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Entrepreneurship is suggested as a key-mechanism for endogenous growth and social cohesion in modern, knowledge-driven societies and economies. Whether the youth will develop entrepreneurial competencies and initiatives has been considered crucial for economic growth and development and a key-subject of education and career counseling. Despite an increasing body of theoretical and empirical literature which mainly emphasize the formation of entrepreneurial intention and the strengthening of entrepreneurial self-efficacy -usually as a result of some intervention-, the findings show deficiencies or relative ambiguity, in terms of explaining the complex factors (e.g. entrepreneurial mindset, dysfunctional beliefs) associated with entrepreneurial intention and behavior. The present conceptual paper presents a synthetic literature review aiming at a deeper understanding of entrepreneurial intention and behavior. Based on the emergence of new, more explanatory, models to predict entrepreneurial behavior we emphasize how relevant research could approach this topic through the lens of the Socio-Cognitive Career Theory - driven by self-efficacy, outcome expectations and goal-directed activity - given that to date few studies have used this theoretical framework. We also suggest that the traditional entrepreneurial self-efficacy concept is investigated along with a new framework (ASKO) to measure beliefs regarding success of new ventures. ASKO typology traces a variety of different entrepreneurial mindsets within the person-environment dichotomy. Moreover, the potential contribution of dysfunctional career beliefs and locus of control in the formation of entrepreneurial behavior is examined. Career decision process and entrepreneurial career choices are highly complex and entail elements of various theoretical perspectives. The present literature review sheds light to our understanding of entrepreneurial career choices and suggests holistic in-depth research that will provide rich explanatory information on a wide range of behaviors. Finally, the present review provides opportunities to get insights regarding the nature and potential influence of support interventions in the context of entrepreneurship education and career counseling. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, career beliefs, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, ASKO typology, career counseling, entrepreneurship education.

Although robust evidence has been accumulating over the last decades supporting the effectiveness of career counseling in various populations, yet there are scarce conceptual or empirical studies investigating the impact of distinct approaches, such as traditional-“psychometric,” narrative, or a mixed (integrative) one. The primary aim of this paper is to make a contribution in the field, providing a synthetic overview of contemporary research findings regarding the effectiveness of narrative and mixed career counseling approaches with a special focus on university students. The recent trend of utilizing mixed approaches in career assessment and intervention is also emphasized in the article, suggesting they may have a great potential in helping young adults advance meaning-making about career and life design. Finally, a discussion of both benefits and challenges relating to narrative and mixed interventions along with recommendations for extending research in the area of assessing career interventions’ effectiveness for university students is provided.

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.

Contemporary career guidance and counselling approaches with particular interest to subjects which concern the development of career management skills since these skills are considered important means for the active exploration of the vocational course and the development of a career. The development of skills related to career adaptability and self-efficacy in the planning of a career could help students who are finishing Upper-secondary School (Lykeio) to approach creatively their career aims, and to deal effectively with the transitions or unexpected events by applying appropriate actions. The present study employed the survey research strategy in order to examine the level of the career adaptability and self-efficacy in the planning of a career with male and female students (N = 240) of Upper-secondary Schools (General Lykeia - GEL) and Vocational Upper-secondary Schools (Vocational Lykeia - EPAL) in Greece. Specifically, it examined the level of skills which students declare that they possess regarding the type of school, their gender and the educational level of the parents. The finding that the levels of career adaptability differentiated not only as regards the gender of the students but also the studies of the father and the mother has presented particular interest while the students who study at the General Lykeia were found to have higher scores in the areas: “career interest” and “curiosity” in the Career Adapt-abilities Scale (CAAS) compared with students who study at the Vocational Lykeia (EPAL). Finally, the motif of the scores in the B’ Class of Lykeio showed that the students of EPAL excelled in all the skills apart from the factor “career interest” while correspondingly in the C’ class of Lykeio students of the General Lykeio (GEL) excelled in all skill categories. Keywords: upper-secondary school students, self-efficacy, career adaptability, career management, Perceived Self-Efficacy in Career Planning, Career Adapt-Abilities Scale.

