Introduction to Career Counselling and
Career Education
May 3rd
Meaning of Work Across Time
A.
Contemporary
Western culture
·
Source
of identity
·
Context
of meaning
B.
Historically
·
Primitive
societies
·
Classical
societies
·
Judaic
·
Early
Christians
·
Medieval
Christian society
·
Reformation
o Luther
o Calvin
o Protestant Work Ethic
·
Modernity/Secularization
·
Industrialization
·
Recent
changes
C.
Changing
Work Values/ Work Ethic
·
Protestant
Work Ethic
o Calvin
o Hard work, work for all, upward mobility,
making and saving money
·
Vocational
Ethic
o Puritans
o Independent effort, self-sufficiency,
frugality, self-discipline and humility
·
Entrepreneurial
Ethic
o Industrialization
o risk-taking, boldness, exploitation of people/
opportunities
Career Ethic
o Industrialization
o working to get ahead, climbing the corporate
ladder, making oneself more marketable
·
Self-fulfillment
Ethic
o Recent market trends: downsizing, flatter org.
structure, layoffs, frequent career shifts, lateral advancement
o seek challenge as well as personal and
professional growth, work/life balance
Linking Work
with Worth in Western Culture
·
Individualism
à emphasize individual control, de-emphasize
role of sociological/contextual variables in career development
·
As
a result . . .
o Successful career = positive
attributions about the individual
o Unsuccessful career =
negative attributions about the individual
o Career success has become
linked to personal worth and identity.
·
Self-fulfillment
ethic: cultural belief that work should always be meaningful
o Meaningful = contribute to
self-esteem, personal happiness, a sense of self-fulfillment and mastery, and a
feeling of being valued by society
o Reality: many people do not
derive a sense of meaning from their work
Definitions
Career : multiple life roles people
play over their lifetime
Job: a specific position requiring
particular skills
Occupation: similar jobs found in
different organizations
Career
Development:
“the lifelong psychological and behavioral processes as well as contextual
influences shaping one's career over the life span” (Niles &
Harris-Bowlsbey, 2002, p. 7)
Career
Development Interventions: “any activities that empower
people to cope effectively with career development tasks” (Niles &
Harris-Bowlsbey, 2002, p. 7), umbrella term that may include career counselling,
career education, job-related training, etc.
Career
Counselling:
“a formal relationship in which a professional counselor assists a client, or
group of clients, to cope more effectively with career concerns” (Niles &
Harris-Bowlsbey, 2002, p. 7)
Career
Education:
“the systematic attempt to influence the career development of students and
adults through various types of educational strategies” (Niles &
Harris-Bolwsbey, 2002, p. 8)
Career
Development Programs: “a systematic program of counselor-coordinated information and
experiences designed to facilitate individual career development” (Herr &
Cramer, 1996 as cited in Niles & Harris-Bolwsbey, 2002, p. 8)
Career Development
interventions may be facilitated by:
Ø
Career
counsellors
Ø
Teachers
Ø
Career
Practitioners (CA)
Ø
Career
Development Facilitators (USA)
Canadian
Development Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners: http://www.career-dev-guidelines.org/
History of Career Development Interventions
Early 1900s,
Boston: social reform movement
Context:
–
Urbanization
–
Immigration
–
Industrialization
Frank Parsons: Vocational Guidance Bureau
3 Steps of the Trait and Factor Approach :
–
Know
yourself
–
Learn
about different occupations/the world of work
–
True
reasoning
Non-profit
(religious and secular) offered first vocational guidance services.
1918: Employment
Service of Canada,
Williamson’s
Directive Counselling
6 Steps: Analysis, Synthesis, Diagnosis, Prognosis,
Counselling, Follow-up
Testing Movement
Minnesota
Employment Stabilization Research Institute: Stable workforce, recovery from Depression
World War II: personnel testing and placement activities,
vocational services grew in Canada and USA
Influence of
psychology
Rogers’
Client-Centred Therapy: focus on self-understanding and self-acceptance, non-directive
Donald Super: career development as a
lifelong process, focus on self-concept
1960s à present: theory generation
1970s – career
education, youth employment initiatives and school-to-work programs
In the past 40
years:
–
recognition
of/attention to career dev.t of diverse pops.
