Abstract
This chapter describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a group-based career guidance and counselling intervention with learners attending resource-constrained high schools in South Africa. In the South African education system, the Grade 9 level represents a crucial milestone in that learners are required to make decisions about their choice of school subjects for the final phase of their schooling (Grades 10 to 12). Indications are that in the prevailing absence of career guidance services in many public schools and with the challenges faced in their home and community contexts, many learners are making uninformed, trial-and-error, and haphazard decisions about their school subject choices that may compromise their future career options. Drawing from literature that argues for a contextual understanding of structural conditions and social justice concerns that may limit or compromise career exploration and decision-making, we describe an integrated career guidance intervention to combine quantitative and qualitative methodologies with a group-based approach to assist learners to engage with proactive career planning. The career guidance intervention incorporates the following components:
-
Individual career interest assessment using the South African Career Interest Inventory
-
Career guidance workshops aiding learners to explore their personal career attributes using quantitative and qualitative data
-
Integration of emerging information into a career life design matrix to inform subject choice
-
Identification and mitigation of barriers and challenges that may impede or limit career aspirations
-
Development of an action plan to motivate learners to pursue their career goals.
The intervention seeks to harness both quantitative and qualitative career assessment processes to help learners initiate a life design approach to their career development, to align their school subject choice (for Grades 10 to 12) with their career aspirations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Akhurst, J., & Mkhize, N. (2006). Career education in South Africa. In G. B. Stead & M. B. Watson (Eds.), Career psychology in the South African context (2nd ed., pp. 139–151). Pretoria, South Africa: Van Schaik Publishers.
Albien, A. (2018). A mixed methods analysis of black adolescents’ vocational identity status and career adaptability competencies in a South African township (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Albien, A. J., & Naidoo, A. V. (2017). Deconstructing career myths and cultural stereotypes in a context of low resourced township communities. South African Journal of Education, 37(4), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v37n4a1476.
Albien, A. J., & Naidoo, A. V. (2018). Barriers and enablers for career development among marginalized South African youth. In V. Cohen-Scali, J. Rossier, & L. Nota (Eds.), New perspectives on career counseling and guidance in Europe (pp. 147–164). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Alexander, D., Seabi, J., & Bischoff, D. (2010). Efficacy of a post-modern group career assessment intervention of disadvantaged high school learners. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 20(3), 497–500.
Blustein, D. (2013). The psychology of working: A new perspective for career development, counseling, and public policy. In D. Blustein (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of the psychology of working (pp. 1–27). New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.
Blustein, D. L., Kenna, A. C., Gill, N., & DeVoy, J. E. (2008). The psychology of working: A new framework for counseling practice and public policy. The Career Development Quarterly, 56(4), 294–308.
Claes, R., & Ruiz-Quintanilla, S. A. (1998). Influences of early career experiences, occupational group, and national culture on proactive career behavior. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 52(3), 357–378.
Cosser, M., & Du Toit, J. (2002). From school to higher education? Factors affecting the choices of grade 12 learners (Vol. 1). Pretoria, South Africa: HSRC Press.
Department of Basic Education. (2015). Annual report 2014/15. Pretoria, South Africa: Government Services.
Dube-Addae, T. (2019). Narrative identities: Voices of the unemployed youth in a low-income community in South Africa (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Ebersöhn, L., & Mbetse, D. J. (2003). Exploring community strategies to career education in terms of the asset-based approach: Expanding existing career theory and models of intervention. South African Journal of Education, 23(4), 323–327.
Fickling, M. (2015). Career counselors’ perspectives on social justice advocacy (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of North Carolina, Greensboro, United States of America.
Flederman, P. (2009). A career advice helpline: A case study from South Africa. International Journal of Education Vocational Guidance, 11, 111–123.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Herder and Herder.
Habermas, J. (1971). Knowledge and human interest. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Hartung, P. J. (2011). Barrier or benefit? Emotion in life-career design. Journal of Career Assessment, 19(3), 296–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072710395536.
Hartung, P. J., Porfeli, E. J., & Vondracek, F. W. (2005). Child vocational development: A review and reconsideration. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66(3), 385–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2004.05.006.
