Students’ social identity is considered to have profound effects on their learning and academic performance, but there was a lack of research on whether students’ social identity would also influence their aspirations to pursue STEM careers. This research studied the associations between the social identity of students and their aspirations to engage in STEM careers. Nearly 4,000 Hong Kong students from three key learning stages participated in a survey related to their STEM aspirations. Data analysis using multiple regression and structural equation modelling showed that local and national identity were predictive of STEM career aspirations. Moreover, students’ sense of contribution to the nation and local society, as well as the perceived value of STEM professionals were mediators of the impact of their social identity on their STEM career aspirations. The implications provide insights for policymakers and educators to formulate appropriate curricula benefiting students’ social identity development as well as their STEM aspirations. Copyright © 2022 National Institute of Education, Singapore.

Geopolitical changes worldwide, together with rapid advances in technology, have created a situation where an individual's working life can present many new challenges. Helping students develop the attitudes and skills necessary to adapt to constant change along a career path has become a priority in education. Developing this career adaptability is becoming increasingly important to the sustainability of democracy, the economy, justice, human values, and equality. The authors of this paper argue that to improve the quality of our education system in universities, active learning should play a more important role to enrich the typical lecturing-learning processes. The aim of the study reported here was to examine the impact from implementing a 3-month active learning program that took university students beyond the classroom to increase their career adaptability and self-esteem and to strengthen their meaning in life. A mixed-method approach was adopted and conducted in two phases with 119 undergraduate students in human resources management at a university in Hong Kong. Findings suggested a significant improvement in career adaptability of the students after participating in the program when compared to a control group. However, data did not indicate any significant change in self-esteem and meaning in life in the training group. The findings support the valuable role of active learning as a strategy to enhance students' career adaptability in a changing but sustainable world of employment. Copyright ©2021 MDPI.

Purpose This study explores the learning and career motivation of the students who have chosen archival studies as their major in their master's degree programs, which has scant prior research. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a qualitative interview method to investigate the students' opinions and underlying reasons. Nine students from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and University of British Columbia (UBC), both members of the iSchools, were interviewed. Considering the responses and research questions, the authors applied content analysis techniques to summarize data gathering from interviews into five themes to better interpret the meanings behind them. Findings Despite different development stages of archives sectors in Hong Kong and Canada, the learning and career motivation factors of these students from both universities share some similar characteristics and can also be divided into intrinsic factors (such as personal interests, personalities) and extrinsic factors (such as prior working experience, working environment, nature of archives work and development of the archives field). Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors significantly influenced them in choosing archival studies as major in their graduate studies. Practical implications These findings can help educators and professions review and improve the curricula as well as promote the profession to the public and attract more people to pursue their studies in the archives field. Originality/value Scant studies discussed the career development and education motivation of archivists, especially related to Asia. Copyright ©2021 Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.

This study aims at exploring middle teacher leadership practices for social justice in career and life planning (CLP) education as part of the research collaboration developed in the International School Leadership Development Network (ISLDN) in the past decade. We have identified that young people face challenges to their career development in different types of public secondary schools led by various school leaders. Teacher leaders of the education, as informal or formal middle leaders, are responsible for the whole-school programme development, while senior secondary students are participants to be inspired about potential career pathways before graduation. However, allocation of students to different schools according to their academic achievement is a long-standing social justice issue. A framework of inclusivity was adopted for exploration of the teacher leaders' experiences of the issue in leading the education, and diverse young people's experiences of development in different secondary school types in Hong Kong. A qualitative approach was used for capturing the views of three teachers and three groups of students in three school types in answer to the research questions: What challenges facing the whole-school CLP education for different young people are derived from the social justice issue in secondary schooling? How do middle teacher leaders cope with challenges through their leadership practices in socially just CLP education for students in different types of school? What equal development opportunities for younger people's career pathways can be contextualised from the leadership practices in the schools? Although the students' self-understanding and competencies can generally be awakened, different interests and various abilities beyond academic performance are the common key factors of tailor-made CLP education for every student's development by the school types. A long-term commitment to social justice for youth's future pathways is also discussed.

