career research paper high school

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Career research projects for high school students, career research projects – essays and written products, career research projects – digital presentations, about the author, peter brown.

How to Write a Career Research Paper: Tips for Students & Teachers

• Trent Lorcher
• Categories : High school english lesson plans grades 9 12
• Tags : High school lesson plans & tips

The Need for Good Topics

After receiving the 27th research paper with a URL across the bottom of the page, I suspected plagiarism . I realized I had to make English research paper topics more agreeable, so I began teaching students how to write a career research paper. It worked.

Here’s a testimonial from a former student:

When I was in high school, I wanted to be a pipe maker. I followed your steps on how to write a career research paper. As I followed the process I realized that being a pipe maker could lead to compromising public photos, so I became an Olympic swimmer instead.

If the process of writing research papers can help Michael, it can help you. I now share with you my How to Write a Career Research Paper lesson plan, a lesson plan with a limitless number of English research paper topics.

The introduction of the research paper should include information about the writer and his or her interests. The body should examine the responsibilities, education requirements, potential salary, and employment outlook of a specific career. The conclusion should summarize what was learned.

A successful career paper should:

• discuss your career goals.
• describe your talents and interests.
• focus on one career.
• discuss career facts.
• cite sources correctly.
• look at the advantages and disadvantages of the possible career.

As with all essays, the process for writing a research paper begins with prewriting:

Brainstorm careers as a class:

Think of all the people you’ve talked to in the last 24 hours and jot down their career.

What careers appeal to you?

What careers do you think you’d be good at?

Skim the classified ads.

Look at Careerbuilder.com or Monster.com for career ideas.

Examine your goals . A career choice should take into account money, hours, advancement opportunities, and location. If your goals cannot be fulfilled in a particular career, it’s time to change careers or change goals.

Examine your skills and interests. Take note of what you are good at, and more importantly, what you would like to be good at.

Do some career research. Spend a day in the library and interview people doing a career that interests you. Document your sources as you search.

Pay special attention to the advantages and disadvantages of possible careers. I recommend making a chart.

Match the career with your goals, skills, and interests. That’s your topic.

Make an outline, cluster, or any of those other prewriting organizational techniques teachers always talk about.

Drafting and Revising

Include information about yourself–your goals, interests, talents– in the introduction . Be sure to end the introduction with a declarative sentence about the career you chose for the topic of your paper. In the body of your paper, present important information with commentary. Discuss the positives, negative, and skills you will need to improve to excel in this career. Be sure to discuss post secondary requirements, if any, and which schools offer the best programs.

When revising, use the following questions to make sure you covered what you need to cover:

• What are my career goals and how does the career I described reflect those goals?
• How does my chosen career suit my skills?
• What skills must I improve to succeed at my chosen career?
• Where can I go to learn the necessary skills?
• What do I need to improve personally to succeed at this career?
• Photo by Aringo (Flickr: Michael Phelps, Davis Tarwater) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 )], via Wikimedia Commons

This post is part of the series: Different Types of Essays

Implement these strategies for different types of essays.

• Lesson Plan: How to Write a Reflective Essay
• Interpretive Essay Lesson Plan: How to Write a Literary Analysis
• Writing a Career Research Paper
• Lesson Plan: How to Write a Problem/Solution Essay
• American History Project Ideas: Capturing Oral History

Career Exploration Research Paper: Home

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Remember  -  a bibliography is not a list of URLs. Use Noodle Tools to properly format your citations.

With a Noodle Tools account, once you create bibliographies you can easily organize your research with note cards, outline your papers, and integrate with Google docs. 

Users will log in via one of the following: 

• Clicking the  G Suite NoodleTools button (under the Google "waffle" menu)
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Assignment Details

Career Exploration Research Paper & Presentation

Career Exploration is an important part of your high school education because it gives you a focus for the future.There are many choices such as: the military, college, junior college, a trade school, a technical school, or right into a job.    

Write a 2-3 page research paper on a career of interest. Collect research materials from the library and internet. You must include at least FOUR different sources. Your paper should be in MLA 8 format with a Works Cited page and IN-TEXT CITATIONS. You will also be presenting your career choice to your class . Use PowerPoint (or like format) to present the career using the same outline as your paper.  

To help you focus your research follow the outline below:

Job Description/Duties – What does the job entail? What responsibilities would you have? Which responsibilities would you like or dislike?

Personal Characteristics and Skills Needed – What important personal characteristics do you think would be needed to be happy and successful in this occupation? Why does this career fit your personality? What personal values does this career provide that are important to you?  (Examples: security, having fun, status, helping others, challenging…) What are some important skills your career requires?

Education Needed – What are the educational requirements of the job? What specific high school classes and activities would be most helpful in preparing for this career? What type of education or training would you need after high school? What schools offer this sort of training? How long is the course of study for this career?  What is the potential total cost of training for this career?

Work Setting – How many hours would you generally work? What would your work environment be?   Would you travel? Would your job be stressful? What would you like or dislike about the work setting?

Wages and Benefits – Entry wages: How much would a worker in this occupation generally start at? What is the range of wages that an experienced worker can earn? Will the worker receive insurance, sick leave, paid vacation? Will this occupation provide enough income for you to live as you plan?  Does education make a difference in salary?

Employment Outlook - What is the occupational outlook for this career? Will I be able to pay back expenses for required education?

Personal Assessment - Explain why you think this occupation would be right for you. How does it fit your personality, interests, values, educational plans?

Citations - MLA 8 format, a MINIMUM of FOUR Sources, IN-TEXT citations and a WORKS CITED page are REQUIRED.

Suggested Resources:

An interview? Do you know someone who has this career?

Library Guide: https://jsrhs-sau24.libguides.com/career

Notes: 11/2/17 & 11/3/17

Rough Draft: 11/13/17

Final Draft: TBD

Presentation: TBD

Library Databases

EBSCO ​ General research database which includes biography, primary sources, encyclopedia entries, magazine and newspapers.

Web Resources

25 Jobs you can get without a college degree

25 best paying jobs without a college degree

Career One Stop

Career Profiles

Targets and Competencies

WSP: Respect       I can persevere to complete assignments that show original thinking, complete effort, and preparedness for learning. 1.2 I can produce clear and coherent writing following the writing process.

3.1 I can synthesize text evidence from multiple vetted sources and genres to support analysis.

3.2 I can integrate multiple valid sources of information presented in diverse formats and media.

4.3 I can present sophisticated information, findings, and supportive evidence in range of formal and informal tasks using style appropriate to purpose, audience. I can use various media to enhance my message.

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• Last Updated: Nov 29, 2023 10:38 AM
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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, how do i write a research paper as a high school student.

I'm working on a research paper for a competition and it's my first time doing this. Any tips or resources on how to tackle a research paper at the high school level? Thanks!

First off, congratulations on taking the initiative to participate in a research paper competition! Writing a research paper can seem daunting, but breaking it down into steps will make the process more manageable. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to tackle a research paper at the high school level:

1. Choose a topic : Start by selecting a subject that interests you and fits the competition's guidelines. It's important to choose a focused topic rather than a too general or too narrow one.

2. Conduct preliminary research : Familiarize yourself with the topic by looking up related articles, books, and online resources. Note any significant themes, questions, or perspectives that stand out to you during this initial phase.

3. Develop a research question : Based on your early findings, develop a research question that guides your investigation. A strong research question should be clear, focused, and complex enough to require thoughtful analysis.

4. Gather detailed information : Use databases, journals, books, and other reliable sources to collect data related to your research question. Keep track of your sources for citation purposes.

5. Organize and evaluate : As you gather information, analyze the material and look for key points, patterns, and trends. Organize your findings in a logical manner (by theme, chronology, or viewpoint).

6. Develop a thesis : Your thesis statement should be a concise argument that answers your research question and captures the central idea of your paper. This will help guide your writing.

7. Create an outline : Establish a structure for your paper by outlining the introduction, body, and conclusion. This will help you organize your thoughts, create a logical progression of ideas, and keep your paper focused on the main points.

8. Write the paper : Begin by writing a draft of your paper following your outline. Start with the body paragraphs, covering the main points and evidence for each, and then move on to the introduction and conclusion.

9. Revise and edit : After completing your draft, review it for content, organization, grammar, and style. Solicit feedback from peers and teachers who can provide constructive criticism and help you improve the paper.

10. Cite your sources : Use the appropriate citation style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.) to document your sources in-text and in a bibliography or works cited page at the end of your paper.

To learn more, read this blog post: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-research-paper-in-high-school/

Don't forget to carefully follow your competition's specific guidelines and submission criteria throughout the process. Good luck with your research paper!

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High school students often tire of being asked, “What are your career plans?” Some students have no idea how to answer the question. Others may give a rote answer just to stop the questions. There are actually so many career choices available that high school students can pursue that they need direction in order to discover their own interests and skills. They may discover that opportunities are available they never even thought of before. Here are just a few suggestions that may help in career research for high school students.

Brainstorming

This may seem like a simple suggestion, but it is a good first step. Students should make a list of things they like and do not like to do and classes they like and do not like. For example, do they like history class but hate math class or vice versa? Do they like to work in groups or do they prefer to work alone? Do they like to work indoors or outdoors?

Assessment tests

There a variety of assessment tests that may be administered at high schools. If not, they can be found online. Some examples are:

• Myer-Briggs Test:  This analyzes personality characteristics and how a person interacts with people or if they prefer not to interact with people at all.
• Strong Interest Inventory:  This helps students who are having trouble identifying their interests and helps focus on what a student truly enjoys doing.
• Self-Directed Search:  This test focuses on identifying skills and interests.
• Skill Scan Test:  This focuses on seven specific skills and assists a student in determining which skills they have or want to develop.

Assessment tests are just stepping stones to identifying potential careers. Results should not be used to direct a person to or away from a specific career but should be used only as tools to help identify career choices.

Research potential careers

A few specific careers can be identified in order to pursue career research for high school students. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes an Occupational Outlook Handbook which provides detailed information for every possible job including:

• Job description
• Specific employers or types of employers
• Salary ranges
• Expected job growth over the next few years
• Educational requirements
• Where the jobs are located

Informational interviews

Students may know or can be introduced to someone who works in a job the student is interested in pursuing as a career. Guiding the student to develop interview questions of the professional person can be helpful. Students can get real answers to their career questions from people who actually work every day in the career of interest. Students can be guided to ask questions such as:

• How did the person train for the job?
• What does the person like best about the job?
• What does the person dislike about the job?
• What has the person learned that they wish they had known before pursuing the career?
• What advice does the professional have concerning what the student should and should not do in pursuit of the career?

Job shadowing

Some schools have job shadowing programs that give students the opportunity of actually working with a professional in the career of the student’s choice. The student arranges to spend several hours with the professional to “shadow” them and see exactly what they do on a daily basis.

If the school does not have a shadowing program established students can contact the local Chamber of Commerce for business directories and suggestions of professionals who may be contacted. Students can then set up individual job shadowing experiences.

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Tagged as: Career and Technical Education ,  High School (Grades: 9-12)

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Perceived support and influences in adolescents’ career choices: a mixed-methods study

• Open access
• Published: 02 September 2023

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• Jenny Marcionetti   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7906-8785 1 &
• Andrea Zammitti 2  

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Support and influences on adolescents’ career choices come from a variety of sources. However, studies comparing the importance given to various sources of support are few, and none have analyzed differences in the support provided by mothers and fathers. This study aimed to examine quantitatively the importance given to support from various sources in a sample of 432 Swiss adolescents at two points in time in the period of choice and to explore qualitatively experiences related to support given/received by 10 mother–child dyads in the career choice process. The overall results endorse the mother as the main source of support.

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With the arrival of adolescence, career planning becomes very important (Gati & Saka, 2001 ). Among the main difficulties that adolescents have to overcome, there are school–professional choices (Lodi et al., 2008 ). In fact, around the age of 14–15 years, adolescents must make choices about their future and can live a condition of indecision and insecurity that is associated with difficulties in making decisions and with procrastination or avoidance of the choice task (Nota & Soresi, 2002 ). This process is certainly not facilitated by the 21st-century context, in which it is increasingly difficult to make predictions, ask for suggestions, or choose (Soresi & Nota, 2015 ).

It is widely recognized that parental support plays a fundamental role in career development of sons and daughters (Whiston & Keller, 2004 ), and in particular the support provided by mothers (Colarossi & Eccles, 2003 ; Furman & Buhrmester, 1992 ; Levitt et al., 1993 ). School actors, principally teachers, have also been found to be an important source of support for career choices (Wong et al., 2021 ). Although various studies agree on the importance of adolescents perceiving social support to deal with the career choice process (Whiston & Keller, 2004 ), still few have been interested in understanding what the most important sources of this support are (e.g. Cheung & Arnold, 2010 ; Gushue & Whitson, 2006 ), distinguishing not only between parents, school guidance counselors, and teachers but also between mothers and fathers, and also investigating whether the adolescent’s gender might influence this perception. In addition, few have studied adolescents’ perceptions of influences they have had and support received relating to the career choice and at the same time their parents’ perceptions of influence and support provided using a qualitative approach.

The present study thus had two main aims, each pursued with a specific approach. The first, using a quantitative approach, was to examine the importance of different sources of support in a sample of adolescents at two points in time in their last year of compulsory school. The second, with a qualitative approach, was to delve into the experience related to support given/received by 10 mother–child dyads in the career choice process.

Parental influences

Parents are a major source of interpersonal support and can influence their children’s self-efficacy and professional expectations, their interests, and career goals (Kenny & Medvide, 2013 ). It has been shown that adolescents consider it normal to be influenced by their parents in career choices and do not think that decisions will be made only by them (Bernardo, 2010 ). Indeed, the expectations of parents contribute to obtaining positive career outcomes (Fouad et al., 2008 ). However, this is valid only when the adolescent believes he can meet these expectations (Leung et al., 2011 ); when the adolescent does not feel up to meeting the expectations of parents, there is the risk of developing psychological distress (Wang & Heppner, 2002 ). Hence, parental support in this area can foster aspirations, exploration, and career planning (Cheung & Arnold, 2010 ; Ma & Yeh, 2010 ) but as long as it is actually perceived as support (Garcia et al., 2012 ).

Career concerns have to do with the stress of planning a future task (Cairo et al., 1996 ; Savickas et al., 1988 ). They represent anxiety about the fact that the individual is managing something important for their professional future (Code & Bernes, 2006 ). Students who find themselves making a choice must deal with this stress and manage the choice also based on the expectations of family, peers, and educational institutions (Creed et al., 2009 ). The career choice process, therefore, implicates emotions (Blustein et al., 1995 ) that involve both the adolescent and their parents. These emotions can stimulate action and make sense of the career development process within the family setting (Young et al., 1997 ). However, they can also be associated with prolonged indecision (Gati et al., 2011 ) and make mothers overly concerned, especially when adolescents hardly discuss their future plans (Kobak et al., 1994 ). Indeed, the behavior of parents concerning the choices of their children can be support, when they help them make choices by providing them with guidance, but also interference, when they excessively control the choices their children make, or lack of engagement, due to disinterest or other factors such as financial problems, overwork, or other (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ).

