Literature+Reviews



= = = = = = = INTERVENTIONS =

According to Arrington (2000) it is important that middle school students are exposed to opportunities that will help develop their career awareness. For example, students should understand the amount of education required to become a doctor or the geographic requirements of certain careers such as marine biologist. This knowledge will help students make realistic career choices. In addition career guidance programs at this age should focus on career exploration, helping students understand how their interests and abilities relate to certain careers. This is important since Schaefer, Rivera, and Ophals (2010) stated that more than 80% of middle school students do not understand how their favorite school subjects can be applied to a future career. Career exploration can help middle school students understand the link between their current classes and their future career dreams (Schaefer et al., 2010), and understanding this link is important since the classes chosen in eighth grade will impact both high school and college opportunities (Arrington, 2000). Arrington suggested that career guidance programs during the middle school years should help students develop a "plan of study," which is a planned order of classes taken during the middle and high school years. In addition middle school students should begin to understand the post-secondary educational opportunities that are available.

Successful career exploration activities for middle school students include creating a career portfolio, job shadowing, mentoring, and assessments such as interest inventories (Arrington, 2000). Another opportunity to explore careers is provided when students complete a career genogram (Gibson, 2005). The genogram can help students understand their interests, identify a variety of occupations, and explore the education required for specific careers. In addition to these activities career counselors should provide middle school students and their parents with information about financial aid opportunities for post-secondary education. Since these students will be making decisions about high school classes, college classes, and their eventual career, Arrington stated that middle school career counseling programs should help students learn decision-making skills. In addition, to help encourage future success, middle school students need to develop their time management and study skills (Arrington, 2000).

Arrington, K. (2000). MIddle grades caareer planning programs. //Journal of Career Development//, 27(2), pp. 103-109.

Gibson, D. M. (2005). The use of genograms in career counseling with elementary, middle, and high school students. //The Career Development Quarterly//, 55, pp. 353-362.

Schaefer, M. B., Rivera, L. M. & Ophals, E. (2010). Creating a collaborative career deveopment program for middle grades students. //Mittle School Journal//, 42(2), pp. 30-38.

Middle School Career Exploration: The Role of Teachers and Principals Middle School Career Exploration.pdf

//Written By: Agnes E. Smith// //College// //of Education// //University or South Alabama// Stephanie Passaro Article #1
 * Toepfer suggested that an emphasis be placed on teaching and learning approaches to provide vocational, exploratory, and occupational learning experiences for middle school students.
 * Toepfer then explained that students gain academic, personal, and teamwork skills through vocational learning experiences. When students are involved in vocational exploratory experiences.
 * When children are placed in a vocational exploratory setting, teachers have been reporting that students demonstrate increased motivation and interest in other school work and even increased self-esteem.
 * Middle level education that includes hands-on activities that are designed to investigate the roles of workers increases middle school students and their understanding of the “world of work.”
 * Financial support for career education programs at the middle school level is limited. School districts able to offer vocational courses are to implement career education programs for students grades 6-8 are few in numbers.
 * School counselors are assigned to schools at ratios that limit the amount of time counselors have to enforce career development activities.
 * Only financial stable schools in high socioeconomic areas are able to fund counselor positions.
 * Principals work with teachers to schedule common planning times for grade level teachers. Planning time permit the convenience of periodic meeting to brainstorm certain ideas for involving students in learning experiences outside the classroom and into the world of work.
 * Middle school teachers have opportunities to plan career education activities for students which include both individual and group activities.
 * Field trip visits to community businesses and agencies give students a chance to observe the different types of skills needed to become successful in the workplace. Principals support by visits and establishing a rapport with different agencies and local businesses.
 * Another way a middle school can develop career awareness for students is through career awareness fair. During the fair, students listen to descriptions of different jobs and view how businesses and industries use tools, office equipment, and other technologies.
 * Cooperative efforts by the teachers and principals make activities successful.
 * Due to the student-to-counselor ratio being significantly high, counselors are unable to implement career exporation programs for middle school students fully. School administrators and teachers are assumed for partial responsibility for career exploration experiences.
 * The roles of teachers and principals have become extremely important to the students and to the guidance counselors. It is important to have the funding available to support career exploration and career awareness

ACCEPT: Alliance for Children: Collaborative Exceptional Peer Tutors

 * ====A class designed by a middle school counselor and elementary school teacher with a goal of meeting student needs through service learning ====
 * ====Middle school students received classroom instruction on academic, personal, social and career content (main themes: accepting yourself, accepting others, accepting responsibility) ====
 * ====After learning the concepts, the students taught a similar curriculum to the elementary school children ====
 * ====Five major outcomes: Personal Awareness, Social Skills, Learning Skills, Career Interests, Character Education ====

Stott, K. A. (2005). Using service learning to achieve middle school comprehensive guidance program goals. //Professional School Counseling, 9// (2), pp. 156-159.

