Applying the Construct of
Resilience to Career Development
Lessons in Curriculum Development

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Applying the Construct of
Resilience to Career Development
Lessons in Curriculum Development

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Published in 2007 by
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation
1000 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite 800, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 3R2
Toll Free: 1-877-786-3999
Fax: (514) 985-5987
Web: www.millenniumscholarships.ca
E-mail: millennium.foundation@bm-ms.org
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Canadian Career Development Foundation
Applying the Construct of Resilience to Career Development: Lessons in Curriculum Development
Number 27
Includes bibliographical references.
ISSN 1704-8435 Millennium Research Series (Online)
Layout Design: Charlton + Company Design Group
The opinions expressed in this research document are those of the authors and do not represent official
policies of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, and other agencies or organizations that
may have provided support, financial or otherwise, for this project.

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Applying the Construct of
Resilience to Career Development
Lessons in Curriculum Development
Written by:
Canadian Career Development Foundation
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation
March 2007

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 — Background _________________________________________________ 1
Chapter 2 — Existing Research on Resilience __________________________________ 3
2.1 Literature Review ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 3
Table 1 — Summary of Protective Factors Identified Across the Literature __________________________________________ 5
Chapter 3 — The Career Development Content__________________________________ 7
3.1 Career Development Practice _________________________________________________________________________________ 7
3.2 Career Development Theory _________________________________________________________________________________ 10
Chapter 4 — Objectives and Assumptions ____________________________________ 13
4.1 Overall Aim ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13
4.2 Specific Objectives _________________________________________________________________________________________ 13
4.3 Outcomes _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14
Chapter 5 — Research Methodology ________________________________________ 15
5.1 Overview of the Methodology ________________________________________________________________________________ 15
5.2 Steps in the Research _______________________________________________________________________________________ 15
5.3 The Sample ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 16
Table 2 — Sampling of Focus Group Participants _______________________________________________________________ 16
5.4 Instruments _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 17
5.5 Data Collection and Sampling Procedures_____________________________________________________________________ 18
5.6 Data Analysis ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 19
Chapter 6 — Findings of the Primary Research ________________________________ 21
6.1 Focus Groups and Interviews ________________________________________________________________________________ 21
6.2 Input from Key Stakeholders_________________________________________________________________________________ 22
Chapter 7 — Applications to Curriculum Development___________________________ 25
7.1 Global Applications_________________________________________________________________________________________ 25
7.2 Orientation Session for Parents ______________________________________________________________________________ 26
7.3 Workshop 1 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 28
Table 3 — Key Messages/Learning and Protective Factors from Workshop 1 _______________________________________ 29
7.4 Workshop 2 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 30
Table 4 — Key Messages/Learning and Protective Factors from Workshop 2 _______________________________________ 31
7.5 Workshop 3 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 32
Table 5 — Key Messages/Learning and Protective Factors from Workshop 3 _______________________________________ 33
7.6 Workshop 4 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 32
Table 6 — Key Messages/Learning and Protective Factors from Workshop 4 _______________________________________ 34
Chapter 8 — Conclusions and Additional Questions ____________________________ 35

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Bibliography _________________________________________________________37
Annex A — Tables _____________________________________________________43
Table 1 — Linkages between Career Development Practice and Resilience Factors__________________________________43
Table 2 — Linkages between the Blueprint for Life/Work Designs and Resilience Factors ____________________________45

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1
Chapter 1
Background
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation
economic, social and cultural context in which
supports the pursuit of post-secondary education
children and families develop affects the desire
and has placed specific priority on access to post-
and the ability of students to pursue college or
secondary education for students facing economic
university studies.
or social barriers. It endeavours to advance the post-
• Preparing for Post-Secondary Education, with a
secondary agenda and inform policy via research an
focus on whether students, families and schools
public discussion.
have the information, academic support and
Each year, the Canada Millennium Scholarship
financial means necessary to adequately plan and
Foundation awards $350 million in the form of
prepare for successful entry into post-secondary
scholarships and bursaries across Canada. In 2001,
education. Studies—including most notably the
it launched the Millennium Research Program to
Foundation’s pilot projects—examine how decision-
assist the Foundation in carrying out its mandate
making about post-secondary education, especially
to improve access to post-secondary education and
within families whose children are less likely to
provide students with the educational opportunities
attend college or university, is influenced by differ-
they need to prepare themselves for the future. The
ent factors including the availability of academic
research program advances the study of barriers to
support, financial support and of information
post-secondary education and the impact of policies
about the costs, benefits and means of financing
and programs designed to alleviate them. It ensures
post-secondary education.
that policy-making and public discussion about
opportunities in higher education in Canada can be
Under this latter theme, the Foundation supports pilot
informed by rigorous analysis and empirical evidence.
projects to examine the key influences on decision-
The Millennium Research Program is focused on
making related to post-secondary education.
two key themes:
Future to Discover is a demonstration research
project made possible through an innovative partner-
• Access to Post-Secondary Education in Canada,
ship between the Canada Millennium Scholarship
with a focus on who participates in post-secondary
Foundation and the governments of New Brunswick
education, who does not, and why. Studies address
and Manitoba. It is a six-year project aimed at
such topics as the current make-up of the student
understanding whether better information, career
body, the costs and means of paying for post-
education interventions and financial incentives can
secondary education, the availability of student
encourage students who would not normally pursue
financial assistance, the extent of student debt,
post-secondary education to do so successfully.
the impact of tuition policy, and the effectiveness
Across the two provinces, a total of approximately
of other policies and interventions designed to
5,500 students are participating in the pilot project.
enhance access. Special attention is paid to the
Students are randomly selected and assigned to one
issue of the equality of educational opportunity
of four groups:
and the experiences of different groups of the
population, such as Aboriginal youth or students
• Explore your Horizons is a career education inter-
from disadvantaged economic backgrounds.
vention offering workshops after school hours
Studies also address the issue of access from a
to students (and, in Grade 11, their parents/
wider perspective that looks at how the overall
guardians) as they move from Grade 10 through 12.

