Syftet med studien var att belysa hur studie- och yrkesvägledare beskriver tjänsteomfattningens inverkan på yrkesrollen. Den metod som användes var kvalitativ och sammanlagt genomfördes fem intervjuer. En studie- och yrkesvägledarutbildare med lång erfarenhet av både yrket och utbildningen intervjuades för att ge ett övergripande perspektiv på studie- och yrkesvägledares yrkesroll och dess problematik. För att få mer specifika kunskaper kring studie- och yrkesvägledares uppfattning om tjänsteomfattning intervjuades fyra studie- och yrkesvägledare från Samlad vägledning i Uppsala kommun. Resultatet visar att vägledarna i undersökningen anser att deras uppdrag som vägledare är att hjälpa eleverna att hitta sig själva och hjälpa dem att finna en utbildning som passar deras behov. Samtliga vägledare, oavsett om de hade en stor tjänst eller en liten tjänst, önskade att de hade möjlighet att utföra mer i sitt arbete. Avslutningsvis drogs slutsatsen att vägledarna har samma syn på vad yrkesrollen innebär och vad som är det huvudsakliga uppdraget. Vad de däremot har möjlighet att utföra i sitt arbete skiftar beroende på tjänstens omfattning. / This study’s aim was to investigate how career counsellors describe the work conditions affect of their professional role. The method used in the study was qualitative and in total five respondents were interviewed. To get an overview of career counsellors’ professional role and its complexity an educator with long experience of career counselling was interviewed.  In addition four career counsellors from an organisation in Uppsala called Samlad vägledning shared their thoughts of the professional role and experiences of their work conditions. The results show that the career counsellors’ found the aim of their work is to help pupils find themselves, their interests and their goals and to help them find an education which fulfil their dreams. All career counsellors in this study wished they had the opportunity to accomplish more in their work than they do under their current work conditions.   Finally the conclusions show that all the respondents share the same view of the aim of career counsellors’ work. However what the career counsellors in fact are able to do in their professional role depend on their work conditions.

<p>I Sverige finns det idag ett stort antal yrken och en del av dessa är i en professionaliseringsprocess. Studie- och yrkesvägledaryrket är ett exempel på ett yrke i denna process. Syftet är att beskriva utvalda aktörers syn på studie- och yrkesvägledaryrkets avgränsningar, kompetens samt eventuella auktorisation i ett professionaliseringsperspektiv. En kvalitativ metod har använts och fem elitintervjuer har genomförts med representanter från Lärarförbundet, Lärarnas Riksförbund, Sveriges vägledarförening, Högskoleverket samt Skolverket. Samtliga respondenter ansåg att det finns specifika kompetenser som endast studie- och yrkesvägledare besitter men åsikten om vilka kompetenser detta är, gick isär. Majoriteten av respondenterna ansåg att studie- och yrkesvägledaryrket borde auktoriseras/legitimeras, dock inte alla. Avgränsningen mot andra yrken när det gäller arbetsuppgifter fanns det skilda meningar om. Den slutsats man kan dra av studien är att fackförbunden och Sveriges vägledarförening arbetar för professionalisering av studie- och yrkesvägledaryrket men utan en gemensam strategi. Yrket har inom olika områden kommit olika långt i sin professionaliseringsprocess.</p>

<p>The overall purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse interpersonal behaviour in career counselling sessions. The importance of the relationship in counselling for the outcome of sessions has been acknowledged in earlier research. How the actual interaction process between client and career counsellor looks like has been sparsely investigated. The present research explores expected, experienced behaviours and self-image of 15 adolescent clients’ and counsellors’ dyads in career counselling. The research was guided by interpersonal theory and the model of structural analysis of social behaviour (SASB) developed by Lorna Smith Benjamin. The research focuses on four different aspect of interpersonal behaviour. First, the significance of different behaviours by the clients and the career counsellors related to session evaluation. Second, the significance of expected and experienced similarity in perceptions of self and other behaviours related to session evaluation. Third, differences of perceived behaviours and possible influence by self-image over the course of sessions and fourth, comparing the influence of positive and negative self-image to expected and experienced behaviours, perceived important events during session and session evaluation session by clients’. Results indicate the importance for clients to become close to the career counsellor in session, while the career counsellors’ encouragement of clients’ independency during sessions showed to be of less importance for the clients’. This pattern imply a difficult balance act for career counsellors between providing a safe and close relationship and promoting independence and exploration for the clients. Further, it was found that career counsellors had difficulties in identifying their own contributions to a positive session evaluation, indicating a problem for the career counsellors’ to make conscious adjustments of behaviours. The degree to which client and career counsellor agreed of their behaviours only mattered for experiences of the career counsellors’ behaviour when related to their evaluation of session. Only minor tendencies of influence by the career counsellors’ self-image of clients’ perceived differences in behaviours were found. Self-image played a significant role in how the clients’ expected and experienced behaviours, perceived important events in session and in their session evaluation. Clients’ with positive self-image showed consistently more positive perceptions on each of the involved variables.</p>

