The Voices of Career Choices

Is the time honored"career fair" a viable educational tool to support high school students in becoming college and career ready? The research in this study examines this question as it pertains to Career GPS, a large scale career exploration event for thousands of students in Sacramento, California - USA. The theoretical basis for the study is drawn from Bandura's seminal research on Social Cognitive Theory and later work by Lent, Brown and Hackett on Social Cognitive Career Theory. Using a mixed methods, single case study approach, the qualitative portion of the research recorded the stories that exited with high school students and adults after experiencing the event. The quantitative portion of the research utilized a liker-scale survey returned by exhibitors and stakeholder/sponsors at Career GPS to determine how they valued their monetary and personnel time investment in the career fair. Research conclusions support student self-efficacy as a strong focal point for career exploration.

Autorentext

Linda Christopher a plus de trente ans d'expérience en tant qu'enseignante, directrice, administratrice de comté pour des écoles publiques de la maternelle à la terminale, et en tant que directrice exécutive de deux organisations à but non lucratif. Elle est titulaire d'une licence en éducation de l'université Concordia, d'une maîtrise en éducation de l'université d'État de Californie et d'un doctorat en éducation de l'université Drexel.

Klappentext

Is the time honored"career fair" a viable educational tool to support high school students in becoming college and career ready? The research in this study examines this question as it pertains to Career GPS, a large scale career exploration event for thousands of students in Sacramento, California - USA. The theoretical basis for the study is drawn from Bandura's seminal research on Social Cognitive Theory and later work by Lent, Brown and Hackett on Social Cognitive Career Theory. Using a mixed methods, single case study approach, the qualitative portion of the research recorded the stories that exited with high school students and adults after experiencing the event. The quantitative portion of the research utilized a liker-scale survey returned by exhibitors and stakeholder/sponsors at Career GPS to determine how they valued their monetary and personnel time investment in the career fair. Research conclusions support student self-efficacy as a strong focal point for career exploration.