volume 5 issue 3, july 2014 canadian career …...dr. gideon arulmani: gideon spoke of “cultural...
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Career DevelopmentsCareer Developments Volume 5 Issue 3, July 2014 Canadian Career Development Foundation
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Summary prepared by Sareena Hopkins, Canadian Career Development Foundation
Gideon Arulmani (India), Rachel Mulvey (Britain),
Julio González Bello (Venezuela) and Vincent Guillon
(France) shared their perspectives on the conference
theme and issues in our field.
1. What does the theme (At the Intersection of
personal, community and work-life realities)
mean in the context of the practice of career
development/guidance in your country or part
of the world?
Dr. Arulmani noted that the Indian/Asian cultures are
rooted in a collective worldview. Accordingly, as a
practitioner a client’s individual interests are
inextricably linked to her parents’, grandparents’
and community’s interests.
Dr. Mulvey reflected that the UK comprises four
countries with distinct powers, cultures and
traditions. She noted that the very meaning of
employment is skewed when “worklessness” is
passed down from generation to generation.
Dr. González Bello emphasized the importance of
positioning work within the broader context of
life (including personal, professional and family).
Dr. Guillon referenced six key dimensions of
guidance and noted that, in France, universality is
valued. Individual interests cannot supersede
broader institutional/societal interests.
2. What does the theme (At the Intersection of
personal, community and work-life realities)
mean in the context of the practice of career
development/guidance in your country or part
of the world?
Dr. Arulmani referenced the Ashram System – a
traditional Hindu perspective on life stages that is no
longer practiced but that holds deep meaning. It
delineates four life stages:
Preparation: Learning to live
Materialism: Earning money and becoming
prosperous
Sharing: Working to give back and build society
Renowned Life: Moving to spiritual pursuits.
At the Intersection of Personal, Collective & Work-life Realities ........ 1 Why Business, Education & Careers Sector Leaders Must Join
Forces: Reducing Zigzags ............................................................................... 3 Emerging Trends in Career Theory and Practice: International
Perspectives ....................................................................................................... 4 LMI Data for All: Open Data for Careers Work ...................................... 5 University Challenges for Individuals with Mental Disorder,
ADHD/ADD/LD/ASD ..................................................................................... 6 Older Workers and Career Management Skills ...................................... 7 Diversification of Career Paths: Individual & Collective Issues ........... 9 A Snapshot of Career Counselling Education in Canada .................... 11 An Action-Oriented, Hope-Centered Career Development
Approach ........................................................................................................... 12 The Gold Medal for Leadership in Career Development .................... 13
At the Intersection of Personal, Collective and At the Intersection of Personal, Collective and WorkWork--life Realities: life Realities: KeynoteKeynote
continues on page 2
The 2014 International Conference in Guidance and Career Development, organized by
l’OCCOQ and RQuODE in collaboration with the IAEVG was held in Quebec City June 4 – 6th.
More than 1250 delegates registered for the conference and over 200 symposiums, workshops,
papers and posters were presented. The Conference was a huge success and a rich learning
opportunity. This issue of Career Developments features some of the conference highlights.
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In this perspective, retirement as we know it in the
Western world has no place and work is as a form of
worship. Dr. Arulmani pointed out that our lost jobs
have gone to India and that students are forgoing
education in favour of the income from the surplus of
low skilled/dead end jobs.
According to Dr. Mulvey, the current rhetoric in
Britain extols the capacity of lifelong learning to
solve employment issues and provide economic
relief. Yet this rhetoric does not translate into actual
policies and resources to create and/or support life-
long learning. Governments have assumed a laissez-
faire position, allowing the markets and employer
voices to set the agenda for career guidance.
Dr. González Bello emphasized the importance of
extending guidance beyond student transition points
to be truly cradle to grave.
Dr. Guillon outlined France’s approach, noting that
the “lifelong one-stop” shop was a myth and
differentiating the unique needs and services
associated with different life stages.
3. How is “social justice” defined and translated
into action in your country?
Dr. González Bello noted the polarized, conflicting
political perspectives in Latin America: attempts to
socialize on the one hand and capitalism on the
other. The key social justice issue is minimizing the
inequality and decreasing the gap between the rich
and the poor.
In the UK, there has been recognition of the need for
social justice across political sensibilities. Dr. Mulvey
noted that the current conservative coalition
emphasizes individualism and opportunity, with a
focus on encouraging individual resilience to deal
with inequality rather than addressing systemic roots
of inequality. Dr. Mulvey pointed to the employment
programs directed to ex-offenders during the London
Olympic Games as a noteworthy case
in point.
Dr. Guillon explored equality of
place and equality of chance, noting
the tensions when individualism
takes over from an approach of
solidarity and individual competitive-ness supersedes
being oneself with others.
Dr. Arulmani described India’s policy of reservation
in which nearly 20% of jobs are reserved for
minorities as long as they pass the entry exams. The
competition is so fierce for these jobs that non-
minorities need to achieve 99.4% to get in. This has
created a back-lash and the most recent election of
a far right conservative government may reflect the
frustrations of non-minority voters. Dr. Arulmani
posed the question: “If social justice is aligned to
certain segments of the population, is it social
justice at all?”