The overall purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse interpersonal behaviour in career counselling sessions. The importance of the relationship in counselling for the outcome of sessions has been acknowledged in earlier research. How the actual interaction process between client and career counsellor looks like has been sparsely investigated. The present research explores expected, experienced behaviours and self-image of 15 adolescent clients’ and counsellors’ dyads in career counselling. The research was guided by interpersonal theory and the model of structural analysis of social behaviour (SASB) developed by Lorna Smith Benjamin. The research focuses on four different aspect of interpersonal behaviour. First, the significance of different behaviours by the clients and the career counsellors related to session evaluation. Second, the significance of expected and experienced similarity in perceptions of self and other behaviours related to session evaluation. Third, differences of perceived behaviours and possible influence by self-image over the course of sessions and fourth, comparing the influence of positive and negative self-image to expected and experienced behaviours, perceived important events during session and session evaluation session by clients’. Results indicate the importance for clients to become close to the career counsellor in session, while the career counsellors’ encouragement of clients’ independency during sessions showed to be of less importance for the clients’. This pattern imply a difficult balance act for career counsellors between providing a safe and close relationship and promoting independence and exploration for the clients. Further, it was found that career counsellors had difficulties in identifying their own contributions to a positive session evaluation, indicating a problem for the career counsellors’ to make conscious adjustments of behaviours. The degree to which client and career counsellor agreed of their behaviours only mattered for experiences of the career counsellors’ behaviour when related to their evaluation of session. Only minor tendencies of influence by the career counsellors’ self-image of clients’ perceived differences in behaviours were found. Self-image played a significant role in how the clients’ expected and experienced behaviours, perceived important events in session and in their session evaluation. Clients’ with positive self-image showed consistently more positive perceptions on each of the involved variables.

I Sverige finns det idag ett stort antal yrken och en del av dessa är i en professionaliseringsprocess. Studie- och yrkesvägledaryrket är ett exempel på ett yrke i denna process. Syftet är att beskriva utvalda aktörers syn på studie- och yrkesvägledaryrkets avgränsningar, kompetens samt eventuella auktorisation i ett professionaliseringsperspektiv. En kvalitativ metod har använts och fem elitintervjuer har genomförts med representanter från Lärarförbundet, Lärarnas Riksförbund, Sveriges vägledarförening, Högskoleverket samt Skolverket. Samtliga respondenter ansåg att det finns specifika kompetenser som endast studie- och yrkesvägledare besitter men åsikten om vilka kompetenser detta är, gick isär. Majoriteten av respondenterna ansåg att studie- och yrkesvägledaryrket borde auktoriseras/legitimeras, dock inte alla. Avgränsningen mot andra yrken när det gäller arbetsuppgifter fanns det skilda meningar om. Den slutsats man kan dra av studien är att fackförbunden och Sveriges vägledarförening arbetar för professionalisering av studie- och yrkesvägledaryrket men utan en gemensam strategi. Yrket har inom olika områden kommit olika långt i sin professionaliseringsprocess.

The career counselling services industry is currently being challenged by a unique set of conditions which has resulted in calls for a greater client orientation in the delivery of career services. The current study takes up this challenge by using marketing concepts to explore the relationship between the expectations (desired) people in career transition have of a career counselling service and the perceptions career counselling service providers have of client expectations. In the process, it also examines variables (career transition group membership, career decision-making self-efficacy, age, gender, and previous experience with a career counselling service) that may impact on the expectations people in career transition have of a career counselling service. The study used a three-phased mixed method approach to gather expectation and perception data. In Phase 1, focus group interviews were conducted with participants from three career transition groups - Year 12 students, final year university students, and adults in midcareer transition. A series of one-to-one interviews with three groups of career counsellors (those in schools, tertiary institutions, and private practice) was undertaken in Phase 2. Phase 3 consisted of a questionnaire, which was administered to broader populations of people in career transition and career counsellors. The people in career transition subject group completed a three-part questionnaire consisting of the Expectations About Career Counselling measure (developed by the researcher), the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy-Short Form (an existing measure), and demographic questions. Career counsellors completed a two-part questionnaire, which included the Expectations About Career Counselling (EACC) and demographic questions. The people in career transition subject group were asked to respond to the EACC according to what they wanted from a career counselling service. Career counsellors were asked to respond to the same measure as if they were one of their clients attending their first career counselling interview. In the development of the EACC, an existing measure (the Expectations About Counselling-Brief Form; Tinsley, 1982), was modified using career counselling expectation themes derived from the analysis of data collected in Phases 1 and 2. Factor analysis of the data obtained from the EACC identified four clear factors. These factors were named Career Counsellor Responsibility, Client Responsibility, Quality Outcome and Realism. The findings from Phase 3 indicated that people in career transition had high to very high expectations for the EACC subscales Career Counsellor Responsibility and Quality Outcome, moderate expectations for Realism, and moderate to high expectations for Client Responsibility. Significant differences were found based on transition group membership, gender, age, and previous experience with a career counselling service. In addition, it was found that people in career transition had moderate to high career decision-making self-efficacy and that respondents with higher self-efficacy scores also had higher expectations of a career counselling service. The findings also indicated that there was a significant difference or gap between the expectations of people in career transition and the perceptions of career counsellors concerning client expectations of career counselling. Career counsellors perceived that clients were less committed and more unrealistic about the career counselling process and the counsellor's role than was indicated by the results from the people in career transition subject group. Recommendations based on the findings of this research study were made for career counsellors, professional associations, education and training organisations, education institutions and systems and government policy makers. Specifically, the recommendations addressed the importance of acknowledging, clarifying, and managing client expectations, providing interventions to educate people in career transition about the career decision-making process and the role of the career counsellor, and the implementation of processes to promote ongoing professional development in the career counselling services industry.

