School of Education faculty and students from the Department of Counseling Psychology and Center for Research on College to Workforce Transitions (CCWT) recently presented their scholarship on student career wellness, college internship participation and recruitment, and programs that support unemployed adults at an international vocational psychology conference.
Mindi Thompson, the Charles and Carol Pulvino Chair in Counseling Psychology and director of CCWT, led the group of UW–Madison faculty and students at the Society for Vocational Psychology International Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, earlier this month.
Thompson says conferences provide a deeply valuable — and sometimes formative — opportunity for doctoral students in particular to connect and share scholarship. This year’s conference included a first-ever “doctoral track” aimed at providing mentoring, support, and individualized feedback to doctoral students on their research.
“This year, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce some of our UW–Madison students and colleagues to this generative conference and to be challenged by colleagues whose local context differs from ours as we work together to support individuals navigating the world of work,” Thompson says.
Collectively, the team presented work funded by the National Science Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on topics including:
- facilitating student career wellness through interventions, campus partnerships, and theory development;
- program development and evaluation research supporting adults who are unemployed;
- post-graduation outcomes associated with college student internship participation;
- and employer reflections on college intern recruitment and selection.
Pa Her, clinical associate professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and director of the Counseling Psychology Training Clinic, says the experience fostered meaningful conversations, opportunities for collaboration, and genuine connections with colleagues from around the world.
“As a scientist-practitioner whose primary role is in clinical training, I was especially encouraged by how deeply the conference community valued the integration of research and practice,” Her says. “My clinical perspective was not only welcomed, it was actively sought out and appreciated.”
Marquel Norton, a doctoral student in the Department of Counseling Psychology, says they were “blown away” by validation and support from leaders in the field.
“It was great to meet a community of scholars whose work you cite and get their encouragement to challenge and extend their work,” Norton says.
Michael Sanchez, also a doctoral student in the department, says the connections “reignited my passion for scholarly work.”
“Coming out of the conference, I feel a renewed sense of motivation to dive deeper into writing and continue contributing to research in meaningful ways,” Sanchez says.
Another doctoral attendee from the department, Nasitta Keita, agreed the event will be remembered as a “pivotal” professional moment.
“It was truly amazing to be in a cross-cultural space, sharing discussions on our role as vocational and counseling psychologists in contributing to the betterment of society through our research, practice, and service,” Keita says.
Current and former Department of Counseling Psychology and CCWT scholars were well-represented at the conference. In total, 10 current and former UW–Madison undergraduate and graduate students from the Department of Counseling Psychology, Department of Psychology, and Department of Educational Policy Studies presented at the conference.