Designing and implementing a STEM career maturity program for prospective counselors
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Karahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-021-00281-4
International Journal of
STEM Education
RESEARCH Open Access
Designing and implementing a STEM
career maturity program for prospective
counselors
Engin Karahan1* , Ahmet Kara2 and Ahmet Oğuz Akçay3
Abstract
Background: Although the importance of directing students to career options in Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics (STEM) fields at early ages has been emphasized in the literature, it has not been clearly stated
just who will play a role in this process and what kind of consultancy process will be followed. It is of great
importance for prospective counselors, who are studying in the field of counseling, to master the career selection
process, specifically for STEM, towards achieving the national goals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to
investigate the career counseling competencies of prospective counselors who were participating in a STEM career
maturity program.
Findings: The current study employed the mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. In this design, after
collecting and analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data, both datasets were then interpreted together. The
quantitative data analysis revealed a significant difference between the post-test mean career counseling and
performance indicator scores of the experimental and the control groups (u = 49.00; P < 0.05). The career
counseling and performance indicator mean rank and sum of mean scores of the students in the experimental
group were higher than those of the students in the control group. The mean career counseling and performance
indicator scores of the students in the experimental group increased after the experimental application (Z = – 3.07;
P < 0.01). Moreover, the effect size was also calculated and determined to be 0.58. As a result of the analysis of
qualitative data, 4 themes were established, comprising (1) personal and professional development, (2) awareness
of the STEM majors and careers, (3) STEM-focused career counseling, and (4) feedback about the program.
Conclusions: This study found that the STEM career maturity program that was designed and implemented herein
resulted in positive impacts on the career counseling competencies and performance indicators of the participants,
as well as their knowledge and awareness of professional STEM areas. Considering the role of school counselors in
supporting students in choosing STEM careers, this newly proposed STEM career maturity program will provide a
strong model for supporting pre-service and in-service school counselors in directing students towards STEM fields,
so as to develop a qualified workforce in STEM fields, which is one of the main objectives of the STEM education
reform.
Keywords: STEM education, Career counseling, Career maturity, Mixed methods
* Correspondence: ekarahan@ogu.edu.tr
1
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Eskisehir Osmangazi University,
Eskisehir, Turkey
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
© The Author(s). 2021 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
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licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain
permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Karahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 2 of 16 Introduction of great importance to direct students towards STEM Adolescence is a stage in the life of an individual when fields in order to increase the number of professionals in they begin a search for identity, which is also one of the STEM professions and careers around the world. On the career development stages (Super, 1980). Adolescents other hand, a shortage of qualified STEM professionals going through this search for identity are within the continues to threaten countries in global competitive- process of realizing their interests, abilities, and values ness (Noonan, 2017). In this regard, most countries de- and they start to develop a perspective in relation to fine STEM education as one of the priority areas at the them. They then use these perspectives that they have national level (Rinn & Kettler, 2020). To illustrate, developed to compare various professions. In addition, STEM working groups have been established to conduct in terms of career development, adolescents begin to studies that emphasize the importance of STEM educa- understand that professions are a part of life. They tion, and the need for a STEM workforce in order to in- form opinions about professions and make decisions crease the innovation capacity, competitiveness, and and choices based on the options presented to them. welfare level of the countries (Turkish Industry and As a result, the most important career development Business Association (TUSIAD), 2017). task expected from adolescents in this period is the The starting point of counseling services is the field of choice of a career. vocational guidance and career counseling. In 1909, the The ultimate goal of choosing a career is for an indi- first career guidance studies were initiated by Parsons vidual to create a future in which they can be happy and the cornerstones of counseling services were estab- (Super, 1980). While creating this future, it is extremely lished. The lifestyles, life roles, self-structures, and inter- important for adolescents to carefully analyze their own personal relationships of individuals are shaped by their personal traits, interests, abilities, values, professional professions (Yesilyaprak, 2011). The profession that an orientation, and career choices. To do so, adolescents individual has is an important factor that forms and de- should be oriented towards choosing a profession, col- fines his or her identity (Herr et al., 2004). Therefore, lecting information, and making plans about the pre- the most crucial role and function of psychological ferred profession, determining the consistency of the counselors at any level of education is to help students professional preferences, crystallizing their professional prepare for their profession and career, create options, identities, and attaining professional independence. At and make decisions. In addition, the modern education this point, the concept of career maturity is important in system aims to train individuals who are productive, the acquisition of the above-mentioned features. Career happy, and able to develop and demonstrate their poten- maturity refers to the psychological, social, and bio- tial at the highest level (Herr et al., 2004). As a result, logical readiness of the adolescent to choose a profession the field of vocational guidance and career counseling is (Super & Knasel, 1981). Therefore, it is the most import- of vital importance in imparting the above-mentioned ant determinant of choosing a career. Individuals need characteristics. At this point, it is extremely important to reach a certain level of maturity when choosing a for prospective counselors to be trained in such a way as profession during adolescence (Super, 1980). Both to equip them with knowledge and skills about the car- theoretical and empirical studies have revealed that eer development tasks involved in the process of