Lee-Ann Prideaux

Career Maturity, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Career Indecision: A Review of the Accrued Evidence

This paper reviews the recent literature on the three related career developmental constructs of career maturity, career decision-making self-efficacy and career indecision. Articles included are those published since 1990, and were generated by searching the relevant psychology and education databases. Criticisms of the usefulness and validity of the constructs are highlighted. In particular, there have been calls for the career maturity and career indecision constructs to be revised and widened. The strengths and weaknesses of the research methodology used in the three areas are also examined, and recommendations for future research are made. In all areas there is a clear need for longitudinal designs to examine these developmental constructs.

A review of career development research in Australia and New Zealand from 1995-2000

This paper provides a review of career development research studies publishedin Australia and New Zealand between 1995 and2000. The review has grouped the literatureaccording to the categories of careerdevelopment theory, career developmentconstructs, career-related decision-making,gender, cultural comparisons, career programsfor children and training programs for adults.These groupings were created to correspond withthe main focus of each study.

A review of career interventions from an educational perspective: Have investigations shed any light?

Despite widespread acknowledgement of the importance of career development programs to assist students in their complex transition from school to work, very few specific career education interventions have been objectively evaluated. The aim of this paper is to highlight what the authors consider to be a conspicuous shortfall in the career development literature to date, that is, reports of methodologically sound career intervention studies carried out in actual high school settings. International trends in the world of work are briefly discussed in association with the repercussions these changes are producing for todays youth. The major portion of this article is devoted to a comprehensive review of career intervention studies with particular attention paid to the methodological and theoretical issues that resonate from this review process. Recommendations for future research are proposed.

Efficacy of the cellfield Intervention for reading difficulties: An integrated computer‐based approach targeting deficits associated with dyslexia

Abstract Despite contemporary research on dyslexia moving toward multi‐deficit hypotheses, intervention studies tend to focus on specific causal mechanisms. The Cellfield Intervention, which involves computer‐based activities designed to remediate multiple deficits concurrently, is evaluated in the present paper. Participants were 262 Australian school children (187 males, 75 females; mean age 11.05) who undertook the ten intervention sessions at the Cellfield Clinic in 26 mean days between pre‐ and post‐ test, during a 24 month period. Pre‐ and post‐intervention data were collected using the Wide Range Achievement Test, the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests ‐ Revised, the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability, and ocular assessments. Significant gains (p < .05) were made in all three sets of dependent measures analyzed (i.e., reading‐related skills, oral reading proficiency, and ocular measures) providing some support for the efficacy of an integrated approach to the treatment of reading difficulties.

Career Theory Building in AJCD during its Inaugural 10 Years

This paper reviews the inaugural 10 volumes of the Australian Journal of Career Development to examine the journals contribution to the advancement of career development theory. Twenty-six articles that met sound scientific methodological and reporting criteria were selected for review. These articles were strongly represented by cross-sectional analyses, and included survey, qualitative and combination designs. There was a clear preference for Hollands model; studies examining gender differences were strongly represented; and there was a focus on career counselling and guidance research. The authors call for a more Australian-centred research agenda, including one related to indigenous and ethnic minorities.