Using the self-directed search: Career explorer with high-risk middle school students


The goals of this study were to use the Self Directed Search: Career Explorer with a group of high-risk middle school students and to determine the effectiveness of this tool within a structured group counseling approach (Osborn & Reardon, 2006). The SDS: CE (Holland & Powell, 1994) was chosen because of its psychometric properties and appropriateness for use with students at the middle school level.

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The students completed the SDS: CE during the first session, then were given their results at Session 2. They were asked to cross off any unattractive occupations, highlight ones with which they were interested, and put a question mark next to the ones with which they needed more information. They used the Occupational Outlook Handbook to do further research on occupations, and finally focused on decision-making and addressed self-talk. The most common Holland codes for boys were Artistic and Realistic, and for Social and Artistic for girls. From the students’ feedback, a majority said that they found the groups enjoyable and wished they had even more time to work in the sessions. Additionally, the students indicated that they learned a lot of information about interests, occupations, postsecondary options, decision-making approaches, and how to improve self-talk (Osborn & Reardon, 2006). =====

Osborn, D. S. & Reardon, R. C. (2006). Using the self-directed search: Career explorer with high-risk middle school students. //The Career Development Quarterly, 54,// pp 269-273.

= A career readiness typology and typal membership in middle school =

[[file:A Career Readiness Typology.pdf]]
The Career Factors Inventory (CFI) is used to measure career indecision. According to Lewis and Savickas (1995), the CFI relates more to the crystallization and specification tasks than to implementation and stabilization in career development. The data gathered from this tool are grouped into two categories, information needs and decision needs. The CFI contains 21 items that follow the format of a Likert scale. There are seven profile types in which students can be categorized:


 * average information/high decision
 * high information/average decision
 * average information/average decision
 * high information/low decision
 * average information/low decision
 * high information/high decision
 * very low information/average decision



Debi Schmidt-Article #3 Review Broadening Career Horizons for Students in At-Risk Environments by Karen M. O' Brien, Rebecca D. Dukstein, Stacey L. Jackson, Merideth J. Tomlinson, & Ngondi A. Kamatuka
 * Black & Krishnakumar state that there are limited strategies to help students that seem to be doing alright, but are considered at risk.
 * According to Arbona & Novy, Hackett & Byars, and Lauver & Jones, at risk youth may not have high levels of self-efficacy related to career development.
 * Students may eliminate career choices or pick careers that do not match their interests and skills because of sex roles, cultural background, level of education their parents acheived, or coming from an impoverished background.
 * Career interventions for middle school youth can help at risk students to get better grades in school, graduate from high school, and even go to a college, business, or trade school for further training.
 * The Career Horizons Program was developed for students in 7th grade who were at risk for underachieving in the area of career development.
 * The program was based on goal recommendations from the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee. These goals include helping students to learn the attitudes and skills needed to research careers and understand their own interests and aptitudes, as well as gaining awareness of why people choose sex typed jobs. Additionally, suggested goals are to raise the self-esteem of students and to train them to make good decisions. Finally, a program to help middle school students with career development should strive to expose students to as many careers as possible.
 * Yager & Yager state that African American students do not like science beginning in elementary school.
 * Researchers such as Hall & Post-Kammer, Hawks, & Muna, and Hill state that students who are vocationally at risk should be exposed to extra career experiences during the summer and on weekends. Furthermore, they should be provided with role models in science, math, and technology careers.
 * Hispanic students benefit from hands-on math and science activities according to Douad.
 * Female students and students from minority groups who tend to pick traditional careers also tend to have low self-efficacy.
 * In this program staff were trained to encourage students and have students openly talk about any worries they were having regarding career development to help build up their self-confidence.
 * Students played a game to explore the impact of culture on career decisions and then talked about how culture can play a role in the workplace.
 * The Career Horizons Program was held on a college campus. Students lived in the dorm rooms, ate in the dining hall, and toured the campus. The idea was to get the students excited about attending college or post-secondary school.
 * Students participated in both career and teambuilding activities while in the program.
 * Other than the students, adult participants in this program were college professors and graduate students, representatives of agencies in the community, and even the parents of the participants.
 * Students completed the Self-Directed Search Career Explorer to determine their Holland Codes.
 * Students in the program took a self-awareness class to learn more about thier abilities, personalities, and interests. They also learned how to make good decisons, how to study more effectively, and how pregnancy, drugs, and alcohol can affect one's future. Additionally, they learned goal setting and were asked to describe their lives in ten years from now.
 * Participants created three short term goals and three long term goals. They put the goals in a shoebox called their Success Box. As they meet goals in their lives, they can put physical reminders of their successes in the box.
 * Each student received a golden star to add to their shoebox. Everyone in the group, including staff, wrote strengths about each student participant on their star.
 * Parents also wrote letters to their children about what they love about them and what they see as their positive qualities. The students were visibly touched by their parents' letters to them.
 * Students participated in a math and science class. The teachers were professionals in their fields. They conducted hands-on experiments with the youth. Activities included pig heart dissection and dying t-shirts to learn about chromatography.
 * Participants also had the chance to play beach volleyball, as well as going rock climbing and bowling.
 * Students were asked to interview their parents regarding how they made their career choice.
 * Parents and students attended an awards banquet at the end of the program.
 * Follow-up sessions were conducted four months after the end of the program and nine months after the end of the program. These sessions were similar to the summer camp, but not as intense.
 * The results of the Career Horizons Program were that students had more confidence in their ability to plan for and explore careers. They also did a better job matching careers to their interests. Students gained a sense of self-efficacy that will help them to research careers and identify career possibilites they may not have considered in the past.
 * Students initially came to the program with "fantasy" careers in mind, but left the program with more realistic choices as a back-up plan, in case those dream careers did not work out.
 * It was important for the staff of this program to allow the students to share their concerns about issues affecting them in their career growth, such as gang violence, teen pregnancy, or substance abuse.
 * Several recommendations were made at the conclusion of the study of this program. These included holding interventions year round and not just during summer, getting students involved with volunteer work, conducting individual counseling sessions with students, and increasing parental involvement.