prepar- individuals with a high level of career maturity are ing students for career preparation, career orientation, ready for the choice of a profession, while those with career choice, career maturity, and career development. a low level of career maturity may postpone making professional decisions or feel unsuccessful and inad- Literature review equate (Crites, 1969; Super, 1980; Super & Knasel, In modern society, a profession is the sum of activities 1981; Yesilyaprak, 2011). that helps individuals to gain a place, status, and eco- One of the main objectives of a recent global educa- nomic independence, self-actualize, and add meaning to tional reform called Science, Technology, Engineering, their lives (Yesilyaprak, 2011). Clarifying their life roles and Mathematics (STEM) education has been to develop and getting to know themselves and the meanings that a qualified workforce in STEM fields and increase the they attach to their lives are all related to their profes- number of people that have careers in these fields. In sions. Professional orientation is a concept that refers to order to achieve this goal, STEM education has focused the extent to which an individual wants to work in or in- on increasing the number of individuals who develop tends to enter a profession. Professional preference is their STEM skills through experiences such as career defined as the process of an individual putting jobs in and technical education at the K-12 level, gain the ne- order in terms of their desirability or accessibility (Kuz- cessary competencies for STEM professions, and con- gun, 2003). Moreover, the career development task that tinue their professional degrees in one of the STEM is expected from adolescents after career orientation and fields (National Research Council, 2011). Therefore, it is preference is to choose a profession. The main goal of
Karahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 3 of 16
choosing a career is to create a career future where the in- One of the main objectives of STEM education is to
dividual will feel happy, peaceful, and productive (Super, train STEM literate individuals with twenty-first century
1980). Ayas et al. (2010) put forward the factors affecting skills and include these individuals in the STEM
career choice, stating as individual values, emotional fac- workforce (Honey et al., 2014). As defined by the World
tors, type and duration of education, and environmental Economic Forum, twenty-first century skills have 16 di-
pressures. On the other hand, in career counseling, it has mensions, including skills such as scientific and financial
been stated that the most important variable affecting car- literacy, creativity, communication, critical thinking,
eer choice is career maturity (Super, 1980). problem solving, and entrepreneurship (World Eco-
The concept of career maturity emerged from the life- nomic Forum, 2015). Bybee (2013) is another researcher
span, life-space theory that was put forth by Super who put forward STEM literacy as the primary goal of
(1980), who defined career maturity as the level of suc- STEM education. He addressed the characteristics of
cessfully performing career development tasks during STEM literate individuals as being able to identify life
the career development stage, in which a person is in problems; explain natural and designed environments;
parallel with his/her social, biological, and psychological having the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to
development. According to Crites (1969), career matur- produce evidence-based solutions to STEM-related
ity is defined as a career variable that has an affective di- problems; understanding the characteristic features of
mension that is related to attitudes towards the career STEM disciplines, such as knowledge, discovery, and de-
development process, as well as a cognitive dimension sign; being aware of how STEM disciplines affect intel-
including the knowledge that the individual has of the lectual and cultural environments; and being interested
profession and decision-making skills. Savickas (1984) in STEM-related subjects.
defined career maturity as the capacity to have the com-
petencies to perform career development tasks during STEM career
the career development stage of the individual. In Turkey, reports have indicated that the choice to-
Yesilyaprak (2011), on the other hand, described career wards STEM fields of top-ranked students based on
maturity as a psycho-social structure, which includes their university entrance exam scores has decreased over
attitudinal elements such as career maturity, career plan- time (Akgunduz, 2016). In a report published in the
ning in career development, career curiosity, career dis- ASPIRES: Young People’s Science and Career Aspira-
covery, as well as cognitive elements, such as career tions Project in 2013, it was stated that many students
decision-making and obtaining information about the between the ages of 10 and 14 years were not inclined to
profession, which reflect the readiness level of the indi- choose a career in science. In addition, it was stated that
vidual to make a healthy career choice according to most 10–14-year-old students, and even their parents,
these attitudinal and cognitive competences. had a narrow view of where science can go (Archer
et al., 2014). A report issued by TUSIAD (2017), entitled
the “Need for STEM in Turkey towards 2023,” argued
STEM education that a significant number of graduates of STEM-
The concept of STEM education first emerged in the centered fields were employed in fields outside of STEM.
1990s (Kelley & Knowles, 2016). It was created by In the same report, the most important reason for this
combining the initials of the Science, Technology, was said to be the insufficient awareness that the stu-
Engineering, and Mathematics disciplines, and aims to dents had of STEM fields and their lack of knowledge
teach these four disciplines in an integrated manner in about the relationship between these fields and their
the context of real-life problems (Bybee, 2013). The abilities. Moore and Richards (2012) pointed to the im-
most recent education reform based on the integration portance of early intervention in the STEM-focused car-
of different disciplines is the STEM education approach, eer choices of students and emphasized that the
which is based on the adoption of a holistic approach to awareness that students had of their STEM-focused car-
STEM. The basis of this approach is to teach the know- eer choices should be increased.
ledge and skills of these disciplines in a real-world con- With early intervention in the education system,
text with an interdisciplinary and holistic approach, awareness of choosing a STEM-focused career can be in-
rather than teaching the four disciplines independently creased for students by enabling them to choose a career
of each other (Karahan, 2020). Another dimension of consciously (Moore and Richards, 2012). Given that
STEM education is to raise the standards of science and professional tendencies emerge at early ages, it is neces-
mathematics education at the K-12 level and provide sary to determine the interest of the students in STEM
students with higher competence and motivation to- careers at early ages. Middle school years play an
wards STEM (National Academy of Engineering, 2009; important role in career planning (Hirsch et al., 2007).