What has been expressed up to now indicates that parents can be a valid resource that provides instrumental and emotional support to the adolescent in transition increasing self-efficacy in career decision-making (Lent et al., 2003 ), professional and career adaptability (Kenny & Bledsoe, 2005 ; Parola & Marcionetti, 2021 ), career exploration (Kracke, 1997 ), and diminishing indecision about career choices (Guerra & Braungart-Rieker, 1999 ; Marcionetti & Rossier, 2016a ; Parola & Marcionetti, 2021 ). On the other hand, they can also constitute a risk factor in career choices when they interfere too much or lack engagement in this process (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ; Zhao et al., 2012 ).

Colarossi and Eccles ( 2003 ) conducted a study considering the perception of parental support on adolescents in the development of self-esteem or depression; the peculiarity of this study is that parental support was distinguished in support received from fathers and support received from mothers. Indeed, a limitation of research on parental support is that it is often considered as a single measure, without separating maternal and paternal support and considering the gender of the adolescent. The authors have shown, in fact, that the effects are different for male and female adolescents. In particular, male adolescents perceive greater support from fathers than females whereas it has been found that there are no significant differences concerning the perception of the support received from the mothers. Finally, fathers, compared to mothers, teachers and peers were perceived as providers of a smaller amount of support. This study is consistent with other research carried out in this area (Colarossi, 2001 ; Furman & Buhrmester, 1992 ; Levitt et al., 1993 ) and underlines the idea that it is important to differentiate maternal and paternal support. Indeed, according to Leaper et al. ( 1998 ), mothers show a tendency to use more supportive language than fathers and are more involved when it comes to the school and educational decisions of their children. According to this, Ginevra et al. ( 2015 ) and Porfeli et al. ( 2013 ) showed that mothers perceive themselves as more supportive than fathers in the career development of their children. Other authors also confirm these results, which underlines the greater role of mothers compared with fathers in their children’s career choices (e.g., McCabe & Barnett, 2000 ).

School influences

In middle schools, school counselors and career guidance specialists are often the main personnel responsible for monitoring and helping students in sustaining the career choice (Gysbers & Lapan, 2009 ; Multon, 2006 ). This is also the case in Southern Switzerland, where this study has been conducted. However, in studies made in other countries, it emerged that students do not always see their services as sufficient, or helpful (Mortimer et al., 2002 ). Hence, in many countries more responsibility has been given to teachers for supporting their students’ career development. On the one hand, teachers can give “general support” that can promote the development of different career and life competencies during their classes (Kivunja, 2014 ). In this sense, Lei et al. ( 2018 ) say that teachers provide general support in both giving social support, which involves emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal support, and promoting self-determination. Indeed, the teacher supports the development of autonomy, decision-making, and intrinsic motivation, which increase in adolescents the motivation to pursue life and career goals. On the other hand, teachers can give specific career-related support. For Wong et al. ( 2021 ) specific career-related support is “anything a teacher does that can facilitate the career planning of students” (Wong et al., 2021 , p. 132) such as inquiring about career paths, helping students identify their interests, giving information about jobs, and providing help in setting goals. Teacher support has been proven to have a significant impact on the development of students’ career aspirations, future orientation, career exploration, and planning (Alm et al., 2019 ; Hirschi et al., 2011 ; Rogers & Creed, 2011 ).

Studies that have compared the importance of various sources of support in the career decision-making process seem to point to teachers as the most important source of support (although the differences are never huge). These studies are few in number and have been conducted on quite diverse samples in terms of culture and age and considering different career-related outcomes. For example, Gushue and Whitson ( 2006 ) in the USA have shown that teachers support has more effect than parental support on the level of African American ninth-grade public high school students’ positive expectations about the career chosen. The study from Di Fabio and Kenny ( 2015 ) with Italian high school students suggests that teacher support contributes more than peer support in increasing resilience, perceived employability, and self-efficacy. Cheung and Arnold ( 2010 ) found that teacher support is more effective than parental and peers’ support in predicting career exploration in Hong Kong university students. Finally, Kenny and Bledsoe ( 2005 ) in a sample of US urban high school students showed that support from family, teachers, close friends, and peer beliefs about school all contributed significantly to the explanation of the four dimensions of career adaptability, school identification, perceptions of educational barriers, career outcome expectations, and career planning. Moreover, they analyzed the different contribution of each relational variable when controlling for the others, finding that family support contributed to explaining variance in perceived educational barriers and career expectations; teacher support contributed to explaining variance in school identification; and perceived peer beliefs contributed to explaining perceived educational barriers and school identification. The results thus seem to indicate that different actors may contribute differently to support the choice process. This suggests that all actors can play an important role in providing support. However, no study to our knowledge has captured adolescents’ perceptions with respect to which figure has been most supportive in this process. It is indeed important that not only does the support offered have a concrete effect on the choice process, but also that it is recognized, otherwise risking being interpreted as “lack of engagement,” and positively valued by the adolescent, otherwise risking being interpreted as “interference” (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ).

Methodologies to study career-related social support

Social support can be provided by close relatives such as parents and siblings and by other persons more or less trained to give it, such as career counselors and teachers. It can also be of different types; for instance, Cutrona and Russell ( 1990 ) and Cutrona ( 1996 ) distinguished between emotional support (the support given through love and empathy, concern, comfort, and security), social integration or network support (the support given by the feeling part of a group with people who hold similar interests and concerns), esteem support (the support that boosts others self-confidence through respect for others qualities, belief in another’s abilities, and validation of thoughts, feelings, or actions), information support (the factual input, advice, or guidance and appraisal of the situation), and tangible assistance (the support through instrumental assistance with tasks or resources). Moreover, the support received, and then perceived, can be influenced by one’s tendency and ability to ask for it (Marcionetti & Rossier, 2016b ). The same goes for the ability to give support and then to feel efficient in giving it. Finally, all these aspects can be influenced by cultural differences (Ishii et al., 2017 ).

Despite the complex nature of social support, there are few studies in which adolescents were asked who the most important people were in providing support in the process of school and career choice by directly asking them for their opinion on the matter. As mentioned earlier, we believe it is important that the support offered (by parents, school and career counselor, teacher, or peers) is also perceived and evaluated positively, lest it instead be deemed lacking in engagement or experienced as interference (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ). Moreover, the studies carried out to investigate the importance of different sources of career-related support for adolescents are mostly quantitative in nature, although there are some exceptions (e.g., Schultheiss et al., 2001 ; Young & Friesen, 1992 ). There is also a lack of studies investigating how parents–child relationships are influential in the career development process and the parents and children’s cross-perceptions of them and of the emotionality felt in them.

An interesting way to fill some of these research gaps is to use a mixed-methods research design. What is unique about these methods is that they allow both quantitative and qualitative approaches to be used in a single research study or set of related studies. To do this there are various ways that can make one or the other of these approaches precede the other and give different or equal importance to them (Creswell & Creswell, 2017 ; Stick & Lincoln, 2006 ). For example, in a first phase, quantitative data can be collected through the administration of a questionnaire. Then, the descriptive data provided in this phase of the study can be used to guide the subsequent qualitative data collection with face-to-face interviews. Thus, mixed method research utilizes a quantitative and qualitative approach to create a stronger research result than either method individually (Malina et al., 2011 ).

Quantitative data collected by sample-administered questionnaires and analyzed by the well-known statistical methods allow generalizability of collected data to the broader population (Creswell & Creswell, 2017 ). Instead, semi-structured interviews are a useful qualitative method to explore perceptions, experiences, and ideas on specific topics (Gill et al., 2008 ; Taylor, 2005 ; Wengraf, 2001 ). Semi-structured interviews have already been used for studies on career development support (e.g., Parola & Marcionetti, 2020 ; Schultheiss et al., 2001 ). To analyze information collected with semi-structured interviews, there are different methods. Content analysis allows making replicable and valid inferences from data to their context (Krippendorff, 1980 ; Mayring, 2000 ). The aim of this approach is to provide knowledge, new insights, and new representations of facts. It implies choosing some categories linked to the research question that are used to analyze a conversation or a text. This method has the advantage of permitting the identification of the main themes contained in a message and the way the message is expressed. However, it has the disadvantage of being quite sensitive to the researcher’s aims and corpus of data (Tomasetto & Selleri, 2004 ). Another useful method of analysis is thematic analysis that allows identifying, organizing, and explaining themes in a dataset (Braun & Clarke, 2012 ). It is simple to use, flexible, and allows anyone to easily read the results, enabling social and psychological interpretations of the data (Braun & Clarke, 2006 ; Javadi & Zarea, 2016 ). For these reasons, thematic analysis is one of the most common methods of analysis in qualitative research (Guest et al., 2012 ). If mixed approaches (combining quantitative and qualitative approaches) for data collection are becoming more popular, few studies have so far combined content and textual analyses of interviews (e.g., Zambelli et al., 2020 ).

Aims of the study and methodological approach for data collection

Given that studies seem to indicate that (a) there is a differential perception of support providers between boys and girls, and (b) teachers are important support providers (Wong et al., 2021 ), in some cases even more effective than parents (e.g. Cheung & Arnold, 2010 ) and school guidance counselors (e.g. Gysbers & Lapan, 2009 ; Multon, 2006 ), the first aim of this study was to understand, from the point of view of adolescents, which are the main providers of support for career decision-making process at the end of compulsory school (at the beginning and at the end of the last year) and what are the eventual differences in perceptions between boys and girls. Few studies have considered the differences between mother and father, which is why they were given importance in this study. The specific research question guiding this part of the study was thus “which sources of support are most influential in career exploration and decision-making of adolescents?”. We felt it necessary that the answer to this question could be generalized to a large population of adolescents to be sure to focus the qualitative part of the study on the most important actors and content. Hence, this question was divided into sub-questions which then formed the questionnaire submitted to the adolescents. It was in fact considered important to explore: (a) whether the students had used the guidance service offered at school; (b) whether they had gone to the school and vocational guidance counsellor alone or accompanied (and by whom); (c) whether they were helped by someone in the choice process inside or outside school; (d) whether they felt they needed further help in choosing a school or a profession for the following year; and (e) who they considered to be the main source of support for this choice. The questionnaire was administered at two points in time, at the beginning and at the end of the last compulsory school year, to take into account and control for eventual variations in support perception at two important moments of the career choice process. In fact, for some teenagers, the summer period before the start of the school year is an opportunity to test some choices with company internships and meetings with potential employers. For others, the most important period is placed later in the school year, since the possibility of accessing some schools depends on academic success.

Based on the results that emerged in this first phase of the study, we considered that many studies have been published about the theme of the influence of parents on children, but that it is not always easy to trace the depth of a parent’s influence on a son or daughter’s career choices (Whiston & Keller, 2004 ). In fact, most of the previous studies have investigated the influences of parents on the career development of children in a quantitative way or have taken into consideration only the point of view of the children, mainly, or that of the parents. The second aim of this study was therefore to explore this aspect with a qualitative approach by involving 10 mother–child dyads to explore their possibly different points of view and emotionality. The choice to consider only mothers in this second qualitative part of the study was made bearing in mind the results obtained in the first quantitative part of the study. However, the goodness of this choice was also underpinned by the adolescents contacted for this second phase: when asked for a parental contact to discuss the topic of school and career choice, all spontaneously provided their mother’s. The two main specific research questions guiding this second part of the study were thus “what role do parents play in their child’s career decisions from the perspective of the mothers and of the children?” and “what sentiments emerge during the career decision-making process in mothers and children?”. Specific information about the participants involved in the two phases of the study, how they were involved, and the procedures for data collection and analysis will be laid out in the next section.

Participants

The study was conducted in southern Switzerland, in the Swiss Canton of Ticino, where the official language is Italian. In southern Switzerland, adolescents aged approximately 14 or 15 years, after middle school must choose between continuing a general education at a high school or starting an apprenticeship that usually involves spending three days at the company and two at a vocational school. Some full-time vocational schools also complete apprenticeship training. This choice can be difficult; indeed, access to high schools and some apprenticeships is limited to only those students with good academic achievement. Moreover, apprenticeships that provide part of the training with a company are accessible only to those adolescents who have found an employer. In this context, social support is crucial. A school guidance counselor is present in the middle school a few days a week and is available for one-on-one meetings with students; they may be accompanied by parents or family members if they wish. At the time of study, teachers have no institutionally defined role in supporting their students’ career choices. Only the class referent teacher, the penultimate and final year of middle school, is responsible for providing them, during class time, with information on the school and career guidance website ( www.orientamento.ch ) or first-hand information on available apprenticeship positions provided by the school guidance counselor.

Hence, students from 7 of 35 middle schools situated in various geographic locations (city, city’s periphery, and schools located in small villages in the valleys) were involved in the first part of the study. There were 432 participants at the two data collections (in October and May of the last year of compulsory school), 224 boys and 208 girls. During each questionnaire administration, the students received information about the aim of the study and were reassured about the confidentiality of their answers. The questionnaires were completed in an IT classroom during an ordinary lesson and under the supervision of the first author.

After the last data collection, 10 pairs of mothers and children for a total of 20 participants were selected to participate in the second part of the study. In the selection of the adolescents, taken from those who participated in the first part of the study and of whom we knew a range of information, some criteria were considered. First, adolescents were selected from two middle schools, a “urban” school and a “valley” school, and at the time of the last quantitative data collection, they provided a telephone number. Second, they had just finished compulsory school and were in the moment of transition between compulsory school and another type of education. Third, the type of education was considered: in the questionnaire, five adolescents said they would enroll in a general high school and five in vocational education and training (VET). Fourth, career decidedness was taken into account: in each school, two adolescents were sure of their educational choice, two had yet to confirm this choice, and one was not sure about it. Fifth, gender was considered: six were girls, and four were boys. Sixth, when reached on the phone, they gave their availability for an interview and provided a parent’s contact information. The parent was contacted and, after explaining the purpose of the study, gave his/her consent and that of their child to participate. We did not specifically ask which parent (mother or father) we wanted to conduct the interview with; however, all 10 adolescents provided the telephone number of the mother, who was also described as the parent principally supporting them in the educational choice and in the moment of transition.

In the questionnaires administrated at the beginning and at the end of the last compulsory school year, students were asked about their gender (masculine/feminine), the middle school in which they were enrolled (multiple choice question, with only one choice possible), about how many meetings with the school counselor they had (exact number requested) and with whom they meet them (multiple choice question, with more than one choice possible), who was helping or helped them make the career choice (multiple choice question, with more than one choice possible), and who helped them the most (multiple choice question, with only one choice possible). In the first questionnaire, students were also asked to indicate whether they felt they need more support (yes/no) and from whom (open question). In the second questionnaire, they were also asked about the type of future career education desired (high school/VET in full time school/VET with apprenticeship), their career decidedness (answer on a scale from 1 = not at all decided to 6 = completely decided), and, after having explained that the study also included interviews with a selection of them and their parents, if they agreed to give it, they provided a telephone number (open question).

