Career Counselling for Emerging Adults Based on Goal-Directed Action: An Innovative Approach to Theory, Research, and Practice

In this chapter, we discuss the ways in which Contextual Action Theory can be used to understand career development during emerging adulthood, and to address career concerns that commonly arise during this phase of life. After providing a brief introduction the theory, we describe career development processes that are central to emerging adulthood, focusing on exploration and initial engagement with the world of work, identity formation, and changes and characteristics of emerging adults’ social relationships. We then describe existing studies that have applied Contextual Action Theory to understanding these developmental processes. Finally, we delineate an approach to career counselling that is grounded within Contextual Action Theory, focusing on the central tasks of this career counselling model, as well as novel interventions that can be used to address emerging adults’ career concerns and to facilitate their broader transition to adulthood.