–
post-modern
trend
–
growth
of services, in Canada federally and provincially funded
Associations:
Canada: Canadian Career Development Foundation,
Canada Career Consortium, Human Resources Skill Development, Canadian
Counselling Assoc – Career Dev. Chapter, NETWERCC
USA: National Career Development Foundation
Recent Changes in the World of Work
Globalization
–
Simultaneously
widens and restricts work opportunities
–
Is
it sustainable?
Technological
Advances
–
Change
in types of jobs and skill requirements
–
Allows
small companies to compete with large cos.
Changing Employment
Patterns
–
Flexible
forms of work
–
Increase
in temp., part-time, contract work, self-employment
Changing
Organizational Forms/Structures
–
Flatter
structure, “delayering”
–
Downsizing
–
Cellular
structure
Changing balance of
work and non-work life
–
Increased
emphasis on work-life balance and quality of life
Changes in
education
–
Higher
attainment
–
Dual-labour
market
Diverse Workforce
–
Gender:
increased participation by women in the workforce
–
Demographic:
baby boomers moving out, ageing workforce, affects markets
–
Ethnicity:
increased diversity/ not equality
–
Household
structures: increased single person
households, dual-career couples, single-parent families, delay in having
children/ not having children
Changing
psychological contracts
–
transition
from long-term “relational” contracts (loyalty for security) to short-term
“transactional” contracts (negotiation between parties)
Increased job
insecurity
–
Shift
in focus from employment to employability
–
Individuals
need to take control of their own career development
–
Lateral
as opposed to vertical advancement
–
Portfolio
work
Overall Assessment:
How have contextual factors transformed career?
–
Pace
and intensity of changes in the work world has increased
–
Recognize
the diversity in career paths that has always existed, move away from a
stereotypical view of career
Changing Career Assumptions
·
Expect career changes
throughout life.
·
Necessity of lifelong
learning to increase employability.
o occupational half-life
·
Rapid changes are
constant.
·
Interpersonal skills are
essential.
o diverse workforce
Future Trends in Career Dev. Interventions
•
Recognition
of career decisions as value-based decisions
–
are
all values equal?
–
Green
Career Counselling (Peter Plant)
•
Move
beyond objective assessment
–
standardized
assessments are necessary but not sufficient
–
focus
on making meaning of life experiences
•
Increase
in counselling-based career assistance
–
personal
and career concerns are linked
–
importance
of the helping relationship
•
Increase
in multicultural career development interventions
–
address
effects of social and economic barriers
–
awareness
of worldviews embedded in theory and
interventions
•
Focus
on multiple life roles
•
Focus
on quality of life
–
empower
people to live a good life (not just make a good living).
Theory
Theory: “a group of logically organized laws or relationships that constitute
explanation in a discipline” (Heinen, 1985 as cited in Sharf, 2002, p. 4).
Propositions: statements that hold true
most of the time, there are always exceptions (as opposed to laws: very
accurate statements that are predictable and hold true in a variety of situations)
Social science theories (Jepsen, 1996):
–
Logical
propositions
–
Observable
propositions
–
Metaphors
–
Stories
Evaluative criteria (Osipow & Fitzgerald,
1996; Sharf, 2002):
–
Explicit
and clear
–
Precise
about generalizability and limitations
–
Supporting
research/arguments.
–
Applicable
in a range of situations
–
Leads
to new ways of understanding the phenomena
–
Easy
to put into practice
Theories are useful because:
–
Organize
findings into a manageable format
–
Offer
different perspectives
–
Guide
practice