Το έργο των επαγγελματικών συμβούλων, σε εποχή κοινωνικο-οικονομικής μεταβλητότητας και αστάθειας στον κόσμο της εργασίας, γίνεται ιδιαίτερα απαιτητικό και μπορεί να εκτείνεται από την ενδυνάμωση ψυχοκοινωνικών πηγών (Σιδηροπούλου-Δημακάκου, Αργυροπούλου, Δρόσος, Καλίρης, & Μικεδάκη, 2014), έως και την υλοποίηση θεραπευτικών παρεμβάσεων για προσωπικά προβλήματα που αλληλεπιδρούν με την επαγγελματική ανάπτυξη (McIlveen, 2015). Επομένως, για να ανταποκρίνονται οι σύμβουλοι στους πολύπλοκους ρόλους και αρμοδιότητές τους με επιτυχία, χρειάζεται να αποκτούν διαρκώς νέες γνώσεις, ειδικές δεξιότητες, όπως επίσης, να διαθέτουν κατάλληλες πεποιθήσεις αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας σχετικά με τις συμβουλευτικές παρεμβάσεις (Καλίρης, Σιδηροπούλου-Δημακάκου, Αργυροπούλου, & Φακιολάς, 2013). Η παρούσα διδακτορική έρευνα στηρίχθηκε στο πλαίσιο της κοινωνιογνωστικής θεωρίας (Bandura, 1997, 2012) και ειδικότερα, στην προσέγγιση σχετικά με τις πηγές πληροφόρησης που διαμορφώνουν τις πεποιθήσεις αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας. Kεντρικός στόχος της έρευνας ήταν η βαθύτερη κατανόηση των πιθανών πηγών-παραγόντων στους οποίους βασίζονται οι επαγγελματικοί σύμβουλοι για να δομήσουν αίσθηση εμπιστοσύνης στις ικανότητές τους. Το τελευταίο χαρακτηριστικό είναι ιδιαίτερα σημαντικό καθώς συνδέεται με την κινητοποίηση και στην αποτελεσματικότητα των συμβούλων (Gilliam, 2012. Wan Jaafar, Mohamed, Bakar, & Ahmad Tarmizi, 2009). Χρησιμοποιήθηκε διερευνητικός ακολουθιακός σχεδιασμός (sequential exploratory design, Creswell, 2009) με δύο κύριες φάσεις. Το περιεχόμενο των θεμάτων, των κωδικών και των αποσπασμάτων λόγου που προήλθαν από την πρώτη ποιοτική (qualitative) φάση καθώς και η σχετική θεωρία, συνδυάστηκαν για να κατασκευαστεί μια νέα Κλίμακα αξιολόγησης των Πηγών Αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας στην Επαγγελματική Συμβουλευτική (ΚΠΑΕΣ). Σε πιλοτική έρευνα (Ν=118) βρέθηκε ότι η ΚΠΑΕΣ διαθέτει ικανοποιητικούς δείκτες αξιοπιστίας και την αναμενόμενη δομή. Mε βάση στατιστικά και εννοιολογικά κριτήρια διατηρήθηκαν 56 ερωτήματα. Στη δεύτερη ποσοτικότροπη (quantitative) φάση, μετά από επανέλεγχο αφαιρέθηκαν εκ νέου ορισμένα εξ αυτών και έτσι, η τελική μορφή αποτελείται από 34 ερωτήματα. Η ΚΠΑΕΣ συνδυάστηκε με την ελληνική τροποποιημένη μορφή της Κλίμακας Αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας στην Επαγγελματική Συμβουλευτική (Ο’Brien, Heppner, Flores, & Bikos, 1997), την Kλίμακα Kύριων Aυτοαξιολογήσεων (Judge, Erez, Bono, & Thoresen, 2003) και αυτοσχέδιο ερωτηματολόγιο ατομικών-δημογραφικών χαρακτηριστικών, που χορηγήθηκαν τόσο σε στελέχη (Ν=219) όσο και σε μεταπτυχιακούς φοιτητές επαγγελματικής συμβουλευτικής και προσανατολισμού (Ν=31). Τα αποτελέσματα επιβεβαίωσαν εμπειρικά, σε μεγάλο βαθμό, τις θεωρητικές θέσεις σχετικά με τις θεμελιώδεις πηγές πληροφόρησης που διαμορφώνουν την αυτοαποτελεσματικότητα (Bandura, 1997, 2005, 2012). Συγκεκριμένα, βρέθηκε ότι, οι σύμβουλοι τείνουν να βασίζονται σε μεγαλύτερο βαθμό στην «προηγούμενη συναφή εμπειρία» συγκριτικά με τους εκπαιδευόμενους, ενώ οι εκπαιδευόμενοι, βασίζονταν περισσότερο, συγκριτικά με τους συμβούλους, στις εμπειρίες «καθοδήγησης και εποπτείας» και στην «επιβεβαίωση μέσω της ανατροφοδότησης από συναδέλφους». Τα αποτελέσματα ανάλυσης προφίλ επαναλαμβανόμενων μετρήσεων (profile analysis with repeated measures) έδειξαν ότι τα μοτίβα των βαθμολογιών που σημείωσαν οι σύμβουλοι και οι εκπαιδευόμενοι στις πηγές διαμόρφωσης των πεποιθήσεων αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας διαφέρουν σημαντικά μεταξύ τους και δεν κινούνται με παράλληλο τρόπο. Ωστόσο, και οι δύο ομάδες συμμετεχόντων σημείωσαν υψηλές βαθμολογίες (άνω του 3,50) σε διαστάσεις που