Concerning the interviews, mothers and children were met separately at home or in a quiet place that they chose. Both were briefed on the objectives of the research and gave the informed consent to participate. All participants were informed that the data would be processed in aggregate form, without ever mentioning their names. Participants were asked for permission to record the interview. All participants agreed to register. The recording was transcribed and analyses were subsequently carried out. To investigate the areas of interest, semi-structured interviews were used, divided into the following parts: (1) an introduction referring to the description of themselves (or children) and their family, school progress, and relationships with peers, and (2) a section devoted to influences on choice. Semi-structured interviewing is a versatile and flexible data collection method, which can be modified according to the purpose of the research (Kelly, 2010 ). One of the main advantages is that this type of interview allows the interviewer to improvise questions, based on the responses of the participants (Hardon et al., 2004 ; Polit & Beck, 2010 ; Rubin & Rubin, 2005 ). Questions are determined before meeting the interviewee (Rubin & Rubin, 2005 ), to cover the main research topics (Taylor, 2005 ). However, the interview is not followed rigidly and rigorously; the basic idea is to explore the area of ​​interest by providing participants with indications on what to talk about (Gill et al., 2008 ). This makes the semi-structured interview a simple method of data collection (Wengraf, 2001 ). In the present study, the interviews were conducted by the first author, adequately trained to conduct semi-structured interviews, as indicated by the literature (Kelly, 2010 ; Wengraf, 2001 ).

Data analysis

Descriptive analysis of data collected with questionnaires were performed with SPSS. This involved conducting frequency analysis of responses. Since some response categories had low n , especially after dividing them by gender, it was not considered appropriate to carry out more in-depth analyses to see if the differences in response between the first and second data collection were significant, which, moreover, was not an aim of the study.

To analyze the transcriptions of interviews, we used thematic analysis, accompanying this analysis with the use of a software for qualitative analysis (Nvivo 12). This allowed us not only to identify nodes and themes that we considered most relevant but also to show some relationships between them. Thematic analysis is a qualitative analytic method, useful and flexible for psychology research (Braun & Clarke, 2006 ). This method allows the identifying, organizing, and explaining of themes in a dataset (Braun & Clarke, 2012 ). Braun and Clarke ( 2006 ) developed a thematic analysis model divided into six phases: Phase 1: Familiarizing Yourself with the Data. This phase requires that the researcher reads and rereads textual data to highlight items potentially of interest. This phase involves an active reading of the qualitative content, starting to think about the meaning of the data. Phase 2: Generating Initial Codes. Codes represent labels for a data feature, a summary to describe its content, a shortcut that allows the researcher to quickly identify a topic. Phase 3: Searching for Themes. This phase requires the researcher to move from codes to themes. A theme “captures something important about the data in relation to the research question and represents some level of patterned response or meaning within the data set” (Braun & Clarke, 2006 , p. 82). Phase 4: Reviewing Potential Themes. This phase requires the researcher to review the encoded data and perform a check on the quality of the encodings. Phase 5: Defining and Naming Themes. In a good thematic analysis, the themes should have a clear focus and purpose and be related but not overlapping. Together, the themes provide an overall history of the data. It is possible to have sub-themes within a theme. Phase 6: Producing the Report.

All the interviews were transcribed and then analyzed with the help of the NVivo 12 software. Where necessary, the software made it possible to identify the words most used in the answers, analyze the sentiments with respect to the proposed themes, and identify the differences in the nodes and sentiments between mothers and children. Sentiments are particular nodes divided into positive and negative. Each of these two nodes has two child nodes: a lot and moderately. We also used the NVivo software to highlight the themes we had identified from the thematic analysis. The software also allows you to indicate the attributes (in our case Mother-Son). The assignment of attributes makes it possible to distinguish information about the speaker (whether it is the mother or the child) and consequently to be able to explore the data with subsequent analyses. Specifically, thanks to the assignment of the Mother-Son attributes, we were able to use the matrix coding query that allows you to check how two elements relate to each other. Thanks to the fact that Influences within the Family, External Influences, and Sentiments were coded, we were able to verify how all these codes related to the mother or child attribute (QSR international, 2021 ).

Results from the questionnaires

At the beginning of the ninth grade, 14.4% of adolescents (13.4% of boys; 15.4% of girls) already had a meeting with the school guidance counselor. There were 62 students who had had a meeting; 43.5% of them met the counselor alone (27; 46.7% of boys; 40.6% of girls), and the others in the presence of the mother (32 out of 35 meetings; 50.0% of the meetings of boys, 53.1% of those of girls) and/or the father (7 out of 35 meetings; 10.0% of the meetings of boys, 12.5% of those of girls), or a brother or sister (4 out of 35 meetings; 3.3% of the meetings of boys, 9.3% of those of girls).

A total of 47.9% of the students (207; 47.3% of boys and 48.6% of girls) indicated that no one was helping them making a choice at this moment: 72.5% of them (150) said they did not need help; others (57: 19 boys and 38 girls) cited that, as a possible source of support, they might need their parents (28: 10 boys and 18 girls) and/or the school counselor (21: 8 boys and 13 girls); 13 (4 boys and 9 girls) did not know; and only 3 cited a teacher or “the school” (2 boys and 1 girls). Of the 52.1% of the students who received or were receiving support (225), 91.5% indicated the mother as a source of support (89.8% of the boys and 93.5% of the girls), 75.5% the father (80.5% of the boys and 70.1% of the girls), and 27.5% a brother or sister (28.8% of the boys and 26.2% of the girls). Other relatives or other people were cited by 16% of students, respectively. At the question “from whom, among those people, are you receiving the most important help?,” 64.0% indicated the mother (53.4% of boys and 75.7% of girls), 24.0% the father (34.7% of boys and 12.1% of girls), 6.2% a brother or sister (5.9% of boys and 6.5% of girls), 4.0% other persons (3.4% of boys and 4.7% of girls), 1.3% other relatives (1.7% of boys and 0.9% of girls), and 0.4% their stepmother or stepfather (0.8% of boys and 0.0% of girls).

At the second data collection, i.e., 1 month before the end of compulsory school, 46.8% of adolescents already had a meeting with the school guidance counselor. There were 202 students who had had a meeting; 42.6% met the counselor alone (86; 44.2% boys; 41.1% girls), and the others in the presence of the mother (103 out of 116 meetings; 47.4% of the meetings of boys; 54.2% of those of girls) and/or the father (32 out of 116 meetings; 18.9% of the meetings of boys; 13.1% of those of girls), or a brother or sister (2 out of 116 meetings; 0.01% of the meetings of boys; 0.01% of those of girls).

At this time, 39.1% of the students indicated that no one was helping them make a choice (169; 42.0% of boys and 36.1% of girls). Of the 60.9% of the students stating that someone was helping them (263), 86.6% indicated the mother as a source of support (82.3% among boys and 91.0% among girls), 60.5% the father (68.5% of the boys and 52.6% of the girls), and 20.9% a brother or sister (24.6% of the boys and 17.3% of the girls). Other relatives were cited by 12.9% and other people by 23.2% of students, respectively.

At the question “from whom, among those people, are you receiving the most important help?,” in line with result obtained in the previous data collection, 63.1% indicated the mother (56.2% among boys and 69.9% among girls), 20.5% the father (26.9% among boys and 14.3% among girls), 4.6% a brother or sister (4.6% among boys and 4.5% among girls), 1.2% a stepfather or stepmother (1.6% among boys and 0.8% among girls), 7.6% other persons (7.7% among boys and 7.5% among girls), and 3% other relatives (3.1% among boys and 3.0% among girls).

Results from the interviews

As indicated by Braun and Clarke’s ( 2006 ), we first familiarized ourselves with the data and generated preliminary codes. After, we generated the possible themes and subthemes that were examined and labeled. Finally, we produced the final report. Table 1 shows the established themes and subthemes. We have enriched the table by also indicating the number of times each theme or subtheme appears and how many persons cited it. Two themes emerged and are presented in the following paragraphs. Indeed, the sources of influence on choices were divided into two alternatives: influences and support that come from members of the family (Theme 1) and influences and support that come from outside (Theme 2). For each alternative, a parent-node and some child-nodes were formed and presented.

Theme 1: Influences within the family

Influences within the family were coded as follows: (1) influences from the mother (for example, Claudia, who said, “[my mother] did not oblige me but helped me... according to her I went more that way and she was right ” ), (2) influences from the father’s side (for example, Valeria, who, in response to “who helped you?,” said “Mom and dad”), (3) influences from brothers or sisters (for example, Davide, who said, “I was lucky because I have two older brothers and they also went to high school. So, I see the way more open”) and, finally, (4) no influence attributable to family members (for example, Fabrizio, who said, “I chose alone,” or the mother of Claudia, who said “on the choice we have not influenced any of our daughters”). The references of this coding have been presented in Table 2 .

To further understand the differences in the answers within the mother–child couple, we conducted a matrix coding query using Nvivo 12. It is a query that allows you to encode two elements (QSR international, 2021 ). The results of this query are summarized in Table 2 . The mothers involved in the study seemed to agree that no family member had any influence on the choice. In fact, all the encodings concerning the “Influences within the family” node are relative to the “None” child-node.

Livia’s mother: [My husband and I] have never said “our daughter must necessarily become a doctor or a lawyer”; the most important thing is that the profession must like her. Whatever she chooses, we do support her [...]. Anything she wants to do will be fine, the important thing is that she does it with her head, thinking well. Fabrizio’s mother: He [my son] went alone to do the career guidance interview, without telling me anything. He was curious to know what the path to being an engineer is and he inquired. I have not influenced him in this. I asked him if he wanted to be accompanied, but he preferred not to and did it all by himself. That was fine for me.

The answers given by the students are more diverse. They perpetuate the influence on the part of the mother on their choice and secondarily on the part of the father or brothers/sisters. All these influences are described as supportive, and it is interesting to note that the “father” node never appears alone but is generally associated with the “mother” node. Only four adolescents declared that they have not perceived particular influences from the family.

Davide: We talked about it as a family, with mum and dad. Interviewer: And in all this, you have managed yourself? Carlo: My mother, she was the one who looked for alternatives to the computer, also did things right on the curriculum vitae. She helped me, yes. Interviewer: And was it you pushing or were you both together? Carlo: A little bit of both. But she said to me “come on, why don’t you want to go and do this internship or see this thing?”. After I said yes, however, it was she who found the places, it was she who... yes, she helped me a lot. Interviewer: Who was helping you? Valeria: Mom and dad.

Theme 2: External influences

As regards the second alternative relating to influences, we have coded the parent-node as “external influences,” dividing it into the following child-nodes: (1) school guidance counselor, who collects the responses of the participants who referred to it at the time of the choice (for example, Fabrizio, who said, “I went to the Counselour, he gave me some help”), (2) classmates, when the influences came from classmates (for example, Davide, who said, “I saw that other classmates also chose the same thing and I felt more convinced”), (3) espoprofessioni (expoprofessions), or those who during the choice consulted the event dedicated to the professions (for example, Carlo’s mother, who said, “In September there was the event Espoprofessioni and we went”) and (4) word of mouth, when the adolescent received support from family acquaintances and friends (for example, Claudia’s mother, who said, “We had the advantage of personally meeting a doctor and we asked him for a hand”). The number of references is summarized in Table 1 . Also in this case, through the NVivo 12 software, we used a matrix coding query to further understand the differences between mothers and children in the perception of support coming from the outside. The results are shown in Table 2 . In the case of both the mothers and the students interviewed, we found that many times, during the interview, reference was made to the figure of the school guidance counselor. However, the support received was not always rated as satisfactory, in particular by three mothers and two children. Here are two examples:

Interviewer: [...] do you think the school or school guidance counselor should do something more? Livia’s mother: Yes, the counselor is not good. I must be honest. We went to the guidance office, but they put in front of the options “this, this and this” and that’s it. But even the counselor is not that he said much. He didn’t give much help. Instead, he should have asked my son what interests him, but he didn’t, for example. Interviewer: Have you seen the counselors? Claudia: I saw him, but I must say that he didn’t give me much help. My mother came once too but he didn’t help us at all.

Although to a lesser extent, some external influences come from classmates, word of mouth, or from having participated in the Espoprofessioni event, as emerged with these interviewees:

Livia’s mother: [...] We went [to the Espoprofessioni] by chance and stopped to talk to those in the health sector, medical help; there were the various schools, which illustrate their particularities. Carlo: When there were the Espoprofessioni, in that shed, we went to see and we started to decide a bit.

A final analysis we conducted was that relating to sentiment, which is used to evaluate feelings with respect to a theme. Sentiment nodes behave differently than other nodes. NVivo 12 allows you to code two parent sentiment nodes: positive and negative. Each of them has two child nodes: very and moderately. Automatic software setup aggregates child nodes to parent nodes (QSR international, 2021 ). Based on our analyses, we identified 11 positive sentiment nodes (of which 7 were positive, 2 very positive, and 2 moderately positive) and 40 negative (of which 21 were negative and 19 moderately negative). By way of example, we report some quotations of positive and negative sentiment. Parts of speech have been classified as positive sentiment:

Interviewer: [...] Are you afraid of the first day of school? Davide: No, no, in fact I can’t wait to start because I know it’s a new school. Interviewer: Are you worried about your son’s future? Fabrizio’s mother: No. Not for him. Because he finds a job for the profession he chooses anyway.

Parts of speech have been classified as negative sentiment:

Interviewer: Do you have any fears for the next few years, or do you feel calm? Federico: I’m a little afraid of what it will be like, yes; how hard it will be, yes; I have a little bit of that because I arrive from middle school, I don’t really know what the school will be like there. Federico’s mother: The context is difficult. Because it is a situation that can evolve in different ways, it is not very easy. Or the situation changes because a change is needed otherwise it is very hard. There is a lot of competition. The loss of quality in work, this need to do everything immediately, everything quickly, everything in the short term, little planned. This kind of future worries me about my son.

We were interested in verifying how these sentiments were distributed in the attributes of mother and student. The results, obtained through a matrix coding, are summarized in Table 2 . Most of the sentiment encodings have been found in the mother attribute. In general, mothers have a greater number of negative sentiments, while children have approximately equal numbers of positive and negative sentiments. This indicates that, regarding the choices and the future of the students, the mothers seem to be more concerned, while the children are also enthusiastic and curious about the new opportunities.

Data collected from the first and second questionnaires endorse the mother as the main source of support, followed by the father and other family members. These results confirm those of other studies conducted differentiating mothers and fathers as providers of social support (Colarossi & Eccles, 2003 ; Furman & Buhrmester, 1992 ; Levitt et al., 1993 ) and career-related support (Ginevra et al., 2015 ; McCabe & Barnett, 2000 ; Porfeli et al., 2013 ). Indeed, in this study, the mother is the one who most frequently participates in meetings with the school guidance counselor, regardless of her child’s gender. The mother is usually mentioned as a source of support by 91.5% of adolescents at the beginning and by 86.6% of those at the end of the last school year, although fathers are also seen as such by a good portion of the children (by 75.5% of adolescents at the beginning and 60.5% of those at the end of the last school year). The mother, followed by the father, is declared as the most important source of support. However, in line with the study of Colarossi and Eccles ( 2003 ), the data also show that daughters are more likely to perceive their mothers as sources of support and sons more likely to perceive their fathers as such, although contrary to the finding of their study in this study fathers are perceived as the second source of support, before teachers and peers. The support that adolescents, regardless of their gender, perceive as most available and also as the most important therefore comes first and foremost from their family. Gender seems to slightly differentiate the perception of support, perhaps because gender differences related to cognitive and relational styles (Eagly et al., 2004 ) lead girls to feel closer to their mother and boys to their father. Another explanation might be that the different types of professions considered by girls and boys, still largely influenced by gender stereotypes and therefore perceived as more feminine or masculine, make it more spontaneous to ask the mother or father about them. Even today, a boy is more likely to consider becoming a bricklayer than a girl, and if so, he is more likely to ask his father rather than his mother for information.