4. How are counsellors and counselling
psychologists in your country being prepared to
meet these challenges and what obstacles do
they face?
Dr. González Bello noted that 90% of practitioners in
Latin America are psychologists with specialized
training in guidance. The training does not
necessarily reflect current realities and innovations.
Dr. Arulmani suggested that the current challenge in
India is to value what is traditional and bring it into a
contemporary context. He called for “modernization
without westernization”.
Dr. Mulvey stated that a precursor for effective
training in the Britain would be greater clarity with
respect to the purpose and desired outcomes of
career development. Policy makers need to examine
the evidence and the needs and set appropriate
expectations before appropriate training can be put
into place.
Dr. Guillon noted that there is no agreement on the
definition of guidance and that many work with
minimal training. Frameworks are needed to
delineate what is needed for teachers, parents and
counselling psychologists.
continues from page 1—At the Intersection of Personal...
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Summary prepared by Phil Jarvis, Director of Global Partnerships, Career Cruising
Presenter: Dierdre Hughes (OBE) and Professor Jenny
Bimrose (Warkwick University Institute for
Employment Research)
The presentation began with a succinct primer on labour market trends using hourglass symbolism. In the top of the hourglass, demand continues for high skill roles (i.e., managers and professionals). In the bottom of the hourglass, demand continues for low skill roles (i.e., care, hospitality). However, due to technology and globalization, demand has declined for traditional middle skill roles (i.e.,
clerical, blue collar).
As a result, entry to the labour force is getting tougher, with high youth unemployment and underemployment. Skills mismatches are increasingly apparent, with employers saying they can’t find people with the skills and experience they need despite the availability of many youth and adults without jobs. Unused talents and skills underutilization are apparent across many industry
sectors.
“Zigzagging” in learning and employment pathways is increasingly prevalent. Changing labour market realities have necessitated waves of change in public policy, and rethinking of curriculum and qualification
frameworks.
Deirdre and Jenny insist educators and employers must collaborate in preparing new labour market entrants, by offering “real world” learning experiences in the work-place blended with academic instruction as part of all students’ educational experience. What we in Canada call workplace learning opportunities, they call “work
inspiration.” I like that term.
To the presenters, “Helping young people to obtain genuine work experience – and, therefore, what the
Confederation of British Industry (CBI) calls ‘employability skills’ – should be one of the highest priorities for 16-18 education policy in the next few
years.”
The advantages of exposure to work inspiration for students include: insights to the world of work;
increased knowledge of industries of interest; enhanced or more realistic career aspirations; ‘insider advice’ from employees; improved work-readiness; and improved transitions to
work or other forms of education.
Advantages of work inspiration for employers include: enhanced recruitment and retention; increased levels of awareness and positive reputation of the business within a community; and the development of skills and competencies that are often featured in
organizational competency frameworks.
The presenters went on to describe four
implementation models for work inspiration:
The “brokered” model whereby local or national intermediary organizations source employers and make them available to schools
and colleges
The “deep brokered” model whereby local staff facilitate negotiations between a lead local
business and a small consortium of schools
The “autonomous actor/market” model - a new model of connecting employers and schools
through use of a national gateway website
The “school or college alone” model in which schools (especially colleges) invest in their own staff resources to find and work with local
employers
The presenters believe work inspiration models must
be generalized and that strategies to define and
Why Business, Education and Careers Sector Leaders Why Business, Education and Careers Sector Leaders Must join Forces:Must join Forces:
Reducing ZigzagsReducing Zigzags
continues on page 10
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Summary prepared by Lynne Bezanson, Canadian Career Development Foundation
Presenters: Dr. Mary McMahon (Australia), Dr. Spencer
Niles (USA), Dr. Gideon Amulmani (India), Dr. Jacques
Limoges (Qc, Canada).
Moderator: Dr. Roberta Neault (BC, Canada)
The session format was 35 minutes per presenter
followed by a question-answer session amongst the
presenters as well as with the audience.
Dr. Mary McMahon: Systems Theory began in 1922 and
is currently gaining momentum. It is a meta-theory that
draws from a wealth of career development theories
and approaches including chaos, life-role,
developmental, narrative and happenstance. Systems
theory puts people in the context of the complexity of
their lives and the influences that interact and impact
on human development and behaviour. While some
influences are common, the actual lived experience of
each individual is unique. Systems theory is highly
individual and each individual is considered within his/
her own context.
Mary facilitated an interesting exercise in which a
counsellor and a client were seated at the front of the
room. The audience task was to identify the influences
and interactions impacting on each as they sat across
from each other about to have a conversation. As an
influence was identified, a participant from the
audience became that influence and stood beside
either the counsellor or client. By the end of the
exercise each was surrounded, making the point very
clearly that we are truly multi-dimensional and
complex beings. Mary emphasized that thinking
systematically does not come naturally to all and exact
causal relationships are not at all easy to decipher and
indeed many may not be decipherable. She highlighted
a guided reflection technique used in Systems Theory
that leads to an individual being able to begin to
identify his or her own system of career influences. She
noted as well that the approach is proving valuable in
qualitative research in learning and in narrative
approaches. As well there is increasing evidence that it
has many cross-cultural applications which is becoming
increasingly important and relevant in many countries.
