New knowledge and practices in the area of vocational guidance and human growth and development that have occurred since 1964 as well as future directions for guidance, both nationally and internationally, are covered in this second volume of a decennial volume series sponsored by the National Vocational Guidance Association to up-date the profession and the public on a systematic basis. This volume clarifies some of the relationships between vocational guidance and its changing contexts and reinforces its emerging role in human development across national boundaries. Part One compares the status of vocational guidance in America with the characteristics of such processes in selected nations in Europe and Asia while Part Two focuses on early 1970's implications for individual choice in such factors as urbanization, social structure, economic enterprise, work, family, and the educational structure. Current theory and research pertinent to career development, life-staging phenomena, and models of vocational maturity are described in Part Three. Part Four covers assessment; career planning; planned utilization and change of environments; media and systems technology; vocational guidance for girls and women, disadvantaged, minority and handicapped; professional preparation. The concluding part focuses on the growing international picture as well as dimensions of the future decade. (EA)