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Life Designing and Positive Youth Development

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New perspectives on career counseling and guidance in Europe

Abstract

According to the European Commission (2015), in 2014 the rate of school dropout in Switzerland was 6.7% compared to 9.8% in Belgium, and 15% in Italy. The reasons for these discrepancies can be partially explained by or related to different social, political and economic contexts, characterized by different migration rates, financial situations, etc. In this fast changing global economy, it is important to help youth, regardless of their origin, deal with career and work-related difficulties. Based on Positive Youth development and Life Design approaches, the present chapter focused on variables relevant to cope with the current training and work context and their role in affecting youth’s life satisfaction. Specifically, we focused on career adaptability, hope, optimism, future orientation and resilience. The relations between career adaptability, positive youth variables and life satisfaction have been analyzed over different presented studies. Specifically, we described European project collaboration between the University of Padova, Italy, KU Leuven, Belgium and Lausanne, Switzerland that started during the first ECADOC Summer School. The findings of the studies are reported and discussed and practical implications to implement preventive career education activities to increase life satisfaction among adolescents are presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Sara Santilli & Ilaria Di Maggio

  2. University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Manno, Switzerland

    Jenny Marcionetti

  3. KU Leuven, Belgium and University of the Free State, Leuven, South Africa

    Silke Grossen

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  1. Sara Santilli
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  2. Ilaria Di Maggio
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  4. Silke Grossen
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Correspondence to Sara Santilli .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. INETOP, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métie INETOP, Paris, France

    Valérie Cohen-Scali

  2. Inst. of Psych,Geopolis 4207, University of Lausanne Inst. of Psych,Geopolis 4207, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jerome Rossier

  3. Dipartimento di Filosofia, Sociologia, Pedagogia e Psicologia Applicata, Università di Padova Dipartimento di Filosofia, Sociologia, Pedagogia e Psicologia Applicata, Padova, Italy

    Laura Nota

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Santilli, S., Di Maggio, I., Marcionetti, J., Grossen, S. (2018). Life Designing and Positive Youth Development. In: Cohen-Scali, V., Rossier, J., Nota, L. (eds) New perspectives on career counseling and guidance in Europe . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61476-2_3

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