Comparison of research on effects of cooperative education and field experience on students' personal development, career development, and academic achievement found that differences in program goals, structure, students, and placement settings engage different processes but achieve similar results. (SK)

An experimental group of 56 students with physical and sensory disabilities participated in a vocational evaluation and guidance program designed to enhance self-awareness, occupational knowledge, and job-search skills. Compared to 28 controls, the experimental group showed significant improvement in professional and personal identity and…

People experience mental incongruity when there is a discrepancy between a standard and their own experience of a situation or behavior. The influence of adolescents' standards and mental incongruity on the development of their identity (N=706) was studied in both work and relational domains using structural equation models. (Author/EMK)

Junior college students (N=259) were surveyed to examine the relationship among athletic identity, career self-efficacy, career locus of control, and various demographic variables to career maturity. Results revealed that career locus of control and career self-efficacy were the most influential psychological variable in the prediction of career…

Examined the readiness of male intercollegiate varsity athletes (n=288) to make career-related decisions. Research questions compared students participating in revenue- and nonrevenue-producing sports as well as Caucasian and minority student athletes on eight dimensions of career maturity measured by the Career Development Inventory. Implications…

Several researchers have hypothesized relationships between vocational congruence and career success. In view of this fact, a study examined the relationships between the vocational congruence, academic success, and career maturity of 401 undergraduates (251 females and 150 males) attending a large state university. The respondents, who…

The responsible shop teacher provides opportunities for students to learn independence through the decision making process. Decision making is explained beforehand, student and teacher brainstrom alternatives, weigh choices, decide, and carry out the decision. Finally, the process is evaluated. (MW)

Existing theories of career development are based primarily on observations of white, middle-class males. This has prompted consideration of a separate theory of career development for women. Before a separate theory can be justified, it must be established that sex differences in the career development process do exist. A study attempted to…

Efforts to retain students, including career development strategies, can be particularly costly when dealing with the diverse educational backgrounds and aspirations that are typically found among community college students. For this reason, a study examined the career maturity differences that exist among subgroups of freshman-level community…

Cross-sectional data were provided by 1484 male high school pupils. All subjects completed either the Otis Intermediate Test or the Otis Higher Test, Crites' Vocational Development Inventory (VDI), and the author's Student Survey. Results indicate that subjects' anticipated stage of leaving school was significantly related to realism of vocational…

Two studies were conducted in which low achieving high school students were given motivational workshops in order to help them improve their career maturity and to understand the processes involved in making wise career choices for themselves. It was hypothesized that in the experimental groups which received career counseling the student's career…

Recent efforts toward career education and the rise in occupationally oriented programs on the secondary and postsecondary level encourage a close examination of the nature of the relationship between people and their vocations. A 74 item device, the Vocational Commitment Index was developed to assess this relationship. Based upon a theoretically…

This monograph discusses the question of whether or not student teachers can be effective agents of change in the institutions where they are actively involved. Change agents are defined here as personnel who have the authority and leadership ability to carry out a broad range of programs for growth in the school. While the student teacher lacks…

Results of a study designed to distinguish between attitude development of rural disadvantaged high school students enrolled in exemplary special vocational programs and those enrolled in nonvocational general programs showed that disadvantaged vocational students exhibited more positive attitudes toward self and other school social relations and…

Career clients at a university counseling center were placed in self-directed or interactional career workshops. Changes in levels of career maturity and career exploration behavior were tested. People with high goal instability performed better in interactional than in self-directed workshops. Participant preference for interactional workshops…