Pedagogical Support of Professional Choice in Adolescents with Disabilities

Introduction. The article presents a pilot empirical study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a comprehensive program of pedagogical support for professional choice among adolescents with disabilities. The relevance of the study is due to the increased vulnerability of this group to social and professional marginalization due to barriers in education, limited access to labor practices, and insufficient preparation of traditional career guidance systems to take into account individual needs.

Objective. To find out whether the adapted support program affects the indicators of professional readiness and professional self-efficacy, as well as subjective satisfaction with the support process.

Materials and methods. In the pilot version, a randomized controlled design was used: 150 adolescents with disabilities were divided into an intervention group (n = 75), who received an eight-week support program, and a control group (n = 75), who received standard school career guidance. The main measurements included the professional readiness scale and the professional self-efficacy scale (pre-test and post-test), as well as the support satisfaction scale (post-test). Descriptive statistics, independent t‑tests to compare the magnitude of changes, ANCOVA with baseline control, and Cohen's d effect size estimation were used as analysis methods. The article presents data from a pilot study with a detailed description of the methodology, intervention procedures and ethical considerations, which makes the work useful as a methodological guide for subsequent empirical projects.

Results. The results obtained demonstrate a significant increase in professional readiness and self-efficacy in the intervention group compared to the control group, which supports the hypothesis of a positive effect of targeted pedagogical support.

Discussion. In conclusion, we discuss practical implications for integrating support programs into school practice and directions for future multi-site and long-term studies focused on real-world samples and delayed outcomes (employment, adaptation in a professional environment). Limitations of the study are related to the use of data and generalization of results for individuals with different types of disabilities

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