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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/265042 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Lim, Roslyn Beth |
| Publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Roslyn Beth Lim |
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