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The first careers master to be appointed in a public school was almost certainly Stephen Foot, who took on the job at Eastbourne College in 1920. Until then careers advice had been regarded as mainly the province of headmasters. In his autobiography Three Lives, published in 1934, Mr. Foot attributed the rapid spread of such appointments to other schools partly to a series of articles he wrote in Daily Telegraph, following which he was overwhelmed with requests for help not only from schools and parents all over the British Isles but also from countless parents stationed abroad. He wrote:

Against a backdrop of only 337 black chartered accountants in a total of approximately 20 000 in South Africa in 2003, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) is reviewing its current transformation targets for 2005. Information was required to review the obstacles that black trainees in general and accountants in particular experience en route to qualifying. Accounting as a career was investigated from a theoretical point of view. A questionnaire was designed, which focused mainly on problems and barriers in respect of career guidance; funding and bursaries; role models in the profession; knowledge of the profession; and exposure to business. The questionnaire was distributed to all 755 black trainee accountants that were registered with SAICA. A total of 313 questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of 41,45%. A lack of knowledge about the chartered accountancy profession and careers related to the profession was identified as one of the main reasons for the small number of blacks in the profession. Career guidance at school was stated as the main contributing factor in this regard. A lack of funding and of bursaries was stated as the second most important reason why students do not choose a career in accounting. Other important barriers identified include the limited nature of the work given to trainee accountants to do and the resulting limited work experience that they gain; a lack of black mentors in firms; racial bias on the part of supervisors; and a lack of recognition of and respect for the work completed. Black trainee accountants suggest that academic support programmes should be introduced to assist them to prepare for examinations, a forum should be established for students of Accounting in which they can interact with accounting professionals through workshops; a network group of professional black mentors in the business sector should be formed; and the advancement and retention of black members within the profession should be encouraged. Awareness programmes should be accorded a high priority in the short term.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of generation Y’s career establishment strategies on self-directedness career and to determine the moderation effect of gender on the relationship.

Data were collected from 188 full-time employees from different functional areas and departments of selected MNCs in Malaysian Electrical and Electronic Industry. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to examine the influences of establishment strategies and the moderating role of gender on self-directedness career.

Findings show that there are significant positive relationship between career strategies and self-directedness career at career establishment stages of generation Y. There is a significant difference between males and females in career establishment strategy (i.e. creating career opportunities) and self-directedness career.

This paper explains self-directedness career based on the review of related career literatures whereby some may not specifically referring to Generation Y.

Such insights are useful for HRD practitioners dto develop relevant HRD interventions to assist individuals and organizations in career development.

This paper offers new insight into the predictors of self-directedness career and the moderating role of gender on the relationships.

This study explores how career training with mentoring (CTM) programs work in Nigerian higher education (HE) institutions to foster students' career development and employability of graduates. It also explores how Nigerian HE curriculum can be adequately used to facilitate CTM as well as possible constraints to effective implementation of CTM programs in Nigerian HE institutions.

The study draws on interviews with well-qualified and experienced experts from six Nigerian public universities (each from the 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria), and 20 industries also within the same 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria that were selected for this study using a purposeful sampling technique. The study interviewed 33 experts comprising 21 senior academics at Nigerian universities and 12 industry executives to reveal substantial information about CTM programs in Nigerian HE institutions.

Drawing on the three key themes that emerged during the thematic analysis and linked to social cognitive career theory, it is clear that participants are convinced that CTM can enhance clarity about students' career ambitions, career interests, personal development plans and employability. Findings show that there are some career-related programs or activities that Nigerian HE students are presented with, but the programs have not been effective as to offer graduates quality career guidance and employability skills that employers demand. Acknowledging these, participants recommend establishing CTM centres in all Nigerian HE institutions to provide students with the opportunity to receive quality career advice, coaching and mentoring services while schooling.

