Integrated, qualitative and quantitative career counselling and career construction with a learner with a technical interest and aptitude who presents with attention deficit leads to positive results

Abstract

Integrated, qualitative and quantitative career counselling and career construction with a learner with a technical interest and aptitude who presents with attention deficit leads to positive results. This article describes the value of career construction based on an integrating qualitative and quantitative approach for a learner with a technical interest and aptitude who presents with attention deficit. The qualitative research design entails an intrinsic, instrumental case study aimed at gaining an in-depth understanding of the participant in his natural context. The participant was a 17 year old young man who was assessed with a view to career counselling. Hence both purpose and convenience sampling were used. Assessment was repeated after a 2-year interval with feedback following each assessment. Data was gathered by means of qualitative, as well as quantitative techniques (quantitative: the Jung Personality Questionnaire, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Differential Aptitude Tests and the Rothwell-Miller Interest Blank, the Maree Career Matrix; qualitative: a collage, the Career Interest Profile, life line, early memories, as well as the life story techniques). In the second assessment his interests remained largely stable; his aptitudes were generally the same as before and his study orientation seemed to have improved. Furthermore, his tendency towards introversion had changed to a relatively strong tendency towards extroversion. Qualitative assessment was done largely on the basis of reflexivity, or repeated reflection about his own reflection, and revealed a dormant willingness to work harder and to participate more actively in his self-construction and in the writing down of his emerging career life story. Some recommendations were made to enable him to demonstrate this willingness in practice. The results cannot be generalised, but it seems that career construction based on a qualitative and quantitative approach for a learner with an attention deficit and a strong technical aptitude may potentially contribute to substantial changes in the learner’s life. Comprehensive research in a group context is necessary.