Research Support: Robert P. Larsen Grant for Research in Career Development
History and Scope
The Robert P. Larsen Grant for Research in Career Development was created in memory of Bob Larsen, the first career counselor at the University of Illinois, to recognize his life-long commitment to and support of career counseling.
The Career Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign awards this grant to support research that addresses topics relevant to the field of career development and that will increase knowledge related to career and vocational topics.
The Award
The Robert P. Larsen Grant for Research in Career Development awards up to three grants per year. Maximum individual awards will be $1500 per year. Lesser amounts may be awarded.
Eligibility
Currently-enrolled graduate students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in good academic standing in Masters or Doctoral programs are eligible. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research proposals will be considered.
The Larsen Symposium
Each spring semester, The Career Center hosts a Larsen Symposium, which is an opportunity for Larsen Grant winners to share their research findings with career development practitioners and researchers from the University of Illinois Community. Faculty, staff, and students are all welcome to attend. More details will be posted here soon.
Past Winners
Read below to meet the last ten years of Larsen Grant winners. Explore topics we have funded, and see how the research of Larsen Grant winners is making an impact. We’re proud to support this network of accomplished researchers contributing to the field of career development!
Robert P. Larsen Grant Past Recipients
Chu Chu
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Project Name
Development and Validation of a Pilot Career Chatbot
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Career Guidance, Accessibility
Yaqing He
School of Labor and Employment Relations
Project Name
Consequences of Work-Related Intimate Partner Aggression on Women’s Work and Career-Related Outcomes: A Self-Determination Perspective
Keywords
Work-related intimate partner aggression, Career adaptability, Self-determination perspective
Diana Lesmes, Jisoo Youn, David George Strauser
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology; College of Applied Health Sciences, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health
Project Name
Increasing Access to Interest Measures: The Pictorial Interest Profiler
Keywords
Vocational interests, Pictorial Interest Inventory, RIASEC, Interest Profiler, O*NET
Jisoo Youn
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Project Name
How do occupations differ across South Korea and the US: Studies of RIASEC Occupational Interest Profiles (OIPs)
Keywords
Vocational interests, Occupational Interest Profiles, work tasks, O*NET, South Korea, cross-cultural, text mining
No Awardees
Chelsea E. Greco
Project Name
Assisting Individuals with Disabilities Post-Incarceration Career Development: Understanding the Role of Core Self-Evaluation on Employment and Community Integration
Keywords
Career Development, Community Integration, Functioning, Self-evaluation, Criminal Background, Vocational Rehabilitation
Jana Lithgow
Project Name
Perceptions of Access and Status Among Undergraduate Business Students
Keywords
Undergraduate Business School, Access, Status, Student Involvement
Magen Rooney-Kron
Project Name
Teachers’ Perceptions of School and Community Work Based Learning Experiences for Students with Severe Disabilities
Keywords
Work Based Learning Experiences, students with disabilities, Teacher Perceptions
Kelly Lynn Clary
School of Social Work
Project Name
Emerging Adulthood Theory Discovery Among Military/Veteran Members
Keywords
Military transition, Emerging adults, Military personnel, Veterans, Mental health, Development, Emerging adulthood theory
Marci M. Rockey
College of Education, Department of Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership
Project Name
Perceptions of College and Career Readiness Among Rural High School Seniors
Keywords
College and career readiness, rural students, college access
Alexis Hanna & Kevin Hoff
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Project Name
Interest in Context: Using Work Tasks to Measure Occupational Interests
Keywords
vocational interests, work tasks, measurement, occupational scales, O*NET
Jessamyn Perlus
College of Education, Department of Educational Psychology
Project Name
Impostor Phenomenon and Careers of Female Graduate Students
Keywords
Women’s Career Development, Self-Efficacy, Imposter Phenomenon, Career Barriers, mixed-methods
Gaeun Seo
College of Education, Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
Project Name
Faculty Careers from Socio-Cognitive and Contextual Perspectives
Keywords
career decision-making, social cognitive career theory, cognitive information processing theory, doctoral workforce development
Tijan Sun & Bo Zhang
Labor and Employment Relations
Project Name
Overcoming Biased Vocational Interest Interpretations: Forcing Improved Measurement
Keywords
vocational interests, measurement
Lin Bian
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Project Name
The Pervasive and Early-Emerging Bias against Women in Careers Where Success is Thought to Depend on Intellectual Talent
Keywords
women, Career Development, bias, intellectual talent
Rachel Amrhein
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Project Name
Vocational Interest at Work: Examining the Daily Vocational Experience of Employees
Keywords
vocational interests, measurement
Sarah Marie Zehr
College of Education, Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
Project Name
Student Internship Experiences and Learning Opportunities: A Mixed Method Study
Keywords
mixed-methods, experiential learning, internships
Qianqi Song, Jonathan Phan, Mengyang Cao, Bertha Rangel, and Seonghee Cho and Justin Wiegand
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology; School of Labor and Employment Relations
Project Name
Development of a Vocational Interest Computer Adaptive Test Skills, Social Ties, or Self-Esteem?
Keywords
vocational interests, measurement, self-esteem, computer adaptive testing
Lenore Matthew
School of Social Work
Project Name
Examining the Impact of Vocational Training on Informally Employed Women in Brazil
Keywords
vocational training, women, international
Larisa Hussak
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Project Name
Proceed Only if “Gifted”: How Trait-Based Beliefs About What is Required for Success Act as a Barrier to Women in the Workforce
Keywords
women, barriers, trait-based beliefs
Mengyang Cao
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Project Name
Improving the Measurement Efficiency of Vocational Interest Measures: The Perspective of the Ideal Point Model
Keywords
vocational interests, measurement
Jonathan Wei Ming Phan
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Project Name
The Importance of Dislikes: Considering the Duality of Individual Preferences in Vocational Interests
Keywords
vocational interests, dislikes, preferences