Anställningsbarhet anses vara av värde för flera intressenter, däribland samhället, företagen och individen. Vårt examensarbete behandlar anställningsbarhet för studie- och yrkesvägledare. Vi har uppmärksammat att konkurrensen om vägledningstjänster är hård i Skåne. Vi ämnade därför undersöka vad som gör en studie- och yrkesvägledare, eller annan aspirant till vägledningstjänster, anställningsbar. Vi begränsade oss dock till att undersöka vad som ökar möjligheten för en studie- och yrkesvägledare att bli kallad till just anställningsintervju, för vägledningstjänster. Detta gjorde vi genom att använda en, av oss upprättad, kriterielista med anställningsbarhetskriterier. Kriterierna på listan fick sedan arbetsgivare inom sex olika vägledningsområden i Skåne prioritera och diskutera. Vidare jämförde vi detta utfall med Sveriges Vägledarförenings, och Studie- och yrkesvägledarföreningen i Lärarnas Riksförbunds, prioritering av samma kriterielista. Detta eftersom vår föreställning är att dessa föreningar kan bidra till studie- och yrkesvägledares ökade anställningsbarhet, förutsatt att de har samma syn på anställningsbarhet som arbetsgivarna har. Vår slutsats är att de anställningsbarhetskriterier som väger tyngst, hos studiens arbetsgivare, vid kallande till anställningsintervju för vägledningstjänster är: studie- och yrkesvägledarutbildning, arbetslivserfarenhet inom branschen, bred arbetslivserfarenhet inom olika branscher, eftergymnasial utbildning inom branschen samt professionella/välformulerade ansökningshandlingar. Vidare kom vi fram till att samstämmigheten, mellan å ena sidan arbetsgivarnas svar och å andra sidan svaren från Sveriges Vägledarförening, är hög gällande vissa kriterier, men skiljer sig mycket gällande andra. Detta gäller även för jämförelsen mellan arbetsgivares syn på anställningsbarhet och Studie- och yrkesvägledarföreningen i Lärarnas Riksförbunds syn på detsamma. / Employability is regarded to be valuable for several actors, among them the society, the enterprises and the individual. Our essay considers employability for career counsellors. We have noticed that competition for counsellor posts is hard in Skåne. Our aim was therefore to examine what makes a career counsellor, or other candidates for counsellor posts, employable. Yet we limited the essay to examine what increases the possibilities for a career counsellor to be summoned interviews, for counsellor posts. We did this by using a list of criteria of employability, established by us. The criterions on the list later got ranked and discussed by employers within six different counsellor areas in Skåne. Then we compared these results with the priorities of the Sveriges Vägledarförening, and Studie- och yrkesvägledarföreningen i Lärarnas Riksförbund. This because our conception is that these institutions can contribute to increased employability for a career counsellor, presupposed that they have the same vision of employability as the employers do. Our conclusion is that the five most important criteria for employability once summoned to a job interview for counsellor posts are, according to the employers in this study: career counsellor education, work experience within the trade, wide work experience within different trades, education in a higher level than upper secondary school within the trade and professional/well formulated application forms. We also made the conclusions that the consensus between, on one hand the answers of the employers and on the other hand the answers of Sveriges Vägledarförening, is high concerning certain criteria, but is very different concerning others. This also concerns the comparison between the idea of employability among the employers and the idea of the same of Studie- och yrkesvägledarföreningen i Lärarnas Riksförbund.

The purpose of this ethnographic study is to explore the following: 1. The counsellors’ experience of the process of career counselling provided to students at a distance learning institution 2. My own experiences of doing counselling with Unisa students. 3. How Holland’s career theory, the social cognitive career theory and the chaos theory of careers could shape the process of career counselling. The themes that emanated from the stories of six counsellors indicate that they view counselling as a continuous process wherein it is necessary to strike a balance through blended counselling between the needs of individuals versus helping the multitude of anonymous students. In order to facilitate counselling effectively, counsellors need resources and in order to develop these resources they use a diversity of career theories which act as a frame of reference. Attention is given to the development of career counsellors’ identity and self-confidence and how this impacts on the counsellors’ growth. The recommendations of this study hold the promise of contributing to the counselling process at the DCCD. / Psychology / D.Litt.et Phil. (Psychology)