Hirschi, A., Niles, S. G., & Akos, P. (2010). Engagement in adolescent career preparation: Social support, personality and the development of choice decidedness and congruence. Journal of Adolescence, 34(1), 173–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.12.009.
Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Janeiro, I. N., Mota, L. P., & Ribas, A. M. (2014). Effects of two types of career interventions on students with different career coping styles. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(1), 115–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.05.006.
Lamb, S. (2011). School dropout and completion: An international perspective. In S. Lamb, E. Markussen, R. Teese, N. Sandberg, & J. Polesel (Eds.), School dropout and completion: International comparative studies in theory and policy (pp. 21–72). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Lee, C. C., & Hipolito-Delgado, C. (2007). Counselors as agents of social justice. In C. C. Lee (Ed.), Counseling for social justice (pp. xiii–xxviii). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
Maree, J. G. (2006). Current issues in South African career counselling and availability of teachers in science and technology. Psychological Reports, 98, 151–152.
Maree, J. G. (2018). Advancing career counselling research and practice using a novel quantitative + qualitative approach to elicit clients’ advice from within. South African Journal of Higher Education, 32(4), 149–170. https://doi.org/10.20853/32-4-2558.
Maree, J. G., & Beck, G. (2004). Using various approaches in career counselling for traditionally disadvantaged (and other) learners: Some limitations of a new frontier. South African Journal of Education, 24(1), 80–87.
Maree, J. G., Cook, A. V., & Fletcher, L. (2018). Assessment of the value of group-based counselling for career construction. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 23(1), 118–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2017.1309324.
Maree, J. G., & Molepo, J. M. (2004). Facilitating post-modern career counselling in the Limpopo province of South Africa: A rocky ride to hope. Australian Journal of Career Development, 13(3), 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/103841620401300310.
Maree, J. G., & Taylor, N. (2016). Development of the Maree Career Matrix: A new interest inventory. South African Journal of Psychology, 46(4), 462–476.
McIlveen, P., & Patton, W. (2007). Dialogical self: Author and narrator of career life themes. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 7(1), 67–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-007-9116-6.
McMahon, M., Watson, M., & Patton, W. (2005). Developing a qualitative career assessment process: The my system of career influences reflection activity. Journal of Career Assessment, 13, 476–490.
Miles, J., & Naidoo, A. V. (2017). The impact of a career intervention programme on South African Grade 11 learners’ career decision-making self-efficacy. South African Journal of Psychology, 47(2), 209–221.
Morgan, B. (2014). Towards the development and evaluation of the South African Career Interest Inventory (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Morgan, B., de Bruin, G. P., & de Bruin, K. (2015). Constructing Holland’s hexagon in South Africa: Development and initial validation of the South African Career Interest Inventory. Journal of Career Assessment, 23(3), 493–511.
Morgan, B., Naidoo, A. V., Hein, C., & Rabie, S. (in press). Using interests and Holland’s model of vocational personality types in career counselling: Some thoughts and research findings. In J. G. Maree (Ed.), Handbook of innovative career counselling (pp. xx–xx). New York, NY: Springer.
Naidoo, A. V. (2011). Career flower—Enhancing vocational self-awareness. Career development group activity (Unpublished manuscript). Psychology Department, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Naidoo, A. V., Pretorius, T. B., & Nicholas, L. (2017). The emergence of career psychology in South Africa: A socio-historical perspective. In G. B. Stead & M. B. Watson (Eds.), Career psychology in the South African context (3rd ed., pp. 1–20). Pretoria, South Africa: J. L. van Schaik.
Pyle, K. R. (1986). Group career counseling: Principles and practices. Ann Arbor, Michigan: ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Personnel.
Pyle, K. R., & Hayden, S. C. (2015). Group career counseling: Practices and principles (2nd ed.). Broken Arrow, OK: National Career Development Association.
Rabie, S. (2017). A translation and psychometric investigation of the South African Career Interest Inventory across gender and race among secondary school learners (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Rabie, S., & Naidoo, A. V. (2019). Validating the adaptation of the first career measure in isiXhosa: The South African Career Interest Inventory—isiXhosa version. South African Journal of Psychology, 49(1), 109–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246318772419.
