© Edizioni Centro Studi Erickson, Trento, 2020 — Counseling

Vol. 13, n. 2, giugno 2020 — pp. 139-140

INTERVISTE

a cura di Annamaria Di Fabio

Intervista al professore Peter McIlveen¹

1. As Director of the Australian Collaboratory for Career, Employability, and Learning for Living (ACCELL), could you please describe this important and innovative center in the international scenario?

   ACCELL is unique in Australia. It is the only multidisciplinary research team dedicated to the specialized field «career development». ACCELL’s research is principally based in the subdisciplines of vocational psychology, organisational psychology, counseling psychology, educational psychology, and personality and individual differences. The philosophical, ethical influences on ACCELL’s program of research include the Psychology of Working Framework promulgated by Professor David Blustein, Boston College. ACCELL’s researchers are not just psychology experts, we include experts from other fields of education, sociology, and humanities. ACCELL also provides doctoral supervision and training for Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Education students.

2. What are the current projects of the center you consider relevant in relation to the new research area of the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development?

   ACCELL’s research program has two streams:

   1. Promoting Employability, Adaptability, and Resilience in Life (PEARL) is focused on enhancing individuals’ employability and adaptive choices for their future career and work.
   2. 2. Vital Infrastructure Work and Workers in Rural Contexts (VIWRC) is focused on the psychological and social qualities of occupations and workers vital to the socio-economic success of rural and regional communities. Examples of these vital occupations that have been the focus of our research include teachers, health practitioners, veterinary practitioners, farmers, and mechanical trade workers.

We believe that a person’s lifelong and sustainable employability is the confluence of psychological qualities (e.g., dispositional traits, characteristic adaptation, life narratives, knowledge, skills) and the social, economic, and cultural contexts of a person’s life.

1. For the originality of the research issues of your center and for the relevant international scientific fellows included, what are the lines for research and future projects you consider important to underline?

The world of work has been changing for centuries but the pace of change has accelerated. Educational institutions, governments, industries, workplaces, and, moreover, communities and families, can benefit from applied research and development that is focused on the psychosocial qualities that foster individuals’ employability. The current global pandemic crisis reinforces the importance of research and development aimed at discerning and supporting the development of personal qualities that enable a person to survive and thrive in their complex environments.

http://www.accell-research.com/