Person- and System-Focused Prevention in Preparing Youth to Navigate an Uncertain Work Future

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the integration of prevention science and vocational psychology for person- and system-focused prevention with a critical social justice agenda. More specifically, we focus on career development education as a potentially transformative primary prevention activity for increasing youth access to decent work and lives of well-being. We consider this as a critical agenda for two reasons. First, there are continued declines in the availability of decent work on a global level. In addition, youth who are marginalized by society are particularly vulnerable in competing for access to such dwindling opportunities and in thriving in communities and workplaces characterized by oppressive policies and practices. Building upon previous work in prevention and vocational psychology from a social justice perspective, we suggest that the psychology of working theory (PWT) can serve as a conceptual framework for developing and evaluating person- and system-focused preventive interventions that will address marginalization and seek to prepare all youth for an uncertain and shifting work future.

Applying the Psychology of Working Theory for Understanding Adaptive Career Progress of Youth

“…The models that were examined in this study are derived from those proposed by Duffy et al (2016). Research in vocational and developmental psychology suggests, however, that additional compensatory resources and individual assets may be relevant for high school and college students (Kenny & Tsai, 2020; Pan et al, 2018). Pan et al (2018), for example, found in a study of Chinese university students that internship quality moderated the relationship between proactive personality and career adaptability.…”

Promoting decent work and decent life for all: Preparing the next generation through decent education and career development education

“…Recent research with youth and theoretical elaboration of decent education (Duffy et al, 2022) and the school-to-work transition (Masdonati et al, 2022) from a PWT perspective can inform an expanded view of career education, drawing from and extending the model of career education proposed by Kenny and colleagues (Kenny, Blustein, et al, 2019; Kenny & Tsai, 2020). Decent education affirms the role that education plays in cultivating the academic and vocational skills needed in the workplace and fostering psychological assets that are important for a successful school-to-work transition.…”

“…Recognition of the importance of decent work has led some organizations, such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), to claim that access to decent work is a fundamental human right (ILO, 2013). In recognition of the importance of decent work for well-being across adult life, some scholars (e.g., Kenny & Tsai, 2020) identify preparation for future work as a primary prevention and health promotion activity.…”

Youth Perceptions of Their Futures, Society, and the Work Landscape: A Psychology of Working Perspective

“…PWT has implications for both person-centered career development and systemic intervention (Blustein et al, 2019). At the person level, for example, intervention may seek to foster personal assets such as social support, critical consciousness, and proactive personality; while at the systems level, intervention focuses on implementing structural change that will reduce marginalization and economic constraints (Kenny & Tsai, 2020).…”