Education and Career Navigation
The education and career navigation domain includes the personal characteristics, processes, and knowledge that influence individuals as they progress along their education and career paths (Patton & McMahon, 2006; Peterson, Sampson, & Reardon, 1991). Individuals gain adaptive advantages in the present and better education and career outcomes in the future when they have the inclination and know-how to make informed decisions, create achievable plans, and purposefully engage in motivated self-directed actions. Individuals who have an understanding of their own characteristics (interests, for example) and knowledge of the world of work and education, along with a variety of skills related to education and career exploration, decision making, and planning, are likely to have expanded opportunities (Zikic & Klehe, 2006), make decisions that better fit them (Hirschi, 2011; Tsabari, Tziner, & Meir, 2005), increase their motivation to learn and achieve (Bartley & Robitschek, 2000), and experience more positive outcomes in both school and work settings (Greenwood, 2008; Herman, 2010; Schiefele, Krapp, & Winteler, 1992).
Personal journeys through education and career pathways are often filled with challenges and obstacles, making progress difficult and compromise frequent. Students and workers, faced with a myriad of choices and courses of action, can struggle to set a course and navigate a path successfully. Some people end up in satisfying and successful careers on their own, others get assistance (e.g., from an educator or mentor), some may struggle and not make the most of their potential, and all too often many end up making choices that lead to unhappiness or failure. There are similar tasks most individuals complete to navigate education and career paths successfully, such as taking the right high school courses to prepare for college or work, selecting the postsecondary education setting that best meets their needs, exploring and choosing majors, deciding on and pursuing a specific occupation, and changing organizations and occupations during a work career. Many individuals make these choices without knowing the available options or how to make informed decisions and plans. Given the consequences of these decisions, it is critical for individuals to build the knowledge and skills that will help them navigate their education and career tasks effectively.
Many students and job seekers do not have the knowledge, skills, and preparation needed to set personally relevant, informed goals and formulate strategies to achieve them. According to the US Department of Education (2006), almost 90% of twelfth-grade students aspire to attend some form of college after high school, but only 67% of students will actually enroll in college the fall after graduating. This highlights a major discrepancy between what students aspire to and what they actually achieve. Of the 2013 ACT-tested graduating high school students who responded to whether they need help with education or occupation plans, 80% reported needing help (J. Radunzel, ACT personal communication, October 15, 2014). From 25-year-old young adults to graduating twelfth graders to eighth graders facing the transition to high school, individuals overwhelmingly express a desire and a need to have someone to talk to and a planning process they can participate in to help them navigate their education and career journey (Johnson, Rohkind, & Ott, 2011; Lapan, 2004).
According to the American School Counselor Association (2013) and other leading national organizations (e.g., National Association for College Admission Counseling), there are serious and systemic barriers inhibiting individuals from getting the education and career guidance they need and want. For example, with a caseload of more than 400 students to every counselor in US public schools, there are few opportunities for one-on-one personalized career-guidance experiences. Counselors also have extremely limited time to focus on these navigation tasks because they are called upon to help students and their families deal with a wide range of pressing behavioral, mental health, and other life issues, not to mention nonguidance administrative tasks required to help overburdened public schools function (Lapan, 2013). The lack of opportunity to develop navigation-related knowledge and skills during students’ K–12 schooling compromises their education (Whiston, 2002) and follows them into college and work, where they often lack direction or continue to experience stumbling blocks to navigating their pathways effectively.