Literature Review #4

Phase-Adequate Engagement at the Post-School Transition

Author, Julia Dietrich

MLA Citation: 

Dietrich, J., Parker, P., Salmela-Aro, K. (2012). Phase-adequate engagement at the post-school transition. Developmental Psychology, 48, 1575- 1593. 

Summary:  This article is about the transition from High School to College or career pathways. The transition presents developmental challenges that are handled differently by every individual. Coping with these challenges differs depending on the individual, their social network and cultural  conditions. Once an adolescent choses a vocation, they must do all necessary tasks to fulfill their goal. How these individuals deal with the necessary steps of completion will determine their post-school transition patterns.

Information About Author: Julia Dietrich, is a research associate at the Institute of Educational Science in the Department of Educational Psychology. Philip D. Parker specializes in Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology at Western Sydney University.

Key Terms:

• Phase-Adequate Engagement: The attempts by the individual to maximize transition benefits and opportunities and to minimize the opportunity cost that are present in the individual's transition. Phase-adequate engagement addresses the question of how people engage in the transition, that is, which goals, strategies, and related identity negotiations they apply and when these behaviors are adequate or inadequate.
• Career Development: a time-specific transition of making career decisions and formulating educational/vocational pathways in relationship to those descisions
• Identity Development: a transition in which an individual explores and commits to a decision and the decision is followed by the identification and evaluation of those commitments
• Developmental Task Theory: When young people are more engaged in their academic domain, they are more likely to actively engage in their career choice.

Quotes:

-"Career adaptability Phase-adequate engagement 15 consists of four facets: (a) becoming aware of the developmental career task and establishing a sense of future orientation (career concern); (b) actively and autonomously making decisions (career control); (c) exploring the self and the world of work as well as the fit between them (career curiosity); and (d) establishing self-efficacy and self-esteem regarding the mastery of the career task (career confidence)" (15).

-"They propose that a process of choosing a career occurs in a series of several phases that range from becoming aware, via generating and reducing possible career options, to being decided and firmly committed" (16).

-"For example, what are the consequences of beginning to engage very late in the transition period? Is it costly to explore in-depth a foreclosed career option without having explored other alternatives?" (27).

-"In mid- and late-adolescence, parents are the most influential persons for youths’ decisions about their future career path. An increasing body of literature demonstrates that the relationships with parents are influential for young people’s developmental regulation and their career development" (29). 

Value: This source is particularly helpful because it discusses the difficulties of transitioning, which many other articles do not. This is a crucial time period in an adolescent's life because they must pick a career path and take all necessary steps to complete the requirements to pursue that career. When students are delayed in this process, it can impact their adult lives greatly by setting them back. The term "phase-adequate engagement" is particularly interesting because it aligns with the idea that a student must complete all necessary tasks completely and efficiently in order to succeed.