseling center in terms of referral, process, and outcome. The authors examined the experiences of 1,051 students of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds who sought career counseling at a university career development center. Chi-square analyses found racial/ethnic differences in various aspects of the counseling process, such as referral sources, reasons for seeking counseling, counselor perception of client outcomes, and number of sessions held. Implications for service provision are discussed, including the need for career development centers to be proactive in ensuring that the needs of diverse racial/ethnic students are being met.

Biculturalism—Outsiders Within: The Career Development Experiences of Black Human Resource Developers

Consistent with the career development issues that black* people encounter, it is likely that black human resource developers face unique career development issues versus human resource developers in general. However, an exhaustive search did not find research that has focused specifically on the career development process of black human resource development professionals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the career experiences of black human resource developers. A qualitative study was conducted of 10 black human resource developers. Interviewing was the primary data collection method and the data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The results of this study indicate that the respondents experienced similar career challenges to other black workers. Based on the results, we posit that because of racial prejudice and discrimination, black human resource developers serve as outsiders within traditional work organizations and become skilled at using bicultural strategies for managing various aspects of their lives.

Career and Vocational Assessment 1997-1998 A Biennial Review

This is the third biennial review of career assessment research for the Journal of Career Assessment; this article covers assessment research and affiliated topics from 1997 to 1998. The primary inclusion criterion was that the articles be research-based; in total, there were six inclusion criteria. Seven primary topics are addressed. This review covers the research advances demonstrated by the plethora of research conducted during the biennial period. Sections address new measurement tools, issues of career assessment, and special populations. The review concludes with a summary of the key advances in career assessment research and current trends in the career assessment literature.

Assessing Career Decision-Making Difficulties: A Cross-Cultural Study

This study examines the validity of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) in relation to its cultural relevance. Relationships between career decision-making difficulties and career indecision are also examined in relation to the two cultural groups, American and Taiwanese university students. Structural equation modeling (SEM) shows that the taxonomy of career decision-making difficulties can be reliably measured for American college students. However, the data based on the Taiwanese students has a relatively poor fit of the factorial model. Compared to the America students, Taiwanese students report more difficulties in career decision making and tend to be more indecisive in their career decision making. Differences in career decision- making difficulties between American and Taiwanese college students are discussed in light of cultural differences.

Vocational Hope and Vocational Identity: Urban Adolescents’ Career Development

Emancipatory communitarian perspectives advocate for theory, research, and action that address the needs of oppressed groups, such as urban adolescents. Considering the dearth of instruments sensitive to the career development needs of urban adolescents, this study examined the component structure of three indices of career development with 220 urban high school students. Analyses revealed a unique four-component (connection to work, vocational identity, commitment to chosen career, salience of chosen career) solution best fit the model. In addition to the traditional emphasis on vocational identity and future orientation in theories of career development, the obtained component solution suggests that (in a social context with pressure to disconnect) remaining connected to one’s vocational future in the face of external barriers, “vocational hope,” may be a particularly important consideration in urban adolescents’ career development.

Interactive Effects of Physical Disability Severity and Age of Disability Onset on RIASEC Self-Efficacies

In this study, the authors focused on the context of physical disabilities (i.e., one’s age when a disability manifests and the severity with which it impacts major life activities) to better understand how disabilities influence vocational self-efficacies. Consistent with Social Cognitive Career Theory, age of onset moderated the relationship between disability severity and self-efficacies in the Realistic, Artistic, Social, and Conventional vocational domains. Specifically, disability severity had a strong, negative impact on self-efficacies for people who became physically disabled later in life. In contrast, the relationship between disability severity and self-efficacy was nonsignificant for people who became disabled in early childhood. These findings held across Holland’s Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional domains when controlling for a variety of other person inputs and domain-specific learning experiences.

Integrating Social Class Into Vocational Psychology

Although social class plays a salient and significant role in career development and occupational attainment, social class is underrepresented in vocational psychology theory, scholarship, and practice. Vocational psychologists are in a unique position to meet the career development needs of persons from all social classes by integrating a fuller understanding of social class into their scholarship and practice. This article provides an interdisciplinary review of conceptualization and operationalization of social class, the consideration of social class by theories of career development, the impact of social class upon career development processes, and implications of social class for career counseling and assessment. Through helping vocational psychologists more deeply understand social class and its interconnections to career development and occupational attainment, this article intends to create a springboard for the further integration of social class into vocational psychology scholarship and practice.