In the first part of this study, adolescents who are still making a choice and say they need more help, after parents, most often cite the school guidance counselor, while teachers are only rarely mentioned as a possible source of support. This finding seems to differ from those of other studies that highlighted the importance of support given by teachers, more than that given by parents or peers, for example, in enhancing positive career expectations in adolescents (Gushue & Whitson, 2006 ), in giving information and fostering self-efficacy in career decision-making (Cheung & Arnold, 2010 ), in fostering school identification (Kenny & Bledsoe, 2005 ), and contributing to increasing resilience, perceived employability, and self-efficacy (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2015 ). The low importance given to teachers as a source of support in relation to career choices by adolescents in this study can be explained in several ways. First of all, the “general support” that can be given by teachers in daily classes for developing important competencies that also facilitate career choices (Kivunja, 2014 ) may not be perceived as directly supporting choices by adolescents. Second, because of the way career-related support is organized in middle school in Southern Switzerland at the time of study, specific support for career decision-making is not among teachers’ main tasks. Hence, not all teachers act to facilitate the career planning of students that involves inquiring about career paths, helping them identify their interests, giving information about jobs, and helping them in setting educational and career goals (Wong et al., 2021 ). Finally, for both adolescents and their parents, in Switzerland, it is important, yes, to make a first career choice, but it is also important that this choice be crowned by successful enrollment in a school or entering into an apprenticeship contract. Hence, the most important help to achieve this last step can most easily be given by parents, as it emerges also from interviews, and, eventually, by the school guidance counselors who help the adolescent searching for practical information and, for those enrolling in VET, for an employer. Teachers for this last step can do little, aside from passing information provided by the school guidance counselor. This is perhaps also because the school guidance counselors are perceived as more important than teachers in this study, differently from other previous studies (Gysbers & Lapan, 2009 ; Multon, 2006 ).

The school guidance counselor, although emerging as a relatively important figure, is seen individually by less than half of the students over the last two years of compulsory schooling, and more than a half of them are accompanied by the mother. Although school guidance counselors are thus perceived as a source of support by a proportion of adolescents, they are definitely not the first source nor the one perceived as most useful, as highlighted in other studies (Mortimer et al., 2002 ) and also suggested by the results of the interviews conducted with this study.

In fact, the 20 interviews conducted in the second part of this study, and in particular the 10 carried out with the adolescents, confirm the importance of the mother as the first source of influence on career-related choices for them. As observed in other studies (Bernardo, 2010 ), it seems that adolescents consider it normal to be influenced by their parents in career choices. Influence from the mother is always perceived as a positive one by the child interviewed. Moreover, it is interesting to highlight that all the mothers affirm not to try to influence their child’s choice. However, referring to the support categories defined by Cutrona and Russell ( 1990 ) and by Cutrona ( 1996 ), what emerges from the interviews is that, regardless of the child’s gender, mothers provide both tangible assistance and information support (see Carlo and Claudia’s quotations), esteem (see Fabrizio or Livia’s mother’s quotations), and emotional support (see Livia’s mother or Davide’s quotations). The fact that mothers qualify this support behavior as a “non influence” on their child’s choice is an important aspect since studies have shown that this type of support is associated with greater career exploration, whereas when parents try to influence their children’s choices (Interference behavior), children experience more difficulty in career choices (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ; Marcionetti & Rossier, 2016a , 2016b ). The father, among the influences perceived within the family, is at second place, followed by a sister or a brother. However, the father is always cited together with the mother, further highlighting the importance of the mother for the career decision-making process of their child. As for sisters and brothers, they are an influence on choice when they are older and have already made their choice. In this case, the brother or sister, by telling and showing their experience in their chosen education, can be a role model to follow (or not to follow).

Regarding external influences, among the most frequently cited is the school guidance counselor; however, this professional figure, as has already been found in other studies (Mortimer et al., 2002 ), is not always perceived as helpful. The kind of support provided described in the interviews (see Livia’s mother quotation) seems to be purely informative, and perhaps both mothers and children expected more than information that they could probably have found on their own. The 20 interviewees, however, referred to only two school guidance counselors, so it is not the case to draw conclusions about the support provided by this professional category from these interviews. It should also be mentioned that the guidance counselors in cooperation with the Division of Vocational Training of Southern Switzerland organize every 2 years the Espoprofessioni event ( https://www4.ti.ch/decs/dfp/espoprofessioni/home/ ), which is cited as a source of useful information by two mothers and two children. Two other sources of external influence were word of mouth, i.e., the influence of family acquaintances and friends, cited by two mothers and by their children, and the classmates, cited by two adolescents. If acquaintances and friends also permit the facilitation of the organization of internships and eventually of finding an employer (i.e., they provide tangible assistance), classmates making the same choice further convince the adolescent that he/she made a good choice. According to the categorization of Cutrona and Russell ( 1990 ) and Cutrona ( 1996 ), this last type of support, more indirect, might be seen as esteem support as well as social integration/network support.

Hence, although all these figures and sources of influence play a role in the adolescent career decision-making process, this role differs both in the phase at which they intervene, in the type, and, we can assume, in its importance. In each case, mothers emerge as a kind of emotional safe haven from which children can explore themselves and professions. They encourage and accompany the child in this exploration, sometimes pointing out a possible course, which they nevertheless let the child choose whether to follow or not. At the time of the study’s conduction, other sources of support for career choice seem to be more marginal; they are tools from which to draw information or from which to get confirmation that the choice can be implemented. It is therefore not surprising that, regarding sentiments associated with the career choice, results show that though adolescents, feel both positive and negative emotions, mothers have a greater number of negative emotions. Mothers, personally involved in this important process, worry both about the choice their children have to make in the present and about their children’s future careers. Although this concern, much more typical in women/mothers than in men/fathers (e.g., Robichaud et al., 2003 ), may seem negative in some ways, it can nevertheless be the ignition engine for the career decision-making process of adolescents (Young et al., 1997 ), who are not always ready to initiate it spontaneously.

Limitations and future directions

This study allows more light to be shed on perceptions related to sources of support and influence in adolescents’ career choices, also taking into account both the gender of the adolescent and the distinction between mother and father. First, using a quantitative approach, it allowed them to be put in order of importance, and highlighting some differences in their perception related to the adolescent’s gender. Second, with a quali-quantitative analysis approach, it permitted the highlighting of the sources of influence and support in career choice perceived by 10 mother–child dyads and to highlight some differences in perception and emotionality between the two figures.

However, there are two limitations of this study to take into account. The first concerns the fact that, in the first part of the study, the adolescents’ perceived sources of support were taken into account, but without going into the type of support provided or the actual effectiveness of it. Also, the limited number of participants when divided into the various subgroups of males and females and those who saw the school guidance counselor did not allow for statistical tests to be conducted to assess reliably differences in perceptions between males and females. Moreover, only 10 mother–child dyads referring to two middle schools were interviewed. Extending the number of interviewees referring to a bigger number of middle schools, and thus, of school guidance counselors, might have permitted further investigation of the perceived effectiveness of this figure in supporting career choices. Moreover, a bigger number of interviews, also involving fathers (hence, also involving father–children dyads or father–mother–children triads), could have permitted a deeper investigation into the eventual differentiating discourses in relation to the influence and type of support provided by the mother and by the father. Finally, although the results are encouraging in indicating the presence of family support for career choice, it would be interesting to study the causes and effects of too invasive support (interference) or even of a lack of support (lack of engagement), considering the effect of gender, both of the adolescent who suffers it and of the parent who enacts it.

Knowing what the main sources of support for career choice perceived by adolescents are is important, and despite its limitations, this study permits the shedding of some more light on this subject. The fact that it is primarily the mother who supports her son or daughter indicates, for example, that specific interventions aimed at developing competencies for supporting choices in external sources of support should be directed primarily to this figure. The fact that daughters perceive (and expect?) even more support from their mothers than boys may also indicate that, where this support is lacking, they are even more likely to struggle than boys, who also more often consider fathers as a source of support. As already highlighted by other studies, it would be important to put more emphasis on the role of the guidance counselor, who, although perceived as a possible source of support, is still an underutilized figure and not always judged effective in providing help in the school setting. Unlike a guidance counselor who provides their services outside of school, this figure in school is limited in the time they have to follow up with students, and this may also affect the effectiveness of their intervention. An alternative could be to increase the amount of time this figure is in school or the type of support/intervention provided. Instead of face-to-face interviews, the literature seems to indicate that group interventions aimed at developing specific knowledge and competencies useful in career decision-making might be most effective in helping young people make choices and implement them (e.g., Mahat et al., 2022 ; Nota et al., 2016 ; Zammitti et al., 2020 ). Teachers might be involved, together with school guidance counselors, in providing these interventions. Indeed, as the figure who, after parents, spends the most time with adolescents and best knows each one of them, the teacher should be more involved in supporting students’ choices, especially given the positive outcomes of studies in which this figure is trained to make available this kind of support (e.g., Wong et al., 2021 ). Teacher support should be career-specific (Wong et al., 2021 ) but also, and perhaps mainly, a general informational, instrumental, and emotional support aiming at the development of competencies useful also for career decision-making process, such as self-exploration and awareness, decision-making competencies, relational competencies (for asking and providing support), autonomy, and self-determination (Kivunja, 2014 ; Lei et al., 2018 ).

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Marcionetti, J., Zammitti, A. Perceived support and influences in adolescents’ career choices: a mixed-methods study. Int J Educ Vocat Guidance (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-023-09624-9

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OPINION article

Career exploration of high school students: status quo, challenges, and coping model.

• 1 School of Education Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
• 2 Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
• 3 School of Teacher Education, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing, China
• 4 Institute of Mathematics and Physics, Beijing Union University, Beijing, China

Introduction

Future career choices of teenagers have always been the focus of researchers ( Pânişoara et al., 2013 ). In 2014, China proposed a new policy for the reform of the New College Entrance Examination (NCEE), which clearly pointed out that students should choose their appropriate subjects for future study and their development and put forward higher requirements for their self-interest and future career development ( Wang, 2021 ). The new model of subjects selection provides more choices, which not only challenges schools and teachers, but also puts forward higher requirements for the ability of the students for career exploration ( Jian, 2020 ). The selection of subjects will affect the future academic achievements, majors, and employment in universities of the students ( Chen et al., 2021 ). Career exploration is one of the hot research topics in the field of career development in recent years ( Jiang et al., 2019 ) and is considered as a great impetus to the adaptive development of people ( Guan et al., 2018 ), which refers to the process that an individual explores the environment related to himself/herself and career development under the impetus of exploration motivation (mainly professional exploration in high school) ( Derevensky and Coleman, 1989 ; Qu and Zou, 2009 ). Under the background of NCEE reform, it is particularly important for high school students to master and apply the ability of career exploration ( Chen et al., 2021 ). After combing the concept, structure, measurement, and influencing factors of career exploration, this study planned to explore the challenges faced by high school students in China, put forward an opinion, and established a new coping model suitable for the career exploration of high school students, to provide help to them for discipline selection and future development.

Literature Review

Concept of career exploration.

The research of career exploration originated from the theory of career development ( Jordaan, 1977 ; Nevill, 1997 ; Super and Jordaan, 2007 ), which divided personal career development into five stages as follows: growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline ( Hansen, 1993 ; Beale, 1998 ). The career exploration period (15–24 years old) is an important preparation stage ( Gottfredson, 1981 ), and it is also an important period for high school students to know themselves and explore their majors under the NCEE ( Darolia and Koedel, 2018 ; Liu and Helwig, 2020 ). Career exploration, which refers to a kind of psychological or physical activity taken by individuals to achieve career goals, including information seeking, self-cognition, and environment ( Phillips, 1982 ; Blustein, 1992 ; Gross-Spector and Cinamon, 2018 ). Then according to this definition, scholars put forward that the process of career exploration should pay attention to three contents, as follows: information seeking, self-cognition, and environmental cognition ( Blustein, 1989 ). Corresponding to high school students, it mainly involves several aspects, such as the exploration of University majors, the pursuit of subjects selection, self-cognition, and understanding of future University learning environments ( Lau et al., 2021 ).

Career exploration of high school refers to a kind of physical or psychological activity that high school students carry out to achieve the optimization of future college professional learning choices, including the process of self-cognition, college professional information collection, and college learning environment cognition. In the process of exploration, the abilities of self-perception, self-reflection, self-matching, and self-regulation can be formed.

Structure of Career Exploration

Nowadays, researchers have different views on the structure of career exploration, which mainly includes content orientation, process orientation, and general orientation ( Sugalski and Greenhaus, 1986 ).

In terms of content orientation, career exploration is a simple behavior, including the exploration of self and surrounding environment, emphasizing the object to be explored ( An and Lee, 2017 ). Parsons proposed that the exploration objects of individuals in career development include not only their own interests and abilities but also career-related information, which can make a reasonable match between individuals and careers ( Parsons, 1909 ; Baker, 2009 ). There are also researchers in China who divide career exploration into self-exploration and environment exploration from the content ( Jiwen Song and Werbel, 2007 ). Self-exploration refers to the development of self-information, the definition of values, interests, personality characteristics, abilities, life type tendencies, etc. ( Blustein, 1989 ). Environmental exploration includes paying attention to and collecting information related to occupation, work, and organization ( Teixeira and Dias, 2011 ; Xu et al., 2014 ).

In terms of process orientation, researchers pay close attention to the process and dynamics of career exploration, emphasize the continuous development of individuals, obtaining information, and finally determining career goals ( Blustein, 1989 ; Ketterson and Blustein, 1997 ). Career exploration theory put forward that it should pay attention to the belief and process of career exploration, and focus on the initial motivation. Career exploration development theory focused on the process and reflection of career exploration and the gains after exploration. Both theories provide an important theory and foundation for this study, that is, career exploration needs to pay attention to three dimensions, including belief, process, and reflection. ( Stumpf et al., 1983 ; Flum and Blustein, 2000 ).

In terms of general orientation, the meta model of career exploration is representative of integration orientation, which pointed out that there was still no clear and unified structure in the field of career exploration. Its purpose was not to present new knowledge but to organize existing information and integrate it into a systematic pattern. So a meta model of career exploration divided career exploration into two parts, namely, self and environment. There are four stages in each exploration, such as concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and positive experience. The activities and tasks of individuals in exploring themselves and the environment are different ( Atkinson and Murrel, 1988 ). To sum up, career exploration should include two subdimensions, belief and process while focusing on personal exploration and environmental exploration (Model composition 1).

