How can we do this? An investigation of power constraints and other barriers to career development practitioners’ innovation in higher education

Authors

  • Holly McLoughlin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4904

Keywords:

Grounded theory, Innovation, Career development profession, Higher education career services

Abstract

This article investigates the factors influencing career development practitioners’ decisions in relation to innovation in a Higher Education context. Drawing on a dissertation research project, it presents an early substantive grounded theory of practitioners ‘Constructing Empowerment’ to overcome power constraints and other barriers to innovation. The article provides an argument that the sector is at a ‘critical juncture’ in which radical ideas can rapidly be implemented, and that a decision-making model to discern good, from bad or ambiguous ideas may be beneficial for maintaining quality standards and healthy professional boundaries.

References

AGCAS, (2021). The resourcing of HE careers services through the pandemic and beyond. The Association of Graduate Career Advisory Services.

AGCAS, (2022). The Student and Graduate Engagement Task Group are Currently Seeking Seven New Members. Retrieved 5 March 2022 from https://www.agcas.org.uk/latest/vacancies-on-student-andgraduate-task-group/274536

Beauchamp, T. L. (1990). The promise of the beneficience model for medical ethics. The Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy, 6, pp.145-155.

Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 3(2) 77-101.

Burke, C. & Christie, F. (2018). Graduate careers in context: research, policy and practice. Routledge.

Capoccia, G. & Kelemen, R. (2007). The Study of Critical Junctures: Theory, Narrative, and Counterfactuals in Historical Institutionalism. World Politics, 59(3), 341-369. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887100020852

Cathedralsgroup.ac.uk (2022). About the Cathedrals Group (CCUC). Retrieved 17 June 2022 from http://cathedralsgroup.ac.uk/

Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory : a practical guide through qualitative analysis. Sage.

Clarke, A. E. (2005). Situational Analysis: Grounded theory after the post modern turn. Sage Publications Inc.

https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.4135/9781412985833

Cypress, B. (2017). Rigor or Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research: Perspectives, Strategies, Reconceptualization, and Recommendations. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing: 7/8, Volume 36, Issue 4, pp253-263

https://doi.org/10.1097/dcc.0000000000000253

Drobnic, J. (2019). The key innovations in career guidance on labour market. Economics Ecology, Socium 3 (2), 12-22.

https://doi.org/10.31520/2616-7107/2019.3.2-2

Egan, G. (1970). Encounter; Group Processes forInterpersonal Growth. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Feltham, C. & Dryden, W. (1993). Dictionary of Counselling, Whurr Publishers.

Geboers, E., Geijsel, F., Admiraal, G., & Ten Dam, G. (2014). Typology of Student Citizenship. European Journal of Education, 49(4), pp.514-528.

Giles, T., De Lacey, S., & Muir-Cochrane, E. (2016). Coding, constant comparisons and core categories: a worked example for novice constructivist grounded theorists, Advances in Nursing Science, 39, p.29-44. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANS.0000000000000109

Glaser B. (1978). Theoretical Sensitivity. The Sociology Press.

Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Aldine Publishing Company.

Grey, M. (2022). Graduate Outcomes: necessity is the mother of invention. WONKHE. Retrieved from

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/graduate-outcomes-necessity-isthe-mother-of-invention/

Green, D. (2017). How Change Happens: A Summary. Oxford University Press.

Guest, D. & King, Z. (2004). Power, Innovation & Problem Solving; Personnel managers’ 3 steps to heaven? Journal of Management Studies, 41:3. Pp401-423 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00438.x

Hasanefendic, S., Birkholz, J. M., Horta, H., & Van Der Sijde, P. (2017). Individuals in action: Bringing about innovation in higher education. European Journal of Higher Education, 7(2), pp.101-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2017.1296367

Hooley, T. (2014a). Career guidance in communities. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 42(1), pp.116-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2013.858557

Hooley, T. (2014b). The Evidence Base on Lifelong Guidance: A guide to key findings for effective policy and practice. University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN).

Hooley, T. (2022). The impact of Covid-19 on career. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 48, pp.3-12. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4802

Hooley, T. & Sultana, R. (2016). Career guidance for social justice. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 36(1), pp.2-11. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.3601

Karp, D. (2009). Learning how to speak of sadness. Pudephatt, A., Shaffir, W., & KleinKnecht, S. Ethnographies revisited: Constructing theory in the field, p.37-47. Routledge.