National Academy of Sciences, 2006). Furthermore, Kier et al. (2014) emphasized that interestKarahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 4 of 16
in STEM fields should begin in middle school years for performance indicator scale pretest and posttest
STEM-focused career choice. However, a study by Spen- mean scores of the control group?
cer (2011) emphasized that many 7th-grade students do e. How do the prospective counselors evaluate the
not know which courses were sufficient or appropriate effectiveness of the STEM career maturity
for engineering. Increasing the awareness of students program?
about the transferability of their science competencies to
these professions in the choice of profession, by empha-
sizing the importance of science, makes students more Theoretical framework
conscious of their career choice (Archer et al., 2014). In The structure of career maturity has been studied
addition, it was emphasized that when the perceptions since Super defined this concept in 1955. Career ma-
of the teachers towards STEM education are high, then turity is a multidimensional psycho-social structure
the perspectives of the students about STEM education that includes both the cognitive and affective dimen-
and STEM-oriented career choices are also high. sions of career development tasks in the career devel-
There are studies in the literature that have shown opment periods of an individual (Super, 1980). It has
that teachers have one of the most critical roles in been described as the degree of professional develop-
directing the interest of students in STEM disciplines ment that an individual has demonstrated from the
and career fields (Ejiwale, 2013; Epstein & Miller, 2011). period of imaginary choices in early childhood until
Although the importance of directing students to career retirement (Crites, 1969), and the ability of an indi-
options in STEM fields at early ages has been empha- vidual to overcome the professional development
sized in the national and international literature, it has tasks of the developmental period (Savickas, 1984). A
not clearly been stated just who will play a role in this career maturity model for adolescents was developed
process and what kind of consultancy process they will by Super (1980). In this model, adolescents are at the
follow. This is one of the primary responsibilities of psy- searching stage of career development. The most im-
chological counselors, vocational guidance, and career portant career development task that adolescents at
counseling services; however, it has not been possible for this stage are expected to do is choose a career. On
them to have the opportunity to gain awareness on this the other hand, there are many factors affecting car-
issue in either the pre-service or in-service training eer choices. The most important of these factors is
processes. Therefore, it is of great importance for pro- career maturity, because it shows the level of pre-
spective counselors, who are studying in the field of paredness towards a career choice. Individuals with a
counseling, to master the career selection process specif- high level of career maturity are ready for the choice
ically for STEM, towards achieving the national goals. of a profession, while individuals with a low level of
The purpose of the current study was to investigate the career maturity may postpone making professional de-
career counseling competencies of prospective coun- cisions or feel unsuccessful and inadequate (Super &
selors who were participating in a STEM career maturity Nevill, 1984).
program. From this perspective, answers to the following Super’s theory of career maturity can be defined as
research questions were sought. the readiness of an individual to deal with the
developmental tasks appropriate for their career stage
1. How do the career counseling competencies of the (Kidd, 2006). A longitudinal career pattern research
prospective counselors participating in a STEM (Super and Overstreet, 1960) led Super (1974) to
career maturity program change? identify six dimensions of career maturity in adoles-
a. Is there a significant difference between the cents. In addition to Super’s (1974) career maturity
career counseling competencies and the dimensions, other researchers have provided various
performance indicator scale pretest mean scores predictors to expand on his theory since its initial in-
of the experimental and control groups? ception. For instance, Crites (1971) argued that mak-
b. Is there a significant difference between the ing career decisions, choosing a job, and using
career counseling competences and the problem solving skills are part of career maturity. In
performance indicator scale posttest mean their longitudinal study, Creed and Patton (2003)
scores of the experimental and control groups? found that age, career decision, and work commit-
c. Is there a significant difference between the ment are also important predictors of career maturity.
career counseling competences and the Finally, adaptation in interpersonal relationships and
performance indicator scale pretest and posttest positive orientation to social norms were found to be
mean scores of the experimental group? important factors in career maturity (Savickas et al.,
d. Is there a significant difference between the 2002). The career maturity model developed by Super
career counseling competences and the (1974) for adolescents is shown in Fig. 1 below.Karahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 5 of 16
Fig. 1 Dimensions of career maturity (Super, 1974)
Theory related to career maturity self-concept is the subjective judgments that a person
Super’s life-span, life-space theory develops against himself/herself (Super, 1980).
Super’s life-span, life-space theory is known as the most
important developmental theory in career counseling. Life-spaces and life-span
Super introduced many concepts to the field of career Super (1980) stated that while structuring their career
counseling. These concepts include career maturity, de- development process, individuals are involved in nine
velopment of self-concept, life spaces and life-span, life roles and four life spaces. These life roles include the
stages of career development, and career development child, student, leisure, citizen, worker, spouse, home-
tasks. These concepts are explained below. maker, parent, and pensioner, while the living spaces
include the home, community, school, and workplace
(Super, 1980). The life space, on the other hand, gives
Self-concept information about the life roles, lifestyles, values, and in-
Self-concept emerges as an important concept in Super’s terests of the individual. Life-span provides information
life-span, life-space theory. According to Super (1980), about career development periods and career develop-
the development of the self-concept and career develop- ment tasks of the individual. As a result, life-span corre-
ment process are similar. On the other hand, career sponds to the process dimension of career development
choice is the expression of self-concept with the name of and life-space corresponds to the content dimension
the profession. In other words, career choice is defined (Super, 1980).
as applying one’s self in the field of the profession. Ac-
cording to Super (1980), there are two types of self in Super’s career development stages and career development
career counseling, which comprise professional identity tasks
and professional self-concept. Professional identity is the Super’s life-span, life-space theory describes the five car-
universal characteristics that are verified by the measur- eer development periods and the career development
ing the tools that the person has objectively. Professional tasks that an individual is expected to do for eachKarahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 6 of 16
period. Super’s career development periods and career Counselling at the Faculty of Education of a public uni-
development tasks (Super, 1980) are given in Table 1. versity in the 2019–2020 academic year. There were a
total of 160 fourth-year students attending this depart-
Method ment. The students were administered the Career
Research model Counselling Competencies and Performance Indicators
The current study employed the mixed-methods sequen- (CCCPI) scale, which was developed by the USA Na-
tial explanatory design (see Fig. 2). In the mixed- tional Career Development Association (NCDA) in
methods sequential explanatory design, first, the quanti- 1997, and the purpose, procedure, and duration of the
tative data were collected. Next, the qualitative data were study were explained to them. When the scores taken
collected to reach more detailed explanations and then from the scale were ordered, a total of 28 students
analyzed. Finally, both the quantitative and qualitative whose scores remained one standard deviation below
datasets were interpreted together (Creswell, 2013). the arithmetic mean were included in the current study.
