vocational guidance requests within the international scene

The Career Development Quarterly June 2009 • Volume 57 335

© 2009 by the National Career Development Association. All rights reserved.

VocationalGuidanceRequestsWithintheInternationalScene

Jane Goodman Sarah Gillis

This article summarizes the work of a diverse group of researchers and practitioners from 5 continents on “Vocational Guidance Requests Within the International Scene” presented in the discussion group at a symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, the Society for Vocational Psychology, and the National Career Development Association, in Padua, Italy. The role of societal and cultural forces in individuals’ vocational decisions, the need to serve a larger percentage of the population with vocational guidance services, and suggestions to address these challenges in the field of vocational guidance were addressed.

Participants in a discussion group of the symposium conducted at a joint meeting of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, the Society for Vocational Psychology, and the National Career Development Association, in Padua, Italy, addressed the theme “Vocational Guidance Requests Within the International Scene.” They explored issues related to the current challenges and needs of those working in this area as they strive to meet the needs of a changing cli-entele. The choice of Galileo, arguably the most famous son of Padua, Italy, as the symbol of the general conference was a particularly good fit for this discussion group at the symposium. Galileo’s contributions to science required him to contravene established wisdom and to change the perspective with which his contemporaries viewed the world. The contributions of the presenters in this group, although not as radical as those of Galileo, similarly challenged attendees to change their paradigm of career development.

Whereas each presenter in this discussion group was invited to inter-pret the theme in his or her own way, there was remarkable agreement among the presentations. Participants all remarked about (a) the role that societal and cultural forces play in a person’s vocational decisions, (b) the need to serve a much larger percentage of the population with vocational guidance services, and (c) suggestions to address these chal-lenges in the field of vocational guidance. This article summarizes the discussions related to these themes and offers recommendations for future practice by this group of participants from North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Vocational Guidance in Its Current StateJane Goodman (2005, 2007) began the discussion with a description of several postmodern career counseling techniques. Starting with the

Jane Goodman, Department of Counseling, Oakland University; Sarah Gillis, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Cor-respondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jane Goodman, 715 Wibleton Drive, Birmingham, MI 48009 (e-mail: [email protected]).

336 The Career Development Quarterly June 2009 • Volume 57

premise that many counseling protocols that were effective in the 20th century need to be modified, she described relational approaches that include life planning, spirituality, and meaning making as essential components of the career counseling process. Looking first at barriers to career achievement, such as poverty and prejudice, she proceeded to describe pathways that included instilling hope and optimism and helping clients to develop self-efficacy beliefs. Finally, she described postmodern decision-making approaches, such as positive uncertainty; planned happenstance; and using narrative, integrative, and constructiv-ist techniques to better understand clients’ worlds and help them make appropriate decisions about work.

Marcus Gatti then provided an account for participants of the vocational guidance situation in Brazil. Basing his remarks on the paper prepared with Silva and Uvaldo (Gatti, Silva, & Uvaldo, 2007), he described an ethnically diverse country where more than 80% of students do not even consider higher education as an option. He also pointed to a lack of fit between the traditional psychoanalytic approach to vocational guidance used by most practitioners and the needs of a population experiencing severe poverty. Gatti described the University of Sao Paulo’s response to the need for a more sociological approach that more fully takes into account a person’s culture. The university has created a program specifi-cally for psychology alumni who are dedicated to studying vocational psychology and the theoretical, cultural, and economic issues it generates. This program includes opportunities for alumni to work with a diverse range of students in both individual and group counseling settings. In addition, Gatti spoke about opportunities for alumni to develop career counseling projects for the schools, as well as to develop new approaches that better match the reality of their clients’ situations.

Gatti et al. (2007) also pointed out the importance of making public policy that is accessible and usable for the public. Describing this work, he explained that when we, as professionals, are inside a structure, it is difficult to see how it can change. Often, we must put ourselves outside of the structure before we can expect to alter it. Gatti et al. pointed to the need for greater flexibility in our approaches and theories, along with an understanding that for each context a different approach may be needed. The University of Sao Paulo’s program offers a challenge to all those who are afraid to change the current system, even when they see individuals suffering under it. Brazil’s citizens will greatly benefit as their vocational counselors rise to this challenge.

