Effects of life design counselling on secondary students with career indecision in a resource-constrained community

Figures & data

Table 1. Layout of life design-based intervention stages (adapted from Maree, 2020a, 2020b; Savickas et al., 2009).

Stage	Description and objective	Activities and techniques	Outcomes
1	Problem definition and client goal setting	The primary researcher joined in with participants, co-constructed goals for counselling, and elicited participants’ transition narratives. Pre-intervention assessment was conducted. Participants completed the CAAS and CDDQ and reflected on their objectives	Participants were reminded that they are the sole experts of their own life experiences. Personal meanings were ascribed to prospective future occupations.
2	Exploration of the current system of subjective identity forms Reflection and shaping of the subjective story	Biographical information, family influences, and occupational information (career education) were obtained after the administration of the Career Interest Profile (CIP) (Maree, 2017a) (parts 1 and 2) Career/vocational guidance information was attained on the administration of CIP (parts 3 and 4). Reflection and journal entries were made	Self- and career construction was enhanced as participants completed the CIP. Subjective life stories were narrated to foster a sense of self. Reflection on participants’ unique characteristics happened during the co-construction of life stories.
3	Narrating participants’ stories in an objective and focused manner to open perspectives	Participants were guided to complete drawings and create a lifeline to enhance their narrations. They were encouraged to depict a person or object that symbolized their current and future career decisions. Additionally, participants were instructed to draw a lifeline projecting into the future, specifically five to 10 years ahead, envisioning where they saw themselves and what they envisioned doing during that timeframe. This exercise facilitated a deeper exploration of their long-term goals and provided a tangible visualization of their envisioned future.	Researchers facilitated narration and discussion of subjective identity forms.
4	Placing the problem in a new story to give it a new perspective	Life story writing (including chapter titles of the future life story) Drawing on information from previous steps and activities	Researchers assisted participants in constructing new, respectful career-life stories and making meaning of their stories. Unique strengths were identified. Desired identities were realized and linked to the career decision arrived at.
5	Drawing up a plan of activities to actualize a new identity	Telling the new story and specifying activities that could be realized in concrete action. Interpretation of newly constructed career decision. Participants were provided assistance in establishing and achieving their goals through a self-advising approach. This approach empowered them to guide themselves in defining their objectives and taking the necessary steps to accomplish them. Researchers supported participants in developing the skills and mindset required for effective self-advising, including goal-setting techniques, self-reflection, and self-monitoring.	Steps and actions were taken to enhance career decisions, crystallization, and actualization (Savickas et al., 2009). Participants were encouraged to engage in actions aimed at finding meaning in their studies, recognizing the relevance of their current learning, and persevering in their efforts to achieve success. The researchers facilitated an understanding that the realization of participants’ career decisions would be influenced by their ongoing actions, such as dedicating time to their schoolwork. Participants were encouraged to regulate their learning according to their true potential and maintain sustained effort in tasks such as homework. Additionally, they were guided to actively pursue the careers they had chosen. The participants were informed about the interconnectedness of self-efficacy, self-regulated learning, and the outcomes necessary to achieve their goals. Participants reflected on the effect of their subjective identity forms by considering factors such as contributing to society. Participants were motivated to pursue and undertake the necessary actions required to attain their agreed-upon life goals, which were mutually determined by the participants and the primary researcher.
6	Long-term and short-term follow-up	Concluding with a focus group interview and post-intervention assessment	Summary and reflections on findings. Reflections on participants’ initial goals (stated in stage 1).

Table 2. CAAS pre- and post-test scores for the intervention group.

Subscale	Test	n	Mean (Std Dev)	Median	IQR	p-value	Effect size
Quasi-experimental group
Concern	Pre	17	3.55 (0.73)	3.50	1.17	0.224
	Post	17	3.76 (0.70)	3.67	0.92		0.18
Control	Pre	17	3.57 (0.68)	3.66	0.75	0.091
	Post	17	3.83 (0.53)	3.67	0.50		0.33
Curiosity	Pre	17	3.09 (0.65)	3.00	0.75	0.048*
	Post	17	3.34 (0.52)	3.17	0.75		0.41**
Confidence	Pre	17	3.37 (0.70)	3.50	1.00	0.408
	Post	17	3.33 (0.90)	3.33	1.33		0.06
CAAS total	Pre	17	3.40 (0.47)	3.58	0.88	0.118
	Post	17	3.57 (0.49)	3.58	0.86		0.29

*p < 0.05.

