مجله علوم روانشناختی (Jul 2023)
The effectiveness of career intervention on children\'s career development
Abstract
Background: Career interventions include preparing the career for children, including equipping them with the skills, education, and experiences necessary to pursue the goals of the career. Starting this process early is essential because it can help children identify their interests and strengths, set goals, and decide on their future career. Despite the importance of career interventions on career development, there is a research gap in this field regarding children. Aims: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of career intervention on children's career development. Methods: The current research design was a semi-experimental, pre-test - post-test type with a control group. The statistical population of the research included all male students of the third grade of primary school in the city of Isfahan in the academic year 2022-2023. The statistical sample included 30 people who were selected by cluster-random sampling method and randomly replaced in two groups of 15 people. Intervention sessions based on travel in the world of profession and work (Prideaux et al., 2000) were conducted in 10 sessions of 120 minutes for the participants of the experimental group, but no intervention was conducted for the members of the control group. To collect data, childhood career development scale (Schultheiss & Stead, 2004) was used, and for data analysis, multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and SPSS26 software were used. Results: The findings of the research showed that career intervention is effective on children's career progress. Covariance analysis of scores of information, curiosity/exploration, sources of control, key figures, time perspective and planning in the studied groups showed that there is a significant difference between the groups (P<0.05), that is, career intervention can Improve the grades of experimental group students. Also, the covariance analysis of interest and self-concept scores in the studied groups showed that there is no significant difference between the groups (P<0.05), which means that the career intervention could not increase the scores of the experimental group participants. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it seems that career interventions, by increasing self-awareness, career knowledge and decision-making skills, have been effective in helping children's career development. These interventions also enable children to explore different career options and make informed decisions about their career paths.
