AOSIS Calls for submissions towards the Topical Collection to be published in the African Journal of Career Development (AJCD).

Theme: Promoting ‘best practice’ in career development theory, research, practice, and policy: Reflecting on global developments, idiosyncratic perspectives, and shared realities

Timelines:

• Abstract submissions deadline to editor: 28 February 2023
• Approved full length manuscript submissions open: 31 March 2023
• Deadline for submission: 30 April 2023
• Approximate Publication Date: 30 November 2023

Background:

Escalating changes in world contexts (for instance, Industry 4.0 and 5.0, Work 4.0 and 5.0, Society 4.0 and 5.0, the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, etc.) enhance workplace inequality and increasingly traumatise people (ILO, 2010). These events have been a catalyst for occurrences such as the so-called “Great Resignation” (a voluntary resignation of workers), the “Move to the Country” (many people have relocated to the countryside, where they engage in remote work), and the Journey towards Fulfillment (an inner search to find out who they really are). Guichard (in Podgórna, 2022) refers to this search as a search for answers to fundamental, existential questions such as Who am I? Why do I live and work, and in what kinds of work activities should I engage in making meaning and gaining perspective on my life and existence (Guichard, 2009; 2022)?

The above developments confirm that occupational contexts no longer ‘hold’ workers (Winnicott, 1965) and intensify the need to facilitate career development and expedite sustainable decent work for all. They also highlight the importance of enacting the hitherto unfulfilled United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) goal of leaving no one behind (LNOB). Likewise, the underscore the need to respond to global changes in occupational contexts (outlined above) by promoting ‘best practice’ in career development theory, research, practice, and policy. Accordingly, it is key to reflect carefully on global developments, our idiosyncratic perspectives, and our shared realities. The gap between the career and life expectations of people with adequate and those with inadequate access to career development opportunities and related resources is constantly widening – creating an untenable and potentially dangerous situation. We are obliged to work together towards actualising the aims of enhancing people’s preparedness for the future world of work and advancing the well-being of all people (Ribeiro, 2016). Helping people ‘master unmastered developmental tasks’ (Erikson, 1994; Freud, 1963; Maree, 2021; Silva, et al., 2022; Savickas, 2019a, b) so they can ‘actively master what they have passively experienced’ and navigate repeated changes in their career lives comprises a key facet of these aims.

From the perspective outlined above, career development should endeavour to facilitate ‘Hope or life purpose counselling’ for all people. This kind of counselling advances the notion of transforming people’s subconscious (key) life themes into conscious motives (Maree, 2020, 2022) to make a success of their lives. Such an approach benefits both ends of the age spectrum. In outplacement workshops, for instance, where people are helped to transition from one ‘career’, ‘job’, or assignment to another, it allows ‘transitionees’ (people transitioning from one kind of employment or work to another) to enter the next stage of their work-life journey with an enhanced, rekindled sense of hope – but also appropriate strategies that promote transition from inaction into action and from inertia and feeling despondent to experiencing magic in the workplace. In people not yet working, this style of career development could instil in them a feeling that their work-life is worth living. This development could even stem from the disturbing rise in suicides among adolescents and young adults (Maree, 2022).

This invitation to submit papers to the African Journal of Career Development (AJCD) seeks contributions that will respond to the fundamental changes in the occupational world, ‘the new world of work’, by emphasising the need for all of us working in the career development field to innovate our practice (Drabik‑Podgórna & Podgórny, 2022; Maree, 2022a, b; Sensoy-Briddick & Briddick, 2022). AJCD encourages authors to share their views on the belief that career development is vastly more than administering a series of quantitative tests (Duarte, 2017a, b; Guichard, 2009; Hartung, 2019; Hartung et al., 2022; Maree, 2020; Savickas, 2020, 2021). Acting as guides to elicit people’s career-life stories and life themes, career development practitioners’ interventions can and should be creative, inspirational, and life-changing. In addition, it can be drawn on to help people across their lifespan to experience meaning, purpose, and hope in their career lives – and enhance their well-being in the workplace.

Recommended Topics

We seek innovative manuscripts that address key contemporary reflections on global developments, idiosyncratic perspectives, and shared realities. Therefore, we invite manuscripts that deal with the following questions. Please note the following list is not exhaustive – authors are welcome to consult the Editor (editor@ajcd.africa) to check if their submission fits the aims of the special collection.

• What are the most recent theoretical advances in relation to paradigms for promoting dialogues and conversations about ‘best practice’ in career development research?
• What are the practice implications of these theoretical advances?
• How can for promoting dialogues and conversations about ‘best practice’ in career development research be used to help people deal with major work-related challenges in troubling and challenging situations and rekindle their dignity, self-efficacy, self-worth, and well-being?
• How can these paradigms be used to promote people’s career adaptability, career resilience, employability, and preparedness for the future world of work (Hartung & Santilli, 2018; Rossier, 2015; Rossier et al. ; Rottinghaus et al., 2017; Rudolph et al., 2017; Santili et al., 2019; Savickas, 2019a, b, 2020; Savickas & Porfeli, 2012; Savickas & Savickas, 2019)?
• How can ‘best practice’ in career development interventions be facilitated to promote people’s three psychological selves (the social actor, the motivated agent, and the autobiographical author (Hartung, 2018; Guichard, 2022; Maree, 2013; McAdams, 2013; Savickas, 2021)?
• How can ‘best practice’ in career development research and practice be executed in primary, secondary, and tertiary environments?
• How can ‘best practice’ in career development research and practice be adjusted to harness technological advances?
• We welcome manuscripts that will stimulate creative and innovative thought regarding and cover the spectrum of career development theory, research, practice, and policy issues associated with the topic of this topical collection. Moreover, we seek manuscripts that report on research across the methodology spectrum (qualitative, qualitative, and mixed-method or integrative (qualitative and quantitative) methodologies.

AJCD request authors to consider ‘career development’ included in the provision of general, psychosocial, and psycho-educational information; vocational and/or career guidance or education; psychological counselling; self- and career constructing, and life designing and healing provision (Savickas, 2015).

Manuscript Information

Manuscript contributions may consist of the following:

• Manuscript submissions should be in English.
• Original Research articles must fully comply with the African Journal of Career Development guidelines for Original Research manuscripts (maximum 5500 words, maximum of 60 references with limited self-referencing; and a structured abstract, with a maximum of 250 words).
• Interested authors must consult the journal’s guidelines for manuscript formatting requirements prior to submission.

Submission Procedure

1. Authors are required to submit the following information, prior to the submission of full length articles, directly to the Editor-in-Chief for approval.

• the proposed manuscript title,
• a brief abstract (maximum word count of 200 words), and
• authors’ names, e-mail addresses, and affiliations.

Please email your abstract submissions to editor@ajcd.africa or kobus.maree@up.ac.za.

2. On approval of the abstract, authors are invited to submit their full length manuscripts to the journal at to https://ajcd.africa . You will be required to register as an author if you haven’t submitted to the journal previously.

3. Please consult the submission procedure page during the online submission process or email submissions@ajcd.africa for additional information and support.

4. All submissions will undergo anonymous double-blinded peer review to guarantee high scientific quality and relevance to the subject. Final decision regarding acceptance/revision/rejection will be based on the reviews received from the reviewers and at the sole discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

We would be honoured to receive a positive reply from you and look forward to your feedback on our proposal.

Any inquiries can be directed to the attention of the Editor -in-Chief

Prof Kobus Maree: editor@ajcd.africa

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