NEEDS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS == ==== According to the American School Counselor Association, middle school students struggle with significant issues related to physical, psychological, and social changes related to early adolescence. Some specific needs of this population are: ====
 * ====exploring a variety of interests ====
 * ====connecting learning to practical life and work ====
 * ====releasing energy through activity while facing frequent fatigue due to rapid growth ====
 * ====developing personal identity ====
 * ====separating selves from parents ====
 * ====relying on friends to provide comfort, understanding, and approval ====

====Service learning is one way in which middle school students can have an opportunity to apply what they are learning in the classroom by performing acts of service in the community. Studies have shown that students who participate in such activities had increases in personal/social development, civic responsibility, academic learning, and career development. Service learning is also beneficial for the participating schools and communities. ==== Stott, K. A. (2005). Using service learning to achieve middle school comprehensive guidance program goals. //Professional School Counseling, 9// (2), pp. 156-159.

A career readiness typology and typal membership in middle school


<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Middle school students are faced with certain factors that influence career development processes such as: · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Curiosity · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Fantasy · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Identification with workers · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Gender stereotyping · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Race · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Class · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Social valuation

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">They engage in developmental tasks related to an understanding of identity, and also are expected to make choices in their plan of study that may determine or hinder future career opportunities. Super (1984) believed that although it is developmentally appropriate for middle school students to be unsure about career aspirations, they should still be actively involved in the understanding of their crystallizing identity. These students are at risk of encountering tasks for which they are not prepared, such as decisions related to curriculum or postsecondary plans (Akos, Konold, & Niles, 2004).

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The authors of this article discussed the need for valid and reliable career counseling programs for middle school students, as they are faced with increasing pressure to make preliminary decisions about careers. Specific career concerns from this group include: =====

c) to increase occupational knowledge.
Osborn, D. S. & Reardon, R. C. (2006). Using the self-directed search: Career explorer with high-risk middle school students. //The Career Development Quarterly, 54,// pp 269-273.

