如何建構生涯以「安身立命」,是青年時期所需面對的重要核心議題,對深受華人文化影響的台灣青年而言,生涯概念是以何種樣貌存在於他們的認知中,以及其生涯概念所呈現的核心價值又為何,皆是研究者欲探究的問題。本研究主要探討台灣高中階段青年對於「生涯」一詞所抱持的概念,解構其生涯的核心概念與結構。「生涯」為外來詞語,其概念複雜且缺乏系統性分析,台灣之相關研究付之闕如。因此,本研究擬以「原型研究方法」(prototype theory)為手段,從基礎研究(ground work)著手,研究對象以362位高中生為樣本,期能釐清「生涯」一詞在華人文化脈絡下所呈現的概念與範疇。研究發現台灣高中階段青年的生涯概念核心與傳統儒家思想相呼應-強調進取與人和,自立而助人。本研究結果為華人生涯理論的發展提供一個基礎架構,也為台灣生涯輔導工作展開新的方向。
As the terms "career" was directly translated from the Western paradigms, there is no equivalent in Chinese which captures the exact meaning of its original. Thus, the conception of career for the Chinese is blurred. Meanwhile, for adolescents, who are in the exploratory stage of career development, their conception of career is a crucial indication of their career development. To identify the conceptions of career among Taiwanese adolescents, this study invited a group of 362 high school adolescents to participate in a project of career words/phrases collection, extension and classification. Three stages of data collection procedures were implemented: generating career-related terms, validating them and similarity sorting of these career-related terms. By using the prototype analysis, the culturally-prescribed ideology and boundary of the Taiwanese adolescents' conceptions about career were revealed. Based on such knowledge, teachers and counselors may guide students through making critical career decisions, including choosing college majors, occupational paths and future jobs in the process of developing optimal career paths for themselves.