Building community bonds,bridges, and linkages to promote the career readiness of high school students in the United States

The career readiness of high school students has been a longstanding issue that has received renewed attention in recent years. To document an approach to promoting career readiness in the United States, we conducted an exploratory case study of a distinguished information technology career academy. Using the premises of capital building as a frame of reference, we found a community who viewed career readiness as a form of investment in human capital development. As such, a network of business partners collaborated with academy staff in providing school- and work-based learning opportunities for academy students. This approach was complemented by an emphasis on the development of social capital with social bonds, bridges, and linkages in place to sustain the network identity and development.     

Conceptualising institutional support for early,mid, and later career teachers

In this paper we argue that institutions need to support early career teachers to learn to teach in much the same way that students who are new to higher education are supported: through integrated and intentionally designed transition strategies. We take a published student transition typology and adapt it to identify ways of supporting early career teachers. We argue that strategies within each conception of our adapted typology are necessary to support a diverse cohort of higher education teachers, not only those who begin teaching each year, but those who are in their mid and later careers.     

I want to be a scientist/a teacher: students' perceptions of career decision-making in gender-typed,non-traditional areas of work

The study examines the career decision-making of Swiss academic high school students opting for a career in a non-traditional, gender-typed area of work during the transition to higher education. Based on a longitudinal study, a qualitative study with 11 female students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and 13 male student teachers was conducted in order to analyse their perceptions of the career decision-making process. They felt supported by their parents and teachers. Women showed a strong sense of identity as future scientists without mentioning specific career goals. Men, by contrast, referred to job security-related considerations and emphasised the importance of role models for their choice. Female students emphasised their status of being ‘unique in a men's world' whereas male student teachers highlighted the role of ‘masculinity in the classroom'.