Developmental Characteristics And Promotion Of Career Adaptability Among High School Student

The focus of career development for high school is to develop career adaptability in order to adapt to changes in the outside world.Career adaptability not only promotes the development of student’s mental health,but also improves individuals’ career satisfaction.Research on career adaptability of high school students is not only an inevitable requirement of the new college entrance examination reform,but also an objective need for the development of boundaryless career era.The forms of career education in high school include career courses,group counseling,and individual counseling.Based on social cognitive career theory,this study examined the effects of these three facilitation approaches on high school students’ career adaptability through quantitative analysis.This study first revised a questionnaire suitable for measuring career adaptability of high school students as a measurement tool to explore the developmental characteristics of career adaptability.Then,the relationship between perceived social support,career decision-making self-efficacy,and career adaptability was examined to provide data support to career curriculum that promotes career adaptability.Finally,the role of career curriculum,group counseling,and individual counseling in improving the level of career adaptability are discussed.Study 1,a study of the developmental characteristics of high school students’ career adaptability.Study 1a,based on the existing career adaptability questionnaire for college students,revised a questionnaire suitable for measuring career adaptability of high school students to provide a measurement tool for subsequent studies.First,220 high school students were used as subjects for the initial test for item analysis and exploratory factor analysis.And then,588 high school students were used as subjects for the pretest for item analysis and exploratory factor analysis to form the official scale.Finally,832 high school students were used as subjects for exploratory factor analysis and validation factor analysis.The results showed that the career adaptability questionnaire for high school students consisted of 24 items,including four dimensions of career concern,career control,career curiosity,and career confidence,which explained 52.53% of the total variance.The Questionnaire had good construct validity,with an internal consistency reliability of 0.91,a split-half reliability of 0.79,and a validity scale association validity of 0.48 with the Career Construct Questionnaire.Study 1b,the overall status and developmental characteristics of high school students’ career adaptability and the differences in career adaptability on demographic variables were explored using the revised Career Adaptability Questionnaire for High School Students from Study 1a.Using 832 high school students as subjects,the subjects completed the Career Adaptability Questionnaire,the Perceived Social Support Scale,and the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale.The results found that(1)high school students scored moderately high on career adaptability.Art and general students’ career adaptability was significantly lower than that of physical education students.The types of career adaptability were classified as good,average,and deficient.There was no significant difference in career adaptability among students with grades.Among the specific dimensions,Grade 3 of career concern was significantly higher than Grade 1.(2)There was no significant difference in career adaptability with gender.However,in the specific dimensions,girls had significantly higher career concern than boys,and boys had significantly higher career confidence than girls.There was a significant difference with the gender of perceived social support,and girls were significantly higher than boys.(3)There was no significant difference in career adaptability and perceived social support by birthplace.There was a significant difference in career decision-making self-efficacy by birthplace,and career decision self-efficacy making of urban students is significantly higher than that of rural.(4)There was no significant difference in career adaptability among high school students with different levels of parental education.However,on specific dimensions,students whose fathers’ education level was high school had higher career confidence than students whose fathers’ education level was middle school and elementary school.Students whose fathers had college education had higher career confidence than students whose fathers had elementary school education.Students whose mothers had a high school education had significantly higher career curiosity than students whose mothers had a middle school and college education.There were significant differences in perceived social support and career decision-making self-efficacy among high school students with different mothers’ education levels,as demonstrated by the fact that students with high school levels had the highest perceived social support and career decision-making self-efficacy.There was a significant difference in career decision-making self-efficacy between high school students whose fathers had different levels of education,showing that students whose fathers had college education had the highest career decision-making self-efficacy.Study 2,a study of predictors of career adaptability among high school students.To examine the relationship among perceived social support,career decision-making self-efficacy,and career adaptability.Data were collected from 832 high school students using the Career Adaptability Questionnaire,the Perceived Social Support Scale,and the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale.The results revealed that(1)perceived social support and career decision-making self-efficacy positively predicted career adaptability.Career decision-making self-efficacy partially mediated the prediction of career adaptability by perceived social support.