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People - Lea Ferrari, Ph.D.

 

ferrari

She is an assistant professor at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology, School of Psychology,University of Padova. She teaches Diversity management in the workplace and Psychology of work inclusion for people with disability and is member of the teaching staff of the post-graduate Master Course in ‘Life Design and Career Counseling’. She actively collaborates with the Larios Laboratory (Laboratory for Research and Intervention in Vocational Designing and Career Counseling) and of the University Centre for Research and Services on Disability, Rehabilitation and Inclusion, at the University of Padova. She is member of SIO (Italian Society of Vocational Guidance), of the European Society for Vocational Designing and Career Counseling, and of the International Section of Counseling Psychology, Division 17, American Psychological Association. She is member of the Career Adaptability International Collaborative Group and of the European project University Network for Innovation in Guidance - Lifelong Learning Programme (2009-2012/2013-2015). She is co-editor of The Italian Journal of Vocational Psychology and the newsletter of the SIO. She is co-editor of the Giornale Italiano di Psicologia dell'Orientamento [Italian Journal of Vocational Psychology], and ad hoc reviewer of Journal of Happiness Studies, International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, Educational Research Review, and Social Behavior and Personality, Journal of Counseling Psychologist.

Research interests

As regards the field of career counseling, research activities are related to the study of career construction over the life according to the latest approaches of life design and the sociocognitive model. Special attention is paid to the development and adaptation of assessment instruments with regard to self-determination, career adaptability, career preparedness, the concept of work and also to hope, optimism, time perspective and resilience. As regard the intervention activities, her interests focus on career counseling and career education programs for young people and adults with diverse characteristics (disability, disadvantages, etc.). As regard the field of disability, research activities focus on the variables that characterize the quality of life of people with disabilities and their self-determination. Attention is given to the development of assessment instruments and intervention programs related to these variables. More recently her interests focus on disability management and on the study of factors involved in the processes of job placement and job search for adults with disability and psychosocial distress.