David Kelly (2007) then described the situation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where only 20% of the labor force is Emirati (UAE na-tionals) and the remaining 80% of workers are either guest workers (60%) or Western expatriates (20%). He noted the UAE nationals’ realization that they cannot rely on oil to stimulate their economy indefinitely and therefore must take steps to position themselves before it runs out. Kelly described a new women’s university, Zayed University, where a unique vocational guidance program is being offered to approximately 1,000 young Emirati women. Most of the young women of this university come from families who were poor Bedouin only a generation ago but are now wealthy. Therefore, although it is often not essential that these women work, society greatly needs their professional contributions.


Kelly explained that schools like Zayed University have been required to initiate broad-based vocational guidance programs to address the cultural conflict of society’s needs versus family expectations.

These conflicting expectations are a challenge for both the women and society at large. Parents feel compelled to send their daughters to a university, yet upon graduation they often balk at their entering the workforce. In addition, whereas more than 70% of the young women express an interest in working, they are often in no rush to find a job because of their financial security. In Zayed University’s initial conception of a vocational guidance program, jobs were simply provided to gradu-ates upon graduation. However, because many of the young women had not internalized why they wanted to work, this system was not effective in retaining employees. Kelly (2007) described many changes that have been made to the program, including a 1st-year career curriculum with the opportunity for students’ self-assessment regarding their values, interests, personality, and goals. In addition, students research career resources, companies, associations, and industry information while also participating in employability skills workshops on creating curricula vitae, interviewing, job searching, and developing communication skills. Fi-nally, each woman creates a career mission statement before graduation, along with an analysis of her strengths and weaknesses and goals. Kelly noted that whereas Zayed University is trying to move their students toward more independence, society’s conflicting needs and values often make this difficult.

Giorgio Sangiorgi (2007) encouraged group participants to think about what he called “wrinkles.” Using the normal, or Gaussian, curve as a metaphor, he described normality as the background from which we, as vocational guidance practitioners, must help clients to emerge. Sangiorgi spoke passionately about the importance of focusing on the tails of the curve, or the individuality that each person brings to his or her career development process. In his presentation, Sangiorgi stated that in voca-tional guidance, we must help persons to “become differentiated” from the background and to “become something like a wrinkle on the fabric of the background.” Therefore, in contrast to the forced conformity that the background represents, career counseling’s goal should be to help individuals find their own differentiation and self-definition, that is, to become a wrinkle on the background rather than merging into it.

Sangiorgi (2007) also challenged the members of the discussion group to refrain from imposing the values and choices of the Western or developed world on the rest of the earth’s population. In his presentation, Sangiorgi described the majority of people who are without choice or who only have “choices created by poverty, ignorance, lack of elementary resources, or diseases.” He described the danger of intellectual colonization with solutions, visions, objectives, and methodologies that often are not ap-propriate for 80% of the world’s population. For this reason, he urged us, as professionals, to acquire the skills, knowledge, and competencies to identify and intervene in each person’s unique context.

Francesco Pace and Alessandro Lo Presti (2007) reminded participants that careers are losing their linearity and their physical and spatial di-mensions—they are becoming “fuzzy,” that is, lacking in predictability. They described how linear career models have lost their explanatory


power and noted that although these models once suggested an ordered sequence of life roles, their descriptions no longer match the reality of clients’ current life situations.

Pace and Lo Presti (2007) described a new way of thinking about career development that is protean (able to change shape) and bound-aryless. Using this conceptualization, career exploration is viewed in a way that reflects freedom, self-direction, and the ability to make choices based on personal values. It also emphasizes the need to be honest with clients about change as a normal process that affects many facets of work. Pace and Lo Presti noted that a career planning and management model, as opposed to career development models, is better suited to meet the needs of clients because it takes into account the reality that all people will experience periods of employment, underemployment, unemployment, personal entrepreneurship, training, and so forth. This model does not view the career process as simply a once-in-a-lifetime solution but instead focuses on the need for adaptability.

