International Career Studies Symposium
International Career Studies Symposium
Date: Tuesday 22-Wednesday 23 September 2009
Location: Palmer Building, Whiteknights Campus,University of Reading
Cost: Free
The interdisciplinary field of career studies focuses on researching and understanding the different ways in which people experience career and working life. The term 'Career Studies' has been used by several international researchers to overcome traditional boundaries between psychological, sociological, organisational and educational approaches to career, and has led to transdisciplinary research in this field (for example, Arthur et al. (1989), Collin and Young (2000), Gunz and Peiperl (2007), Inkson (2007)). In the UK, Phil McCash (2008) has specifically linked this research with teaching and learning in higher education, arguing that Career Studies provides a space in the curriculum for students to consider the ideas and beliefs of self and others concerning career, labour markets, and employability.
In September 2009, the Centre for Career Management Skills and the Career Studies Unit at the University of Reading hosted an international symposium to explore Career Studies and its current and future influence on career education courses in higher education and beyond.
The symposium was addressed by internationally renowned researchers in the fields of career and higher education, and workshops illustrated the teaching of Career Studies in practice. The keynote speakers were:
Michael Arthur
Michael Arthur is Professor of Management at Suffolk University, Boston, MA, USA. The Handbook of Career Theory (co-edited 1989) revolutionised the field of Career Studies by embracing transdisciplinary perspectives from management through to socio-linguistics. His current work continues to engender 'better conversations' between the different disciplines in this field. In 2006, he was awarded the Academy of Management's Everett C. Hughes Award for lifetime contribution in the field of Career Studies.
Ronald Barnett
Ronald Barnett is Professor Emeritus of Higher Education at the Institute of Education, London. His main interests lie in understanding higher education and 'the university' as educational projects in the contemporary age. Recent publications include Engaging the Curriculum in Higher Education (with Kelly Coate, 2005) and A Will to Learn: Being a Student in an Age of Uncertainty (2007).
Mark Savickas
Mark Savickas is Professor and Chair in the Behavioural Sciences Department at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and the Adjunct Professor of Counsellor Education at Kent State University. He has published widely in the field including the Handbook of Career Counseling (co-edited 1996). His most recent work has focused on the theory of career construction.
Audrey Collin
Audrey Collin has also published widely in this field including Interpreting Career (co-edited 1992) and the Future of Career (co-edited 2000). In 1998 she was awarded a professorship in Career Studies by De Montfort University, one of the first such chairs in the UK.
Kerr Inkson
Kerr Inkson is Professor of Management at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and since the early 1990s his research has focused on careers. His many publications include The New Careers (coauthored 1999) and Understanding Careers: the Metaphors of Working Lives (2007). This latter publication has been described as an ideal text for undergraduate and graduate courses in career development.
This was a unique opportunity for dialogue between researchers and educators in the field of career.
References
Arthur, M.B., Hall, D.T. and Lawrence, B.S. (eds.) (1989). Handbook of Career Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Arthur, M.B., Inkson, K. and Pringle, J.K. (1999). The New Careers: Individual Action and Economic Change. London: Sage.
Barnett, R. (2007) A Will to Learn: Being a Student in an Age of Uncertainty. Maidenhead: Open University Press/SRHE.
Barnett, R. and Coate, K. (2005) Engaging the Curriculum in Higher Education. Maidenhead: Open University Press/SRHE.
Collin, A. and Young, R.A. (eds.) (2000). The Future of Career. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gunz, H. and Peiperl, P. (eds.) (2007). Handbook of Career Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Inkson, K. (2007). Understanding Careers: the Metaphors of Working Lives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
McCash, P. (2008). Career Studies Handbook: Career Development Learning in Practice. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/publications/learningandemployability (accessed 26 January 2009).
Savickas, M.L. and Walsh, W.B. (eds.) (1996). Handbook of Career Counseling Theory and Practice. Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black.
Young, R.A. and Collin, A. (eds.) (1992). Interpreting Career: Hermeneutical Studies of Lives in Context. Westport, CT: Praeger.