Research Roundup: Getting excited for college, and more...
This is the latest edition of CareerVillage.org's Research Roundup: recapping the latest academic research from the field of Career Development.
Three of the most interesting findings from the latest latest research in the field of career development:
Is career readiness the key to getting students excited for college? “College first, then career” is often the starting point for discussions about education-to-employment pathways. But this study of 541 high school students in Belgium found that high school seniors are more excited for college if their “career adaptability” and “career decidedness” scores are higher.1
Do your peers’ opinions of your career goals affect your career outcomes? We all know how important peer opinion is to young learners, but there has not been much research on how those opinions play into career outcomes. This study of 322 Finnish teenagers showed that if your peers think your career goals are attainable, you’re more likely to successfully transition to a career outcome you find satisfactory after you finish your education.2
Boosting career adaptability helps refugees succeed in their host countries. There are more than 26.4 million refugees around the world3, around half of whom are under the age of 18. This study of refugees looked at the types of future goals refugees set and found that refugees set more frequently materialistic goals and less frequently goals connected to be able to have a “decent job”. It also found that career adaptability and future orientation play a crucial role in determining multiple useful goals in refugees for building a decent personal and professional future life in the host country.4
That’s it for today’s roundup! Feel free to send us questions about topics you’re interested in learning about and we’ll do our best to cover it in an upcoming research roundup. And since this publication is for you, please tell us what you think and what you’d like to see more of in the future!
Parmentier M, Dangoisse F, Zacher H, Pirsoul T, Nils F. Anticipatory emotions at the prospect of the transition to higher education: A latent transition analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 2021;125:103543. (link to study)
Ruschoff, B., Kowalewski, T., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2021). The Effects of Peers’ Career Goal Appraisals on School to Work Transition Outcomes. Journal of Career Development. (link to study)
https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html
1. Ginevra MC, Di Maggio I, Santilli S, Nota L. The role of career adaptability and future orientation on future goals in refugees. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. 2021;49(2):272-286. doi:10.1080/03069885.2020.1865874 (Link to study)