Debi Schmidt -Article #1 Review Middle School Career Education and Development by Sandra Kerka
 * It is not too early to start career education in middle school because students form stereotypes about different careers at an early age and girls and minorities limit their career choices.
 * Middle school students lack awareness about the world of work
 * They pick "fantasy" jobs rather than realistic career choices.
 * Middle school students do not understand how what they are studying in their classes relates to work.
 * They do not know the skills needed to do certain types of careers.
 * Goals for career counseling with middle school students should include helping them to understand their personal skills, abilities, and interests; increasing their awareness of the diversity in the world of work; helping them to develop a positive attitude towards work; and helping them to understand the connection between getting good grades in school and doing well at their jobs later in life.
 * Developmental needs of students ages 11-14 include trying out different roles to discover who they are (including adult work roles), forming their own identity, developing social and academic skills, and helping them to think about the future.
 * Counselors should have students develop a portfolio in elementary school and use this same portfolio in middle school as well. It should contain information on any interest inventories they have done, careers they have researched, and participation in job shadows or career days.

__**Elements of an Effective Career Education Program for Middle School Students**__
 * Integrated curriculum-Counselors should work with the teachers at the school to develop lessons that meet academic standards, but at the same time connect what the students are learning to the job duties in various types of careers.
 * Constructivism-Students construct career knowledge through critical thinking and inquiry.
 * Mentoring-Counselors should develop a Career Speaker's Bureau to come into the classroom and talk about their jobs or participate in a career fair. The students will feel that adults care about them and will be more likely to be interested in the world of work.
 * Service learning-Students should do volunteer work through the school because it increases career maturity.
 * Contextualized learning-Counselors should apply knowledge that students learn in class to real world settings. For example, in health class they learn to take pulses and then take a field trip to a local hospital where they get to practice this skill.
 * Technology-Today's students enjoy and are good at using technology, so try to incorporate technology into the career development process. Counselors may use programs such as DISCOVER, Computer Assisted Career Guidance Systems, or EnviroQuest (which teaches them about environmental careers) to help students gather information on their abilities, interests, personality, and careers. These programs have been found to increase career maturity.

Debi Schmidt-Article #2 Review Career Perceptions of Middle School Youth: A Literature Review by Bethany Carlson = THEORIES/RESEARCH =
 * Curriculum and activities for middle school career development must be age appropriate
 * Middle school students have already begun to eliminate career choices based on gender stereotypes, especially in regards to science, technology, engineering, and math careers.
 * Girls in middle school tend to be interested in careers that typically have lower wages.
 * Students need to see salaries for various occupations and concrete examples of how those salaries translate into the real world.
 * Career activities should involve concrete projects like job shadows or interviewing skills.
 * It is crucial to explain to middle school youth how their current success in school can translate into future success in the workplace.
 * Students need to be aware that their familial attitudes towards education and work may influence their career decision.
 * In order to get girls involved with science and technology careers, the counselor may need to show how those types of careers fit in with values that are traditionally female, such as wanting to help others.
 * A good website to get girls interested in STEM careers is Girl-Start.com, which focuses more on what girls like and relates that to science and technology careers.
 * The counselor should keep in mind that most career theories and assessments are biased towards white males.
 * The goal of career interest inventories is to broaden the students' horizons and get them to think about careers that they may not have previously considered.
 * Two good inventories to use that are gender neutral are the Self Directed Search and the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey according to the National Institute for Education.
 * According to S. Kerka, middle school students need to learn to think and plan for the future. It is important for the counselor to help middle school students to develop their self-esteem. Students need to know that their parents support their career decisions.
 * Students need to engage all their senses when learning about career development according to M.W. Hood.
 * B.J. Phipps says that children choose career choices based on how much money they could make, if the job helps people, if the field interests them, and if role models have that same career.
 * According to J.L. McDonald and J.C. Jessell self-esteem is the most important factor in determining the attitudes and perceived abilities of adolescents that relate to their development of a career identity.
 * To keep middle school students from later becoming high school dropouts, Future Options Education states that counselors should expose youth to service learning, job shadows, work experience, and the skills needed to start one's own business.

Impact of a Career Intervention on At-Risk Middle School Students' Career Maturity Levels, Academic Achievement, and Self-Esteem
By: Legum, Harry L., Hoare, Carol H. Professional School Counseling December 2004, Vol. 8, Issue 2, pp. 148-155 This article reports the results from a research study that assessed a career intervention program designed for at-risk middle school students. The student's career maturity levels, self-esteem, and academic achievement were measured.

