Career decision-makingJukka Lerkkanen

• Guidance and counseling offer the possibility for students to explore realities and opportunities for their future. Guidance and counseling services are organized by self-help, brief assisted or individual case managed services. The guidance and counseling process will enhance clients’ empowerment in making decisions concerning their life. (Lerkkanen 2012).

• The aim is to support clients’ plans and choices that enhance hope, responsibility and independence by improving their decision-making process.

Guidance and counseling

1.Several solutions exist.2.There is a dependence on internal and

external variables.3.There is some uncertainty about the result.4.The solutions are very meaningful for life.

Educational and Career choice problems

• How clear is the goal?• How much risk is included in transition?• How much guidance and counseling is needed

in transition?

What kind of transition situations exist in Following Pictures?

Berliini, Tiergarten

• There are many methods to clarify needs:– Initial interview– Conversation with guidance and counseling

practitioners– Information about needs for support in former

studies– Willingness for guidance– Holland Hexagon –model – Need assessment measure

Needs assessment

• The Bridge model for the career decision-making process is based on the CIP Pyramid and the CASVE Cycle (Peterson, Sampson, & Reardon, 1991)

• The Bridge model includes a Needs Assessment Measure (based on Career Thought Inventory; Sampson, Peterson, Reardon & Lenz, 1996) and exercises which help students to become more effective career decision makers

The Bridge model for career decision making

Execution

Valuing

Synthesis

Analysis

Communication

I’m choosing my next education I have reached

my goals

Jukka Lerkkanen 04/2009

Self-knowledge

Occupational knowledge

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Screening

• Screening is key to the success of differentiated service delivery

• Screening avoids – Overserving high readiness young people and

adults with costly individualized interventions that are not needed

– Underserving low readiness young people and adults with inadequate interventions from staff who are unaware of the substantial needs of the young person or adult

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Screening

• Screening provides staff with a better chance to cost-effectively meet the needs of young people and adults in career centers and schools

• Screening also helps to better allocate staff resources– staff will be able to serve more young people and adults,

or – spend more time with young people and adults with

substantial needs

• There is an obvious requirement for needs assessment, because– the needs are individual,– there are different kinds of steps of life-span, even

during higher education studies, and,– there could be different kinds of needs in guidance

and counseling content areas: guidance and counseling for learning, guidance and counseling for choosing a career, and guidance and counseling for supporting personal growth

Needs assessment

• Negative career thoughts are measured by the CTI related to readiness for career decision-making and problem-solving (Sampson et.al 2004)

• Readiness for career decision-making indicates the need for guidance and counseling (Sampson et.al 2004, Lerkkanen 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011)

Needs assessment

• The author has created readiness measures for compulsory education, high-schools, upper secondary vocation and in addition for adults in different life situations (unemployment, career change planners, adult education).

• The items are more contextualized and they have been created for different target groups compared to the original CTI

• Three factors: Decision-Making Confusion, External Conflict, and Commitment Anxiety

Needs assessment

Execution

Valuing

Synthesis

Analysis

Communication

I’m choosing my next education I have reached

my goals

Decision-Making Confusion

Decision-Making Confusion Commitment

Anxiety

Commitment Anxiety

External Conflict

External Conflict

Jukka Lerkkanen 04/2009

Self-knowledge

Options knowledge

• The client has not proceeded in his or her decision making process. The client may have difficulty in finding his or her options. The client may not be interested in searching for his or her options.

• The client wants to consider his or her choice,• The client has a lack of required information, • The client has a lack of self-knowledge, • The choice situation is too complex even to begin• The educational or career choice is meaningless to the client• Related to Self-knowledge and Options Knowledge and as well

as Communication, Analysis, and Synthesis phases

Decision-Making Confusion (DMC)

• The choice is depended on opinions of the closest ones or some other external aspects.

• Fear of disagreeing with other family members• Dependence on opinions of significant others• Fear of being a ”looser” in their social context• Economical factors• Health factors• Social factors• Related to the Valuing phase

External Conflict (EC)

• The client has a lot of opportunities. The client has so many possibilities that it is difficult to make solutions

• Unable to limit choices to 1-2 options,• Need to find the perfect choice• Anxious that the client will miss some good

option.• Related to Self-knowledge and Options

Knowledge, as well as the Execution phase

Commitment Anxiety (CA)

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Differentiated Service Delivery

• Instead of one level of service for all, three levels of service are needed to meet individual needs ranging from those who are:– self-motivated and able to learn successfully on

their own

– suffering from low readiness for decision-making who need substantial assistance to successfully learn

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Differentiated Service Delivery

• The three levels of service include– Self-help services for young people and adults with high readiness for decision making

– Brief staff-assisted services for young people and adults with moderate readiness

– Individual case-managed services for young people and adults with low readiness

individual case managed services26%

self-help services22%

brief-assisted services

39%

external network13%

Needs for information, guidance and counseling services (Upper secondary school 2008, N=241)

Exte

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Net

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Execution

Valuing

Synthesis

Analysis

Communication

I’m choosing my next education I have reached

my goals

Decision Making Confussion

Decision Making Confussion

Commitment Anxiety

Commitment Anxiety

External Conflict

External Conflict

Self-

help

ser

vice

s

Brie

f-ass

iste

d

serv

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Indi

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ase-

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Jukka Lerkkanen 04/2009

Self-knowledge

Options knowledge

Example in Finnishwww.ohjaustarvearvio.fi

1. Communication = create the relationship, identify the gap– Discussion about: how are you, hobbies, what

brings you here today – Agreement of working together: how do we work,

what is the purpose, confident– Homework: Measuring the readiness for career

decision-making

Client version

2. Analysis = the existing / needed information– What educational/vocational options you have?

(Bridge- model)– What do you have already done for reaching your

goals? – What kind of experimental knowledge do you

have concerning your goals?– Homework: Gathering more information about

those choices which the student has prioritized

Client version

3. Synthesis = narrowing / expanding– What kind of information do you find about those

choices which you have prioritized– What options do you want skip now ?/ What

options are interesting, but you want to know more

– Homework: Show the list of options to your family and discuss what are their opinions

Client version

4. Valuing = final prioritizing– What were the options of your family – The beginning of matrix –exercise– Homework: Finishing the matrix –exercise: gather

more detailed information, make the evaluation between the options, discuss with your family concerning the results.

Client version

5. Execution = implementation of the choice– The plan for implementation– The needed support– The follow-up– Homework: Implement your choice and report

how do you have managed to do it

Client version

• Decision-Making Confusion 0,931 • Commitment Anxiety 0,877 • External Conflict 0,748 • Total Score 0,943

• N=1835, second year students in Upper Secondary Vocational Education in Jyväskylä and Tampere area (Lerkkanen, 2012)

Reliabilities of need assessment measure(Cronbach’s alpha)

Thank you!More information:jukka.lerkkanen@jamk.fi