**: Medium effect size.

Table 3. CAAS pre- and post-test scores for the comparison group.

Subscale	Test	n	Mean (Std Dev)	Median	IQR	p-value	Effect size
Comparison group
Concern	Pre	74	3.51 (0.67)	3.58	1.17	0.130
	Post	74	3.62 (0.65)	3.58	1.00		0.13
Control	Pre	74	3.69 (0.68)	3.75	0.90	0.043*
	Post	74	3.52 (0.72)	3.67	0.83		0.20
Curiosity	Pre	74	3.19 (0.72)	3.17	1.08	0.295
	Post	74	3.24 (0.69)	3.33	0.87		0.06
Confidence	Pre	74	3.52 (0.79)	3.67	1.00	0.161
	Post	74	3.47 (0.67)	3.50	0.88		0.12
CAAS total	Pre	74	3.48 (0.56)	3.58	0.76	0.481
	Post	74	3.46 (0.55)	3.56	0.67		0.01

Table 4. CDDQ pre- and post-test scores for the comparison group.

Subscale	Test	n	Mean (Std Dev)	Median	IQR	p-value	Effect size
Comparison group
Rm	Pre	74	4.44 (1.90)	4.50	3.33	0.035*
Ri Rd Readiness Lp Ls Lo La	Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post	74 74 74 74 74 74 74 74 74 74 74 74 74 74 74	3.98 (1.90) 6.37 (1.70) 6.17 (1.90) 6.80 (1.64) 6.32 (1.44) 5.87 (1.27) 5.49 (1.16) 4.99 (2.31) 5.15 (2.23) 4.93 (2.17) 4.94 (2.12) 5.10 (2.03) 5.38 (2.31) 4.59 (2.21) 4.82 (2.30)	4.00 6.33 6.33 7.00 6.70 6.03 5.68 5.00 5.00 4.75 5.00 5.00 5.67 4.50 5.00	3.08 2.33 2.42 2.00 2.25 1.86 1.66 3.67 3.42 3.56 3.50 2.88 3.67 2.75 3.50	0.220 0.009* 0.005* 0.344 0.435 0.201 0.215	0.21 0.09 0.28 0.30 0.05 0.02 0.10 0.09
Lack of Info	Pre	74	4.91 (1.82)	4.88	2.44	0.023*
Iu Ii Ie	Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post	74 74 74 74 74 74 74	5.07 (1.96) 4.86 (1.90) 5.49 (2.09) 4.68 (2.04) 4.88 (1.95) 4.14 (2.33) 4.63 (2.39)	5.12 5.00 6.00 4.90 4.60 4.25 4.50	2.80 2.67 3.17 3.30 3.20 3.13 3.63	0.015* 0.217 0.116	0.23 0.25 0.09 0.14
Incons Info	Pre	74	4.56 (1.64)	4.44	2.30	0.048*
	Post	74	4.99 (1.77)	5.31	2.68		0.19
CDDQ	Pre	74	5.09 (1.31)	5.29	1.89	0.233
	Post	74	5.17 (1.45)	5.33	1.95		0.09

Table 5. CDDQ pre- and post-test scores for the intervention group.

