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Outputs (33)

The collaborative use of career information by young people and career advisers: A thematic content analysis of career counselling records (2024)
Journal Article
Milosheva, M., Robertson, P., Cruickshank, P., & Hall, H. (2024). The collaborative use of career information by young people and career advisers: A thematic content analysis of career counselling records. Australian Journal of Career Development, 33(1), 72-81. https://doi.org/10.1177/10384162241232267

This study explores the career information-seeking behaviours of young people and career advisers. These are examined through the interrogation of a secondary data set held by Scotland's national skills agency, Skills Development Scotland. Descriptiv... Read More about The collaborative use of career information by young people and career advisers: A thematic content analysis of career counselling records.

Career development and criminal justice: Foundations for a new integration to promote peace and justice (2022)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. (2022). Career development and criminal justice: Foundations for a new integration to promote peace and justice. Indian Journal of Career and Livelihood Planning, 11(1), 16-30

The promotion of peace and justice is an important responsibility of governments, and it represents one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2015). To date there has been little consideration of how career development services mig... Read More about Career development and criminal justice: Foundations for a new integration to promote peace and justice.

Opportunities and risks in the use of AI in career development practice (2022)
Journal Article
Wilson, M., Robertson, P., Cruickshank, P., & Gkatzia, D. (2022). Opportunities and risks in the use of AI in career development practice. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 48(1), 48-57. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4807

The Covid-19 pandemic required many aspects of life to move online. This accelerated a broader trend for increasing use of ICT and AI, with implications for both the world of work and career development. This article explores the potential benefits a... Read More about Opportunities and risks in the use of AI in career development practice.

The role of information in career development (2021)
Journal Article
Milosheva, M., Robertson, P., Cruickshank, P., & Hall, H. (2021). The role of information in career development. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 47(1), 12-20. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4703

The role of information in career development has received relatively little research attention. A literature review completed as part of a doctorate in the first half of 2021 indicates that career information features in only a small number of publi... Read More about The role of information in career development.

Evidence based practice (2021)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. (2021). Evidence based practice. Career Matters, 9(2), 18-19

An introduction to the special section on the Capability Approach to career guidance (2021)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J., & Picard, F. (2021). An introduction to the special section on the Capability Approach to career guidance. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 21(2), 395-404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-021-09462-7

This editorial introduces readers to the Capability Approach to career guidance. It outlines the origins of the approach in the work of economist Amartya Sen, and explains some of its key concepts. The Capability Approach offers a way to think about... Read More about An introduction to the special section on the Capability Approach to career guidance.

Career First: A new way of thinking about welfare-to-work programmes (2021)
Journal Article
Robertson, P., Fuertes, V., & McQuaid, R. (2021). Career First: A new way of thinking about welfare-to-work programmes. Career Matters, 9(1), 28-29

In the UK, career guidance services are deeply involved with supporting students and young people. Their involvement with unemployed adults and jobseekers has been patchier and more limited in scope. It has often been Job Centres or agencies with DWP... Read More about Career First: A new way of thinking about welfare-to-work programmes.

Career-first: an approach to sustainable labour market integration (2021)
Journal Article
Fuertes, V., McQuaid, R., & Robertson, P. J. (2021). Career-first: an approach to sustainable labour market integration. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 21, 429-446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-020-09451-2

Active labour market policies aim at supporting people entering and, importantly, remaining in the labour market. Initiatives to this end have often been characterised by a mixture of ‘human capital’ and ‘work-first’ approaches, although both have ha... Read More about Career-first: an approach to sustainable labour market integration.

Career guidance and active labour market policies in the Republic of Armenia (2020)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J., & Melkumyan, A. (2021). Career guidance and active labour market policies in the Republic of Armenia. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 21, 309-327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-020-09443-2

This article provides an account of current public policy for career guidance in the Republic of Armenia. Brief background information is provided in terms of key geographical, political, social and economic facts about Armenia. Then, a more specific... Read More about Career guidance and active labour market policies in the Republic of Armenia.

