The career development needs of rural elementary school students

This exploratory study investigated the career development needs of 150 fourth-grade students from 2 rural school districts in the Midwestern United States. The Childhood Career Development Scale (CCDS) was administered in 6 classrooms at 2 elementary schools to assess Donald Super's 9 dimensions (information, curiosity, exploration, interests, locus of control, key figures, time perspective, planning, and self-concept) of career development in the growth stage (the period when students fantasize and develop likes/dislikes and abilities/potential relating to careers). Results on the CCDS indicated that students' lowest scores were in the areas of curiosity, information, time perspective, and key figures. Males had lower curiosity scores than female students. Implications for career development efforts at the classroom and program level are discussed.