The quantitative dimension of the current study was The reason for taking one standard deviation below the
conducted using the quasi-experimental pretest-posttest arithmetic mean was to include those who scored lower
design with an experimental and a control group. In the than the CCCPI scale in the study group. Through
qualitative dimension of the study, the phenomeno- group matching of the participants, 14 students were
logical design was used. The phenomenological design assigned to the experimental and control groups. Brown
allowed an in-depth exploration of the meanings and ex- (2004) stated that the number of participants in psy-
periences that the participants had about the choeducational groups is a key consideration, since it
phenomenon (Patton, 2014), as well as how the partici- plays a significant role in deciding how much attention
pants made sense of the concept of STEM career matur- can be devoted to each individual. Therefore, it was de-
ity and what experiences they had about the concept. cided that the number of participants in each group
Finally, the quantitative data collected with the quasi- would be 14. The criteria of inclusion in the current
experimental design and the qualitative data collected study, within the context of the purposive sampling,
with the phenomenological design were interpreted comprised:
together.
1. Being a fourth-year student attending the Depart-
Study group ment of Counselling in the Faculty of Education at
The study group consisted of fourth-year undergraduate a public university in the 2019–2020 academic year,
students who were selected via the purposive sampling 2. Attaining a score from the scale that was one
method from students attending the Department of standard deviation below the arithmetic mean, and
Table 1 Career development periods and career development tasks (Super, 1980)
Career development Age group Development Career tasks Developmental characteristics
periods period
Growth 0–14 years Childhood – Children try out professional roles through fantasy and games.
old They identify with the professional roles of their parents. They
are not realistic when they say that they will choose this profession.
Exploration 15–24 years Adolescence Clarification During this period, adolescents begin to become aware of their
old Determination professional interests, needs, values, abilities, and personality traits.
Application They become more conscious of themselves and try adult roles
consciously. They have clear ideas about the profession. This covers
the period when individuals decide to choose a profession and enter
into business life. Therefore, career maturity is in the center of this
period.
Establishment 25–44 years Emerging a Deciding This is the period when the individual starts his/her working life and
old dulthood/ Reinforcing begins to apply the self-concept in the profession.
adulthood Progressing
Maintenance 45–65 years Adulthood Protecting This is the period when individuals are productive and maintain their
old Updating positions at work. After gaining a certain status in business life, all
Innovation efforts are directed towards retaining and renewing it. There can be
ups and downs, and pauses in their business lives.
Decline (pensioner) 65+ years old Old age Slowing This is the period when the physical and mental abilities of the elderly
Retirement decrease, their interest and energy towards the profession decreases,
plan and retirement plans are made. In this period, individuals act by using
Retirement their past experiences and knowledge rather than their physical strength.Karahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 7 of 16
Fig. 2 Mixed-methods sequential explanatory model adapted from Creswell (2013)
3. Volunteering to participate in the study. The current study was conducted in six sessions. In
addition to these sessions, pre-test measurements were
STEM career maturity program collected from the participants before the experimental
While preparing the STEM career maturity program, the process. Next, the post-test measurements were applied
theoretical views on career maturity and experimental immediately after the last session of the experimental
studies designed for similar purposes in the literature procedure. The application was carried out in a group
were reviewed first (Ayas et al., 2010; Esters & Retallick, counseling room. There was a total of six sessions; each
2013; Karatas & Yavuzer, 2009; Shdaifat, 2019). Next, in session lasted for 90 min and was held between 14.00
line with the purpose of the current study, the psycho- and 15.50 each Thursday. These sessions were carried
education group method was used, which is a group type out by the researchers.
that has educational content, aims to develop skills, and
includes the objectives to be achieved (Brown, 2004). In Data collection tools
these groups, effort was made to increase the knowledge Career counseling competences and performance indicators
of the participants, raise their awareness of themselves, scale
and teach certain skills. Group-based training and devel- In this scale developed by the USA NCDA (1997), there
opment strategies, such as role-playing, problem solving, are a total of 11 competency areas, with indicators of
decision-making, and communication skills, are pre- each area. The scale is a three-point scale (1 = inad-
ferred in psycho-education groups (Brown, 2004). Su- equate, 2 = partially adequate, 3 = adequate). In the
per’s career maturity model was selected as the current study, just three competency areas were ad-
theoretical basis of the STEM career maturity program. dressed. These comprised skills of counseling with an in-
The reason for choosing this theory as the basis was that dividual and a group, individual and group evaluation,
the six-dimensional career maturity model for middle and career information/sources. In the data analysis
school students was first and comprehensively developed process, the total scores from these three competency
by Super (1974); hence, the career maturity program was areas were used. The total score range of the scale (out
prepared by considering those same six dimensions. The of the three dimensions considered) ranged between 27
content of the STEM career maturity program is pre- and 81. Finally, a reliability study was conducted on its
sented in Table 2. own study group using the internal consistency
Table 2 Content of the STEM career maturity program
Sessions Activities Aims Objectives Corresponding dimension
First Introducing Ensure group harmony Collect information about the program -
session and structuring and process
Second Professional Make them realize conscious orientation Realize the importance of being able to Conscious orientation towards
session development towards the choice a STEM profession make STEM career and develop his/her the choice of a STEM profession
meeting about and collect information about STEM knowledge base on STEM professions and collecting information about
STEM professions STEM professions
Third Research about Foster the exploration of a STEM career Investigate the consistency of his/her Consistency of the choice of a
session STEM-centered preference for a STEM profession in terms STEM profession
professions of the fields and levels of professions
Fourth Discover their Foster the exploration of a STEM career Evaluate the suitability of the fields of Clarification of the characteristics
session suitability for STEM professions for self-concepts related to STEM professions
STEM
professions
Fifth Directed Enhance the plan of a STEM career Establish connections between the choice Rationality in the preference for a
session fantasy of a STEM profession and his/her STEM profession
interests, abilities, and the activities that
he/she will be engaged in
Sixth Evaluation Evaluate the process of the program Evaluate the effectiveness of the career -
session maturity programKarahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 8 of 16
coefficient method. The internal consistency coefficient term interactions were capitalized on, while a detailed
was found to be 0.90. description of the characteristics of the participants, ap-
plication process, and data collection and analysis pro-
Focus group interviews cesses was provided in order to improve the external
At the end of the career maturity program, the partici- validity. In addition, the data triangulation method was
pants were divided into groups of five, in line with the followed to control the consistency of both the qualita-
criteria to be determined, and focus group discussions tive and quantitative data.