(2)With the different grades,the predictors of career adaptability differed.For Grade 1,self-evaluation,friend support,and problem-solving significantly predicted career adaptability.For Grade 2,gathering information,other support,and problem-solving significantly predicted career adaptability.For Grade 3,self-evaluation,other support,and problem-solving significantly predicted career adaptability.Study 3 is the promotion of career adaptability among high school students.Study 3’s career adaptability promotion was designed based on Study 1 and Study 2.In Study 1,deficit students were used as subjects for group counseling to examine the role of group counseling on students’ career adaptability.The art student was used as a subject for individual counseling to examine the role of individual counseling on students’ career adaptability.Study 2 verified the applicability of social cognitive career theory to high school students,and the group counseling in Study 3b and the individual counseling in Study 3c were based on social cognitive career theory.Based on the different predictors of career adaptability with grades in Study 2,Study 3a designed the career curriculum for different grades.Study 3a,which examined the effects of career curriculum on high school students’ career adaptability in order to develop a career curriculum system for grades.This study used an experimental design of 3(Grade: Grade 1/Grade 2/Grade 3)× 2(Group: experimental group/control group)× 2(Measurement time: pre-test/post-test).The between-subjects variables were grade and group,and the within-subjects variables were measurement time.Career courses were conducted for the experimental group(8 courses for Grade 1;8 courses for Grade 2;and 6 courses for Grade 3),and the content of the courses was based on predictors of career adaptability with grades obtained from Study 2.Each course lasted 40 minutes and was conducted in each classroom.The control group had a self-study in each classroom.The results showed that(1)Grade 1 with self-evaluation and problem-solving can promote the development of students’ career control,career curiosity,career confidence,and career adaptability.(2)Grade 2 with information gathering and problem-solving can promote the development of career adaptability as well as specific dimensions.(3)Grade 3 with self-evaluation and problem-solving can promote the development of career curiosity,career confidence,and career adaptability.Study 3b,examined the effects of group counseling based on two career theories on the career adaptability of lower-level high school students.A mixed experimental design of 3(group: cognitive information processing group,social cognitive career group,and control group)× 3(test duration: pre-test,post-test,and follow-up test)was used,with a group as a between-subjects variable and test duration as a within-subjects variable.Group counseling was conducted once a week for 8 weeks,and after the group counseling,the three groups of subjects were assessed using the Career Adaptability Scale.Three months later,a follow-up test was administered to all subjects.The results showed that(1)the group counseling of social cognitive career theory could significantly improve the career adjustment of high school students,and the effect was good.(2)Group counseling with cognitive information processing theory could only enhance high school student’s career concern,but it dropped back to a level close to the pre-intervention level after 3 months.Study 3c,which examined the effects of individual counseling on an art student’s career adaptability with social cognitive career theory.The counseling focused on the key components of social cognitive career theory: outcome expectations and self-efficacy.The results found that counseling increased the case’s career adaptability and career decision-making self-efficacy,and that cognitive,emotional,and behavioral changes significantly occurred.Combining these three studies,the following conclusions were drawn:(1)High school students have a moderately high level of development in career adaptability.However,attention needs to be paid to the career adaptability of deficit students and the art student.(2)Predictors of career adaptability among high school students differed by grade.The predictors of grade one are self-evaluation,friend support,and problem solving.Predictors of grade two are information gathering,additional support,and problem solving.Predictors of grade three are self-evaluation,additional support,and problem solving.(3)Career adaptability of high school students can be promoted by using career curriculum,group counseling,and individual counseling,but the utility of different approaches varies.The career courses were designed for different grades,group counseling for overall deficit students,and individual counseling for the art student.To some extent,career counseling based on social cognitive career theory can improve high school student’s career adaptability.This reveals that contemporary career education can be conducted through social cognitive career theory of high school.