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Career information literacy and decision-making behaviours of young people

Doctoral work presented at the iConference doctoral colloquium, March 2021

By Marina Milosheva, PhD student, Edinburgh Napier University

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Presentation outline

1. Overview of the study

2. Gap in knowledge: Career information literacy

3. Gap in knowledge: Information access, use, and evaluation in career decision-making

4. Research questions and methodology

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1. Overview

Title: Career information literacy and decision-making behaviours of young people

Funder: ESRC through the SDS/SGSSS collaborative PhD scheme

Institution: Edinburgh Napier University, Centre for Social Informatics, School of Computing

Supervisory team: Prof Hazel Hall, Dr Peter Robertson, Mr Peter Cruickshank

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1. Overview

Central issue: the role of information in career decision-making

Areas of interest: information literacy, career decision-making, career development learning

Work completed to date:

Literature search
Statement of original contribution to knowledge
Literature review (on-going)

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2. Gap in knowledge: Career information literacy

Career development learning
Career self-management

Gap in knowledge:

Self-management competencies

relating to information access and use

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2. Gap in knowledge: Career information literacy

Workplace IL - organisational settings
Employability IL – specific set of behaviours to become more employable in specific circumstances

Gap in knowledge:

Career IL – lifelong career development learning and career decision-making; career as a project; longitudinal career goals

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3. Gap in knowledge: Information access, use, and evaluation in career decision-making

What is known and not known about the role of information in career development?

Lack of career information; but overlooks context
Career information found in documents; but also in other people
Career information in university populations; but also in under 18s

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3. Gap in knowledge: Information access, use, and evaluation in career decision-making

Irrational career beliefs hinder career decision-making; but career IL might help
Information access and use occur during career exploration; but they also occur during decision-making
Career education is about information provision as part of the curriculum; but there is also self-directed career learning

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4. Research questions and methodology

1. How is career information accessed, used, and evaluated as part of young people’s career development learning?

2. How do young people utilise career information for the purpose of making career decisions about the varied training, education, and work experience opportunities available to them?

3. Which career information literacy skills can be developed in young people for optimal career development learning and career decision-making?