A critique of the Capability Approach’s potential for application to career guidance (2020)
Journal Article
Egdell, V., & Robertson, P. J. (2021). A critique of the Capability Approach’s potential for application to career guidance. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 21, 447-463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-020-09445-0

In this article, we provide a balanced critique of Sen’s Capability Approach (CA) with reference to its potential to inform career guidance theory and practice. There are varying understandings and interpretations of the CA. Some see capabilities as... Read More about A critique of the Capability Approach’s potential for application to career guidance.

Trade unions and career services: Potential partners for promoting social justice at work (2020)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J., Cimini, N., Post, J., & Corry, J. (2020). Trade unions and career services: Potential partners for promoting social justice at work. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 44(1), 5-12. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4401

This paper argues that trade unions represent natural allies for career services, as they have shared interests in addressing issues of social justice at work. This potentially valuable partnership has been underdeveloped. Two case studies of innovat... Read More about Trade unions and career services: Potential partners for promoting social justice at work.

Making sense of career theory (2019)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. (2019). Making sense of career theory. Career Matters, 7(4), 36-37

Pete Robertson offers a quick guide to reading the career theory literature for students and practitioners.

Building capabilities in disabled job seekers: A qualitative study of the Remploy Work Choices programme in Scotland (2018)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2018). Building capabilities in disabled job seekers: A qualitative study of the Remploy Work Choices programme in Scotland. Social Work and Society: International Online Journal, 16(1), 1-15

This article reports on a qualitative study of the UK’s labour activation pathway for jobseekers with disabilities and health conditions. The aim was to explore the experiences of Work Choices programme participants, specifically to identify barrier... Read More about Building capabilities in disabled job seekers: A qualitative study of the Remploy Work Choices programme in Scotland.

A capability approach to career development: An introduction and implications for practice (2018)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J., & Egdell, V. (2018). A capability approach to career development: An introduction and implications for practice. Australian Journal of Career Development, 27(3), 119-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416217704449

In the UK, the concept of employability is influential in current conceptualizations of career development. It is an example of a discourse underpinned by faith in individual transformation as a response to unstable labour markets, a position that is... Read More about A capability approach to career development: An introduction and implications for practice.

Job search information behaviours: An ego-net study of networking amongst young job-seekers (2018)
Journal Article
Mowbray, J., Hall, H., Raeside, R., & Robertson, P. J. (2018). Job search information behaviours: An ego-net study of networking amongst young job-seekers. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 50(3), 239-253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000618769965

Networking is considered an integral feature of job search, yet its behavioural manifestation has received little attention in the extant literature. Here this is addressed in a study of young job-seekers that adopted an egocentric network approach u... Read More about Job search information behaviours: An ego-net study of networking amongst young job-seekers.

The casualties of transition: the health impact of NEET status and some approaches to managing it (2018)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2018). The casualties of transition: the health impact of NEET status and some approaches to managing it. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 47(3), 390-402. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2018.1455168

Youth unemployment can be understood as a major public health risk. This paper explores the multidisciplinary literature in this field, and its relevance to support for NEET (not in education, employment or training) young people. There is reason to... Read More about The casualties of transition: the health impact of NEET status and some approaches to managing it.

Developing career capabilities in “NEET” young people: experiences of participants in the Prince’s Trust team programme (2018)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2018). Developing career capabilities in “NEET” young people: experiences of participants in the Prince’s Trust team programme. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 46(6), 752-764. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2018.1434130

This qualitative study focuses on the impact of a supportive 12-week programme intended to empower young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) to pursue life-career goals of their own choosing. The programme is viewed through... Read More about Developing career capabilities in “NEET” young people: experiences of participants in the Prince’s Trust team programme.

Bhaskar and Sen: Two foundations on which to build a new approach to career guidance and life planning (2017)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2018). Bhaskar and Sen: Two foundations on which to build a new approach to career guidance and life planning. Indian Journal of Career and Livelihood Planning, 6(1), 22-28

This paper argues for a new perspective on guidance and life planning that is informed, but not dominated, by pre-existing Western conceptions of career. Two scholars are highlighted as providing potential foundations for a new approach. Firstly, the... Read More about Bhaskar and Sen: Two foundations on which to build a new approach to career guidance and life planning.