A paper was also submitted to the discussion group by Hildah Mokgolodi and Miriam Maroba (2007) regarding the challenges Botswana faces in implementing vocational guidance into its educational system. Al-though the authors were unable to attend the symposium, their paper pointed out several major challenges their country faces, including the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic that is tilting the labor force toward a younger population and is having a direct impact on the work expe-rience. Coupled with this is an educational system that is not always accessible to students beyond basic primary school, at which point stu-dents’ academic performance and the economic needs of the country are considered before determining whether they will be sponsored to continue their education.

Previously, the vast majority of Botswana’s vocational guidance took place in the primary schools and in institutions such as colleges. Students were exposed to numerous occupations, linked to potential employers, and engaged in job shadowing opportunities. However, more recently, Botswana’s higher educational system has begun to modify its structure to better meet the needs of those who may not have had access to it in the past, for example, persons living in rural areas, those who have dropped out of the formal educational system, and persons in prison. These students are provided with guidance and counseling services that emphasize being self-directed.

Although Mokgolodi and Maroba (2007) pointed out changes that their country is making to better meet the vocational needs of its people, they also think that there is not adequate time or contact allotted for vocational guidance in these settings. In the primary schools, they noted challenges related to (a) a lack of support among educational stakeholders for vo-cational guidance programs, (b) nonspecific curricula to meet different student needs, (c) a major shortage of trained counseling practitioners, and (d) a lack of overall resources. In the university system, they noted that a lack of strong vocational guidance background in primary school often results in producing students who have trouble making informed career choices. In addition, the university admits students directly into specific programs without first allowing them time to explore career options. The pressure involved in changing programs and the logistics


necessary to do so then become nearly impossible for students to manage, and the country’s lack of job opportunities also lowers overall student motivation. Finally, the distance learning or alternative schools have only minimal contact with their student population and are often regarded as second-class institutions. The authors described how a limited number of trained professionals, few opportunities for job shadowing experiences, and difficulties with meeting a diverse group of students’ needs create serious problems in these types of schools.

Finally, Graham Stead (2007), who was also unable to attend the sym-posium, submitted a paper to the discussion group on the importance of integrating the concept of culture into vocational guidance. He discussed how vocational psychology must be viewed as profoundly cultural because of its reliance on the understanding of human development and identity, which he described as being embedded in persons’ culture. Stead explained that whereas cultural issues are often recognized, they are rarely incorporated thoroughly into the theoretical underpinnings of vocational psychology. He noted that the cultural process of development is often underemphasized, even when research has pointed out the impossibility of separating devel-opment from one’s cultural and social activities (Cole, 1996). In addition, he described how identity must be interpreted as a cultural construct and pointed out that the way that persons view themselves in relation to their work is greatly affected by the perspectives of others.

Implications for Future PracticeAs previously stated, the overarching theme of all presentations in this discussion group of the symposium was that current models of vocational guidance need revision. Specifically, as vocational guidance professionals, we must begin to acknowledge the 80% of individuals who are not being well served by linear, logical, sequential models. New modalities must also take into account the changing demographics and reality of a new global workforce. Whereas several of these more innovative modalities have been talked about among theorists (e.g., narrative approaches to career counseling), most providers of vocational guidance services are still wed-ded to a modified trait-and-factor or person–environment fit approach. The implication of the papers presented in this discussion group is that neither workplace, nor continent, nor economic level of nation or clientele can change the fact that practitioners must adapt to these new realities if they hope to help their clients in the 21st century. Furthermore, as both Gatti et al. (2007) and Sangiorgi (2007) suggested, unique approaches are needed that take into account each person’s context.

Mokgolodi and Maroba (2007) suggested that sustainable partnerships should be formed between industry and employment agencies and the government’s department of labor. They thought that giving people the opportunity to engage in investigative career activities could, in turn, begin to alleviate several of the problems that the labor market of Bo-tswana faces. They recommended that vocational guidance activities be inserted into all levels of education and that career resources be provided for persons who are not currently enrolled in school. They also pointed out the need for collaboration between educational institutions and the importance of creating partnerships at all levels.