σχετίζονταν με την αποκτηθείσα εμπειρία, την εκπαίδευση, τις επαναλαμβανόμενες επιτυχίες και την ανατροφοδότηση από τους πελάτες. Οι διαστάσεις αυτές συνδέονταν θετικά με την αυτοαποτελεσματικότητα και στα δύο δείγματα. Τέλος, ανάλυση πολλαπλής παλινδρόμησης έδειξε ότι η πολλαπλή συσχέτιση της «διάρκειας προϋπηρεσίας», των «κύριων αυτοαξιολογήσεων/θετικής αυτοαντίληψης» και της «συνεχούς κατάρτισης σε νέες μεθόδους, προσεγγίσεις και τεχνικές» εξηγεί το 34% της διασποράς των τιμών αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας στην επαγγελματική συμβουλευτική. Τα ευρήματα συζητούνται υπό το πρίσμα της σημασίας τους για την αποτελεσματικότητα του συμβουλευτικού έργου, την αυτοαξιολόγηση και το σχεδιασμό προγραμμάτων κατάρτισης των επαγγελματικών συμβούλων. Λέξεις-κλειδιά: πεποιθήσεις αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας στην άσκηση επαγγελματικής συμβουλευτικής, Κλίμακα Πηγών Αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας στην Επαγγελματική Συμβουλευτική (ΚΠΑΕΣ), πηγές διαμόρφωσης της αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας, εκπαίδευση επαγγελματικών συμβούλων Due to today’s socio-economic variability and turbulence in the word of work career counselors’ work has become quite demanding. The professional roles practitioners have been undertaking range from strengthening individuals’ psychosocial resources (Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, Argyropoulou, Drosos, Kaliris, & Mikedaki, 2014) to delivering therapeutical interventions for the management of personal issues which interact with career development (McIlveen, 2015). Therefore, career counselors need to constantly acquire fresh knowledge, special skills, and have the appropriate level of self-efficacy beliefs in order to address effectively their complex roles and tasks (Kaliris, Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, Argyropoulou, & Fakiolas, 2013). This doctoral dissertation lied upon the Sociocognitive Theory framework (Bandura, 1997, 2012) and especially, on its facet that relates to the self-efficacy formation resources. Central aim of the research was to gain a deeper understanding of the possible sources-factors on which career counselors rely on to construct a sense of confidence in their skills. In essence, career counseling self-efficacy beliefs are of vital importance as they are associated with higher levels of motivation and performance in counseling (Gilliam, 2012; Wan Jaafar, Mohamed, Bakar, & Ahmad Tarmizi, 2009). A mixed methods sequential exploratory design (Creswell, 2009) was implemented to serve the scope of this research endeavor, consisting of two main phases. The themes, the codes, and the excerpts generated from the first qualitative phase were combined with the relevant theory in order to develop a new scale for assessing sources of career counseling self-efficacy beliefs (SCCSE). In a pilot study with 118 career counselors, SCCSE demonstrated satisfying internal consistency coefficients (α) and the expected structure, as well. Based on statistical and conceptual criteria 56 items were retained. In the second, quantitative phase, after some retests, additional items were detracted with the final form consisting of 34 questions. The SCCSE, a modified Greek form of the Career Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale (Ο’Brien, Heppner, Flores, & Bikos, 1997), the Core Self-Evaluations Scale (Judge, Erez, Bono, & Thoresen, 2003) and an improvised questionnaire of demographics, were administered to 219 career counselors working at various agencies and offices (e.g. Liaison Offices, Public Employment Services, Career Guidance and Counseling Centers etc.), as well as 31 postgraduate students in