The SWICi board: a gamified approach to career exploration and decision-making among at-risk adolescents
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Developing a professional identity and determining future career anchors presents a significant challenge for adolescents, particularly in the modern, rapidly evolving labor market. The SWICi board game has been designed to support at-risk youths in Malaysia by helping them to recognize their career interests, personalities, and the knowledge required to enhance their career decision-making processes. Registered under Intellectual Property number LY201900787, the game also assesses participants’ knowledge by illustrating on a range of life and career experiences. SWICi can be played individually or in groups of two to six youngsters. The development of the SWICi board game, as part of the Career Decision Intervention module for at-risk teenagers, underwent validation by a panel of 10 experts. Then, the module was piloted with a group of adolescents aged 13 to 17 to assess its reliability, paving the way for a preliminary study. Findings from the initial study indicate that the SWICi board game significantly enhances adolescents' understanding of their career identity, knowledge of the world of employment, and the steps involved in the career decisionmaking process. Hence, this contributes to a notable increase in their career decision-making self-efficacy. The results highlight the critical role of career counselors and practitioners in supporting adolescents’ career development, particularly in fostering better self-efficacy in career decision-making. Basically, the SWICi board game presents a valuable tool for facilitating career exploration and decision-making among youths in an engaging and educational arrangement, with significant potential for positive impact.
Language: English
Subfield: Applied Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7222911277