were held. Focus group interviews are defined as the
process of obtaining in-depth information and producing Results
thoughts through the use of group dynamics between a Quantitative findings
group and the researcher conducting the interview In this section, the descriptive statistics of the pre-test
(Bowling, 2002). Focus group interviews are a qualitative and post-test results of the experimental and control
data collection technique that has been frequently used groups are discussed. Table 3 presents the Mann-
in experimental studies (Krueger & Casey, 2000). The Whitney U pre- and post-test results of the experimental
main purpose of using focus group interviews within the and control groups, as well as the Wilcoxon signed-
context of the current study was to allow the partici- ranks test results for the pre- and post-tests measure-
pants to express their thoughts in a comfortable ments of the experimental and control groups.
environment (Krueger & Casey, 2000) and share their When the pre-test findings presented in Table 3 are
independent and common experiences during the pro- examined, it can be seen that while the mean CCCPI
gram. Thus, through these experiences, what the pro- scale score of the experimental group was 64.85, that of
gram meant for the participants and how effective they the control group was 68.57. On the other hand, when
found it to be were evaluated. the post-test findings are examined, it can be seen that
while the mean CCCPI scale score of the experimental
Data analysis group was 73.21, that of the control group was 68.28.
Quantitative data analysis As presented in Table 4, there was no significant dif-
The pre-test analyses were conducted first. For these ference between the pre-test mean CCCPI scale scores
analyses, the normality assumption for the pretest scores of the experimental and the control groups (U = 87.50,
was tested using the Shapiro-Wilk test, wherein it was P > 0.05). The average rank of the experimental group
found that P = 0.00. This value showed that the data was 13.75, whereas in the control group, it was 15.25.
were not distributed normally. Therefore, the data were This finding showed that before the experimental appli-
analyzed using non-parametric statistical techniques and cation, the experimental and control groups were equal.
in this regard, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to As seen in Table 5, there was a significant difference
determine whether there were significant differences between the post-test mean CCCPI scale scores of the
between the pretest scores and posttest scores of the experimental and control groups (U = 49.00, P < 0.05).
experimental and control groups, while the Wilcoxon The average rank of the experimental group was 18.00,
signed-ranks test was used to determine whether there whereas in the control group, it was 11.00. Moreover,
was a significant difference between the pretest and the CCCPI scale mean rank and sum of mean scores of
posttest measurements of the experimental and the the experimental group were higher than those of the
control group, and the direction of the difference control group. This finding showed that the STEM car-
(Buyukozturk, 2009). eer maturity program was effective in terms of improv-
ing the CCCPI in the experimental group.
Qualitative data analysis Table 6 shows that the mean CCCPI scale scores of
Using an inductive approach, the qualitative data were the experimental group increased after the experimental
analyzed using the content analysis method. The analysis application (Z = – 3.07, P < 0.01). The mean negative
of the qualitative data was carried out in four main pro- rank sign was 1.75, while the mean positive rank sign
cesses, comprising (i) coding the data, (ii) creating the was 8.46. This finding proved that the STEM career
themes (categories), (iii) arranging the codes and themes,
and (iv) defining and interpreting the findings (Corbin & Table 3 Descriptive statistics of the CCCPI scale in the
Strauss, 2015). In the data analysis process, coding was experimental and control groups
performed by the individual researchers, and the ob- Groups Pre-test Post-test
tained results were compared to establish the validity M SD M SD
and reliability of the study. In the qualitative dimension Experimental 64. 85 7.97 73.21 5.29
of the study, in order to improve the internal validity,
Control 68.57 1.97 68.28 6.05
participant confirmation, direct quotations, and long-Karahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 9 of 16
Table 4 Findings obtained from the Mann-Whitney U pre-test Table 6 Findings obtained from the pre- and post-test
in the experimental and control groups. Wilcoxon signed-ranks test in the experimental group
Scale Group N Mean rank Sum of mean U P value Scale Rank sign N Mean rank Sum of mean Z P value
CCCPI Experimental 14 13.75 192.50 87.50 0.62 CCCPI Negative 2 1.75 3.50 – 3.07 0.00**
Control 14 15.25 213.50 Positive 12 8.46 101.50
**P < 0.01, *P < 0.05 Equal 0
**P < 0.01, *P < 0.05
maturity program was effective in increasing the CCCPI
scale scores of the students. Moreover, the effect size
was also calculated and was found to be 0.58. This value
showed that the experimental application had a large ef- Moreover, I was not very interested in the field of en-
fect size. As a result, these findings statistically proved gineering, but now I have realized that this is very
the effectiveness of the program. important for the development of countries, so we
Table 7 indicates that there was no significant differ- need to think about it.”