Rehfuss, M. C. (2009). The future career autobiography: A narrative measure of career intervention effectiveness. The Career Development Quarterly, 58(1), 82–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2009.tb00177.x.
Savickas, M. L. (1999). The transition from school to work: A developmental perspective. The Career Development Quarterly, 47(4), 326–336.
Savickas, M. L. (2001). Toward a comprehensive theory of career development: Disposition, concerns and narratives. In F. T. L. Leong & A. Barak (Eds.), Contemporary models in vocational psychology: A volume in honor of Samuel H. Osipow (pp. 295–320). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Savickas, M. L. (2012). Life design: A paradigm for career intervention in the 21st century. Journal of Counseling & Development, 90, 13–19.
Savickas, M. L. (2015). Career counseling paradigms: Guiding, developing, and designing. In P. J. Hartung, M. L. Savickas, & W. Walsh (Eds.), APA handbook of career intervention (Vol. 1, pp. 129–143). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Savickas, M. L., Nota, L., Rossier, J., Dauwalder, J. P., Duarte, M. E., Guichard, J., et al. (2009). Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the 21st century. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75(3), 239–250.
Savickas, M. L., & Porfeli, E. J. (2011). Revision of the Career Maturity Inventory: The adaptability form. Journal of Career Assessment, 19(4), 355–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072711409342.
Shirley, L. (2018). An evaluation of a career intervention’s effectiveness in improving career maturity among Grade 9 secondary school learners in Delft (Unpublished honours thesis). Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Silva, F. F. D., Paiva, V., & Ribeiro, M. A. (2016). Career construction and reduction of psychosocial vulnerability: Intercultural career guidance based on Southern epistemologies. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 36(1), 46–53.
Statistics South Africa. (2018). Quarterly labour force survey (Quarter 2). Retrieved from http://www.statsgov.za/.
Stead, G. B., & Watson, M. B. (1998). Career research in South Africa: Challenges for the future. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 52(3), 289–299. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1997.1627.
Stead, G. B., & Watson, M. B. (2006). Indigenisation of career psychology in South Africa. In G. B. Stead & M. B. Watson (Eds.), Career psychology in the South African context (pp. 181–190). Pretoria, South Africa: J. L. van Schaik.
Sultana, R. (2017). Anchoring career guidance in the Mediterranean? In search of southern perspectives. In R. Sultana (Ed.), Career guidance and livelihood planning across the Mediterranean (pp. 3–18). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Super, D. E. (1990). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. In D. Brown & L. Brooks (Eds.), Career choice and development: Applying contemporary theories to practice (pp. 197–261). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Toporek, R. L., Lewis, J. A., & Crethar, H. C. (2009). Promoting systemic change through the ACA advocacy competencies. Journal of Counseling & Development, 87(3), 260–268.
Venter, C. (2018). Perceived career barriers among Grade 9 secondary school learners in a South African disadvantaged community: A qualitative study (Unpublished honours thesis). Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Watson, M. B., & Stead, G. B. (1990). Work-role salience of South African adolescent. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 36(3), 249–257.
Watts, A. G. (1980). Career guidance under apartheid. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 3(1), 3–27.
Watts, A. G., & Sultana, R. G. (2004). Career guidance policies in 37 countries: Contrasts and common themes. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 4(2–3), 105–122.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge funding received from the Rupert Educational Foundation and Stellenbosch University to implement this intervention research in the eight schools. We are grateful to the principals and LO teachers who graciously accommodated our project amidst their busy schedules. We are also express appreciation to the Grade 9 participants in the project.
Lastly, we acknowledge that this project would not have been accomplished without the generous offer of time and energy of the “Power Moms” volunteers from Delft, the 2018 postgraduate students and volunteers in the Psychology Department and Industrial Psychology Department at Stellenbosch University, and for the coordinating lecturers, Marietha de Wet and Stephan Rabie.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Naidoo, A.V. et al. (2019). A Group-based Career Guidance Intervention for South African High School Learners from Low-income Communities. In: Maree, J. (eds) Handbook of Innovative Career Counselling . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22799-9_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22799-9_37
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-22798-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-22799-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)