Measurement of Career Exploration

Up to now, there are more and more empirical studies on career exploration, but no measurement tools of various types. The main research types can be divided into three types, namely, career exploration survey (CES), career development inventory (CDI), and self-developed measures.

In terms of CESs, with the maturity of the theoretical research on career exploration, researchers have developed several scales to test the level of career exploration. Stumpf et al. (1983) developed the 59-item CES to capture three major categories of exploration, including the exploration process, reactions to exploration, and beliefs about exploration ( Stumpf et al., 1983 ). Since its establishment, the CES has become the leading means of career exploration. On the one hand, more and more empirical studies have completely adopted all the topics of CES and obtained different experimental results ( Nauta, 2007 ; Praskova et al., 2015 ; Lent et al., 2017 ). On the other hand, many studies adjust and delete items in the subdimensions of self-exploration and environmental exploration to suit different types of subjects ( Werbel, 2000 ; Zikic and Klehe, 2006 ). However, the long process of CES leads to its limitations in empirical research. Although more and more researchers focus on one of the subdimensions, it cannot solve the overall understanding of career exploration ( Jiang et al., 2019 ). Therefore, the recent research began to seek a shorter experimental way of career exploration.

In terms of CDI, it is an American instrument designed to measure the vocational maturity of adolescents ( Super, 2007 ; Hansen, 2018 ). Resource search, one of its subscales, is often used to measure career exploration. Since the scale has many topics and different measurement contents, later researchers developed a shorter scale, which has also been used in empirical studies from many countries, including Australia ( Patton et al., 2004 ; Rogers et al., 2018 ), Swiss ( Hirschi, 2011 ), Italy ( Chiesa et al., 2016 ), China ( Chen et al., 2021 ), and so on. Compared with CES, CDI emphasizes the exploration or thinking of external resources rather than individuals in the process of career exploration ( Jiang et al., 2019 ). Another problem worthy of pointing out is that the validity of this subscale of CDI is questionable because most projects involve how the information sources are provided, or belief in work or occupation, so there is no clear assessment of the degree of active participation of individuals in career exploration. In view of these limitations, researchers should be cautious when using the career exploration subscale of CDI as a research tool in future work.

In addition to the above two main measurements, researchers have developed some self-developed measures to evaluate career exploration. Most of these CES subscales have something in common, mainly including self-exploration and environmental exploration, which are particularly related to behaviors in the process of career exploration but pay little attention to attitudes and beliefs. The existing self-developed measures mainly include 6-item scales ( Yuen et al., 2010 ; Rojewski et al., 2014 ), 13-item scales ( Tracey et al., 2006 ), and 24-item scales ( Vignoli et al., 2005 ). However, unlike CES and CDI, these new measures have not been widely adopted. It is worth noting that the existing research on career exploration of high school students mainly focuses on the measurement of exploration behavior and belief ( Phillips and Blustein, 1994 ; Brown et al., 1999 ), and has not developed a scale or interview more suitable for high school students. To sum up, career exploration should include reflection (Model composition 2).

Influencing Factors of Career Exploration

The research on the influencing factors of career exploration mainly focuses on family and individual factors ( Ingrid, 2004 ), and this study mainly reviews the research in this field from these two aspects. However, in the background of the NCEE, the importance of peer groups and schools to individual career exploration, especially for high school students, cannot be ignored, which is a very important part of future research and practice ( Lazarides et al., 2015 ).

In the past, the research on family factors mainly includes two types: construct variables and process variables. On the one hand, there are some evidence which showed that family economic status, working status of parents, and education level can affect the career exploration of teenagers. For example, family economic status was confirmed as a powerful predictor of career exploration and choice, which pointed out middle-class parents will consciously participate in the development of children and provide them with an activity place for interest and ability development, whereas working-class parents tend to regard the development of children as a natural process ( Phillips et al., 2002 ). The work experience, employment status, and working conditions of parents have a direct or indirect influence on the career exploration and development of teenagers ( Corey and Chen, 2019 ; Wang et al., 2019 ). On the other hand, it involves parent–child attachment, parental support, and parenting style ( Lindstrom et al., 2007 ; Gagnon et al., 2019 ). For example, parental behaviors predicted the change in career exploration of German ninth graders over the observed period. Moreover, frequent talks with peers about career-related issues were significantly associated with the intensity of information-seeking behaviors and, at the same time, predicted intensification of occupational exploration during the following 6-month period ( Kracke, 2002 ). These two aspects influence each other and play an irreplaceable role in the career development of teenagers.

Previous studies have shown that individual factors affecting career exploration mainly include gender, identity, personality, individual development initiative, career self-efficacy, and so on ( Wang et al., 2019 ; Chen et al., 2020a , b ). For example, compared with boys, girls reported more negative certainty and expectation of results. Moreover, girls show less satisfaction with the information they get and experience more pressure to explore and make decisions ( Lim and Lee, 2021 ). In addition to the Big Five factors, optimism and self-esteem are also the personality factors concerned. Nauta (2007) explored the relationship between the five personalities of college students and career exploration, and found that there was no significant correlation between personality and environmental exploration, whereas openness was positively correlated with self-exploration, and extroversion was negatively correlated with self-exploration ( Nauta, 2007 ). Mota et al. (2012) pointed out that there is a correlation between career exploration, career decision-making difficulties, and career indecision level of 9th-grade Portuguese students. This intervention can effectively enhance the understanding of teenagers of career roles and help them make active decisions ( Mota et al., 2012 ). However, there are different conclusions. Reed et al. (2004) found that responsibility and extroversion are positively correlated with environmental exploration, and openness is positively correlated with self-exploration ( Reed et al., 2004 ). To sum up, career exploration should include personal characteristics (such as interests and personality) and environmental factors (such as University and professional information) (Model composition 3).

Methodology

In order to effectively collect literature on career exploration in high schools, this study was carried out by following the reporting checklist of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines ( Moher et al., 2014 ; Chen et al., 2020a ). The literature search, screening, and clustering methods employed in the systematic review are summarized in Figure 1 and described in more detail below.

Figure 1 . Flow chart of the study selection process.

Literature Search

The purpose of the systematic review is to discover the development status and challenges of career exploration in high schools. Three groups of search terms are defined, which are as follows: “career exploration,” “new college entrance examination,” and “ subjects selection.” The list of search terms includes words related to all learning theories known by the author. Search is limited to articles written in English and Chinese from Chinese authors and published from January 2000 to July 2021. The data come from Web of Science and CNKI. The initial literature search was conducted from January 2010 to March 2020 and then supplemented in July 2021. The initial search produced a total of 503 papers (235 from Web Of Science and 268 from CNKI).

Screening of Titles and Abstracts

The titles and abstracts of the articles identified by the literature search were screened by hand using the following inclusion and exclusion criteria: (1) research topics must be career exploration, college entrance examination, personal exploration, or University major selection; (2) the research object must be Chinese high school students; (3) papers must be published in journal articles, conference documents or dissertations, etc.; (4) the article must be in English or Chinese. Screening of titles and abstracts reduced the set of relevant articles to 94.

Screening of Full Articles

Two authors were assigned to each of the learning theories. Both authors read all of the articles in their category and excluded any article that was deemed not relevant to career exploration. Articles that included high school students were not excluded if they also included younger or older participants. Both theoretical and empirical studies were included. Screening reduced the set of relevant articles to 13.

The Challenges in Career Exploration of High School

After analyzing the literature review and the literature collected about career exploration in this study, this study summarizes it into three challenges, which are described as follows:

Not Enough Attention to the Career Exploration of High School

Under the premise of realizing self-cognition, high school students can stimulate their inner needs and become interested in themselves, thus forming the inner motive force for career exploration ( Creed et al., 2007 ). The career planning education of high school includes five basic contents, such as self-cognition, academic mastery, major exploration, career planning, and life planning ( Gu et al., 2020 ). Through the six steps of “self-awareness, world awareness, the initial establishment of career goals, decision-making, action and implementation, evaluation and adjustment,” students can not only cultivate the ability of career planning with the core of choice ability but also cultivate core skills and excellent character to adapt to future career changes ( Rogers et al., 2008 ). These are only important parts of the career exploration period, which also shows that career exploration should be an important part of career education in high school. The emphasis should be placed on the guidance of self-cognition ( Chen et al., 2020a ). However, this study found the following: (1) facing the research of career exploration, more people pay attention to how graduates make the best choices, rather than looking for the reasons that make career choices difficult ( Chan, 2018 ); (2) facing the development of high school students, more and more people choose to pay attention to academic achievements ( Otte and Sharpe, 1979 ; Masud et al., 2019 ), family support ( Pires et al., 2017 ), and school conditions ( Lombardi et al., 2019 ). To sum up, although the attention to the career exploration of high school has risen in recent years, it is still difficult to maintain high attention and in-depth theoretical research, and many studies are borrowed from other research objects without considering the special situation of high school students. To sum up, the main development of career exploration depends on the family and school support (Model composition 4).

No Practical Action to Explore University Majors

Taking NCEE in China as an example, the proposal of a new elective mode is particularly crucial for the exploration of University majors ( Liu, 2014 ; Zhang, 2019 ). However, there is little research in this field. Currently, it mainly involves professional classification and research trips. In the professional classification, Xie (2016) points out that there are currently about 500 majors in colleges and universities in China, which are divided into 18 majors according to their similarities ( Xie, 2016 ). At the same time, through understanding the world map of the 18 academic groups, GPS positioning of academic groups, enrollment promotion meeting, professional GPS positioning, and other links, high school students can explore University majors. In terms of the research trip, Yang pointed out that as an effective complement to school education, research trip has strengthened the connection between schools and society, curricula and the 'lifeworld of students, organically combining tourism, study, and research, helping students understand University majors and promoting their all-round development ( Yang, 2018 ).

To sum up, the premise of carrying out research and study travel activities is the need to correctly understand the basic nature and practical role of its professional exploration in universities ( Huang et al., 2016 ). Designing rich tourism courses and improving the system and mechanism of cooperative organization and management is the cornerstone of carrying out activities. However, it is a pity that although some studies have pointed out the importance of this measure, no pertinent suggestions or practical results have been made. To sum up, the career exploration of high school mainly focuses on the professional exploration of University, and the school should provide corresponding courses as an auxiliary (Model composition 5).

Lack of Operating Mechanism of Environmental Cognition

Environmental cognition, as a very important part of career exploration, is the psychological basis for individuals to adapt to and act on the environment ( Henry and Dietz, 2012 ). How to understand the environment? How to form an impression of the environment in your mind? How do you affect how individuals work with the environment? These issues have evolved into studies in the field of environmental psychology, such as city and architectural images, cognitive maps, and road exploration ( Silvianingsih et al., 2019 ).

Environmental cognition of returning to high school mainly includes cognition of high school learning environment, experience, and cognition of future professional learning environment of the University. However, little is known about the research in this field. Only Song in 2011 put forward the correct understanding of the environmental education in high school geography teaching research to effectively promote the formation of environmental protection values and sustainable development of students ( Song, 2011 ). Therefore, when it comes to environmental cognition, career exploration should learn more from the relatively mature environmental psychology at the level of smashing psychology and carry out deeper exploration. To sum up, career exploration in high school needs to pay attention to personal characteristics such as personal professional values and practical experience (Model composition 6).

Research Findings

Literature characteristics.

Based on the analysis of the characteristics of the last 13 papers, this study found the following: first, the documents lack a strong theoretical basis, and most of the papers do not adopt the characteristics of high school students but directly adopt the theory of adult career exploration, which leads to the inability to teach students in accordance with their aptitude; secondly, among these 13 papers, six English papers are empirical research and journal articles, and seven Chinese papers are theoretical research and mainly dissertation. This reflects that the career exploration research in high school is paid attention to and the research is scattered, which is most likely caused by the lack of mature career exploration guidance in high school; and finally, all the 13 documents were published after the reform of the new college entrance examination of China in 2014, which shows that career exploration started in China not long ago, and so it is extremely urgent to provide a reference coping model.

Literature Content

Based on the analysis of literature and practice, this study found the following: (1) there is little research on career exploration in high schools, and a unified concept definition has not been formed yet; (2) all empirical studies are focused on some practical operation, lacking systematic and complete career. Therefore, this study attempts to establish a coping model of career exploration in high schools to explain the implementation of career exploration in high schools, which has important theoretical and practical significance.

Coping Model of Career Exploration

On the practical level of career exploration, the Chinese researchers are basically in the process of focusing on school activities, and rarely discuss the actual needs of high school students under the NCEE ( Chen et al., 2021 ). Even though some studies suggested the necessity of career exploration of high school students ( Xie, 2016 ; Chen et al., 2020a ), there were no effective measures to form the concept of exploration for high school students who were in the process of experience, even after tracking the experience. Therefore, the greatest practical value in this study lied in trying to establish the coping model of the career exploration of high school students based on the actual needs of high school students in China. As shown in Figure 2 , the final coping model is formed by synthesizing the conclusions of the 6-model composition mentioned in the full text, which is helpful for high school students to have a reference sequence and theoretical basis in the process of career exploration, thus realizing effective topic selection and career exploration under NCEE in China.

Figure 2 . Coping model of career exploration for high school students.

Firstly, establish the career exploration beliefs. Due to the characteristics of high school students, taking schools as the main body and teaching through courses is considered as one of the more effective measures to solve the career exploration and future career preparation of Chinese high school students ( Gu et al., 2020 ; Chen et al., 2021 ). Therefore, this study believes that the knowledge and information of career exploration under NCEE can be taught to high school students through career courses so as to use career-related means to clarify self-awareness, understand their needs and interests, and form a basic methodology. It should be noted that, in the practice of this study, it is found that all the teaching can be completed with the help of assessment and other technologies so as to ensure that students can form a methodology of self-cognition and career exploration.

Secondly, experience the career exploration process. Through the establishment and understanding of the connotation, structures, methods, and influencing factors of career exploration, the career exploration process is aimed at the needs of high school students, especially at the important stage of entering University. It can develop the ability to self-collecting University major information, combine the part of self-cognition, analyze and adapt to our University majors, and purposefully understand the future courses, learning, occupation.

Finally, make the career exploration reflection. Through the exploration of the above two steps, high school students can build up self-confidence, yearn for and perceive a better future, and thus further stimulate the motivation of career exploration, and through each stage of career reflection, make appropriate adjustments to the exploration process to achieve more suitable development.

Career exploration in high schools is a rising star in China, especially under the impetus of the new college entrance examination reform policy. The new college entrance examination requires students to choose subjects in advance, which promotes students to explore their careers in time so that they can make better decisions and lay a good foundation for future career development. Therefore, after sorting out the concept, structure, measurement, and influencing factors of career exploration, this study uses the method of systematic review to screen articles for analysis and points out the great challenges it brings to career exploration. In addition, this study takes the reform of NCEE in China as an example and pays more attention to the reaction, in addition to the process and belief that should be paid attention to in the reflection of career exploration. From these three dimensions, it puts forward relevant coping models and guidelines for supporting the development of high school career exploration, which provided a theoretical model and coping path for the practice of high school career exploration. Although there is a serious lack of research on career exploration in high school in the existing literature, with the promulgation of various policies, more and more researchers realize the importance of career exploration. As this study only puts forward an opinion, it does not give guidance or form an action guide from the practical level, which is the focus of future research.

