Abstract
Career Development is a central concept concerning the field of Professional Counselling and it refers to a long-term process of a person’s concern with his career, through the life span. This study aims to explore the views of young Bioscientists, undergraduates of the Dept of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Democritus University of Tharce, concerning their career development. It was considered of a special interest, partly because of the rapid evolution of bio-sciences and partly because relevant studies were not identified in the Greek field of Career Counselling. Theoretical approaches around the Career Development are presented, as well as the job opportunities and qualifications required from young Bioscientists. The empirical research is following the qualitative approach and it is based on data collected during the academic years 2012-13 and 2013-14 from graduate students of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace. The data was collected through written, open, narrations of the students and the method of Content Analysis was used to analyze it. The findings show that young Bioscientists tend to link their career development with their personal traits, the future educational and research progress and finally, their employment prospects. Their opinions are characterized by realism about the difficulties of finding a job and at the same time, by optimism since they seem to believe that postgraduate studies, a strong personality, expertise and high specialization create a kind of shield leading to a possible career mainly in the promising fields of bio-research and modern biotechnology, that are considered to offer several opportunities for vocational rehabilitation.
The vocational development of Bioscientists: The case of the students of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics -Democritus University of Thrace