While the short form of career development self-efficacy inventory (SF-CDSEI) has been validated in students with and without special educational needs, the relationships between the five subscales (i.e., Career goal setting, Career planning, vocational training selection, Job hunting preparation and Job hunting) have not yet been adequately explored to inform more effective practices (e.g., intervention development). Based on the Social cognitive career theory (SCCT), this study examined their relationships based on two SCCT-supported models with a new sample of secondary students with SEN(n=218). In model 1, student self-efficacy of career planning (CP) and career goal setting (CGS) were two cognitive-oriented predictors of a general action-oriented self-efficacy factor consisting of job-hunting preparation (JHP), vocational training selection (VTS) and job-hunting behavior (JHB). In model 2, JHP and VTS formed a general factor of job-hunting preparation (G-JHP), while JHB was separated. The results of model 1 showed 95% variance of action-oriented CDSEI could be explained by cognitive-oriented self-efficacy of CP and CGS with CGS was a stronger predictor (β=.60 vs. β=.43). Comparatively, model 2 showed that 90% variance of G-JHP and 87% JHB could be explained by career planning and career goal setting. But as compared to CGS(β=.42), CP (β=.57) was a stronger predictor of JHB. For G-JHP, CGS was a stronger predictor (β=.68) as compared to CP (β=.32). The results are discussed in relation to the SCCT to develop intervention programs for addressing the needs of SEN students in terms of CDSEI. Copyright © 2020 International Conference on Learning and Teaching.

Declining employment prospects of graduates have been reported in the international literature and in Hong Kong. This casts doubts on the ‘employability’ of graduates of an expanding higher education sector. Yet, published patterns and trends of graduate employment outcomes do not tell us much about the contextualised processes that ‘match’ or ‘mismatch’ graduates’ qualifications with ‘appropriate’ graduate jobs. This paper addresses this research gap through examining lived experience and subjectivities of college/university-to-work transition of 10 graduates of self-financing degree-awarding institutions in Hong Kong, which were derived from a study of 40 local young workers in 2018. Drawing upon ‘positioning’ and ‘processual’ perspectives on ‘employability’, this paper sheds light on the nebulous, mutually constituted nature of the skills demanded by employers in workplace. Also, highlighting the tensions discerned in interview narratives, it elucidates the difficulties for graduates to present their skills as ‘directly’ transferable to the workplace. Graduates’ interpretations of (their) ‘employability’ reveal the differential values attached to (‘technical’ vs. ‘non-technical’) skills, (degree vs. sub-degree) qualifications and (self-financing vs. publicly funded) institutions constructed in the specific context of local higher education development. Implications for further research, assessment of higher education functioning and career services are discussed. Copyright © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Policies of career education facilitate the sustainable development of young people in aspirations, identities and pathways of their career development in senior secondary education. In Hong Kong, the policy has been implemented in public schools since 2014. Principals are responsible for leading a whole-school participation in career education for all students. However, student population of individual schools is more diverse than where they were due to a large number of immigrants from different parts of mainland China and other Asian societies. Many principals have experienced the challenges of increasing diversity in schools, if not any opportunity. This paper aims to explore principal leadership for whole-school participation in student career development. Two research questions are asked: What are the challenges of whole-school participation facing the principals in diverse contexts of individual schools? To what extent do students with different cultural, religious and social backgrounds experience the importance of career development in senior secondary education? We adopted a case study of three secondary schools located in different school districts in Hong Kong. The principals were invited to individual semi-structured interview, while 4 to 7 students from each grade of senior secondary education were invited to a focus-group interview in each school. The findings unveil discrepancy of the expected outcomes of the education between the principals’ experiences of the challenges from a leadership perspective and the students’ experiences of any opportunity for their career development from a user perspective. Potential for positive change through the participation in CLP education varies depending on individual students’ awareness, aspiration and exploration of personal career goal. Implications of principal leadership for whole-school participation in career education in relation to equal opportunity for all students are also discussed. Copyright © 2019 UCEA

In Hong Kong, career and life planning education facilitates the sustainable development of people, particularly the youth, in exploring career aspiration, identities and pathways at the stage of secondary education. This paper aims to explore career teachers’ experience in support of career development of students in the school. The teachers need to overcome a challenging dilemma between the school structure and limited resources. Improvement of the policy of career and life development education are also discussed. Copyright © 2019 APCDA.