Group & classroom

About

This section describes some research studies into career interventions held with groups, either in classrooms or online.

In providing some key papers that provide insights into effective practices in this area, we have noted the particular insights that they might provide.

Research can evaluate interventions at different levels of granularity when assessing effectiveness: either a) within the context of a wider system or process, b) as a "black box" - to be compared with other "black boxes", c) or looking at the various design decisions within the intervention to examine their implications for the client. All likely merit consideration when evaluating practices.

As well as publications showing effective tactics for this type of career intervention, we have included several resources form other media, including talks, interviews and case studies. These may not be “academically'' rigorous, but can provoke reflection and understanding of further perspectives.

Key learning highlights

Some of the key points that offer indicators on the state of research in this area include the following:

• Research into group based career interventions are now decades old, with early studies providing guidance on success factors (e.g. Brown and Krane, 2000).

• Up until relatively recent times, however, group career coaching was seen as a “support activity” and lacked a pedagogical approach (Meldrum, 2021). However, Meldrum (2017) proposed a group career coaching model to address the gap grounded in psychodynamic group theory.

• Structured sessions seem to out-perform non structured sessions (Whiston and Brecheisen, 2003).

• Unique quality considerations exist in group based career interventions, such as acknowledgement of timescales required to build mutual support (Hawthorne, 2012).

• Preparation stages are also critical when coaching in organizational settings (e.g. O’Connor et al, 2017)

• Group based exercises have been shown effecting through the mechanism where participants can draw on each other for mutual support, to the ends of reducing career decision-making difficulties. (Maree and Di Fabio, 2012)

• Wider studies into group counselling than in careers shows the particular capability of group work to improve communication skills and improve the positivity of the emotions of participants (Yusop et al, 2020)

• Workshops that combine taught content and group work can be effective in schools for developing career clarity. (Gashi et al, 2022)

• Group interventions can influence people differently based on their identity traits. (Maree, 2022)