ence between the pre- and post-test mean CCCPI scale
scores of the control group (Z = – 0.03, P > 0.05). Another point that the participants thought contrib-
uted to their professional development was that they
Qualitative findings gained awareness of the need to adapt to the developing
Four themes were selected as a result of the analysis of world through current approaches. During the training
the qualitative data, comprising (1) personal and profes- process, many participants questioned the currency and
sional development, (2) awareness of the STEM majors applicability of what they had learned in the changing
and careers, (3) STEM-focused career counseling, and world. For example, one of the participants stated that
(4) feedback about the program. she understood that she needed to improve herself more
in order to gain up-to-date knowledge and competencies
Personal and professional development in her field as a result of the project.
The participants emphasized at different points that the
training that they had received contributed to their per- “I realized that I had to improve myself a little more.
sonal and professional development. One of the most I think that we should leave some traditional ways
important contributions was the change in their percep- behind us and work in a more modern way to pro-
tion of interdisciplinary activities. The participants stated gress in the field.”
that their experiences during the program made a posi-
tive contribution to going outside of their field and in- When the findings of the current study were exam-
creasing their motivation towards other disciplines. As ined, it was seen that the participants did not find the
can be seen in the excerpt given below, a participant support that they had received in the context of a STEM
who had a negative attitude towards fields such as engin- career to be adequate or up-to-date. For example, a par-
eering before the program, stated that at the end of the ticipant criticized that it was not possible for them to
process, he started to think about what kind of interdis- predict the future by questioning the adequacy of the
ciplinary relationship could be established between his career-centered measurement tools used in the field.
field and these fields.
“The measurement tests we learned are from old
“What I have learned is that you, three people, from times, we are directing students towards their future
different fields are coming together and providing occupations, and we measure their skills, but as pro-
this training for us. When I think of how STEM can fessional identity, I also learned that the psycho-
be relevant to me, I can understand this when I see logical counsellor should be able to predict the
you; there is a cooperation between different disci- future. I think this will happen as we work, I do not
plines and this can contribute to development.
Table 7 Findings obtained from the pre- and post-test
Table 5 Findings obtained from the Mann-Whitney U post-test Wilcoxon signed-ranks test for the control group
in the experimental and control groups Scale Rank sign N Mean rank Sum of mean Z P value
Scale Group N Mean rank Sum of mean U P value CCCPI Negative 8 6.63 53.00 – 0.03 0.97
CCCPI Experimental 14 18.00 252.00 49.00 0.02* Positive 6 8.67 52.00
Control 14 11.00 154.00 Equal 0
**P < 0.01, *P < 0.05 **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05Karahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 10 of 16
know how this can be predicted right now, but a psy- am asked by a client about future professions, I
chological counsellor should also be able to predict should continuously follow the developments and
the future.” changes in the professions before giving information.
I once again understood that I need to constantly
Another participant shared his belief that the theories think innovatively, which was the professional con-
that they had learned about their field would not be suf- tribution of the program for me.”
ficient to explain the situations within the context that
they were in, since these theories were those that had In this context, another remarkable point was the
been put forward in the past. In addition, he noted that changes that participants saw in themselves during the
he had doubts about the extent to which existing theor- program. Before the program, they thought that they
ies could be adapted to new conditions and that he themselves, as the psychological counselors were inad-
thought that problems might arise in this regard, espe- equate, while they thought that they had developed
cially as the STEM approach becomes widespread in themselves in a way that could help students during the
their field. process.
“In general, the theories or scientific developments “Before STEM, I thought we were staying a bit sim-
about which the training that we received were pler; as a result of my observations, I also thought
dated back to the 1950s. However, we will graduate that school counsellors were also inadequate, but
in 2020, so how well can we adapt them to 2030 to now I think I have developed more in this regard
2040, or should we adapt them? I have some doubts through the STEM training, and I think I can better
about this because the field of STEM seems to be in help my students.”
our profession.”
The last point put forward by the participants in terms
Another point stated by the participants who gained of the contribution to their professional development
awareness in terms of the contributions to their profes- was professional roles and responsibilities. In the focus
sional development, was the desire to renew and im- group discussions, the participants stated that they real-
prove themselves. The participants stated that they ized that the professional roles and responsibilities chan-
needed continuous improvement in terms of accom- ged over time, and that their predictions about the
plishing professional development by saying “We know direction of this change had developed. For example,
that professional development and career are not static.” one participant stated that traditionally, career counsel-
The participants remarked that they thought that they ing has had a point-based orientation approach and em-
should carry out continuous research in order to achieve phasized that the process should be managed in line
this development. with the realities of the changing and developing world.
“As I said, I do not think that professional or career “When we are a psychological counselling teacher at
counselling was very good. After the six-week train- a school, I believe that it will be better to encourage
ing, I realized that there were actually other areas of or direct the student to research future professions
profession that need to be researched. I realized that and it is not good to direct them on the basis of their
professionally, I actually needed to do more research grade point averages or ranking.”
and not to remain where I am.”
Another participant stated that through the training
Pointing to the importance of continuous research to given within the project, she realized that the role of the
improve themselves, the participants emphasized the im- psychological counselor in the career counseling process
portance of following the occupational branches that was as a catalyst among the interests and abilities of the
have changed and been updated over the years in terms students.
of career counseling. Therefore, they emphasized com-
petencies such as innovative thinking and staying up-to- “As psychological counsellors, we need to be inter-
date in order to perform career counseling during the ested in what students like to do with their talents
process. and interests, and I realized that we stand as cata-
lysts among them, as you said.”