The findings of this study shed light on varying resources required to cope with the demands of labour market in terms of supply of competent workforce that can contribute to Nigeria's economic growth and development. The findings are highly relevant for Nigeria and other developing countries' policy and research initiatives that aim to promote social inclusion and equity and improve better working conditions for all. The findings also have implications for career development and employability of HE graduates in developing world context.

Understanding the role that CTM programs can play in facilitating career development and graduate employability can arguably be of importance within the developing world context. This study, therefore, provides significant suggestions on how to build sustained HEIs and labour market partnership to foster career development and employability of HE graduates through establishing CTM centres in every Nigerian HE institutions.

A generally held belief in the field of career development is that career attitudes and abilities, including identity and self-direction, can and should be developed in school programmes with a cognitive focus. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to question this belief, and second, to provide a new perspective on career development that may inspire innovations for career science, and guidance during the lifespan.

Specific questions are formulated and answered on the basis of sources mainly stemming from neurosciences and different sub-disciplines of psychology. On the basis of a systems theory, a new approach is proposed.

Current approaches in career guidance are at odds with findings and insights from developmental sciences and brain research. Several risks of current approaches are described. One risk is identity foreclosure. Another risk involves the development of ineffective ways of thinking and decision making. A control theory that stems from cybernetics is proposed to offer an alternative view on career development.

One implication for research is that long-term longitudinal approaches are required to fully clarify the development of self-direction and identity. Furthermore, the building and testing of models of career development based on dynamic systems theories is recommended.

The main implication for career practices and policies is that self-direction and identity are no realistic aims for most students. Instead, it is recommended to relieve the pressure associated with career choices for young people, and to give more time, room, stimulation and guidance for exploration and reconsideration, for adults as well. Guidance should consist of offering sufficiently varied work experiences, and counselling when individuals experience conflicts that impede direction finding. Not too much emphasis should be put on reflection and rational thinking. Acceptance and commitment therapy is recommended as an approach offering many useful insights and instruments that may inspire career professionals.

This paper questions a mainstream approach and offers an original point of view.

Last month the author discussed co‐operation between school careers staff and the Youth Employment Service in planning careers guidance. The present article deals with the Youth Employment Officer's continuing duties after the young person has left school

The first of two articles from a member of the Youth Employment Service: next month's article will deal in particular with careers guidance beyond the school

Although career decision making by young people is of central importance in current training policy in Britain, there has been little recent research into how career decisions are made. Summarizes some of the findings from one such study, in the context of one of the training credits pilot schemes. Based on these findings, describes a complex process of pragmatically rational decision making by young people. This is at odds with the technically rational assumptions that underpin much current education and training policy. Shows assumptions that good quality guidance and better information can help most young people to make “correct” career decisions when they leave school to be fallacious. Suggests that policies need to recognize that changes of mind and of career direction are normal for many young people. We need to work out ways of dealing with this reality, rather than trying to avoid it.

Increasing trends toward casualization of the workforce and job mobility have increased the need for delivery of targeted career counselling relevant to the specific needs of individuals but have not been matched by refinements to vocational interest instruments, which have largely remained focussed on student‐based norms. By investigating the interests and factor structure of the Vocational Interest Survey for Australia (VISA), this study has replicated earlier findings that the unemployed appear to respond with higher mean interest levels on the VISA in comparison to the instrument’s normative sample of secondary students. In comparison to an earlier study of unemployed white‐collar workers, the present study suggests that unemployed managers are able to discriminate between more dimensions of vocational interests than their non‐managerial counterparts. This observation is interpreted as support for a call to investigate the need for multi‐sample norming for vocational interest instruments.

This paper examines the effectiveness of the Nash, Borman, and Colson (1980) 3-phase career education model for gifted and talented 12th grade student on African American girls' decisions to study STEM disciplines after high school. Using qualitative methodology to collect and analyze data from participants at a small urban math and science focused high school, the findings suggest that the model is only as beneficial as its implementation. The paper recommends useful strategies that will ensure students are able to receive the benefits of experience that the model offers, thus aligning their academic strengths with their career options.