Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling

1. Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling

2. Career counseling must take place within a cultural context • Variables to consider in career counseling across cultures may differ in weight • Models don't adequately explain career behavior of minorities • Perspective of cultural diversity/pluralism Assumptions

3. Career Counseling Goal • Have all clients make culturally appropriate career choices • NOT: make the same choices

4. Culturally responsive Counseling: • Effective career counseling incorporates the impact of family, gender and culture • Allows clients to explore what role they want work to play in their lives, balance between work and family, messages to accept or discard • Incorporates multiple cultures

5. The Silent Interview • 1. Where did they grow up? • 2. What is their ethnicity? • 3. What do/did their parents do for work? • 4. What do they do in their spare time? • 5. How many languages do they speak? • 6. What kind of music do they listen to?

6. Environmental Influences • Parental/Familial influences • Political system • Racism/Sexism • Acculturation • Cultural values

7. Cultural Variables • Worldview • Racial/Ethnic Identity Development • Acculturation • Aspirations/expectations

8. Leong and Hartung (1997) • Recognition of vocational problems • Help seeking and use of career services • Evaluation of career problems • Implement career interventions • Outcome of intervention

9. Fouad and Bingham-CACCM . Identification of career issues: -cognitive -social emotional -environmental -behavioral -external barriers Assess impact of cultural variables on career issues Setting culturally appropriate counseling process and counseling goals Establish rapport/ Culturally appropriate relationship Culturally appropriate intervention: -cognitive -social emotional -environmental -behavioral -external barriers Re-clarify issues Enter counseling Decision-making: career choice role integration adjustment information seeking Implementation of career plans and follow up Preparation for counseling: Culturally Competent Counselor and Client with concerns Exit counseling in Fouad, N.A. & Bingham, R. ( in press) Career counseling with racial/ethnic minorities In W.B. Walsh & S.H. Osipow (Eds). Handbook of Vocational Psychology, 2nd ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum

10. Preparation for Counseling: • Cultural sensitivity: openness and enjoyment of clients' cultural experiences • knowledgeable about cultural groups • knowledge of cultural strengths • openness to clients as cultural teachers

11. Preparation (cont.) • Knowledge of own worldview • Knowledge of own racial identity • become comfortable with clients of diverse backgrounds

12. Step 1- Establish Relationship • Listen to and observe client's comments • Respond to client's main words and construct (using basic attending skills) • Check out statements with client • Set context for working consensus

13. Step 2: Identification of Career Issues • Cognitive Issues • Social/Emotional Issues • Behavioral Issues • External Issues--working conditions • External Barriers: Discrimination, Oppression, racism/sexism

14. Step 3: Assess Impact of Cultural Variables • How do cultural variables influence career decisions?

15. Step 4: Setting appropriate goals • Appropriate Process-Appropriate Goals

16. Step 5: Appropriate Interventions • Group interventions • involve the family • role models • native language usage • ethnicity/gender similarity • community resources • appropriate assessment

17. Step 6: Decision- making • Career Choices • Adjustment • Clarification

18. Step 7: Implementation and Follow-up • Support mechanisms • Follow-up