This paper focuses on commonly used terms in career guidance in order to examine the impact they can have on the way problems are conceptualised and consequently on the solutions that are envisaged. Four such terms are considered, namely "vulnerability," "resilience," "employability," and "activation."…

Asylum seekers experience conditions of social disadvantage, poor labor market outcomes, and low-paid jobs. Therefore, vocational guidance and career counseling must function as a supportive social practice for asylum seekers giving voice to them and focusing on their strengths, such as courage. The present study examined the personal stories of…

This paper enquires into how disadvantaged Hungarian Roma youth make decisions concerning their educational and early career trajectories, who guides them, and whether the main guidance agents and services are available to them particularly at the time of their school-to-work transition (STWT). Data was collected in a Hungarian city and its…

The first two decades of the twenty-first century witnessed the blossoming of frameworks to conceptualize "21st-century skills" both in school and career. However, there is still a lack of consensus about what we are talking about when using the term "21st-century skills," as the existing frameworks on "21st-century…

The aim of this article is to show how interaction research can contribute to the understanding and praxis of socially just guidance. The article is theoretical, but it makes use of our previous empirical studies. We combine the ethnographic study of school and racism, and interactional research on guidance. We define guidance for social justice,…

This study investigates the effects of vocational guidance with a direct learning model on university students' career commitment and employability skills via career learning self-efficacy. Participants (N = 214) were electrical/electronic technology education students drawn from two universities in Nigeria. A two-group quasi-experimental design…

This comparative study traces the foundation and development of vocational and career guidance services in three Central and Eastern European countries in the light of the contextually bound factors of this region. Since the beginning of the 20th century, political transitions and changes in the ruling structures in these countries were so…

Guidance counsellors hold an important role in youth's educational and vocational choices, well-being and future careers. Central Norwegian policy documents recommend dividing counselling practices in schools into two functions: (1) career guidance and (2) educational welfare guidance. Policy documents also promote a holistic view of the pupil and…

Vocational guidance and counselling have usually focussed on supporting individuals to develop life projects that give meaning to their work and life. However, the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of today's world makes it difficult to support sustainable life courses on an individual level. There is a need to address social…

How could interventions for life- and career-construction contribute to a development that would be ecologically sustainable, socially just and based on decent work activities? Most career interventions today generally only aim to include individuals into the current systems of work and economic exchange without questioning the role that these…

Work and its meanings have often been and still are objects of scholarly research. In the context of global crises, increasing attention has been paid to decent work and, consequently, to decent life. However, decent work has not been adequately addressed in Polish scholarship on vocational guidance and career counselling yet. To redress this gap…

Labour Market Information forms a central place in career practice and how individuals enact their careers. This paper makes use of Alvesson and Sandberg's (Constructing research questions: doing interesting research. Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2013) methodology of focussing research on theoretical assumptions to construct a critical literature review…

This article explores a new approach to career education and career guidance activities within compulsory education, with a shift in focus from students' immediate choices to supporting curiosity and an open-minded expansion of horizons. Sen's concept of capability and approach to social justice plays a central role. A Danish project on career…

This article provides an account of current public policy for career guidance in the Republic of Armenia. Brief background information is provided in terms of key geographical, political, social and economic facts about Armenia. Then, a more specific context is outlined with a brief overview of the education and skills system and of the labour…

In this article, we provide a balanced critique of Sen's Capability Approach (CA) with reference to its potential to inform career guidance theory and practice. There are varying understandings and interpretations of the CA. Some see capabilities as universal, whilst others favour a more relativist view. The CA is also vulnerable to…