Sangiorgi (2007) summarized the implications of his research. He stated that vocational guidance practitioners need effective priorities that include specific interventions for poorer countries while respecting their identity. These interventions must be based on knowledge, skills, and competencies and must include organizational and managerial strategies to provide access to vocational guidance services for all.

Stead (2007) stated that vocational theories must take into account im-migration and bringing together multiple cultures in one country and in one person. He concluded that vocational psychologists must become aware of the role their own cultural perspective plays in the way they interpret theories and research and in how they apply these to other cultures.

Finally, most of the presenters agreed that the lack of attention paid to the “forgotten 80%” of the world’s population was primarily due to the effects of poverty and discrimination and that vocational guidance models often lag behind the pace of cultural change. Kelly (2007) de-scribed the UAE, where the values of society are often in contrast to the career services that vocational guidance practitioners provide. He pointed out the importance of being progressive with vocational guid-ance activities, including exposing students to numerous exploratory activities to enable them to make informed career decisions. Pace and Lo Presti (2007) described the importance of being adaptive and helping clients understand that change is natural. This concept directly relates to the belief of the members of the discussion group that practitioners can reach a greater number of clients if and when they are willing to try something new.

ConclusionThe challenges set forth by this group of researchers from around the globe are important. Although each presenter offered a unique per-spective on the overall theme, there was a unifying voice related to the critical need for cross-cultural awareness and adaptability in vocational guidance in general. Services must be integrative, comprehensive, and respectful of the unique perspectives of each client’s reality. Without us-ing the perspective that these countries bring to the table, professionals are destined for a future in vocational guidance wherein most people will not be justly served. As Sangiorgi (2007) summed up so eloquently, practitioners must give voice to “the possibilities of the majority.”

ReferencesCole, M. (1996). Cultural psychology. A once and future discipline. Cambridge, MA:

Harvard University Press.Gatti, M., Silva, F. F., & Uvaldo, M. C. C. (2007, September). Perspectives on vocational

psychology in Brazil: From counseling through crisis to a model of counseling on crisis. In S. Soresi & L. Nota (Cochairs), Vocational psychology and career guidance practice: An international partnership. Symposium conducted at the joint meeting of the Inter-national Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association, Padua, Italy.

Goodman, J. (2005). Toward a holistic view: Meaning and spirituality. In D. Capuzzi & M. Stauffer (Eds.), Career and life style planning: Theory and application. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Allyn & Bacon.


Goodman, J. (2007, September). Toward a holistic view: Meaning and spirituality. In S. Soresi & L. Nota (Cochairs), Vocational psychology and career guidance practice: An international partnership. Symposium conducted at the joint meeting of the Interna-tional Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology and National Career Development Association, Padua, Italy.

Kelly, D. (2007, September). Careers education provision at Zayed University, inside out not outside in! In S. Soresi & L. Nota (Cochairs), Vocational psychology and career guid-ance practice: An international partnership. Symposium conducted at the joint meeting of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association, Padua, Italy.

Mokgolodi, H., & Maroba, M. (2007, September). Vocational guidance in Botswana; Implementation challenges for institutions of learning. In S. Soresi & L. Nota (Co-chairs), Vocational psychology and career guidance practice: An international partner-ship. Symposium conducted at the joint meeting of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association, Padua, Italy.

Pace, F., & Lo Presti, A. (2007, September). Integrating work and vocational psychology to evaluate the effectiveness of career interventions. In S. Soresi & L. Nota (Cochairs), Vocational psychology and career guidance practice: An international partnership. Sym-posium conducted at the joint meeting of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association, Padua, Italy.

Sangiorgi, G. (2007, September). The wrinkle and the background. In S. Soresi & L. Nota (Cochairs), Vocational psychology and career guidance practice: An international partnership. Symposium conducted at the joint meeting of the International Associa-tion for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association, Padua, Italy.

Stead, G. B. (2007, September). Integrating culture into vocational psychology theory and research. In S. Soresi & L. Nota (Cochairs), Vocational psychology and career guid-ance practice: An international partnership. Symposium conducted at the joint meeting of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association, Padua, Italy.

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