Promoting student well-being: Are you better than you think? (2017)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. (2017). Promoting student well-being: Are you better than you think?. Phoenix (AGCAS journal), 20-21

Dr Pete Robertson, Associate Professor & Programme Leader for Career Guidance in the School of Applied Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University, outlines proactive approaches that careers services can adopt to respond to the challenges of supporting s... Read More about Promoting student well-being: Are you better than you think?.

Positive psychology and career development (2017)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2018). Positive psychology and career development. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 46(2), 241-254. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2017.1318433

Positive psychology has been an influential movement within psychology in the early years of the 21st century. It is now timely to assess the value of its contribution to career education and guidance. This paper provides a critique of this perspecti... Read More about Positive psychology and career development.

Identifying and measuring capabilities for career development in NEET young people (2017)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2017). Identifying and measuring capabilities for career development in NEET young people. Recherches sociologique et anthropologique/ Sociological and anthropological research, 47(2), 83-99

Amartya Sen's Capability Approach offers great potential as a conceptual framework for promoting social justice and well-being through economic and educational engagement. Yet the capability approach presents researchers with formidable difficulties,... Read More about Identifying and measuring capabilities for career development in NEET young people.

Career Guidance, Health and Well-being (2017)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. (2017). Career Guidance, Health and Well-being. Career Matters, 5(1), 36-37

This is a brief article for practitioners in the Career Development Institute's magazine: Career Matters. It explores the links between work, health and well-being, and considers the implications for career development practice.

Positive psychology: A movement to reintegrate career counselling within counselling psychology (2015)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. (2015). Positive psychology: A movement to reintegrate career counselling within counselling psychology. Counselling psychology review / the British Psychological Society, 30(3), 26-35

Content & Focus: In the UK career counselling has tended to evolve separately from the counselling psychology profession. Elsewhere, notably in North America, counselling psychology does embrace career issues. This paper explores the contested bounda... Read More about Positive psychology: A movement to reintegrate career counselling within counselling psychology.

Towards a capability approach to careers: Applying Amartya Sen's thinking (2014)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2015). Towards a capability approach to careers: Applying Amartya Sen's thinking. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 15(1), 75-88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-014-9280-4

Amartya Sen’s capability approach characterizes an individual’s well-being in terms of what they are able to be, and what they are able to do. This framework for thinking has many commonalities with the core ideas in career guidance. Sen’s approach i... Read More about Towards a capability approach to careers: Applying Amartya Sen's thinking.

Health inequality and careers (2014)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2014). Health inequality and careers. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 42(3), 338-351. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2014.900660

Structural explanations of career choice and development are well established. Socioeconomic inequality represents a powerful factor shaping career trajectories and economic outcomes achieved by individuals. However, a robust and growing body of evid... Read More about Health inequality and careers.

Updating Qualifications for the Career Guidance Profession in Scotland: Navigating the Maze (2013)
Journal Article
Allan, G., Moffett, J., & Robertson, P. J. (2013). Updating Qualifications for the Career Guidance Profession in Scotland: Navigating the Maze. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 1(2), https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v1i2.62

This paper describes work in progress to modernise the initial training arrangements for the career guidance profession in Scotland. In a process initiated by the University of the West of Scotland, the Quality Assurance Agency benchmark for the subj... Read More about Updating Qualifications for the Career Guidance Profession in Scotland: Navigating the Maze.

Career guidance and public mental health (2013)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2013). Career guidance and public mental health. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 13(2), 151-164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-013-9246-y

Career guidance may have the potential to promote public health by contributing positively to both the prevention of mental health conditions and to population level well-being. The policy implications of this possibility have received little attenti... Read More about Career guidance and public mental health.

The well-being outcomes of career guidance (2013)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2013). The well-being outcomes of career guidance. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 41(3), 254-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2013.773959

The potential for career guidance to impact on well-being has received insufficient attention in the UK. There are both conceptual and empirical reasons to expect that the impacts may be positive, but a lack of evidence directly testing this proposit... Read More about The well-being outcomes of career guidance.