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Getting Real
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Getting Real
Helping Teens Find Their Future

Second Edition


October 2008 | 216 pages | Corwin
Help ALL teenagers to define realistic goals, develop career direction, and find their future! This revised edition of the bestseller offers educators a six-step plan for helping all students and their parents develop alternative plans for post high school success that may or may not involve a college degree. Getting Real compares the disparity between students' preconceived beliefs and aspirations and the new economic and labor markets they will face as adults, and calls on educators to improve the odds for every young person. Emphasizing the importance of exploring all options, the updated second edition covers critical topics such as:

occupational race and gender stereotypes

updated labor market projections that highlight technician-level careers and new middle level skill occupations

the strong link between academic maturity, career direction, and postsecondary success

the unique career development needs of potential dropouts and of high school graduates who go to work.

 
Preface to the Second Edition
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
1. Getting Real: New Realities for Postsecondary Success
A New Goal: Postsecondary Success

 
Career Direction and the "Fourth" R

 
Career Maturity and Career Direction

 
Career Exploration Activities and Career Maturity

 
Career Development Programs: Are They Effective?

 
Society's Ambivalence About Career Choice

 
The Role of Public Schools

 
Making the Case for Career Development Programs

 
Promoting Success

 
 
Part I. Understanding Those We Try to Help “Get Real”
 
2. Today’s Teens and Their Parents
Today’s Teens

 
Today’s Parents

 
Promoting Success

 
 
3. Dropouts, Teens With Disabilities, and Graduates Seeking Full Time Employment
Getting Real and High School Dropouts

 
Getting Real and Special Populations

 
High School Graduates Who Seek Full Time Employment

 
Promoting Success

 
 
4. Creating Opportunities by Countering Stereotypes
Occupational Stereotypes

 
Gender Stereotypes and Earnings: Education or Occupation?

 
Occupational Stereotyping: Minorities and the Economically Disadvantaged

 
Promoting Success

 
 
Part II. Understanding Labor Market Fundamentals
 
5. Labor Market Misunderstandings and Bad Advice
Misunderstanding 1: A University Degree Guarantees Access to High Wages

 
Misunderstanding 2: A University Degree Guarantees Access to Professional Careers

 
Misunderstanding 3: High Tech Careers Require a University Degree

 
Misunderstanding 4: Career Planning Is Worthless Because People Change Jobs All the Time Anyway

 
Misunderstanding 5: University Graduates Will Take All the Good Jobs

 
Labor Market Advantage: The Secret to Getting High-Skill / High-Wage Employment

 
Bad Advice Given to Teens

 
Will Tentative Career Decisions Close the Door to Future Opportunity?

 
Promoting Success

 
 
6. Occupational Projections, Technical and Middle Skill Employment
I: Using Labor Market Information

 
II: Occupational Projections

 
III: The Other Way to Win: Technical and Middle-Skill Occupations

 
A Selective List of Technical and Middle Skilled Occupations: This Is Rocket Science

 
Promoting Success

 
 
Part III. Strategies to Promote Career Direction
 
7. Career Success, Decision Making, and Teens
The Path to Career Success?

 
Characteristics of a Career Mature Teenager

 
Career Decision Making Anxiety of Teens

 
Reducing Teen Anxiety Over Making Career Decisions

 
Promoting Success

 
 
8. Strategies to Promote Adolescent Career Maturity and Direction
Student Outcome Goals for Career Development Program

 
Outcome Goal 1: Promoting a Tentative Career Direction While in the 10th Grade

 
Outcome Goal 2: Verifying Tentative Career Directions

 
Outcome Goal 3: Develop a Postsecondary Plan

 
Providing Career Counseling

 
Promoting Success

 
 
9. Considering “All” the Alternatives
Traditional Formal Education Alternatives

 
Alternatives to College

 
The “Bridge” or “Prep” Year

 
Promoting Success

 
 
10. Six-Step Plan for Postsecondary Success
Talking to Parents

 
Parents and Career Choice

 
Six-Step Plan for Postsecondary Success

 
Helping Parents With Difficult Choices

 
Promoting Success

 
 
11. Getting Real and the Role of the Business Community
Community Organizations

 
Promoting Success

 
 
12. How Are Teenagers Best Served, Nutritional Lies or Reality?
Nutritional Lies

 
Creating Opportunity

 
Five Premises for Success

 
Well-Intended but Bad Advice Given to Teens

 
Understanding Our Role

 
Fighting the Good Fight

 
 
References
 
Index

"I applaud the author’s efforts in promoting a shift from the 'one way to win' stance toward that of helping students face reality and develop career goals that will help them be successful."

Shawn Grime, School Counselor
Bryan High School, OH

"Stresses the need for career maturity. This is one of the few books that addresses this topic so well."

Diane Smith, School Counselor
Smethport Area High School, PA

"This book is a must-read for those involved in developing futures planning for students in ninth grade through their exit from high school into adult life."

Kelli S. Kercher, Transition Specialist
Murray School District, UT

“Gray provides a systematic method for working with students to look at opportunities after high school in a realistic way.”

Mary Reeve, Director
Services for Exceptional Students

Sample Materials & Chapters

Preface to the Second Edition

Chapter 1


For instructors

This book is not available as an inspection copy. For more information contact your local sales representative.

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ISBN: 9781412963657
£30.99