Kettunen, J. (2021). Career experts’ conceptions of innovation in career development. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-021-09509-9

Lambert, N., Stillman, T. F., & Hicks, J. A. (2013). To Belong Is to Matter: Sense of Belonging Enhances Meaning in Life. Personality & social psychology bulletin, 39(11), pp.1418-1427. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0146167213499186

Liu, C. & Yu, K. (2019). Career adaptability and citizenship outcomes: a moderated mediation model. Career Development International, 24(7), pp.658-671. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1108/CDI-12-2018-0312

Maree, J. (2019). Group Career Construction Counseling: A Mixed-Methods Intervention Study With High School Students. The Career Development Quarterly, 67(1), pp.47-61. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12162

Meldrum, S. (2017). Group guidance - is it time to flock together? Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 38(1), pp.36-43. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.3806

Meldrum, S. (2019). Group Career Coaching - A Critical Pedagogical Approach. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 46(2), 214-225. https://doi.org/10.1080/01933922.2021.1929619

Moore, E. (2022). Transforming careers delivery: Peers on the front line. AGCAS Pheonix Magazine. Issue 164, February 2022, pp. 5-7.

Moore, N. (2021). Should Career Development be a Chartered Profession? Career Matters, 9.4, pp. 30-31.

Mulgan, G. (2016). Good and bad innovation: what kind of theory and practice do we need to distinguish them? Retrieved from https://media.nesta.org.uk/documents/good_and_bad_innovation_by_geoff_mulgan.pdf

Musselin, C. (2018). New Forms of Competition in Higher Education. Socio-Economic Review, Volume 16, Issue 3, July 2018, Pages 657-683. https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwy033

Parcell, E. & Baker, B. (2017). Narrative Analysis. The SAGE Encyclopaedia of Communication Research Methods. SAGE Publications Inc.

Preskill H. & Donaldson, I. (2008). Improving the Evidence Base for Career Development Programs Making Use of the Evaluation Profession and Positive Psychology Movement Article. Advances in Developing Human Resources Volume 10 Issue 1, pp.104-121

Reid, H. & West, L. (2016). Negotiating professional and personal biographies in a liquid world: creating space for reflexive innovation in career counselling. British journal of guidance & counselling, 44(5), pp.562-575.

https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/03069885.2016.1145014

Rogers, C. (1961). On becoming a person: a therapist’s view of psychotherapy. Constable.

Rogers, C. (1970). Carl Rogers on encounter groups. Harper & Row.

Savickas, M. L. (2012). Life design: A paradigm for career intervention in the 21st century. Journal of Counselling

and Development, 90(1), 13-19. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1111/j.1556-6676.2012.00002.x

Stone, G., Bowie, R., Casson, A., Hulbert, S., Benton, M.,Holt, J., James, M., Jarvis, P. McGuire, L., & Podesta, E.

(2018). What really matters about initial teacher education in Cathedrals Group universities and colleges Volume 2: The Case Studies. Canterbury Christ Church University.

Sultana, R.G. (2011). Lifelong guidance, citizen rights and the state: reclaiming the social contract. British journal of guidance & counselling, 39(2), pp.179-186 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/03069885.2010.547055

Taylor, S. (2017). What is innovation? A study of the definitions, academic models and applicability of innovation to an example of social housing in England. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5 (11). pp. 128-146. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2017.511010

Thomsen, R. (2009). Career Guidance In Communities. Narayana Press.

VeneKlasen, L. & Miller, V. (2002). A New Weave of Power, People & Politics: The Action Guide for Advocacy and Citizen Participation. World Neighbors.

Watts, A. (1996). Mapping the Future: Young People and Career Guidance. OECD.

Westergaard, J. (2013). Group work: pleasure or pain? An effective guidance activity or a poor substitute for one-to-one interactions with young people? International journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 13(3), pp.173-186.

Yates, J. & Hirsh, W. (2022). One-to-one career conversations in UK higher education: practical approaches and professional challenges, Journal of Further and Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2022.2072195

Downloads

Published

07-10-2022