“From the new information I have learned here, for
example about STEM fields, I remember very clearly Finally, it was revealed that the predictions of the par-
that the future professions are updated and changed ticipants about which direction their fields would evolve
every five years; that is, I have learned that when I in, in line with the developing technology, had changed.Karahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 11 of 16
They proposed predictions about how career counseling Another important finding under this theme was that
would be transformed along with the developing tech- the traditional perspective of the participants about the
nology. For example, one of the participants stated that professions had changed and turned into an interdiscip-
her negative perception towards the transformation of linary approach. The participants, who became aware of
consultancy along with the developing technology chan- the STEM approach and the transformation that this ap-
ged during the project, and she increased her motivation proach has brought about in the professions, suggested
to make an effort to prepare herself for this many times that the skills and competencies required by
transformation. the professions should be handled in an integrated man-
ner. As seen in the example below, the participant ar-
“There was an issue we were discussing here, gued that he learned to approach professions in a
where there was a study we did with students multidisciplinary way by the end of the participatory
from the Department of Computer and Instruc- process.
tional Technologies Education about how far we
can go with psychological counselling. But there I “During this process, I actually learned to look at
objected a little bit and still do. I said that the professions from a multidisciplinary perspective,
information received from a person and the con- which was called STEM. I also learned how to look
sultation given by a machine on the other side at the issue from individual and social perspectives.”
would be different. I'm still of the same opinion,
but it's something that can thrive. If everyone STEM-focused career counseling
thinks that psychological counselling will not im- Another theme obtained as a result of the analysis of the
prove, we will definitely not contribute to it. So I statements of the participants in the focus group inter-
am planning to change my mind.” views was named STEM-focused career counseling.
Under this theme, it was revealed how the participants
Awareness of the STEM majors and careers made sense of the STEM career counseling in the
One of the themes that emerged as a result of the process. Being aware of the promising areas of the future
analysis of the data obtained from the focus group within the scope of career counseling, the participants
interviews was the information about the STEM pro- underlined the importance of informing young people
fessional fields. The participants stated that within about these areas.
the scope of the STEM approach, their knowledge
and awareness of professional areas had increased. “Of course, we will direct them to an area that suits
Moreover, they stated that they realized what profes- their personality, self, and abilities. However, we also
sions were expected to come to the forefront in the need to know the needs of the future or the areas that
future. One of the participants expressed this as students need to be directed to, so that we can direct
follows: our students correctly. At this point, I think that we
need to know the strategic point in our profession and
“I didn't know much about STEM before coming we need to continuously follow the developments.”
here. I had not even heard of its name before. After I
came here, I learned about STEM and this raised On the other hand, it was observed that the partici-
my awareness about the professions of the future; pants who did not know about the STEM approach be-
that is, about engineering.” fore the project or who thought that they were not
related to its fields had gained awareness of the points
The findings revealed that the knowledge and aware- where this approach intersected with the fields. It was
ness of the participants about the professions changed stated that the benefits of the STEM approach for the
during the process. In this context, one of the partici- participants in terms of career counseling were realized.
pants stated that they gained different perspectives about
the professions that existed in this process when com- “I have seen STEM in a few places, but generally, I
pared to their prior knowledge. saw it as an activity that science teachers imple-
mented in the classroom, and I think that it cannot be
“We had different perspectives about professions; adapted much in our profession because in general, it
here our perspective about future professions of includes activities directed toward science and math-
STEM has changed. We realized that some of the ematics. However through the project, I have learned
professions that are currently known in society actu- that it can contribute to our profession. We have seen
ally have different aspects than what is known in what contribution career counselling can make for us
society.” and how we can progress in this regard.”Karahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 12 of 16
“I realized that we need to improve ourselves as a the participants expressed this as “we gained awareness,
psychological counsellor and what the relationship but I am lacking in how we can apply it.” Another par-
between career counselling and STEM is.” ticipant argued that knowledge can become more per-
manent by gaining experience on the subject.
As a result of the awareness that they gained during
the process, it was observed that the participants were “I also think it is good, as information was presented
more interested in the STEM career issue and as a re- and ideas were exchanged, but I think applications,
sult, they tended to do more research on the subject. images, and videos could be used to make the infor-
During the focus group interviews, the participants mation permanent.”
showed their interest in the subject by sharing the infor-
mation that they had obtained as a result of their re- Similarly, another participant stated that the project
search. One of the participants stated that he saw that did not promise an experience-oriented process; thus,
there was a gap in the area related to this subject and non-experiential information was not permanent and
therefore, it would be wise to be directed towards this this situation emerged as a deficiency.
area.
“We were told at the beginning that it would be di-
“In this area, there is a gap in general, because ap- dactic, not experiential. I did not come with an ex-
plications related to STEM are not carried out too pectation of learning practical information. Frankly,
often. This attracted my attention. Maybe our future I came to learn information on my behalf, but some
research will be in this direction.” information cannot be permanent unless it is
experiential.”
