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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

  • Is aware of his/her own cultural beliefs and assumptions and incorporates that awareness into his/her decision-making about interactions with clients/students and other career professionals.

  • Continues to develop his/her individual and group counseling skills in order to enhance his/her ability to respond appropriately to individuals from diverse populations.

  • Is cognizant when working with groups of the group demographics and monitors these to ensure appropriate respect and confidentiality is maintained.

INFLUENCES ON THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF DIVERSE GROUPS -- 
adapted from Kerka (2003)

  • Understands the psychometric properties of the assessments he/she is using in order to effectively select and administer assessments, and interpret and use results with the appropriate limitations and cautions.

  • Designs and implements culturally appropriate research studies with regards to research design, instrument selection, and other pertinent population-specific issues.

1

WORLDVIEW

Worldviews shape the way we see and experience the world. A value orientation especially salient to one's worldview is the individualist-collectivist (I-C) continuum. Hartung et al. (2002) studied the relationship between this orientation and the occupational choices, career planning behaviors, work values, and family background of 269 college students of African, Asian, Hispanic, and European American descent. They found significant relationships between students' orientations towards individualism or collectivism and how these values influence the work students sought, the career choices they made, and the ways they planned to achieve career goals. Thus, career services practitioners should always be aware and understand the cultural foundations and world views in which students are making career decisions in order to better support both personal and professional development.

2

IDENTITY

Many factors contribute towards both our self-identity (e.g. sexuality, occupation, etc.) and group identity (e.g., culture, ethnicity, etc.). To help students reflect on how they self-identify, career services practitioners can use this activity. 

 

Among the characteristics that make up our identities, Alfred (2001) cites three reasons why understanding group identity is especially important in career development:

(1) group identities are important components of self-concept for most people

(2) recognition and preservation of group identities are of great significance to some individuals

(3) group identities influence how others interact with us

 

In addition to group identity, Walsh et al. (2001) reviewed research showing that racial identity significantly predicted foreclosure of career choices, career-related self-efficacy, and the ability to use bicultural strategies for managing two cultural contexts. 

3

Individual, cultural, and work-related values influence career choices, decisions, and development. Brown (2002) proposed an occupational choice theory based on values, noting that "there is considerable diversity within the values systems of people from the same cultural groups and extensive overlap in the cultural values held by people from different cultural groups" (p. 49). His research findings support several propositions about the role of values in career choice, success, and satisfaction, including differences between people with individualistic and collective social values. For example, Latina professionals studied by Gomez et al. (2000) shared the same strong cultural values of familism and collectivism, although their career aspirations often conflicted with cultural and gender role expectations. 

VALUES

Toward more inclusive career development 

adapted from Kerka (2003)

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A model for culturally appropriate career development that was developed by Fouad and Bingham and extended by others (Flores et al. 2003; Walsh et al. 2001) has the following elements:

 

  1. Establishment of a culturally appropriate relationship

  2. Information gathering that is culturally encompassing

  3. Identification of cognitive, social, emotional, environmental, behavioral, and external influences

  4. Assessment of cultural spheres of influence on career choice

  5. Assessment of cultural, gender, and efficacy variables

  6. Traditional career assessments

  7. Selection, administration, and interpretation of culturally appropriate instruments

  8. Career development practitioners' awareness of their own world views, identity salience, values, and attitudes​

 

Culturally competent practitioners recognize how and why individuals' career-related experiences might be different and think outside their own cultural frames of reference in assisting people with career development (Flores et al. 2003).

  • Incorporates appropriate guidelines, research, and experience in developing, implementing, and managing programs and services for diverse populations.

  • Utilizes the principles of program evaluation to design and obtain feedback from relevant stakeholders in the continuous improvement of programs and services, paying special attention to feedback regarding specific needs of the population being served.

  • Applies his/her knowledge of multicultural issues in dealings with other professionals and trainees to ensure the creation of a culturally-sensitive environment for all clients.

  • Regularly evaluates the information, resources, and use of technology to determine that these tools are sensitive to the needs of diverse populations amending and/or individualizing for each client as required.

  • Provides resources in multiple formats to ensure that clients/students are able to benefit from needed information.

  • Provides targeted and sensitive support for clients/students in using the information, resources, and technology.

  • Continuously updates his/her knowledge of multicultural and diversity issues and research and applies new knowledge as required.

  • Employs his/her knowledge and experience of multicultural ethical and legal issues within a professional framework to enhance the functioning of his/her organization and the image of the profession. ·uses supervision and professional consultations effectively when faced with an ethical or legal issue related to diversity, to ensure he/she provides high-quality services for every client/student.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP COUNSELING SKILLS

INDIVIDUAL/GROUP ASSESSMENT

RESEARCH/EVALUATION

ETHICAL/LEGAL ISSUES

INFORMATION, RESOURCES, & TECHNOLOGY

  • Gains knowledge of and engages in evidence-based supervision, pursues educational and training activities on a regular and ongoing basis inclusive of both counseling and supervision topics. Further, is aware of his/her limitations, cultural biases and personal values and seeks professional consultative assistance as necessary.

  • Infuses multicultural/diversity contexts into his/her training and supervision practices, makes supervisees aware of the ethical standards and responsibilities of the profession, and trains supervisees to develop relevant multicultural knowledge and skills.

  • Engages in coaching, consultation, and performance improvement activities with appropriate training and incorporates knowledge of multicultural attitudes, beliefs, skills, and values.

  • Seeks awareness and understanding about how to best match diverse clients/students with suitably culturally sensitive employers.

Adapted from the Minimum Competencies for engaging in career counseling​--National Career Development Association​

Career development of diverse populations

SUPERVISION

COACHING, CONSULTATION, AND PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

Competencies for Multicultural Career Counseling and Development

PROGRAM PROMOTION, MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

4

CONTEXT

The notion that "occupational success can be largely attributable to individual merit has never applied to everyone because of pervasive and powerful contextual barriers" such as racial and gender discrimination and income disparities (Cook, Heppner, and O'Brien 2002, p. 294). 

 

Contextual barriers and resources affecting career-related learning include:

(1) external barriers (unsafe environment, income disparity, negative social support, discrimination)

(2) internal barriers (negative self-efficacy, negative academic performance, the perception of unequal opportunity)

(3) external resources (role models, social and cultural support)

(4) internal resources (bicultural competence, coping efficacy) 

 

Because research and career development theory can sometimes neglect important contextual factors such as racism, sexism, family background, and opportunity structure, it is the duty of career services practitioners to have a strong understanding of how context attributes to a student's career development. For more information about contextual influences, see Systems Theory Framework.

Principles of universal design must be employed to make career services accessible to everyone. Universal design means that rather than designing facilities and services for the average user, facilities and services are designed for people with a broad range of abilities, disabilities, ages, reading levels, learning styles, native languages, cultures, and other characteristics.

 

It is important to keep in mind that students and other visitors may have learning disabilities or visual, speech, hearing, or mobility impairments. Preparing programs to be accessible to them will make it more usable by everyone. Thus, career services must ensure that all stakeholders are able to:

  • get to the facility and maneuver within it

  • communicate effectively with support staff

  • access printed materials and electronic resources

  • fully participate in events and other activities

 

Staff should be trained to support people with disabilities, respond to specific requests for accommodations in a timely manner, and know whom they can contact on campus if they have disability-related questions.

 

 

Description adapted from the University of Washington. Visit here for more information.

One Final Consideration:

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