The purpose of this study is to explain the developmental process of expertise, explore the level of expertise, and find factors influencing the expertise of PES (Public Employment Service) vocational counselors. The study explores the following quest...
The purpose of this study is to explain the developmental process of expertise, explore the level of expertise, and find factors influencing the expertise of PES (Public Employment Service) vocational counselors. The study explores the following questions:
1) What is the developmental process of the expertise of vocational counselors?
2) What is the level of the expertise of vocational counselors?
3) What are the factors influencing the expertise of vocational counselors?
For the study, mixed methods, especially concurrent triangulation strategy “QUAN+QUAL/ separate” was designed. Various research methodologies were also employed, such as semi-structured in-depth interview with 16 numbers of vocational counselors selected by peer-nomination and agreed to participate in this study. All of the participants were interviewed twice. I analyzed the data from the interview with the paradigm model based on the grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1990): QSR Nvivo 2. Literature reviews on expertise, expertise development, counselor development, and the development of roles and competences required as a vocational counselor in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, IAEVG, and Korea. Through the Delphi survey composed of 41 members as an expert panel, the sub-categories of self-estimated expertise of vocational counseling test (for a career development support, a commitment of vocational counseling, an analysis of client's trait, a development and commitment program of vocational counseling, a management information, and networking) and the items were developed. In order for vocational counselors to diagnose the relative position in terms of the internal consistency coefficient ranged between .74 and .91, this test was developed. Construct validity was examined using confirmatory factor analysis. To find the factors influencing the expertise of vocational counselors, 209 vocational counselors, 137 females and 72 males, responded to the survey composed of the self-estimated expertise of vocational counseling, professional identity, self-efficacy, organizational climate, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, variables of experience, and background factors.
The results of this study were as follows:
Firstly, the developmental stage of the expertise of vocational counselors was divided into four stages: beginner, experienced, skilled, and expert stage. In axial coding, according to the paradigm model, a causal condition that vocational counselors working in PES experience the insufficiency of expertise was ‘to become vocational counselor’. It was the central phenomenon responded from the participants. The contextual conditions corresponded to the central phenomenon of experiencing the lack of expertise were ‘an initial stage of vocational counseling’, ‘a counselor besieged by clients’, ‘education for vocational counselor’, ‘awareness of vocational counseling’, ‘major and vocational counseling’. The action/interaction strategies for coping and development of expertise were ‘professionalism’, ‘consistent self-directed learning’, ‘participate in counselor meeting’. The intervening conditions affecting the action/interaction strategies were ‘clients of PES’, ‘expectation of peer vocational counselor’, ‘managers of PES', ‘awareness of expert in vocational counseling', ‘job insecurity'. The consequence of coping and development of expertise was ‘to integrate theory of vocational counseling with reality’, ‘to enlarge the area of job in PES’, ‘career plan and aspiration’.
Secondly, the result of the expertise of vocational counselors measured by the self-estimated expertise of Vocational counseling test was 67.8 points (M=3.39, 5 point Likert scale). It means the expertise level of PES vocational counselors still does not reach a high level. The management information and the commitment of vocational counseling were higher than other sub-categories. Networking, development and commitment program of vocational counseling were lower than other sub-categories in the test. There were no differences in a gender, except in networking (p>.05), but aged counselors, experienced counselors of vocational education and training before employed about vocational counseling, and counseling related courses in the university majors were higher than low aged, not experienced counselors and related majors (p<.05). The specialty of counselor who had an experience to work in a manpower bank, the job area of vocational guidance, and tenure were higher than those people who do not. In addition, the active participation in vocational education and training in vocational counseling, the experience of being selected from the group of vocational counselors, and the experience of counseling supervision made a counselor gain higher expertise than not such people.
Thirdly, background and experience factors influencing the expertise of vocational counselors were the active participation in vocational education and training of vocational counseling, the experience of being selected from the group of vocational counselors, the number of participation opportunities in vocational education and training, experienced manpower bank. Internal, organizational, job satisfaction factors influencing the expertise of vocational counselors were the professional identity, self regulation efficacy, utilization of professional organization as a criteria, total organizational commitment, normative organizational commitment. It means the expertise of vocational counselors is influenced by experience and vocational education and training in vocational counseling.
The study identifies essential means to develop the expertise of PES (Public Employment Service) vocational counselors: the support of expertise development of vocational counselor, the content and methods in education and training for a vocational counselor, the training and deployment of supervisor in vocational counseling, the improvement of circumstance and environment for vocational counseling, the evaluation methods of vocational counselor.