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2
APPLYING THE CONSTRUCT OF RESILIENCE TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Participants also receive biannual visits from
the Grade 10 and 11 career development interventions
post-secondary ambassadors who share their
as well as existing secondary guidance and career
experiences. Participants have access to concise
education programs in New Brunswick and Manitoba.
information about post-secondary education
Grade 12 students are on the precipice of a signifi-
costs and benefits through a members-only
cant milestone as they prepare to leave the relatively
website and also receive a Future to Discover
predictable world of secondary school and embark
magazine twice a year at their home.
on the next phase of their career journey. They will
no doubt encounter unforeseen opportunities,
• Learning Accounts (in New Brunswick only) is a
unexpected challenges and often unpredicted disap-
financial incentive intervention that offers a guaran-
pointments. With this in mind, CCDF looked to the
tee of $8,000 to students in Grade 9 who come from
research on resilience to explore whether a unifying
households with income below the provincial
theme for the curriculum could be “career resilience.”
median. They receive a bursary if they graduate from
Colloquially, we refer to a “resilient” person as
high school and enrol and persist in their studies in
someone who has the capacity to deal with, or bounce
a recognized post-secondary education program.
back from, unexpected challenges and disappoint-
• A third group receives the services outlined above
ments. In fact, a very extensive body of research
for both the Explore Your Horizons group and the
and literature underpins the construct of resilience,
Learning Accounts group.
suggesting specific “protective” factors that promote
• The fourth group is a comparison group.
resilience as well as risk factors that hinder it.
In career development, the term “career resilience”
The label “Future to Discover” is used in Manitoba
has begun to emerge as a way of illustrating the
to describe the intervention identical to Explore
competencies required for managing turbulent labour
Your Horizons in New Brunswick. Manitoba is not
market conditions. Very little solid research exists,
participating in the Learning Account intervention.
however, regarding the potential applications of
The career development interventions are seen as
resilience to career development.
a vital component of the Information Strategy. In
Intuitively, it would appear that the findings
Grade 10, students participate in Career Focusing, a
from health and social work regarding the construct
series of after-school workshops that assist students
of resilience would be applicable to career develop-
to articulate a career plan based on their key interests
ment. CCDF pursued this intuitive lead in developing
and strengths. In Grade 11, the Lasting Gifts workshop
the Grade 12 Future to Discover curriculum.
series offers students and their parents, guardians
The purpose of this paper is to summarize the
or significant adults opportunities to better under-
results of background research conducted by CCDF,
stand today’s labour market; examine more deeply
consolidating and extrapolating key themes from
their own attitudes, strengths and dreams; and
this research to the development of the Future to
develop skills and strategies for successful career and
Discover Grade 12 curriculum. A secondary purpose
educational planning.
of this paper is to open the door to further explo-
In January 2006, the Canadian Career Development
ration of the potential application of the construct of
Foundation (CCDF) was engaged by the Canada
resilience to career theory and practice.
Millennium Scholarship Foundation to develop the
Grade 12 curriculum for the Future to Discover
pilot project. This curriculum was to be an original
contribution, complementing and supplementing

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Document Outline

• Cover Page
• Credit
• Table of Contents
• Chapter 1 Background
• Chapter 2 Ą Existing Research on Resilience
  • 2.1 Literature Review
    • Table 1
• Chapter 3 The Career Development Context
  • 3.1 Career Development Practice
  • 3.2 Career Development Theory
• Chapter 4 Ą Objectives and Assumptions
  • 4.1 Overall Aim
  • 4.2 Specific Objectives
  • 4.3 Outcomes
• Chapter 5 Research Methodology
  • 5.1 Overview of the Methodology
  • 5.2 Steps in the Research
  • 5.3 The Sample
    • Table 2
  • 5.4 Instruments
  • 5.5 Data Collection and Sampling Procedures
  • 5.6 Data Analysis
• Chapter 6 Ą Findings of the Primary Research
  • 6.1 Focus Groups and Interviews
  • 6.2 Input from Key Stakeholders
• Chapter 7 Applications to Curriculum Development
  • 7.1 Global Applications
  • 7.2 Orientation Session for Parents
  • 7.3 Workshop 1
    • Table 3
  • 7.4 Workshop 2
    • Table 4
  • 7.5 Workshop 3
    • Table 5
  • 7.6 Workshop 4
    • Table 6
• Chapter 8 Ą Conclusions and Additional Questions
• Bibliography
• Annex A Tables
  • Table 1
  • Table 2

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