Received 01/15/12

Revised 01/10/13
Accepted 01/14/13
DOI: 10.1002/J.2161 -0045.2013.00057.x
Career-Ready Students:
A Goal of Comprehensive School
Counseling Programs
Norman C. Gysbers
This article opens with a rationale for and a definition of student career readiness.
Next is a presentation of the qualities and attributes of career-ready students.
Then discussion follows about what students need to become career ready. Fol-
lowing this is a presentation of how comprehensive school counseling programs
help students become career ready, including discussion of the delivery system for
school counseling programs that provide the activities and services that contribute
to student career readiness. The article closes with the critical point that helping
all students become career ready requires a whole school-community approach.
During this 2nd decade of the 21st century, the United States continues to
undergo vast and far-reaching changes economically and socially, restilting
in a rapidly changing workplace (Carey & Herr, 2012; Dutkowsky, 2013).
These changes are "requiring higher levels of achievement and preparation
for the emerging workforce" (Association for Career and Technical Edu-
cation, 2006, p. 1). This means that the students of today and tomorrow
will require an education that provides them with the academic, career and
technical, and guidance and counseling knowledge, skills, and dispositions
to be career ready upon graduation from high school.
What T.s Career Ready>
Contrary to current popular literature, this article proposes to use the
term career ready instead of career and college ready. Why? The word
career is used because, when defined broadly, it includes the life roles,
settings, and events of individuals' lives that are constantly being influ-
enced by such factors as gender, ethnic origin, race, spirituality, social
class, and sexual orientation (Gysbers, Heppner, & Johnston, 2009). As a
result, the word career includes going directly to work after high school
as well as attending a 2-year or 4-year college or university. However,
the word career means much more than that because it emphasizes the
total person, all of his or her life roles, all the settings in which he or she
is involved, and the many events (planned and unplanned) that affect
him or her. The focus is on the human career. The word ready is used
Norman C. Gysbers, Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University
of Missouri. Parts of this article were taken from. Developing & Managing Your
School Guidance & Counseling Program (5th ed.), byN. C. Gysbers and P. Hen-
derson, 2012, Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Correspondence
concerning this article should be addressed to Norman C. Gysbers, Educational,
School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri, 201 Student Success
Center, Columbia, MO 65211 (e-mail: gysbersn@missouri.edu).
2013 by the National Career Development Association. All rights reserved.
The Career Development Quarterly September 2013 Volume 61 283
in career ready because it means "completely prepared for immediate
action" {Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 2001, p. 1606). When the
words career and ready are put together, they convey a holistic picture of
resilient individuals who are active and involved in shaping and directing
their lives now and in the future.
Who Are Career-Ready Smdenfs?
Who are career-ready students? Career-ready students have "a proactive,
resilient, and adaptive style of interacting in the present and use that style
to assertively move towards self-defined career futures that add mean-
ing, purpose, and satisfaction to their lives" (Gysbers & Lapan, 2009,
p. 23). They have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to visualize
and plan their futures.
Career-ready students know how to engage in various current and
potential life roles, including being a learner and worker. This means
that they know the importance of succeeding in school and graduating.
This means that they know how to take advantage of the current and
possible future opportunities available to them, such as going directly
into the labor force; obtaining an apprenticeship; selecting a certificate
program; attending a 2-year technical school, community college, or
4-year college or university; or enlisting in the military.
Career-ready students also understand that their lives unfold and
evolve in various life settings, including school and the workplace. This
means that they have work readiness behaviors and the interpersonal
relationship skills needed to prosper in the workplace. On the basis of
the work of Lapan (2004), Gysbers and Lapan (2009) identified the
following behaviors and sdlls for career readiness: "(a) social compe-
tence, (b) diversity skills, (c) positive work habits, (d) personal qualities,
(e) personality and emotional states, and (f) entrepreneurship" (p. 42).
