心智障礙者參與職業探索活動之歷程探究

Career Exploration Activities for Individuals with Mental Disorders

心智障礙者由於自身特質或環境的限制，不利其職涯發展，提供各種機會協助探索職業興趣，及未來可能就業方向，應為職涯輔導之重點。目前心智障礙青年職業探索活動處於起步階段，且少有實證研究探究其歷程與對職涯發展的助益。因此本研究以個案為中心，以半結構式題綱，深度訪談18位曾參與職業探索活動的心智障礙者，深入分析其經驗。研究結果呈現心智障礙者職業探索的歷程主要包含（1）初始階段：參與目的以了解個人的職業興趣和喜好為主，並能增進學習經驗；（2）探索階段：透過探索活動改變認知歷程，形成個人知識和職業知識；兩者交互作用下，心智障礙者評估所探索的職類對個人的適配性；（3）改變階段：參與職業探索活動後，活動經驗增進後續就業的準備，包括應用習得的技能於日常生活和對工作的態度有所改變。參與者對於個人職涯發展和生涯規劃的認知調整與行為改變主要呈現三種結果：（1）察覺適合該職種：從表現的結果作為適配與否的關鍵，判斷個人具備投入該職種的條件；（2）覺察不適合該職種：因了解自身能力的限制和偏好，調整未來職涯發展的方向；（3）發現工作潛能：發覺個人優勢能力和特定職種的適配性，作為未來職涯發展的考量。並以四位參與者參與職涯探索的歷程說明此活動對於個人職涯發展的助益與改變。此外，大多數參與者對此活動都給予高度正向評價，認為能滿足其參與動機和目的，認同其對職涯發展的價值，鼓勵推廣並建議將訊息傳遞給相關單位，以及建置網頁來推廣。整體而言，職業探索活動適合對象為離開學校初入社會或是職涯未定者，而非以直接就業為目的者；為增進多元探索的可能性和可及性，連結不同系統的資源是活動成效的關鍵。文末，提出後續研究和實務應用，以及未來辦理相關活動的建議。

Purpose: Mental disorders are disadvantageous to individuals' career development. Career counseling should focus on providing opportunities to individuals with mental disorders to explore career interests and possible future employment directions. Career exploration activities for young adults with mental disorders are at the emerging stage, and few empirical studies have explored the process of these activities and their benefits for young adults seeking career development. This study used a qualitative approach to explore the experiences of young adults with mental disorders participating in career exploration. Methods: The researchers invited 18 young adults with mental disorders to share their personal experiences with career exploration activities through semistructured in-depth interviews. A thematic analysis method was used. Data from the interviews were organized into verbatim manuscripts that were systematically analyzed through coding to summarize the meaningful themes and to answer the research questions. Results/ Findings: The results indicated that the process of career exploration for individuals with mental disorders included three stages as follows: (1)the initial stage, in which the goal of career exploration was to understand the individual's career interests and preferences and to enhance their learning experience; (2)the exploration stage, in which individuals with mental disorders changed their cognitive schema through the career exploration activities, both in terms of knowledge about their selves and knowledge about work (the participants used this knowledge to assess the suitability of the job they explored); and (3)the changing stage, in which the experience the participants' gained through the activities, including applying their new skills to daily living and changing their attitudes about work, prepared them for subsequent employment. The activities prompted the participants to adopt one of three attitudes regarding their career planning and development : (1)perceiving that they were suitable for the type of job they explored: deciding on the type of job they explored as a future direction for their career based on their performance in the exploration; (2)perceiving that they were not suitable for the type of job they explored: readjusting the future direction of their careers because they understood the limits of their own abilities and their preferences; (3)discovering their potential in the type of job they explored: discovering their personal strengths and considering the type of job they explored as a future direction for their career development. The four participants' career exploration journey also illustrated the benefits of the activities and their effects on the direction of the participants' careers. In addition, the majority of the participants positively evaluated the career exploration activities, believing that the activities helped them to achieve their initial goals and affirming its usefulness for career development. The participants also encouraged promotion of the activities and suggested that their message be relayed to related institutions and that a promotional website be created. Conclusions/ Implications: The career exploration activities were suitable for those who had left school to enter the labor market or for those who had not yet determined the direction of their careers, rather than for those who sought direct employment. The variety and accessibility of the career exploration activities can be improved by incorporating resources from the government's labor, education, and social systems. This study proposed follow-up research directions and practical applications as well as provided suggestions for future related activities.