Author Contributions

All participated in the study design. HC, FL, YW, LL, and XG wrote the first draft. SC and HL modified the manuscript.

This study was funded by Project of Scientific Research Innovation plan for Postgraduates in Jiangsu Province, Grant Number KYCX20_1145, Jiangsu Province Basic Education Prospective Teaching Reform Experiment Project, and Jiangsu Province University's Advantageous Discipline Construction Project, Grant Number PAPD.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

This study would like to extend our sincere gratitude to reviewers.

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Keywords: career exploration, challenge, coping model, high school, China

Citation: Chen H, Liu F, Wen Y, Ling L, Chen S, Ling H and Gu X (2021) Career Exploration of High School Students: Status Quo, Challenges, and Coping Model. Front. Psychol. 12:672303. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.672303

Received: 25 February 2021; Accepted: 26 August 2021; Published: 24 September 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Chen, Liu, Wen, Ling, Chen, Ling and Gu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Xueying Gu, 02099@njnu.edu.cn

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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62 Best Research Opportunities for High School Students

June 2, 2024

Hands-on laboratory-based research experiences are coveted by just about every STEM-oriented teenager on the planet. Of course, this level of demand renders research opportunities for high school students a valuable and rare commodity. Fortunately, there are a number of reputable summer programs run by universities, government agencies, and private research laboratories that afford young scientists this highly sought-after experience. Research opportunities during the actual school year are more challenging to locate as colleges are, at that time, catering to their own students, and the rigidity of the high school calendar makes participation a further challenge.

What type of research opportunities can a high school student have, anyway?

Research opportunities for high school students can range from introductory to highly advanced. Some programs focus on teaching students the fundamental skills required for research while others place students with a real working research group and allow them to contribute to legitimate experiments and papers. Your level of involvement will depend on the university or organization’s policies, your mentor, your lab team, and the type of research being conducted.

What types of research experiences look best on college applications?

Authentic, laboratory-based research experiences that you get paid for are the hardest types of positions to nail down, primarily because very few of these spots are available. Moreover, such research groups are conducting serious work—consequently, they’re looking for serious, high-achieving students who will positively enhance their dynamic. Additionally, these positions typically require a longer time commitment, with students working full-time (or close to full-time) hours for several months or even years. As such, accepting one of these positions may limit the other types of summer opportunities that you can participate in. Finally, due to safety concerns and restrictions, you will likely need to be at least 16 years old to participate in many types of lab-based research.

On the flip side are research opportunities that you pay to be involved in, with some being more selective than others. Many families wonder if these programs offer legitimate research experience or are simply another way to capitalize off of the college admissions craze, and the answer is that you have to do your homework.

Although some research opportunities offer little in the way of experience, others are truly authentic opportunities to work with a mentor and delve into an area of interest for academic enrichment—no different than any other cost-based summer program. In these cases, the fact that a student prioritized their intellectual curiosity and spent several months seriously pursuing a topic of interest will be an excellent addition to their application. We’ve gone ahead and done the hard work for you—any one of the opportunities listed below is legitimate and worthy of investing your time and resources into.

How do I decide what types of research opportunities to apply for?

If conducting research is important to you, we recommend applying to a mix of highly selective and lesser selective programs to maximize your chances of being accepted to at least one. Beyond selectivity, it’s important to consider additional several factors:

• Time commitment —Some programs may require a multi-week, full-time commitment over the summer. Others may require nights and weekends during the school year.
• Time frame —Some programs are only available in the summer while others run year-round (sometimes for multiple years).
• Cost/stipend —Do you have to pay for the program, or does the program pay you? Research whether the program will be a good fit for your financial situation, including how much it costs and if you’ll receive compensation for your work, either via academic credit or a paycheck. Note that many residential programs are cost-based while commuter programs that only accept local students are more likely to be fully funded and/or offer a stipend.
• Location —Evaluate whether you’d like to attend a local program, are willing to travel to a residential program, or would prefer a virtual option.
• Level of mentor interaction —During some programs, you’ll be closely supported by PhD faculty members, while others may be run by graduate or postdoc students and require students to be more independent.
• Opportunity to publish or enter research competitions —If publishing research or submitting your project/paper to a research competition is important to you, you’ll want to look into whether the program prepares you for that venture.

Our list includes a bevy of summer program choices as well as year-long internships and apprenticeships. We’ve divided the list into three sections: Virtual, Residential/Multi-Location, and Location-Specific.

For each entry, we list the geographic location of the program, the time frame and length of the program, any associated costs or stipends, and the eligibility criteria for participation.

Virtual Research Opportunities for High School Students

Virtual research opportunities for high school students offer ultimate flexibility, in regard to time commitment as well as subject matter.

1) Polygence

• Location : Virtual
• Timeframe : Academic year and/or summer
• Length: 2-6 months
• Cost : $495-$3,695
• Eligibility: No age restrictions

For high school students who want to showcase authentic passion on their college applications, Polygence offers the most personalized and flexible online research program that helps students turn their interests into unique research projects. Accordingly, they pair intellectually curious students with PhD-level mentors to design experiments, build robots, create podcasts, write original screenplays, and publish in peer-reviewed journals in all fields from the humanities to STEM. All 1:1 programs include ten meetings with a mentor in your chosen field as well as a self-selected project topic and outcome, which could include a research paper, a prototype, or a creative piece of work.

A multitude of personalized options are available, including additional brainstorming sessions, time with a specialist who will guide the student through the publishing or research competition process, and academic credit through UCI x GATI. Moreover, Polygence’s Pods program allows students to work with like-minded peers in a group setting.

Sound like a good fit? College Transitions readers can save $50 on their Polygence package.

Research areas available include:

• Computer science, engineering, AI, & game design
• Biology, biotech, chemistry, neuroscience, and physics
• Medicine, surgery, dentistry, and public health
• Business, finance, and economics
• Math, statistics, sports analytics, and quantitative analysis
• Psychology, psychiatry, cognitive science, and social sciences
• Creative writing, history, philosophy, and literature
• Animation, the arts, fashion, photography, and dance

Residential/Multi-Location Research Programs

In the following section, we’ve outlined programs that are residential or offer opportunities in multiple locations, making them more accessible to a wider array of students.

Programs are organized alphabetically by discipline.

Biology Research Opportunities for High School Students

2) university of chicago research in the biological sciences (ribs).

• Location : Chicago, IL
• Timeframe : Summer
• Length: 4 weeks
• Cost : $14,000
• Eligibility: Current sophomores and juniors

In UChicago’s highly selective RIBS program, students practice a range of molecular, microbiological, and cell biological research techniques. The goal? To prepare them to work in a research laboratory. Accordingly, for the first two weeks, students undergo basic training in lab skills and techniques. Then, they spend the final two weeks of the course immersed in an independent research project. At the end of the course, they present the project during a research forum. Moreover, students can expect weekly writing assignments and seminars. To be competitive, students should have a demonstrated interest in science as well as top grades in those classes.

Biomedical Research Programs for High School Students

3) rosetta institute of biomedical research molecular medicine workshops.

• Location : Berkeley; San Diego; Columbia; London; virtual
• Length: 2 weeks
• Cost : $3,580-$4,180 (residential); $2,280-$2,480 (commuter); $430-1,050 (online)
• Eligibility: High school students aged 14-18

Curious about biomedical research but not ready to pursue a full-blown lab internship? Rosetta Institute offers a number of residential and online two-week programs that introduce high schoolers to topics in medicine, drug development, pharmacy, and nursing. For example, current workshops include Medicinal Chemistry, Neurological Bioinformatics, and Molecular Biology of Cancer. All students are taught by PhD-level instructors and complete an original research project.

Chemistry Research Opportunities for High School Students

4) american chemical society — project seed.

• Location : Multiple
• Length: 8-10 weeks
• Cost : Free, and students receive a $4,000 stipend
• Eligibility: All high school students whose families meet annual income requirements, but preferably current sophomores, juniors, or seniors

Having been operational for more than fifty years, Project SEED (Summer Experiences for the Economically Disadvantaged) runs programs at over 350 institutions and has served over 12,000 students. The goal of the program is to empower a diverse cohort of high school students to conduct hands-on research experience in the chemical sciences. Accordingly, all students work full-time on meaningful independent or small group projects, are closely guided by a mentor, and either write a report or do a poster presentation at the end of their fellowship.

Genetics Research Opportunities for High School Students

5) jackson lab summer student program.

• Location : Bar Harbor, ME or Farmington, CT
• Length: 10 weeks
• Cost : Free, and students receive a $6,500 stipend plus funded room, board, and travel
• Eligibility: High school seniors can apply to the Bar Harbor program, while eligible undergrads can apply to either program.

Hoping to design and execute an original independent research project? You’ll be able to do just that through Jackson Lab’s Summer Student Program, which immerses students in one of seven areas: bioinformatics and computational biology, cancer, developmental biology and aging, genomics, immunology and infectious disease, metabolic diseases, and neurobiology and sensory deficits. Moreover, students are closely guided by a mentor and present their research at the end of the summer. Finally, the application process is intense and competitive, requiring two letters of recommendation, a transcript, a resume, evidence of a strong interest in genetics and genomics, and four essay responses.

Pre-Health Research Opportunities for High School Students

6) national institutes of health high school summer internship program.

• Location : Research groups are available at many of NIH’s 27 institutes and centers , including the main campus in Bethesda, MD
• Cost : Free; all students receive a stipend
• Eligibility: High school seniors age 17+

Through their HS-SIP Program, the National Institutes of Health places high school students in full-time research positions within their many active research groups. Subject areas include biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences, and are geared toward students who are interested in pursuing research and healthcare. Moreover, students can take part in Summer Poster Day, where they present their research to the NIH community. They also have access to professional development programs and educational/career advising.

Note that this research opportunity for high school students is extremely competitive; approximately 7% of applicants are ultimately accepted. Finally, if you are under the age of 18 when you participate in the program, you will need to live within 40 miles of the campus that you’d like to intern at.

STEM/Humanities Research Opportunities for High School Students

7) army educational outreach program—high school internships.

• Location : Various
• Timeframe : All Year
• Length: 3 months
• Cost : Free, and all interns receive a stipend
• Eligibility: All current high school students. Some sites may have additional eligibility requirements.

With programs currently available in twenty states, the Army Educational Outreach Program places high school students in university research labs or at a US Army Research Laboratory/Center. Each site has its own technical focus, from biology and materials science to cybersecurity and AI. Regardless of specialty, all interns receive formal mentorship from a professional scientist or engineer, have access to high-tech equipment, and work on relevant research that addresses a current major challenge.

8) Boston University RISE

• Location : Boston, MA
• Length: 6 weeks
• Cost : $5,350 plus room & board
• Eligibility: Current high school juniors

A residential program located on the Boston University campus, RISE offers high school students the opportunity to conduct laboratory research in one of two tracks: Internship or Practicum. Students in the Internship track work full-time on a research project that aligns with their interests, and are mentored by a faculty member, postdoc fellow, or grad student. 15 subject areas are available, including astronomy, mechanical engineering, medical laboratory research, and nutrition. Alternatively, Practicum students work in small groups on structured research related to systems neuroscience and neurobiology.

Research Opportunities for High School Students—Continued

9) michigan state high school honors science, math and engineering program.

• Location : East Lansing, MI
• Length: 7 weeks
• Cost : $4,000

HSHSP is a highly selective, residential program where students can pursue research opportunities in science, engineering, and mathematics. After learning more about the research process, students deeply explore a problem of interest while engaging in an authentic (not “fail-proof”) research experience. Along the way, they’ll work with professionals and peers in their field of interest. Finally, many students have gone on to publish their work or be recognized at prestigious research competitions.

10) MIT Research Science Institute

• Location : Cambridge, MA
• Cost : Free
• Eligibility: High school juniors

With a combined focus on academic coursework and hands-on research, RSI students first take one week of STEM coursework with MIT professors. Here, they’ll learn about current research topics in biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, physics, and the humanities. Then, for the remaining five weeks, students “experience the entire research cycle start to finish.” During this time, they participate in an intensive, mentored individual project experience that culminates in a written and oral presentation.

The program looks for students who are exceptionally academically talented. As such, the application process is quite intensive. PSAT Math scores must be over 740 and ACT Math scores must be over 33. In addition, students must write several essays, acquire teacher recommendations, and provide transcripts. Ultimately, only 100 students are accepted.

11) NASA Internship Programs

• Location : Various; there are 15 centers and facilities in the US. Remote opportunities may also be available.
• Timeframe : Available during the fall, spring, and summer
• Length: 10-16 weeks, depending on session
• Cost : Free; the majority of interns receive a stipend, but some are unpaid
• Eligibility: High school students aged 16+

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) offers a number of internship opportunities for high school students. Available projects change each year and are location-specific, and not every NASA center will offer internship opportunities every session. That said, current projects span a range of subject areas, including Climate Change in the Hudson Estuary and Characterizing the Urban Land Surface Temperature. During the research internship, students will be closely mentored by a research scientist, engineer, or other professional. Note that you will need to make your own housing arrangements if you are not a local student.

Are you an undergraduate student? Check out NASA Pathways , which can provide a direct transition into full-time employment at NASA.

12) Smith College Summer Science and Engineering Program

• Location : Northampton, MA
• Length: 2-4 weeks
• Cost : $4,745 (2 weeks); $8,082 (4 weeks)
• Eligibility: Female high school students in grades 9-12; some programs have specific prerequisites

Fun fact: Smith was the first women’s college to create a program in engineering science. As such, their summer programs are an excellent place for young women to participate in hands-on, introductory research experiences. Two-week sessions are offered, and students can take one or both. Each session offers six distinct course choices. For example, the first session offers Chemistry of Herbal Medicine, Designing Intelligent Robots, and Novel Bacteriophage Discovery. Second session courses include Where the Body Meets the Mind, Supercontinents, Rocks, and Fossils, and the Art and Science of Microcontrollers. Students spend five days a week in class, attending lectures and conducting experiments & fieldwork. Additionally, the program is team-based, allowing students to learn from each other’s ideas and perspectives.

13) Stony Brook University Garcia Center Research Experience for High School Students

• Location : Stony Brook, NY
• Timeframe : Summer (with possible academic year continuation)
• Cost : $4,000 plus room & board

At the Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces, high school students can design an original research project in polymer science and technology during an intensive seven-week summer program. Uniquely, the research can then be continued during the academic year under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Students should be highly motivated and high-achieving, with at least three upper-level science courses under their belt. Finally, past participants have regularly published their research and won recognition in national competitions.

14) Stony Brook University Simons Summer Research Program

• Cost : Students need to cover transportation costs (if commuting) or room/board (if residential). Room/board is $2,781. Stipends are also awarded at the end of the program.

After being matched with a mentor and research team, students are fully immersed in the research process. Placement availability varies from year to year, but typically about thirty projects are available across over a dozen disciplines. These include biochemistry, computer science, geosciences, and pharmacological sciences, among others. Moreover, some have prerequisites, such as specific AP courses or previous programming experience.