In addition, career-ready students understand how life events, planned
and unplanned, can affect them over their lifetimes. This means that they
know how to anticipate the possible impact that planned and unplanned
events may have on them and their career planning. This also means
that they know how to plan, but, at the same time, they take advantage
of unplanned events (opportunities) that may arise.
What Do Students Need to
Recome Career Ready?
Helping students become career ready begins in elementary school and
continues on into middle school and high school. What do students need
to become career ready? They need to have opportunities to
engage in critical life contexts (e.g., school and community) with purpose and
direction; respond to opportunities and make good decisions; act with personal
agency and empowerment; exhibit a mature commitment to a self-defined direc-
tion; feel hopeful, motivated, and optimistic about their lives; be able to persevere
to overcome obstacles and turn unexpected events into positive opportunities;
be creative and curious; and be able to balance entrepreneurial skills and mo-
tives with concern for others and the fragile ecosystems that we need to survive.
(Gysbers & Lapan, 2009, p. 25)
284 The Career Devel opment Quart erl y September 2013 Volume 61
How Do Comprehensive School Counseling
Programs Help Students Eernme Career
School counseling has changed over the past 3 decades firom a position-services
otientation to a comprehensive program firmly grounded in principles of hu-
man growth and development. School counseling has become a developmental
program focusing on prevention as well as remediation. As a developmental
program, it has strengths-based content consisting of knowledge, skills, and
dispositions that conttibute to the overall development and success of all
students to their becoming career ready. The content is organized around the
three domains of academic development, career development, and personal/
social development. Although these domains are typically portrayed as be-
ing separate, in actual practice, they are delivered interactively (holistically)
to students through the comprehensive school counseling program. The
content in all three is required to prepare students to become career ready.
To provide students with the strengths-based content in these
three domains, comprehensive school counseling programs use a
direct-service delivery system consisting of a guidance curriculum,
individual student planning, and responsive services. The content
and activities of the guidance curriculum and individual student
planning are provided to all students on a systematic and sequential
basis, whereas responsive services are available to all students if they
need these services. The fourth delivery system is system support.
It is an indirect service to students in that it contains management
activities that support the comprehensive school counseling program
as well as the other educational programs in the district (Gysbers &
Henderson, 2012).
What Is the Strengths-Based Content for
School Connseling Programs^
The strengths-based content in the three domains of academic, career,
and personal/social development is usually cast as standards, as is true
in other educational disciplines. In the state of Missouri, the standards
listed under each domain are called big ideas. There are three of these
for each domain as follows:
Personal and Social Development
Students in Missouri schools will acquire personal and social knowledge needed for:
PS 1: understanding self as an individual and as a member of diverse local and global
communities.
PS 2: interacting with others in ways that respect individual and group differences.
PS 3: applying personal safety skills and coping skills.
Academic Development
Students in Missouri schools will acquire the knowledge of academic development needed for:
AD 4: applying the skills for educational achievement.
AD 5: applying the skills of transitioning between educational levels.
AD 6: developing and monitoring personal educational plans.
Career Development
Students in Missouri schools will acquire the knowledge of career development needed for:
CD 7: applying career exploration and planning skills in the achievement of life career goals.
The Career Devel opment Quart erl y September 2013 Volume 61 285
cv 8: knowing where and how to obtain information about the world of work and
post-secondary training/education.
CD 9: applying employment readiness skills and the skills for on-the-job success. (Gysbers,
Stanley, Kosteck-Bunch, Magnuson, & Starr, 2011, pp. 89-91)
What Is the Delivery System for
School Conn.seling Programs?
Strengths-based guidance content for all students K-12 is provided
through the comprehensive school counseling program's direct-service
delivery components, namely, guidance curriculum, individual student
planning, and responsive services, but particularly through the guid-
ance curriculum.
