Search

The study explored the mediating role of career decision making self-efficacy between optimism and adolescents' career indecision. Using a sample of 153 Greek high school students, it was found that optimism influenced career indecision both directly and indirectly (via career decision making self-efficacy). The findings are discussed with reference to the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) framework. Implications for research and adolescents' career counseling are also discussed.

This study examined the relationships among courage, strategies of coping with career indecision, and future orientation in a sample of high school students. A total of 460 Greek adolescents from provincial cities participated in the study. The results indicated that courage indirectly predicted future orientation through productive coping strategies. The main conclusion refers to the fact that specific interventions could promote productive coping strategies and courage, which in turn, may foster the future orientation of adolescents to construct multiple positive occupational pathways, coping with various career and life decisions and, overall, orient themselves positively toward the future.

The present study aims at investigating career decision-making process of 6th grade students with the use of the Childhood Career Decision-Making Questionnaire (CCDMQ). CCDMQ offers scores for the following three decision-making dimensions: (a) "Concerns/fears regarding career future", (b) "Investment ?n decision-making process", and (c) "Knowledge of the World of Work". The study reports the psychometric properties and the results of an exploratory factor analysis of the CCDMQ in a sample of 531 6th grade students in the region of Attica, Greece. The implications for future research and for career guidance are discussed.

The present study aims to examine the relationship of career decision-making difficulties, dysfunctional career thoughts and generalized self-efficacy, as factors involved in the decision-making process for university students. The study also investigates the influence of demographics and individual variables, and examines the predictive power of the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) over the dimensions assessed by the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI). The results revealed statistically significant positive correlations between CDDQ factors (lack of information, inconsistent information, and lack of readiness) and total grade in Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI), decision-making confusion, commitment difficulty and lack of determination. On the other hand, the results show statistically significant negative correlations between all the aforementioned variables and generalized self-efficacy. Moreover, the generalized self-efficacy, as well as the CDDQ factors seemed to be predictors of the lack of determination, decision-making confusion and commitment difficulty. Finally, there is a discussion about the additionality of the CDDQ and CTI Questionnaires and advantages from their common use. Findings are discussed in the terms of the career counseling framework.

The paper investigates the experience of employed higher education graduates in two countries with high rates of graduate unemployment. It examines the employment experience of graduates and their perceptions regarding the contribution of higher education to their employment and career prospects. Qualitative research was used to collect information from 58 university graduates in two Southern European countries, Greece and Cyprus. Respondents provided information on the skills and competencies acquired through higher education and utilised in the world of work. In both countries, modest links were reported between jobs and graduates' field of study, as well as between knowledge and non-knowledge-based competencies acquired through higher education, and the requirements of the graduates' jobs. The findings are used as the basis for suggestions that can enhance graduate employability and contribute to the management of the link between higher education and the labour market.

This article introduces an alternative qualitative research tool: metaphor and drawing, as projections of personality features, to explore underlying concepts and values, thoughts and beliefs, fears and hesitations, aspirations and ambitions of the research subjects. These two projective tools are used to explore Greek state kindergarten head teachers' unwillingness to assume headship post, although they agree that early childhood provision centres must be managed and led by early childhood professionals. The article also provides some hints on the leadership style of the respondents and the major constraints of the kindergarten internal and external environments the subjects have to cope with daily as these emerge from their answers to the research questions.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of intensive interaction during interactive play between a preschool boy with autism and his teacher and, as a consequence, improve the social interaction between the boy and a non-autistic girl in an inclusive class in Greece. A single subject ABA design was applied. Observed variables included changes in the frequency of initiations and responses of the two children. Results indicated significant improvement and post-training maintenance in the social interaction of the two children. Discussion of results in light of known research in autism is highlighted and implications are discussed. (Contains 5 figures and 2 tables.)

The aim of this study was to describe the hexagonal person-environment fit for the Holland personality types for a Greek sample of 156 university students. The statistical analysis followed both exploratory--such as multidimensional scaling--and confirmatory methods--such as covariance structure models. These methods were employed in an exploratory sense, in a descriptive attempt to portray Holland's hexagon structure for this Greek sample. The findings of this study are comparable to the overall theory and other international samples, and also serve as a first psychometric testing of the Self-Directed Search in a Greek population.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the dimensions of career indecision among a sample of Greek high school students (N = 848) and to classify the students of the sample in regard to their career decision status. A second objective is the investigation of the relationship between career decision status groups and generalized self-efficacy, coping strategies, and vocational interests. The results suggest that four factors contribute to career indecision: absence of structure, need for career guidance, diffusion of interests, and personal conflict. The clustering procedure indicates that the students of the sample could be classified in three career indecision cluster groups: decided, exploring possibilities, and undecided. These cluster groups differ in all four career indecision factors, generalized self-efficacy, coping strategies, and vocational interests. Results are discussed in terms of a career counseling framework. (Contains 4 tables.)