All students participate in weekly faculty research talks, workshops, events, and a culminating poster symposium.

15) Summer Science Program

• Location : Astrophysics: UNC Chapel Hill, University of Colorado, Georgia College & State University, New Mexico State University; Biochemistry: Purdue, Indiana University; Genomics: Georgetown, Purdue, New Mexico State; Synthetic Chemistry : Southwestern Oklahoma State University
• Cost : $8,800 max; all program fees are scaled according to what each family can afford
• Eligibility: Current high school juniors and exceptional sophomores

The Summer Science Program offers four different immersive research programs that take place on different college campuses around the country. These include programs in astrophysics, biochemistry, genomics, and synthetic chemistry. Each program has its own research focus. For example, astrophysics students will dive into Asteroid Orbit Determination while genomics students explore Antibiotic Resistance and Directed Evolution.

Students spend six days a week in class deeply investigating their research topics and learning more about general experimental science. They also take part in guest lectures and other special programming.

16) Texas Tech University Anson L. Clark Scholars Program

• Location : Lubbock, TX
• Cost : Free; all students receive a $750 stipend upon completion of their projects
• Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors aged 17+ by the start of the program

The Clark Scholars Program is one of the only programs on this list with research disciplines in the sciences as well as the humanities. For example, current research areas include everything from nutritional sciences and mechanical engineering to history. Over the course of seven weeks, students work closely with a faculty member to complete a research paper in their discipline. They also participate in weekly seminars, discussions, and field trips.

17) University of California Santa Barbara Research Mentorship Program

• Location : Santa Barbara, CA
• Cost : $11,874 (residential); $4,975 (commuter)
• Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors

During this intensive program, students work 35-50 hours per week on an interdisciplinary research project of their choice. Nearly thirty research areas are available in both the STEM disciplines and humanities; current topics include biochemistry, computer science, history, music, and anthropology, among others. Over the course of the program, they also take two courses: Introduction to Research and Presentation Techniques. Finally, students occasionally continue their research remotely during the academic year, depending on their mentor’s availability.

18) University of California Santa Barbara Summer Research Academies

• Cost : $8,224 (residential); $2,575 (commuter)
• Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors

Running for four weeks, the UCSB Summer Research Academies allow students to earn up to four credits. While taking a university-level course that teaches fundamental research concepts, students spend the first two weeks of the program developing a research question & framework via hands-on labs. They’ll then spend the final two weeks of the course analyzing their results and building presentations. Overall, they’ll spend about 25-40 hours per week working. Finally, twelve different tracks are available; each involves multiple disciplines. For example, “Bionic Creatures” combines mechanical engineering, materials science, soft robotics, biomanufacturing, and collective motion.

19) University of California Santa Cruz Science Internship Program (SIP)

• Location : Santa Cruz, CA
• Length: 9 weeks (two weeks virtual, seven weeks in-person)
• Cost : $4,750 plus room & board
• Eligibility: High school students aged 14+, although some research groups require students to be 16+

UCSC’s SIP Program offers a wide range of research focus areas, including science and engineering as well as social science, humanities, and art. For example, over 100 projects are currently offered that include everything from “Eating Insects in Silicon Valley: Cultural Gaps Between Food-Tech and Tradition” and “Future Projected Changes in the Distribution and Variability of Ocean Chlorophyll in Climate Simulations.” Before you dive in, you’ll spend two weeks doing online research prep (this part is conducted remotely) followed by seven weeks of in-person, mentored research. Students get to engage in authentic, open-ended projects that fully immerse them in the academic research experience. Moreover, they’ll present their findings at a symposium at the end of the program.

20) University of California Davis Young Scholars Program

• Location : Davis, CA
• Cost : $6,750
• Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors who will be 16+ by the start of the program

Interested in biological, agricultural, environmental, or natural sciences? If so, UC Davis is a stellar place to explore those interests through research. All students have the opportunity to work on independent, original projects while receiving one-on-one faculty mentorship. Moreover, they each produce a journal-quality paper and symposium presentation. In addition to research, students also participate in a lecture series presented by UC Davis faculty; past topics have included forensic entomology and nutrition, among others. Finally, field trips to educational facilities like the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory round out the experience.

21) University of Florida Student Science Training Program

• Location : Gainesville, FL
• Cost : $5,200
• Eligibility: Rising seniors aged 16+

Thinking about a career in science, medicine, math, computer science, or engineering? UF’s Student Science Training Program could be the right fit. For thirty hours per week, you’ll work with a faculty mentor and lab team on university-level, ongoing research. Moreover, you’ll participate in a science lecture series as well as a UF Honors Program seminar class. Over the course of the program, you will write a research paper, present a poster, and give two oral presentations. Finally, social programming is included.

22) University of Iowa Secondary Student Training Program

• Location : Iowa City, IA
• Cost : $7,500

During this intensive and competitive program, students conduct research within small groups that are supported by a University of Iowa faculty member. There are twenty current active research areas, including chemistry, geography, neurology, orthopedics & rehabilitation, and religious studies. You’ll be working on your project approximately seven hours per day, attending classes in the evenings, and participating in structured activities on the weekend. Moreover, all groups will create and present a poster at the culmination of the program.

23) University of Massachusetts Amherst Summer Programs

• Location : Amherst, MA
• Cost : $3,636 (residential); $2,167 (commuter)
• Eligibility: Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors

UMass Amherst offers two introductory, research-focused opportunities for high school students. These are Antibiotic Resistance: A Global Health Crisis, which allows students to join the Department of Microbiology in researching new antibiotics, and Energy Without Borders, which delves into climate change, infrastructure, and green energy. In both courses, you’ll learn research methods, complete multiple lab experiences, and present a research poster. Finally, students can earn two college credits upon successful completion of the program.

Location-Specific Research Opportunities for High School Students

The following programs are not residential and only offered in a specific location. Many also only accept local students, although some do allow out-of-state students to apply. If that’s the case, you will need to secure your own living accommodations and transportation. Moreover, if you are under the age of 18, you will need to be supervised by a parent or guardian.

Programs are organized alphabetically by state.

24) California Academy of the Sciences—Careers in Science Intern

• Location : San Francisco, CA
• Focus: STEM
• Length: Multi-year (2-3 years)
• Eligibility: 9 th or 10 th grade student enrolled in an SFUSD school with a GPA of 2.5 or higher

25) Cedars Sinai INSPIRE High School

• Location : Los Angeles, CA
• Focus: Pre-Health
• Cost : Free; all students are paid
• Eligibility: High school students age 16+

26) City of Hope Summer Student Academy

• Location : Duarte, CA
• Focus: Biomedicine
• Cost : Free; all students receive a stipend of $4,000

27) Sandia National Laboratories—Internships

• Location : Livermore, CA
• Focus : STEM
• Timeframe : Academic year and summer internships available
• Length: Academic year or 10-12 weeks (summer)
• Cost : Free; all positions are paid

28) Scripps Student Research Internship Program

• Location : La Jolla, CA
• Focus : Translational science/genomics
• Cost : Free; stipends are typically offered

29) UCSF SEP High School Intern Program

• Focus : Biomedical research
• Length: 8 weeks
• Eligibility: High school juniors enrolled in an SFUSD high school, SF charter school, or College Track San Francisco

30) UCSF Summer Student Research Program

• Location : Oakland, CA
• Length: 9 weeks
• Cost : Free; all students are given a stipend between $3,000-$4,300
• Eligibility: High school juniors or seniors, aged 16+

Connecticut

31) jackson lab academic year fellowships.

• Location : Farmington, CT*
• Focus: Genetics
• Timeframe : Academic year
• Length: 1 school year
• Cost : Free; students must be able to receive academic credit for their work
• Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors age 16+ within commuting distance of the lab

*Some fully remote opportunities are available

32) Yale School of Medicine Discovery to Cure High School Internship

• Location : New Haven, CT

33) Yale University Social Robotics Lab High School Internship

• Focus: Robotics and human social behavior
• Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors aged 16+

34) Argonne National Laboratory — Exemplary Student Research Program

• Location : Lemont, IL
• Focus: Engineering
• Eligibility: Application must be completed by participating teacher

35) Chicago EYES on Cancer

• Focus : Biomedicine
• Timeframe : All year, with two 8-week summer research experiences
• Length: 2 years
• Cost : Free; all students receive $3,100 stipend
• Eligibility: High school sophomore, junior, or senior aged 16+

36) University of Kansas Biotech Research Apprentice Program

• Location : Overland Park, KS
• Focus : Biotech
• Length: Semester

37) Jackson Lab Academic Year Fellowships

• Location : Bar Harbor, ME*

38) National Cancer Institute Werner H. Kirsten Student Internship Program

• Location : Frederick, MD
• Timeframe : Academic year & summer
• Length: 1 year
• Cost : Free; academic credit available during school year, stipend provided in summer
• Eligibility: High school junior age 17+ who attends an eligible school located within a 30-mile radius of campus

39) University of Minnesota Lillehei Heart Institute Summer Research Scholars Program

• Location : Minneapolis, MN
• Focus: Cardiovascular medicine
• Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors age 16+ as well as undergraduate students

40) Coriell Institute for Medical Research

• Location : Camden, NJ
• Eligibility: High school student aged 17+

41) Princeton Laboratory Learning Program

• Location : Princeton, NJ
• Focus : Natural Sciences or Engineering
• Length: 5-6 weeks

42) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory High School Internship

• Location : Princeton, NJ*
• Focus : Physics
• Eligibility: High school seniors (program takes place summer after graduation)

*Remote projects may be available.

43) Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science Summer Research Program (RITMS)

• Location : Rutgers, NJ
• Focus : Translational medicine/science

44) Rutgers Waksman Institute Summer Experience Program

• Location : Piscataway, NJ*
• Focus : Molecular biology/bioinformatics
• Cost : $2,000
• Eligibility: High school students who have completed a high school-level biology course

*Online version of the program is also available

45) Los Alamos National Laboratory High School Internship Program

• Location : Los Alamos, NM
• Length: 11 weeks
• Eligibility: New Mexico high school seniors aged 16+

46) Sandia National Laboratories—Internships

• Location : Albuquerque, NM

47) Baruch College STEM Research Academy

• Location : New York, NY
• Timeframe : Spring/summer
• Cost : Free, but all students receive a stipend of $1,575
• Eligibility: Must be a NYC public high school sophomore junior to apply

48) Burke Neurological Institute NeuroAcademy

• Location : White Plains, NY
• Focus: Neuroscience
• Eligibility: Completion of NYS Regents Living Environment or equivalent Biology class; cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher

49) City Tech College STEM Research Academy

• Length: Two semesters (January-August)
• Eligibility: NYC public school sophomore or junior

50) Columbia Zuckerman Institute—BRAINYAC Program

• Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors from select partner programs/schools in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx

51) HOPP Summer Student Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

• Focus: Biomedical or computational research
• Eligibility: High school students aged 14+

52) University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics Summer High School Research Program

• Location : Rochester, NY
• Focus: Laser energetics
• Eligibility: Rochester-area high school students who have completed their junior year

53) Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute

• Location : Cleveland, OH
• Timeframe : Varies; depends on lab
• Length: Varies; depends on lab

54) OHSU School of Medicine Partnership for Scientific Inquiry (PSI)

• Location : Portland, OR
• Focus: Biomedical research
• Timeframe : Academic semester + summer
• Length: 16+ weeks
• Eligibility: Oregon-based high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors aged 16+

Pennsylvania

55) fox chase cancer center high school research programs.

• Location : Philadelphia, PA
• Timeframe : During school year
• Length: 2-3 months; depends on program
• Eligibility: Philadelphia-area high school students; students must be 16+ for some programs

56) Penn State College of Medicine Research Internships

• Location : Hershey, PA
• Length: Varies; could be weeks to months depending on lab
• Cost : Paid and unpaid internships available

57) University of Pennsylvania GRASP Lab High School Internships

• Focus: Robotics
• Cost : Free; stipend typically available
• Eligibility: Rising high school senior

58) George Mason University Aspiring Scientists Internship Program (ASSIP)

• Location : Fairfax, VA*
• Eligibility: High school students aged 15+ or 16+, depending on program

*Some fully remote and hybrid opportunities are available, depending on the lab.

59) Jefferson Lab High School Summer Honors Program

• Location : Newport News, VA
• Eligibility: High school students aged 16+ who live within 60 miles of the lab

60) Virginia Tech Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Summer Research Program

• Location : Roanoke, VA
• Focus: Health behaviors research
• Cost : Free; all students receive a stipend of $4,800
• Eligibility: Rising high school junior or senior in the Roanoke Valley

61) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory High School Research Programs

• Location : Richland, WA
• Timeframe : Summer & academic year programs available
• Length: Academic year or 10 weeks (summer)
• Eligibility: High school students aged 16+; some labs may require students to be 18+

62) Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Training Program

• Location : Seattle, WA
• Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, or seniors within commuting distance of downtown Seattle

Final Thoughts—Research Opportunities for High School Students

If gaining research experience is important to you, it’s in your best interest to explore a number of different programs, evaluating whether their structure, length, cost, and outcomes are in line with your goals. Finding the right opportunity may take some time, but it will be well worth the effort required.

• Research Programs

Kelsea Conlin

Kelsea holds a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Tufts University, a graduate certificate in College Counseling from UCLA, and an MA in Teaching Writing from Johns Hopkins University. Her short fiction is forthcoming in Chautauqua .

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Program Innovations: Promoting Success in Student Research

To enhance the student experience and increase access to experiential learning, colleges and universities have gotten creative with undergraduate research experiences.

By  Ashley Mowreader

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Undergraduate research can provide students with hands-on experience in a lab environment, as well as help them determine career opportunities they might not otherwise consider.

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Undergraduate research opportunities are one way to provide experiential learning in many disciplines, introducing learners to research methods under the supervision of a faculty member and providing experience for a résumé.

A 2021 study from the University of Central Florida found student researchers are more likely to have higher grade point averages and graduation rates, and higher matriculation into graduate school, as well as life skills such as analyzing literature critically, observing and collecting data and communication.

However, not every student has equal access to undergraduate research opportunities. The study found non-STEM students, transfer students and part-time students are less likely to participate in research compared to their peers.

To increase student participation in undergraduate research and boost skill development among student researchers, institutions have created innovative models of work. Here are seven examples.

Survey Says

Around three in 10 students say they are required to participate in undergraduate research, according to a winter 2023 Student Voice survey from Inside Higher Ed , and a slightly smaller number (27 percent) believe that undergraduate research should be required in their program.

Four-year students are more likely to say undergraduate research is required in their program (32 percent) compared to their two-year peers (15 percent).

First-year research opportunities—University of Missouri

Career exposure in the first year can help students feel confident about their paths throughout college and provide a head start in building their résumés.

Mizzou is known for its Interdisciplinary Plant Group that hosts research scholars exploring innovations in plant biology and a first-year program that provides young researchers a leg up in their work, giving them research time with more experienced researchers and mentorship.

FRIPS, short for Freshman Research in Plants , supports 10 to 15 students annually, who work alongside a faculty member and their research group on plant biology. Students also meet regularly with their FRIPS scholars cohort and gain professional development training.