Guidance Curriculum
The idea of a guidance curriculum is not new. Davis (1914) oudined
such a curriculum in the early 1900s. Today, the guidance curriculum
is part of most comprehensive school counseling programs. In the state
of Missouri, the big ideas listed under the three domains of academic,
career, and personal/social development are further divided into con-
cepts. Then, for each concept, grade-level standards identify and define
the student outcomes expected for each grade K-12. The guidance
curriculum is presented systematically and sequentially in classrooms in
which school counselors teach, team teach, or support the teaching of
guidance curriculum activities or units. Teachers may also teach such
units. In addition, school counselors organize and conduct large-group
sessions, such as career days and college days.
Although school counselors' responsibilities include organizing and
implementing the guidance curriculum, the cooperation and support of
the entire faculty and staff are necessary for its successil implementa-
tion. Also critical is that parents or guarciians be invited to provide input
to the guidance curriculum that is taught in the school their children
attend and that they be encouraged to reinforce learnings from the
guidance curriculum at home.
Individual Student Planning
The individual student planning component of a comprehensive school
counseling program assists students, beginning in middle school, with
developing and using student learning plans (e.g., personal plans of
study, career plans, student education). What are student learning plans?
Student learning plans, often referred to as "roadmaps," assist students in creat-
ing courses of study that are aligned with high school graduation requirements,
personal interests, and individually-defined career goals. Learning plans are dy-
namic documents that are updated regularly as students' educational and career
goals change. They are developed collaboratively by students, parents and school
staff, including teachers and guidance counselors. Students use learning plans
to reflect upon and document their skills, hobbies, accomplishments, academic
record, personal goals, career interests and other information relevant to them
as individuals. Learning plans also include provisions for portfolio development
and assessment of student progress toward defined objectives. (Rennie Center
for Education Research and Policy, 2011, p. 3)
286 The Career Development Quarterly September 2013 Volume 61
The foundation for individual student planning is established during
the elementary school years through guidance curriculum activities.
Self-concept development, the acquisition of learning-to-learn skills,
interpersonal relationship skill development, decision-making skill
building, and awareness and beginning exploration of educational and
occupational possibilities are sample subjects that are covered during
these years. Subjects such as these continue to be covered through the
guidance curriculum during middle school and high school, providing
new information and experiences to enable students to regularly update,
monitor, and manage their plans effectively.
Building on the foundation provided in elementary school, beginning
planning for the future is undertaken during the middle school years
through the individual student planning component. During this period,
students' plans focus on high school course selection, taking into account
graduation requirements and the requirements of their postsecondary
academic and career goals. Guidance curriculum activities continue to
support and guide the planning process.
During the high school years, plans developed in the middle school
are reviewed and updated periodically in accordance with students'
postsecondary personal, academic, and career goals. The individual
student planning component provides time for regular individual work
with students as well as group sessions focusing on individual student
planning. Guidance curriculum activities continue to support student
planning by giving emphasis to the development and use of decision-
making, goal-setting, and planning skills. The importance and relevance
of basic academic and career and technical education preparation skills
are stressed. The goal is for students' plans to become journeys of dis-
covery through which they can use the past and present to anticipate
and prepare for the nature.
Responsive Services
Responsive services consist of activities to meet the current needs and
concerns of students whether these needs or concerns require counsel-
ing, consultation, referral, or information. Parent or guardian involve-
ment with and participation in activities of this component are critical
in helping students overcome barriers to their academic progress and
personal/social development. Parents' involvement may include refer-
ring their children for assistance, working with school counselors and
other school staff to identify issues of concern, and giving permission
for needed special services.
A Whole School-Commnnity Approach
Although school counselors make substantial contributions to helping
all students become career ready through their work in comprehensive
school counseling programs, so do teachers, administrators, parents,
and members of various community organizations. Helping all students
become career ready requires a whole school-community approach. The
goal of student career readiness must be reected in school building and
district policies and the district's comprehensive school improvement
plan. The school district's curriculum must provide the knowledge.
The Career Development Quarterly September 2013 Volume 61 287
skills, and dispositions to help students become career ready. Finally, the
goal of student career readiness must also be reflected in the activities
of local chambers of commerce; service clubs; and business, industry,
and labor organizations.
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