Interesting points in article:
 * 1) 11.2 percent of 16-to-24-year-olds in the U. S. are high school dropouts
 * 2) The unemployment rate of high school dropouts is 28.2%, compared to 18.4% for high school graduates
 * 3) "At-risk pupils who are involved in career exploration and awareness activities at the middle school level are more likely to establish an effective program plan of study for high school, thus better preparing them for their future career selection" -- once again, this stresses the necessity for career development programs in the middle school years
 * 4) At-risk middle school students' career maturity levels and academic achievement improved after participating in a career intervention program
 * 5) Increased career awareness and vocational knowledge may help middle school students make informed decisions when selecting their high school program, and may help them meet their career goals.

Two assessments listed in this article:
 * 1) Crites Career Maturity Inventory -- measures career maturity level; 25 statements with "agree" or "disagree" responses
 * 2) Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory -- measures self-esteem; 58 items with "like me" or "unlike me" responses

SELF-EFFICACY

** A Measure of College-going Self-efficacy for Middle School Students **
By: Gibbons, Melinda M., Borders, L. DiAnne Professional School Counseling, Vol. 13, Issue 4 April, 2010. pp. 234-243 This article discusses the research and development of the College Going Self-Efficacy Scale (CGSES). Important points are: Self-efficacy: The CGSES:
 * 1) Most students make educational decisions between 8th and 10th grade -- making middle school an important time in career and college planning.
 * 2) These decisions have a direct impact on the student's college preparation and future attendance.
 * 3) Successful college preparation programs begin in middle school and include -- counseling, information about colleges, and involve parents and peers.
 * 4) Most early adolescents express plans to attend college. However, in 2000 only 56.7% of students continued directly to college and of those only 57% actually completed their degree.
 * 5) In addition, these rates may be lower for some groups of students; 1st generation students, students from low-income homes, and some minorities
 * 6) Assessments that identify at-risk middle school students would help school counselors develop proactive plans to address various barriers
 * 1) Middle school students who thought their parents were supportive regarding career and college planning had higher levels of career decision-making self-efficacy.
 * 2) Higher levels of ethnic group identity was correlated to higher career decision-making self-efficacy in students from low-income homes.
 * 3) Students from low-income families with positive peer and sibling support demonstrated higher vocational and educational self-efficacy beliefs.
 * 4) Higher levels of parental support led to higher math and science career self-efficacy in a diverse group of students.
 * 1) Used to assess early adolescents' self-efficacy beliefs regarding college attendance and completion.
 * 2) Can be used to assess individual student needs and prepare individualized career planning.
 * 3) Can help identify students who may have a lower expectation about ability to attend and succeed in college.
 * 4) Can help school counselors identify those students who would benefit from interventions aimed at raising overall college-going self-efficacy.
 * 5) Individual items on the scale may alert counselors to specific student beliefs that need to be explored further.

Impact of a Career Intervention on At-Risk Middle School Students' Career Maturity Levels, Academic Achievement, and Self-Esteem
This article discusses the importance of beginning career interventions at the elementary or middle school level in order to be effective, as many at-risk students are well on their way to dropping out of the educational system by the high school years (Cairns, Cairns, & Neckham, 1989). Many men and women who have not obtained a high school diploma enter the labor force without the necessary skills required for success, therefore leading to a higher rate of unemployment for this population in comparison to high school graduates. The authors discussed a study they conducted in which they randomly chose sixth and seventh graders from Baltimore County in danger of failing the academic school year. The researchers split the participants into an experimental group and a control group, and implemented a career counseling program for the experimental group. The students in this group were asked to complete a career exploration inventory, in which they determined their likes and dislikes and focused on the top three career scores. They then learned about various career paths and occupations, and finally were given the opportunity to research the skills, education, and training needed to qualify for certain occupations. Participants in this group also practiced interviewing techniques and were educated on filling out applications and creating resumes. Although not statistically significant, the study found that twice as many participants in the experimental group increased their career awareness and competency levels compared to the control group. The authors attributed this lack of significance to the short duration of the study, as some at-risk students may require involvement in longer career programs in order to have an effect. A greater percentage of students from the experimental group increased their grades, thus relating to higher levels of achievement and motivation. Also, 8 out of the 10 teachers that were interviewed felt a favorable difference in regards to student motivation, participation in the classroom, and willingness to accept a bigger workload for the students in the experimental group.

Legum, H. L., & Hoare, C. H. ((2004). Impact of a career intervention on at-risk middle school students’ career maturity levels, academic achievement, and self-esteem. //Professional School Counseling, 8// (2), pp 148-155.