Each student’s work is funded by grant dollars from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Graduates of FRIPS often go on to become Goldwater Scholars and NSF graduate research fellows. The program also creates a place of belonging and community for new students to the university.

Underrepresented minority students—Davidson College

Some students face systemic disadvantages in participating in co-curricular experiences because they may lack the social capital or be unfamiliar with the norms of higher ed to identify and participate in a faculty-led research experience.

At Davidson College in North Carolina, rising sophomores can participate in a four- to six-week summer intensive research fellowship program called RISE (Research in Science Experience) . This program is designed for students from historically marginalized groups including low-income and first-generation students.

The goal of RISE is to equip students to take on larger, more intensive academic-year and summer experiences for later in their college career. Each student receives $2,500 in scholarships and funds to cover on-campus housing, which the college arranges for all participants.

Jacquelline Nyakunu , a rising junior at Davidson, spent the summer with chemistry professor Cindy Hauser researching hookah, studying the smoking of shisha and the chemical composition of the tobacco. Nyakunu wrote in a blog post that the experience taught her about her passion for chemistry, built her research skills and solidified her career path as a pre-medicine student.

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Transfer students—University of California, Los Angeles

Transferring into a new institution can be a challenge for many students, and finding ways to get plugged in and connected to one’s field of interest can be just as hard.

UCLA offers an initiative exclusively for transfer students to both promote their academic success at the university and expose them to undergraduate research opportunities, the Transfer Research Entry Program (TREP).

To participate, each student must be an incoming transfer student with at least two years remaining at UCLA and be considering a career in research. Participants attend a one-week virtual bootcamp about research, which covers careers in research and how to write a cover letter and curriculum vitae. The program also provides networking opportunities for transfer students and academic survival skills for the transition to UCLA.

There’s no obligation to take a research role after the bootcamp, but students are encouraged to do so and given guidance on how to find their areas of interest, the application and interview process as well.

Financial support—University of Texas at El Paso

Financial need can be a barrier to participation for some students. The University of Texas at El Paso is a Hispanic Serving Institution (84 percent Hispanic), commuter school with a large population of Pell-eligible students (60 percent) and first-generation learners. Many students are working to support themselves and their families, explains Lourdes E. Echegoyen, director of the Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives.

As a result, UTEP staff realized a need to provide financial assistance through employment to give students high-impact activities.

University staff have identified grant funding from federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Education, and private foundations.

Students can receive financial support through stipends or tuition scholarships. The university’s student employment program also provides employment positions for undergraduate researchers across disciplines.

“Generally, full time students are supported to conduct research during the academic year from 10 to 19 hours per week—depending on the program—thus allowing students to remain on campus and be mentored as research trainees,” Echegoyen says.

UTEP leaders have seen the benefits of undergraduate research on retention and persistence among students, with one program focused on biomedical research having a 98 percent retention rate among students across four years, compared to a 37 percent retention rate among their peers who did not participate.&

Community partnerships—Roosevelt University

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Roosevelt University in Chicago partnered with The Field Museum to digitize and analyze data collected at the museum. Visitors had measured specimens of liverworts, but the data needed to be sorted and inaccurate measurements eliminated from the set to be most useful to scientists.

Students wrote code to screen and clean the data, helping set the researchers up for success and teaching students firsthand about research processes in a remote setting.

Career development—Elon University

At Elon in North Carolina, returning students can participate in undergraduate research over the summer in between academic terms, funded by the university. While career readiness is a natural component of research experiences, leaders at the university wanted to bolster student skills beyond the laboratory, says Eric Hall, professor of exercise and director of undergraduate research at Elon.

Now, student researchers attend regular professional-development workshops that inform and establish career competencies. The workshops are co-led by other campus partners, including the writing center, career services, the fellowships office and librarians, Hall says.

For the 2024 session, workshops include a session on LinkedIn on how the fellowships office can support student goals, professional writing for graduate school and industry, and navigating academic publishing.

The new initiative is still being evaluated, with formal data collection underway, but anecdotal evidence from post-assessments shows students enjoy and learn from the experiences.

Research in the classroom—California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Cal Poly Pomona leaders wanted to expose more learners to undergraduate research, understanding that first-generation, Pell-eligible or historically underserved students have lower access to research opportunities, says Winny Dong, faculty director for the office of undergraduate research.

Rather than asking students to squeeze an additional responsibility into their schedules, faculty members brought research to the classroom, embedding experiences into required general education courses.

The initiative makes it so all students are exposed to research and required to participate in some capacity, helping build their skills and pique interest for those who may consider a career in research.

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More Than Memes: NFTs Could Be the Next Gen Deed for a Digital World

Non-fungible tokens might seem like a fad approach to selling memes, but the concept could help companies open new markets and build communities. Scott Duke Kominers and Steve Kaczynski go beyond the NFT hype in their book, The Everything Token.

• 12 Sep 2023

How Can Financial Advisors Thrive in Shifting Markets? Diversify, Diversify, Diversify

Financial planners must find new ways to market to tech-savvy millennials and gen Z investors or risk irrelevancy. Research by Marco Di Maggio probes the generational challenges that advisory firms face as baby boomers retire. What will it take to compete in a fintech and crypto world?

• 17 Aug 2023

‘Not a Bunch of Weirdos’: Why Mainstream Investors Buy Crypto

Bitcoin might seem like the preferred tender of conspiracy theorists and criminals, but everyday investors are increasingly embracing crypto. A study of 59 million consumers by Marco Di Maggio and colleagues paints a shockingly ordinary picture of today's cryptocurrency buyer. What do they stand to gain?

• 17 Jul 2023

Money Isn’t Everything: The Dos and Don’ts of Motivating Employees

Dangling bonuses to checked-out employees might only be a Band-Aid solution. Brian Hall shares four research-based incentive strategies—and three perils to avoid—for leaders trying to engage the post-pandemic workforce.

• 20 Jun 2023

Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover: Lessons in Strategic Change

In late October 2022, Elon Musk officially took Twitter private and became the company’s majority shareholder, finally ending a months-long acquisition saga. He appointed himself CEO and brought in his own team to clean house. Musk needed to take decisive steps to succeed against the major opposition to his leadership from both inside and outside the company. Twitter employees circulated an open letter protesting expected layoffs, advertising agencies advised their clients to pause spending on Twitter, and EU officials considered a broader Twitter ban. What short-term actions should Musk take to stabilize the situation, and how should he approach long-term strategy to turn around Twitter? Harvard Business School assistant professor Andy Wu and co-author Goran Calic, associate professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business, discuss Twitter as a microcosm for the future of media and information in their case, “Twitter Turnaround and Elon Musk.”

• 06 Jun 2023

The Opioid Crisis, CEO Pay, and Shareholder Activism

In 2020, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, a Fortune 50 company in the drug distribution industry, agreed to settle thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide against the company for its opioid distribution practices, which critics alleged had contributed to the opioid crisis in the US. The $6.6 billion global settlement caused a net loss larger than the cumulative net income earned during the tenure of the company’s CEO, which began in 2011. In addition, AmerisourceBergen’s legal and financial troubles were accompanied by shareholder demands aimed at driving corporate governance changes in companies in the opioid supply chain. Determined to hold the company’s leadership accountable, the shareholders launched a campaign in early 2021 to reject the pay packages of executives. Should the board reduce the executives’ pay, as of means of improving accountability? Or does punishing the AmerisourceBergen executives for paying the settlement ignore the larger issue of a business’s responsibility to society? Harvard Business School professor Suraj Srinivasan discusses executive compensation and shareholder activism in the context of the US opioid crisis in his case, “The Opioid Settlement and Controversy Over CEO Pay at AmerisourceBergen.”

• 16 May 2023
• In Practice

After Silicon Valley Bank's Flameout, What's Next for Entrepreneurs?

Silicon Valley Bank's failure in the face of rising interest rates shook founders and funders across the country. Julia Austin, Jeffrey Bussgang, and Rembrand Koning share key insights for rattled entrepreneurs trying to make sense of the financing landscape.

• 27 Apr 2023

Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi: Transforming Lives with Access to Credit

James Mwangi, CEO of Equity Bank, has transformed lives and livelihoods throughout East and Central Africa by giving impoverished people access to banking accounts and micro loans. He’s been so successful that in 2020 Forbes coined the term “the Mwangi Model.” But can we really have both purpose and profit in a firm? Harvard Business School professor Caroline Elkins, who has spent decades studying Africa, explores how this model has become one that business leaders are seeking to replicate throughout the world in her case, “A Marshall Plan for Africa': James Mwangi and Equity Group Holdings.” As part of a new first-year MBA course at Harvard Business School, this case examines the central question: what is the social purpose of the firm?

• 25 Apr 2023

Using Design Thinking to Invent a Low-Cost Prosthesis for Land Mine Victims

Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) is an Indian nonprofit famous for creating low-cost prosthetics, like the Jaipur Foot and the Stanford-Jaipur Knee. Known for its patient-centric culture and its focus on innovation, BMVSS has assisted more than one million people, including many land mine survivors. How can founder D.R. Mehta devise a strategy that will ensure the financial sustainability of BMVSS while sustaining its human impact well into the future? Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar discusses the importance of design thinking in ensuring a culture of innovation in his case, “BMVSS: Changing Lives, One Jaipur Limb at a Time.”

• 18 Apr 2023

What Happens When Banks Ditch Coal: The Impact Is 'More Than Anyone Thought'

Bank divestment policies that target coal reduced carbon dioxide emissions, says research by Boris Vallée and Daniel Green. Could the finance industry do even more to confront climate change?

The Best Person to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet

Recruiting new executive talent to revive portfolio companies has helped private equity funds outperform major stock indexes, says research by Paul Gompers. Why don't more public companies go beyond their senior executives when looking for top leaders?

• 11 Apr 2023

A Rose by Any Other Name: Supply Chains and Carbon Emissions in the Flower Industry

Headquartered in Kitengela, Kenya, Sian Flowers exports roses to Europe. Because cut flowers have a limited shelf life and consumers want them to retain their appearance for as long as possible, Sian and its distributors used international air cargo to transport them to Amsterdam, where they were sold at auction and trucked to markets across Europe. But when the Covid-19 pandemic caused huge increases in shipping costs, Sian launched experiments to ship roses by ocean using refrigerated containers. The company reduced its costs and cut its carbon emissions, but is a flower that travels halfway around the world truly a “low-carbon rose”? Harvard Business School professors Willy Shih and Mike Toffel debate these questions and more in their case, “Sian Flowers: Fresher by Sea?”

Is Amazon a Retailer, a Tech Firm, or a Media Company? How AI Can Help Investors Decide

More companies are bringing seemingly unrelated businesses together in new ways, challenging traditional stock categories. MarcAntonio Awada and Suraj Srinivasan discuss how applying machine learning to regulatory data could reveal new opportunities for investors.

• 07 Apr 2023

When Celebrity ‘Crypto-Influencers’ Rake in Cash, Investors Lose Big

Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, and other entertainers have been accused of promoting crypto products on social media without disclosing conflicts. Research by Joseph Pacelli shows what can happen to eager investors who follow them.

• 31 Mar 2023

Can a ‘Basic Bundle’ of Health Insurance Cure Coverage Gaps and Spur Innovation?

One in 10 people in America lack health insurance, resulting in $40 billion of care that goes unpaid each year. Amitabh Chandra and colleagues say ensuring basic coverage for all residents, as other wealthy nations do, could address the most acute needs and unlock efficiency.

• 23 Mar 2023

As Climate Fears Mount, More Investors Turn to 'ESG' Funds Despite Few Rules

Regulations and ratings remain murky, but that's not deterring climate-conscious investors from paying more for funds with an ESG label. Research by Mark Egan and Malcolm Baker sizes up the premium these funds command. Is it time for more standards in impact investing?

• 14 Mar 2023

What Does the Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Say About the State of Finance?

Silicon Valley Bank wasn't ready for the Fed's interest rate hikes, but that's only part of the story. Victoria Ivashina and Erik Stafford probe the complex factors that led to the second-biggest bank failure ever.

• 13 Mar 2023

What Would It Take to Unlock Microfinance's Full Potential?

Microfinance has been seen as a vehicle for economic mobility in developing countries, but the results have been mixed. Research by Natalia Rigol and Ben Roth probes how different lending approaches might serve entrepreneurs better.

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A PhD Student’s Guide to Academic Job Market Resources at Harvard

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Harvard Griffin GSAS Students:

As you consider the academic job market there is a lot to learn, and a lot to do, and you may have many questions.

Good news! Apart from the disciplinary expertise available in your department, a network of experts at Harvard is ready to help you navigate all aspects of the process.

The Mignone Center for Career Success (MCS)

MCS is your one-stop-shop for all your questions about the academic job search! Laura Stark is the graduate career advisor at MCS who specializes in academic careers, including postdoctoral and faculty positions (tenure-track and non-tenure-track, targeting research- and teaching-focused institutions).

Start here for an overview of the academic job market, including:

• Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• Research Statement
• Teaching Statement
• Diversity Statement
• Preparing for interviews
• Negotiations and Decision-making 
• Pursuing jobs beyond academia, too!

Ways to engage:

• Schedule an individual appointment with Laura Stark 
• Attend a workshop or career panel, e.g. The View from the Search Committee (fall 2024)
• Review the MCS Guide to CVs and Cover Letters
• Explore the webinars and resources for Faculty Careers in Beyond the Professoriate
• Laura Stark and Caroline Rende are also happy to help you explore and pursue opportunities beyond academia! Schedule an individual appointment
• See more MCS events and resources for careers in academia and beyond.
• NOTE: MCS advisors work with current Harvard GSAS students and recent alums (<5 years since graduation).

The Derek C. Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

Bok Center advisors are experts in all things teaching and learning. Turn to them for help with:

• Teaching statement
• Sample Syllabi
• Teaching Demo
• Consult the Bok Center’s online resources
• Take a Bok Seminar on Teaching and the Job Market
• Pursue a Teaching Certificate
• Sign up for a consultation
• NOTE: Bok Center advisors work only with current Harvard Griffin GSAS students. Alums should work with Laura Stark at MCS.

The Harvard Griffin GSAS Fellowships and Writing Center (FWC)

FWC staff and postdocs are happy to help you with all of your academic writing needs, including:

• Writing samples
• Research statement
• Submit a piece of writing for feedback
• Come to brainstorming office hours
• Attend a workshop
• Schedule a practice presentation
• NOTE: FWC advisors work only with current Harvard Griffin GSAS students. Alums should work with Laura Stark at MCS.

The Academic Resource Center (ARC)

Need help managing your time, balancing dissertation completion and job search? The ARC can help!

• Schedule an appointment with one of the ARC coaches
• Attend a workshop or participate in an accountability group
• NOTE: ARC advisors work only with current Harvard Griffin GSAS students.

Be sure to consult with your department, faculty, and peers for field-specific advice, but turn to MCS, the Bok Center, FWC, and ARC for additional perspectives and advice!

All of us are happy to partner with departments to offer workshops and provide more tailored guidance. Don’t hesitate to reach out, and don’t forget to check in with your advisors and consult with other faculty in your field who have recently been on search committees.

Content in this blog is adapted from a resource created by the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning: