Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling With Gay and Lesbian Clients

This article details the current knowledge regarding the provision of culturally appropriate career services to gay and lesbian clients. It is divided into 5 parts: history and context for the delivery of career counseling services to gay and lesbian clients, counselor self‐preparation for working with gay and lesbian clients, client‐focused interventions useful for counseling with gay and lesbian clients, program‐focused interventions useful for addressing the special issues that this group presents, and appropriate advocacy or social action interventions. Issues of multiple cultural identities and the intersection of lesbian and gay issues with race and ethnicity are also addressed.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2001

This article is a summary of the literature published in 2001 related to career counseling and career development. The review is designed to provide information to both career practitioners and researchers, with the focus on integration of practice and research. This summary of literature is organized around 5 primary areas: (a) career development, (b) career and vocational theories, (c) career interventions, (d) career assessment, and (e) professional issues. Within the framework of this review, attention is also given to contextual factors including gender, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, and nationality.     

The Past,Present, and Future of Career Counseling in Taiwan

The development of career counseling in Taiwan during the last 40 years suggests priorities for future development. Although many of the basic constructs of career counseling are used in Taiwan, cultural differences are also apparent. At the earliest stage of career development in Taiwan (1960–1980), career guidance was managed through vocational centers and government agencies. The focus was almost exclusively on school‐aged youth seeking employment. At the middle stage (1980–1990), the terms for career counseling were being translated into Chinese, and trained Career Counselors were returning from study abroad. The emphasis was primarily on educational systems. At the present stage (1990‐present), career counseling was provided to adults outside the school setting and corporations were organizing their own career counseling services. The future presents many conflicts between Western and Asian values, traditional or modern demands, and self or family interests. Technological advances in testing and information sciences provide opportunities and problems for career counselors.     

Metacognition and Multicultural Competence: Expanding the Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling Model

The authors focus on the significance of the counselor's cultural contexts in effective career interventions vis‐à‐vis the incorporation of multicultural metacognition. They briefly summarize and critique extant career counseling models for racial/ethnic minority clients and then describe an expanded model for career counseling that incorporates metacognition processes for addressing counselor‐related cultural factors.     

Basic Confidence Predictors of Career Decision‐Making Self‐Efficacy

The extent to which Basic Confidence Scales predicted career decision‐making self‐efficacy was studied in a sample of 627 undergraduate students. Six confidence variables accounted for 49% of the variance in career decision‐making self‐efficacy. Leadership confidence was the most important, but confidence in science, mathematics, writing, using technology, and cultural sensitivity all contributed significant incremental variance. There were some differences as a function of race and gender, but leadership confidence was the most significant predictor in all subgroups. Implications for educational and career counseling are discussed.     

Initial Validation of the Planned Happenstance Career Inventory–English Version

This study examined the cross‐cultural validity of the Planned Happenstance Career Inventory (PHCI) for a sample of 262 U.S. college students. The original 5‐factor structure of the Korean PHCI was supported in the U.S. sample. Further analysis with career decision self‐efficacy and vocational identity status showed evidence of convergent and divergent validity of the measure. Results suggest that career counselors use a customized counseling approach based on PHCI scores. Suggestions for future cross‐cultural and longitudinal studies are made to extend the utility of the PHCI.     

Vocational Interests: A Look at the Past 70 Years and a Glance at the Future

This article reviews the literature on vocational interests. Ten themes about vocational interests are discussed: development, correlates, measurement, homogeneity and differentiation, career choice, sex differences, stability, structure, career counseling, and cultural influences. These 10 themes are similar to major issues discussed by Strong (1943) in his landmark book on interests Vocational Interests of Men and Women. Directions for future research are presented.     

Relation of Type and Amount of Training to Career Counseling Self‐Efficacy in Italy

This study examined the relation of self‐efficacy to length and type of training in a sample of Italian career counselors. Findings indicated that amount of career counseling training was positively related to counselors' self‐efficacy regarding their abilities to conceptualize vocational problems, deal with career indecision concerns, and provide educational counseling. In addition, counselors who had participated in an in‐service training course that focused on social cognitive/learning theories reported stronger self‐efficacy regarding their skills at vocational problem conceptualization and at educational counseling than did those who received more eclectic training.     

Self‐Efficacy,Perceptions of Barriers,Vocational Identity,and the Career Exploration Behavior of Latino/a High School Students

This study explored the potential relationship between the social cognitive variables of career decision‐making self‐efficacy and perceptions of barriers and the outcome variables of vocational identity and career exploration behaviors in a sample of 128 urban Latino/a high school students. The results indicated that higher levels of career decision‐making self‐efficacy were related to both a more differentiated vocational identity and a greater engagement with career exploration tasks. Perception of fewer barriers was also found to be related to a more integrated vocational identity. Implications for career counseling and future research are discussed.     

Trends in the History of Vocational Guidance

In this article, the relationships between vocational guidance and vocational education, employment counseling, career guidance, and career counseling are explored. Also examined are the wide‐ranging federal and state policies that have stimulated and shaped the professional history of vocational guidance, vocational policy, and contemporary terms.     

Analyzing Cultural Models in Adolescent Accounts of Romantic Relationships

Research on academic achievement has led the way in demonstrating how culturally constructed meanings shape adolescent scholastic behavior. The aim of this research is to move this standpoint of analysis more centrally into the area of adolescent dating and sexuality by focusing on the cultural components of adolescent romantic relationships. This study examines cultural models of romantic relationships in Vernacular Term Interviews of 68 African American and 59 Mexican American 11th‐ and 12th‐grade female and male high school students. A subset of interviews was analyzed first qualitatively to identify the models. The models then were committed to a manual and 4 analytic coders established reliability before coding all interviews blind as to race/ethnicity and gender of the adolescent. The resultant data were summarized by a principal components analysis that yielded 5 interpretable factors. Factor scores were computed and compared for gender and race/ethnicity differences. The results demonstrated clear differences in factors by race/ethnicity but not by gender. Results are discussed in relation to cultural differences described in the literature for these 2 populations.     

The Effect of a Career Development Course on the Dysfunctional Career Thoughts of Racially and Ethnically Diverse College Freshmen

Pre‐ and posttests revealed that the dysfunctional career thoughts of 158 racially and ethnically diverse college freshmen were significantly reduced following a 6‐week, 1‐credit‐hour career development course. Freshmen with the highest level of dysfunctional career thinking indicated the most dramatic decrease. These reductions in dysfunctional career thinking occurred irrespective of students' gender or race/ethnicity.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2012

This annual review of the 2012 career development/vocational psychology literature includes 191 empirical (69%) and conceptual (31%) articles from career, counseling, development, and international journals. The review is divided into 4 major areas: professional issues, work and well‐being, life‐span perspectives, and career theory and concepts. Subsumed within these clusters are foci on the status of career/vocational guidance around the globe, the career development experiences of immigrants, and the effects of economic stress. The authors offer three summarizing impressions. First, the 2012 collection is definitively global; this is a credit to the individual and institutional dimensions of the counseling profession. Second, the research articles represent a wide array of methodological approaches, and researchers have made wise research design choices for their areas of inquiry. Third, there is a true professional responsiveness to the needs of the world. It is suggested that the 2012 literature reflects Parsons's early vision of social justice and multiculturalism.     

Exploring the Application of Multiple Intelligences Theory to Career Counseling

This article demonstrates the practical value of applying H. Gardner's (1993) theory of multiple intelligences (MI) to the practice of career counseling. An overview of H. Gardner's MI theory is presented, and the ways in which educational and vocational planning can be augmented by the integration of MI theory in career counseling contexts are discussed. The Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scales (C. B. Shearer, 2007), a research‐based self‐report measure of intellectual disposition, is introduced, and a case study illustrating the effective application of H. Gardner's MI theory to career counseling is presented.     