Here are the first 10 pages from: //Career Guidance and Counseling Through the Lifespan: Systematic Approaches// Sixth Edition Edwin L. Herr Stanley H. Cramer Spencer G. Niles 2004 Pearson Education, Inc., Boston

Here are the next 10 pages from: //Career Guidance and Counseling Through the Lifespan: Systematic Approaches// Sixth Edition



Here are the last bit of pages from: //Career Guidance and Counseling Through the Lifespan: Systematic Approaches// Sixth Edition

Debi Schmidt-Article #4 Review Pennsylvania State Standards for Career Development for 8th Grade
 * The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania now has state mandates for career education for middle school students, which all school counselors must follow.
 * Students must be taught career awareness and preparation, which must include making each student aware of their own abilities, skills, and interests and introducing students to non-traditional jobs.
 * Students must be taught how to obtain and keep a job, including interviewing skills.
 * Students must be taught good work habits, such as time management, honesty, and teamwork.
 * Students must be taught a lesson on entrepreneurship.
 * Counselors are advised to engage students in activities such as job shadowing, summer career camps, career days or speakers incorporated within classroom subjects, career role play games, curriculum use, and development of the career portfolio.
 * This chart provides a list of resources for school counselors to teach these skills.

Debi Schmidt-Article #5 Review Indiana Department of Education Career Priorities Lesson Plan
 * The goal of this lesson plan is for students to develop realistic ideas about the world of work.
 * The Counselor lists the following words on the board: salary, prestige of job, physical requirements, travel required, education needed, job location, work hours, and job satisfaction.
 * Students then rank the above characteristics according to their importance to them.
 * Counselor asks students to split into groups according to their number one job choice. They discuss in small groups why they picked that characteristic.
 * Counselor leads class discussion on why certain characteristics may be more important than others.
 * Students fill out Reality Check worksheet where they have to write the cost of various goods and how much money they will actually need to make to support themselves.







Career Self-Efficacy and Perceptions of Parent Support in Adolescent Career Development

// Written By: Sherri Turner and Richard T. Lapan // // The Career Development Quarterly // // September 2002 // Stephanie Passaro Article #2
 * The National Career Development Guidelines led career development experts and recommended that professional school counselors attempt to establish student competencies around a few broad areas that include career planning and and occupational explorations.
 * Middle school students tend to develop competency in career planning and exploration and gain confidence in career development tasks. They understand the relationship between learning and work. They understand how to gain the information needed to seek and obtain many different jobs and the actual process of career planning.
 * Little attention has been given to examining the effects of career self-efficacy, career planning/exploration efficacy, and perceptions of parents and the support given to the child regarding career interests of middle school students.
 * SCCT framework is used to examine the relative indirect contribution of parent support to career self-efficacy as a mediator of career interests and the relative direct contributions of two factors (gender and gender-typing of careers to middle school students. Also relative direct contribution of career self-efficacy and career planning.
 * Hypothesis: Proximal supports of gender and career gender-typing, as well as career self-efficacy and career exploration efficacy would predict middle school adolescents’’ career interest across Holland themes. Perceived parent support would directly predict middle school adolescents’ career interest across Holland themes.
 * Participants were 139 seventh and eighth grade students who were distributed equally between grades. Participants were from midsized Midwestern homes.
 * All participants were from two different schools, both schools were from middle class neighborhoods. The participants were recruited by one teacher from each school by asking their career development classes for volunteers.
 * Measures: Mapping Vocational Challenges. Occupational interests, career self-efficacy expectations (confidence to perform career specific tasks) received parent support for pursing an occupation and career gender-typing were measured.
 * Procedure. Participants in the fall semester of the school year engaged in different career planning and exploration activities, such as, labor markets access, work activities, working conditions, educational requirements, salary levels, and occupational outlooks for specific careers.
 * Students then completed two separate career interest inventories and then participated in a one-day job shadowing activity at a local business or factory.
 * Student’s demographic information and tests were completed for experiment requirements.
 * Study did examine the relationships among parent support, career self-efficacy, career planning/exploration efficacy, gender and career gender-typing, and the career interests of middle school students.
 * SCCT results indicate that career self-effect, career planning/exploration efficacy and parent support interactively predicted young adolescent career interests for all Holland type careers.
 * To help increase middle school students career planning/exploration efficacy, it is suggested that professional school counselors assist their students in learning career planning and exploration skills.
 * To assist parents helping their children with career self-efficacy it is recommended that they be given the opportunity to understand more about the different types of careers that will be available to their children.