Subscale	Test	n	Mean (Std Dev)	Median	IQR	p-value	Effect size
Intervention group
Rm	Pre	17	3.96 (1.50)	3.67	1.83	0.251
Ri Rd Readiness Lp Ls Lo La	Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post	17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17	3.78 (1.79) 6.26 (1.75) 5.80 (2.03) 6.66 (1.51) 6.70 (1.55) 5.62 (1.22) 5.43 (1.05) 4.90 (2.65) 4.75 (2.30) 4.78 (2.56) 4.27 (1.54) 5.37 (2.44) 4.45 (1.90) 4.62 (1.91) 4.24 (2.01)	3.67 6.33 6.00 7.00 7.00 5.39 5.56 4.33 5.00 3.75 4.25 4.33 5.33 4.50 4.50	2.75 3.00 3.17 2.63 3.13 2.15 1.60 5.00 2.83 4.63 2.38 4.50 3.33 4.00 2.75	0.088 0.472 0.246 0.500 0.478 0.073 0.283	0.16 0.33 0.02 0.17 0.00 0.01 0.35** 0.13
Lack of Info	Pre	17	4.92 (2.10)	4.29	3.63	0.232
Iu Ii Ie	Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post	17 17 17 17 17 17 17	4.42 (1.47) 4.84 (1.94) 5.73 (1.86) 5.28 (1.60) 5.20 (1.77) 4.12 (1.75) 5.03 (2.31)	4.38 4.33 6.00 5.20 5.20 4.00 4.50	2.53 2.33 1.67 2.10 2.50 2.25 3.75	0.112 0.444 0.181	0.18 0.30 0.03 0.22
Incons Info	Pre	17	4.75 (1.31)	4.82	2.37	0.144
	Post	17	5.32 (1.42)	5.20	1.62		0.26
CDDQ	Pre	17	5.07 (1.47)	4.78	2.79	0.491
	Post	17	4.99 (1.13)	4.81	1.53		0.01

Table 6. CAAS post-test scores for intervention and comparison groups.

Subscale	Test	n	Mean (Std Dev)	Median	IQR	p-value	Effect size
Intervention/ Comparison group
Concern	Post	17	3.76 (0.70)	3.67	0.92	.138
	Post	74	3.62 (0.65)	3.58	1.00		0.03
Control	Post	17	3.83 (0.53)	3.67	0.50	.062
	Post	74	3.52 (0.72)	3.67	0.83		0.01
Curiosity	Post	17	3.09 (0.65)	3.00	0.75	.383
	Post	74	3.24 (0.69)	3.33	0.87		0.08
Confidence	Post	17	3.33 (0.90)	3.33	1.33	.337
	Post	74	3.47 (0.67)	3.50	0.88		0.07
CAAS total	Post	17	3.57 (0.49)	3.58	0.86	.274
	Post	74	3.46 (0.55)	3.56	0.67		0.06

Table 7. CDDQ post-test scores for intervention and comparison groups.

Subscale	Test	n	Mean (Std Dev)	Median	IQR	p-value	Effect size
Comparison/ Intervention groups
Rm	Post	74	3.98 (1.90)	4.00	3.08	0.353
Ri Rd Readiness Lp Ls Lo La	Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post	17 74 17 74 17 74 17 74 17 74 17 74 17 74 17	3.78 (1.79) 6.17 (1.90) 5.80 (2.03) 6.32 (1.44) 6.70 (1.55) 5.49 (1.16) 5.43 (1.05) 5.15 (2.23) 4.75 (2.30) 4.94 (2.12) 4.27 (1.54) 5.38 (2.31) 4.45 (1.90) 4.82 (2.30) 4.24 (2.01)	3.67 6.33 6.00 6.71 7.00 5.68 5.56 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.25 5.67 5.33 5.00 4.50	2.75 2.42 3.17 2.25 3.13 1.66 1.60 3.42 2.83 3.50 2.38 3.67 3.33 3.50 2.75	0.221 0.238 0.376 0.303 0.109 0.062 0.248	0.07 0.05 0.05 0.04 0.06 0.02 0.01 0.03
Lack of Info	Post	74	5.07 (1.96)	5.12	2.80	0.093
Iu Ii Ie	Post Post Post Post Post Post Post	17 74 17 74 17 74 17	4.42 (1.47) 5.49 (2.09) 5.73 (1.86) 4.88 (1.95) 5.20 (1.77) 4.63 (2.39) 5.03 (2.31)	4.38 6.00 6.00 4.60 5.20 4.50 4.50	2.53 3.17 1.67 3.20 2.50 3.63 3.75	0.384 0.227 0.285	0.02 0.08 0.05 0.06
Incons Info	Post	74	4.99 (1.77)	5.31	2.68	0.386
	Post	17	5.32 (1.42)	5.20	1.62		0.05
CDDQ	Post	74	5.17 (1.45)	5.33	1.95	0.219
	Post	17	4.99 (1.13)	4.81	1.53		0.05

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