Dysfunctional Career Thoughts and Perceived Quality of Parental Relationships in Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is known to cause significant difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Empirical research in career development has demonstrated that close, supportive relationships are associated with positive vocational behaviors (Kenny et al., 2018). We examined dysfunctional career thoughts and perceived quality of parental relationships in high school students with ADHD. One hundred two adolescents (76 boys, 26 girls) with ADHD responded to measures of career thoughts and interpersonal relationship quality. Preliminary exploratory analysis, using multiple linear regression, showed that male participants' dysfunctional career thoughts were statistically significantly related to their relationships with their mothers. For female participants, relationships with fathers represented an area for further exploration. Results suggest that career professionals can enhance positive outcomes of decision-making and problem-solving issues in adolescence with additional focus on relational interventions. Future research should incorporate the influence of gender and race/ethnicity on crucial relationships and focus on paternal relationships using cognitive information processing–based interventions with this population.     

Integrating a Multicultural Perspective Into Training for Career Counseling: Programmatic and Individual Interventions

Preparing students to provide competent career counseling to multicuturally diverse clients requires a systematic and integrated effort by training programs. This article discusses the essential components in a comprehensive, programmatic commitment to multiculturalism, and offers suggestions for enhancing multicultural sensitivity and competence in individual trainees. The definition of multicultural diversity used in this article includes issues in addition to race and ethnicity (e.g., gender, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, and physical disability) and recognizes the diversity of counseling trainees.     

Career Development Attributes and Occupational Values of Asian American and White American College Students

This study examined differences in career development attributes and occupational values between Asian American and White American college students using (a) the Crites' (1978) Career Maturity Inventory; (b) Harren's (1978) Assessment of Career Decision Making: Styles Subscales; (c) Holland, Daiger, and Power's (1980) My Vocational Situation; and (d) Rosenberg's (1957) Occupations and Values Scale. Asian Americans were found to have greater preferences for Dependent decisionmaking styles and also a lower level of career maturity. No differences in vocational identity were found between the cultural groups. Asian Americans also placed greater emphasis on extrinsic and security occupational value clusters (e.g., making more money, having a stable, secure future) relative to White Americans. The counseling and research implications of the results are discussed.     

Effects of Orientations to Happiness on Vocational Identity Achievement

There is an increased interest in vocational psychology and career counseling regarding the link between career development and well‐being, yet, little is known about how different ways to achieve well‐being or happiness relate to career development. This study explored the relationship between 3 orientations to happiness (meaning, pleasure, and engagement) and vocational identity achievement among 2 groups of Swiss adolescents (n = 268, 8th grade; n = 208, 11th grade). The results indicated that more orientation to meaning and engagement but not to pleasure positively related to vocational identity achievement.     

Mindfulness and Decision‐Making Style: Predicting Career Thoughts and Vocational Identity

Mindfulness has been a focus of psychological research and practice in recent decades. Yet, there is limited research on the relationship between mindfulness and vocational decision‐making. This study’s purpose was to examine the role of mindfulness in a career context by investigating the relationships among mindfulness, decision‐making style, negative career thoughts, and vocational identity. The sample included 258 undergraduate students (204 women, 54 men) at a large southeastern U.S. university. Mindfulness was significantly (p < .01) associated with fewer negative career thoughts, external and thinking‐based decision‐making styles, and higher vocational identity. Multiple regression procedures found that mindfulness, coupled with decision‐making style, accounted for 31% of the variance in negative career thoughts and 22% of the variance in vocational identity. These findings suggest that more holistic career counseling interventions could incorporate mindfulness techniques to help reduce anxiety and negative thoughts while increasing self‐clarity and problem‐solving skills. Future research could include more diverse samples, additional constructs (e.g., choice volition, self‐efficacy), and a pretest–posttest design to examine the efficacy of mindfulness‐based career interventions.     

The Inseparability of “Career” and “Personal” Counseling

In this article it is argued that “career” and “personal” counseling should not be viewed as different types of counseling because: (a) the holistic philosophy of counseling emphasizes helping “whole” persons whose lives contain many important and meaningful roles; (b) recent research on the implications of gender and race for career development further demonstrates the inseparability of our career and “personal” lives; and (c) there are numerous commonalities in the “career” and “personal” counseling process.