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Helping Gifted and Talented Adolescents and Young Adults

Make Informed and Careful Career Choices

  • Chapter
Handbook of Giftedness in Children

Being gifted and talented is a set of evolving characteristics that are an asset or limitation depending on the situation. These characteristics vary widely and impact the career choices of adolescents and young adults in high school and college. On the surface, it might appear that the more gifted and talented one is, the easier it is to make occupational, educational, and employment decisions. Unfortunately, giftedness does not always translate into effective career decision making. The same giftedness and talent that can make it easy to succeed academically can also contribute to more difficult career choices.

This chapter examines the career development challenges and related career interventions designed to assist gifted and talented adolescents and young adults in making informed and careful career choices. After discussing the key terms presented above, the theoretical approach used to examine challenges and interventions is described. The majority of the chapter is devoted to a theory-based examination of specific challenges and career interventions associated with the career choices of gifted and talented students.

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Sampson, J.P., Chason, A.K. (2008). Helping Gifted and Talented Adolescents and Young Adults. In: Pfeiffer, S.I. (eds) Handbook of Giftedness in Children. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-74401-8_17

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