After gaining knowledge and awareness of the STEM
career counseling process, the participants adopted a Another suggestion put forward by the participants to
critical perspective about their fields, and their practices improve the process was that the process was not sup-
transformed accordingly. Therefore, they stated that ported by adequate resources. Despite sharing online re-
their negative attitudes and judgments towards the field sources with the participants in the process, a
also changed during this process. For example, one of participant who found herself more likely to benefit
the participants stated that the reason for his negative from traditional printed resources stated that she could
judgments about career counseling was the traditional have followed the process more efficiently with concrete
methods, and that he realized during the project that the documents.
content in the field is highly rich and as a result, he de-
veloped a more positive perspective of career counseling. “The missing thing was documents... we did not have
any documents, you were teaching something, but we
“As for its relationship with career counselling, it only followed just as listeners. If had had some docu-
was a distant field for me. I didn't like career coun- ments, I could have followed the subject better and
selling or occupational counselling, because I thought when I went home, I could have revised the
it was too simple. Apply test, apply inventory, then documents.”
direct the student, but here, I realized that there are
different professional fields in STEM and that career Another participant emphasized that as a result of a
counselling does not actually consist of the three- learning process in which the currency of the tests and
session process of applying a test, an inventory, and scales used in the field of career counseling was ques-
directing. Rather, it has a richer content.” tioned, it was necessary to provide the participants with
more up-to-date tests and scales.
Feedback about the program
The data obtained from the focus group interviews also “We talked about scales; scales produced in the past.
revealed the opinions of the participants regarding the It was said that there was no up-to-date scale. No
program. In this context, although the participants saw new scales have been developed. Now we do not have
this process as an important experience in terms of gain- scales, but which resources can we reach?”
ing knowledge and awareness, they also put forward
some suggestions that will make this experience more Another suggestion was to integrate technology into
productive. The first of these suggestions was to enrich the learning process. The participants stated that carry-
the content by spreading the process over a longer-term. ing out technology-supported activities during the
The participants argued that knowledge and awareness process could be an important step in increasing the effi-
could be transferred to experience in this way. One of ciency of the process. Stating that these applicationsKarahan et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2021) 8:23 Page 13 of 16
could be presented via videos in cases where the applica- show positive developments in the CCCPI. The reason
tion was not possible, the participant suggested that the for this can be found in the content of the STEM career
process could be enriched to the extent permitted by the maturity program. In this program, psycho-education-
participatory conditions. based skill acquisition, career counseling techniques, and
literature-based interventions enabled the pre-service
“For example, there were some examples of stem psychological counseling teachers to obtain knowledge
areas we talked about here and we gave some exam- about the STEM profession areas, realize the importance
ples of their adaptation to our field. It would be nice of STEM career choices, gain awareness of the necessary
to have their applications shown here or it would be theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in relation
more effective to do video-supported activities. to STEM career counseling, and increase their level of
Video-supported, computer-aided activities, maybe competence in STEM career maturity.
tablet-supported activities, but I do not know how When the data obtained from the focus group inter-
much the conditions will allow.” views conducted within the scope of the study were ex-
amined, it was observed that the participants displayed a
The last finding obtained from focus group interviews skill-oriented approach in terms of career orientation.
within the scope of this theme was on the role of intrin- To be more specific, it was emphasized that the skill and
sic and extrinsic motivation. A participant criticizing the competency sets required by professions that have come
fact that the learning process was completely based on to the forefront, or that have potential to come to the
professional gains argued that the issue of intrinsic mo- forefront in the twenty-first century, should form the
tivation was overlooked to a great extent. basis of the STEM education approach. Skills such as
problem solving, systematic thinking, leadership, team-
“This gave us extrinsic motivation, instead, this work, and entrepreneurship, which are at the center of
document might not have been emphasized that the STEM education approach, constitute the competen-
much. I think it would have been more beneficial if cies of the professions necessary for the development of
education had been emphasized more, thus, people countries in global competition (Bybee, 2010; Roberts,
would have had intrinsic motivation.” 2012). Therefore, the statements of the participants
showed that they have drawn an appropriate path to the
Discussion STEM approach within the scope of career counseling.
When the literature was examined, it was observed that The fact that the skills and competencies were brought
studies have mostly been conducted on the effectiveness to the forefront by the participants showed that the pro-
of career maturity programs (Esters & Retallick, 2013; gram was successful, considering its structure and
Karatas & Yavuzer, 2009; Shdaifat, 2019). However, re- objectives.
search on the effectiveness of the STEM career maturity Knowledge of STEM is not just essential due to mar-
program is limited. Thus, as the current study has re- ket demand, it is also important in the adequate prepar-
vealed findings on a less studied subject, it contributes ation of students in the knowledge and skills that will be
to the literature. In addition, because the qualitative data required for them to contribute as citizens in twenty-
were used to explain the quantitative data in more detail first century society, which will be both information
and depth (Creswell, 2013), the effect of the STEM car- and technologically rich (Crotty, 2018). As STEM
eer maturity program on the perspectives of the partici- fields continue to grow, there is a concern that stu-
pants has been better elicited. Hence, the detailed and dents will not be ready to enter a workforce and they
comprehensive data presented in the current study is the will face many unforeseen challenges (Adams et al.,
strength of the study. 2014). For this reason, it is extremely important that
In the literature, there are studies on STEM careers psychological counselors provide skill-oriented guid-
(Holmes et al., 2018; Kiriktas & Sahin, 2019; LaForce ance to students in order for students to achieve suc-
et al., 2017; Miller et al., 2018) and scale development cess in these promising but unpredictable fields. As a
and adaptation studies (Kier et al., 2014; Shin et al., result of the program implemented herein, the partici-
2016; Tyler-Wood et al., 2010). On the other hand, there pants exhibited similar views and emphasized skills
is a serious paucity of experimental studies on STEM ca- and competency-based approaches in career and oc-
reers. Thus, research to be conducted on the effective- cupational counseling, confirming that the program
ness of STEM career maturity can make important was consistent with the arguments proposed in the
contributions to the literature. literature.
In the quantitative findings of this study, it was re- Super’s (1980) career maturity model, which consti-
vealed that the STEM career maturity program enabled tuted the theoretical framework of the program im-
the pre-service psychological counseling teachers to plemented in the current study, showed that theYou can also read
