Group Work in Career Development — Post-School Age Populations

Abstract

The call for papers for this special issue of the Journal of Specialists in Group Work argued for greater use of innovative group career interventions given the growing demand for career development services and the increasingly diverse client populations who seek such services. It invited both conceptual and research articles that focus on diverse client populations and diverse settings. This is the second part of the special issue on group work in career development published in the Journal for Specialists in Group Work. It is worth noting that in 2013, the International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance published a special issue on Group Career Guidance and Counseling (Borgen & Vanhalakka) that featured five articles, four of which related to one large-scale project. The current special issue, however, features a range of examples of group work in career development for different populations and in different settings. It is hoped that this special issue meets our aim to serve as a future resource for the field and provide a future agenda for research. Pleasingly, the call for papers generated substantial interest, resulting in the acceptance of 15 articles published in two consecutive parts of the special issue of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work. The rationale for, and background to, the call for papers was described in part one of the special issue (Watson & McMahon, 2021), which featured nine articles specifically focused on career interventions using group work with school age populations. This second part of the special issue focuses on career interventions using group work with post-school age populations.