career guidance and counseling. The findings of the study are to a high extent consistent with those of previous related research, while they also empirically confirmed the theoretical views about the informational sources which may formulate self-efficacy beliefs (Bandura, 1997, 2005, 2012) in both samples. In particular, it was found that, according to their scores, career counselors tend to rely more than trainees on “previous relevant experience” while trainees were based more than career counselors on “experiences of supervision 6 and mentoring” and on “feedback received by colleagues”. The results of a profile analysis with repeated measures showed that the score patterns of counselors and trainees with regard to the various sources of career counseling self-efficacy beliefs differ significantly with each other and are not shaped in a parallel manner. Nevertheless, the participants as a whole, reported high scores (above 3,5) in dimensions associated with past career counseling experience, received training, repeated successes in counseling services, and feedback received by clients. The aforementioned dimensions were also positively correlated with scores of self-efficacy beliefs. Finally, a multiple regression analysis revealed that multiple correlation among “length of past experience in career guidance and counseling”, “core self-evaluations (or positive self-concept)”, and “constant training in new career counseling methods, approaches, and techniques” could account for 34% of the variance at practitioners’ self-efficacy scores. The importance of these results is discussed in relation to the career counseling effectiveness, professionals’ self-evaluation practices and designing of career counseling training programs. Key words: career counseling self-efficacy beliefs, Sources of Career Counseling Self-Efficacy scale (SCCSE), self-efficacy informational resources, career counselor training.

When adolescents face times of crisis, two key resources are determinant for their personal and professional development: career adaptability and courage. Career adaptability is vital to increase adolescents’ ability to accept and handle the uncertainty and ambiguity of the world of work, whereas courage is crucial in this current period of historic change, as it seems to be a key resource for career decision-making in relation to perceived future risks. After a review of international research on these two dimensions, we present a cross-cultural study on the predictive role of career adaptability and courage among French, Greek, and Italian adolescents. Finally, we provide specific suggestions for career counseling and guidance

Based upon substantial research on career adaptability, and on specific cross-cultural validation research of the Career Adapt-abilities Scale (CAAS) (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) we recruited a sample of Greek university students (Ν = 452) in order to test further the Greek form of the scale. Confirmatory Factor Analysis models showed that the four-factor structure was supported for the Greek form, comprising four dimensions: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. The original six items per dimension structure was also maintained. Internal consistency estimates were satisfactory, and test-retest reliability reached acceptable levels. Indications of convergent validity were found as CAAS positively correlated with self-esteem. To further explore for the construct validity of the scale score differences by gender and year of studies were also examined. Overall, the observed differences were found to be in the expected direction. This validity study indicates that CAAS may be safely applied to the Greek students.