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Online Career Guidance: Does Knowledge Equate to Power for High School Students?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2017

Natal'ya Galliott
Natal'ya Galliott*
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Natal'ya Galliott (nee Shcherbak), Department of Education, Macquarie University, Room 807, Building C3A, Macquarie UniversityNSW 2109, Australia. Email: natalya.shcherbak@gmail.com
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Abstract

The provision of online career information and guidance is becoming more popular among career counselling practitioners and policy makers targeting the postschool transitions of youth. Internet-based career exploration and guidance systems provide convenience and economy to both individuals confronted with career decision making as well as those assisting them in the process. However, the usefulness of these systems in improving the career uncertainty of young people is under-researched. This article presents the results of a cross-sectional survey conducted with high school students in Years 9–12 (N = 706) from 12 schools in New South Wales, Australia. Analyses reveal that: the majority of students are unaware of the online career guidance services targeted towards them; the personal characteristics, school type, and sector of participants differed between websites recalled; and that there are no significant relations between listed web resources and students’ career certainty. The article concludes with implications for career counselling practitioners and policy makers.

Keywords

vocational psychologycomputer-assisted career assessmentinternet-based career guidancehigh school studentsAustralia
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , December 2017 , pp. 190 - 207
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017 

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