2023.01 66-3 Career Advancement for Disadvantaged Students: Integrating the Concept of Differentiation into a Peer Support Career Service Program Development and Implementation
Many studies support the idea that the gap in income achievement between high- and low-income families can have direct and indirect influences on children's academic achievement and social opportunities. Considering disadvantaged students' career development pathways, as a result of low economic resources, poor living environment, and poor physical and mental health conditions, disadvantaged students tend to show low selfesteem, autonomy, and control, and experience more helplessness, hesitation, and anxiety about career choices and career adaptation. In addition, for disadvantaged students, economy is often the primary factor of consideration for career choice rather than their "interest." These reasons make it difficult for these students to practice career tasks, or avail necessary social support when encountering career difficulties. Two deficiencies are concluded in disadvantaged students' career dilemma: lack of knowledge about career planning, and not knowing how to plan their own career. From the perspective of social justice, every student, especially those with disadvantaged career development, should have equal opportunities to use career services suitable for them, so as to strengthen their ability to reduce the negative impact of social inequality and develop their own life stories. The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate a peer support career service program for underprivileged youth with career difficulties. This is an action research study that uses both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The career service program has 14 units, including meet and greet, growth review, self-exploration, reading and learning strategies, strengths integration, data search and application, major department and career exploration, goal setting, decision-making, resume production, time management, action plan, and blessings. The design of this study combines the teaching nature of career education with the counseling nature of career guidance. In terms of career education, pre-service teachers play the role of experts who guide and explain the concept and method of career planning, and design teaching plans based on the needs of disadvantaged students to enhance their career planning knowledge. In the guidance aspect, emphasis is placed on personal career obstacles. Pre-service teachers act as catalysts and guides who accompany disadvantaged students in self-exploration and development of career planning skills. This study adopted an amoeba-style design, emphasizing adjusting the proportion and method of career education and career guidance according to the needs and reactions of each student. Working with two non-profit organizations, 25 participants were included in-person in a one-on-one service. The average time for which each participant used the service was 10.76 hours (1 hour per session). The data were analyzed through repeated measures analysis. The results showed significant differences in goal selection, self-evaluation, problem solving, planning, data collection, career self-efficacy, career concern, career curiosity, and career adaptability domains. However, there was no significant difference in career control and career confidence, although there was an improvement. In addition, the results of the follow-up interviews showed that participants held a positive attitude (90.64 on a 0–100 scale) toward the program and considered that the program helped them understand themselves, their department and work, and to find their future direction. In addition, participants also stated that peer support was similar to friend-to-friend support, making it easier for them to build relationships with each other. Research recommendations include promoting and extending the peer support career service mode to more disadvantaged youths, continuing to develop differentiated career service strategies and skills, forming a career service community in cooperation with universities and institutions, exploring the influence of pre-service teachers in helping disadvantaged students in their career planning, and observing the impact on disadvantaged students' future education and employment. In addition, it is also recommended to compare the effectiveness of using peer support career services with that of taking career courses in senior high schools.
Keywords
Career service, differentiation, disadvantaged students, peer support
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