Dr. Gideon Arulmani: Gideon spoke of “cultural
preparedness”, not as a fully formed theory but as a
number of linked concepts and very much a work in
progress. The concept is moving from practice (real
experience) to theory rather than the inverse. He spoke
of the concepts of career and work and the global
transformations, notably the Protestant and Industrial
Revolutions which created a re-thinking of the concept
of work. These revolutions were however about work,
and not about career. They also belonged to the
developed world. In developing countries, work was in
relation to the environment and skills and learning were
passed on. Such learning drew from a deep repository
of cultural experience.
Career is a relatively new concept that is now seen in
developed countries as a natural extension of work; in
traditional developing countries, however, the concept
of career is culturally unfamiliar. The tradition in
developing countries is the concept of “cultural
preparedness”. In a cultural preparedness approach,
Cultural Learning is at the heart of how to live one’s
life. The tension that must be addressed revolves
around “enculturation” which is the process whereby
individuals learn about their own culture through
experience, observation and instruction. This creates a
kind of equilibrium in which individuals see themselves
as part of a collective in which the collective is more
important than the individual. The tension is between
this and “acculturation” wherein people adopt cultural
traits and social patterns of another group and/or
another culture and in which, most commonly, the
individual takes precedence over the group. Career is
very much a cultural concept and there is no real
translation for the concept in Hindi. The closest is the
word “jiva” which means life and which suggests that
work is an extension of one’s life rather than one part.
Cultural preparedness and cultural learning is one way
of attempting to find an equilibrium between
enculturation and acculturation.
Dr. Spencer Niles: Spencer elaborated on the earlier
keynote address given by him and Dr. Norm Amundson.
Emerging Trends in Career Theory and Practices: Emerging Trends in Career Theory and Practices: International PerspectivesInternational Perspectives
continues on page 5
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He reiterated the distinction between optimism and
hope. Optimism is a belief that things will turn out well
while Hope is action-oriented and directly connected to
intentional goal-directed action. He pointed out that in
career theories hope is assumed but largely absent.
Their work on hope is not a theory in itself but an
important contribution to understanding how to assist
people to strive to succeed. Spencer invited the
audience to participate in an experiential activity which
focused on a life experience that required action and
that was driven by hope. He asked the audience to
retain the idea that “energy flows where intention
goes”.
Dr. Jacques Limoges: Jacques spoke about his “keeping
on” paradigm highlighting the ongoing tension between
stress and performance. He took a holistic approach to
integrating various life roles, reporting that too much
“keeping on” results in people becoming overwhelmed
and burning out; however, too little results in
obsolescence. Neither extreme represents a healthy
work-life balance; sadly, only 52% of the workers he
studied report being in balance.
Dr. Roberta Neault: Roberta highlighted four overriding
themes from the presentations as follows:
The importance of acknowledging cultural and
systemic influences and the challenge to the field
to match a client’s cultural and conceptual needs;
The impact of history and constant change in
shaping lives;
The dynamics of balance and the importance of
continuously realigning challenge and capacity; and
Meaning and wholeheartedness.
Commentary
An excellent and thought-provoking session. I left the
session wanting to read, explore and understand theory
more deeply and more expansively. I am sure I was not
alone!
Summary prepared by Krista Benes Canadian Career Development Foundation
Presenter: Jenny Bimrose (University of Warwick)
As part of an Open Data policy initiative in the
United Kingdom, the University of Warwick is leading on a major three year project (2012 to 2015)
entitled: “LMI for All”, funded by the UK Commission
for Employment and Skills. It aims to make all labour market information (LMI), the collection of which has
been collected by the public purse, available to everyone from a single database. In an effort to
respond to key user groups of career services and
deliver LMI in a meaningful way, open competitions are being run for application developers to create
easy to use LMI applications for handheld devices.
Winning applications collate data sources into an accessible and attractive form, facilitate its easy use
with other data sources, provide users with as much information as possible on employment and
unemployment rates by region and occupation,
occupation descriptions, vacancies, employment levels and average salaries. The vision is for data to
continues from page 4—Emerging Trends in Career Theory and Practices...
LMI Data for All: Open Data for Careers WorkLMI Data for All: Open Data for Careers Work
be automatically updated as original data sources are
updated. Applications also need to translate the information into practical use on the individual level.
Using data sources like the Office of National Statistics, Devolved Nations, Government bodies such
as BIS and DfE DWP (Social Security Organization), Eurostat and CEDEFOP app designers have started to
integrate the LMI into a meaningful and accessible
form. The use of the ‘LMI for All’ database is being closely monitored. From one the most recent open
competitions, the winning application can be viewed
on this youtube link: (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=XcEhpWhPV1M&list=PLuvzHvGAOplwMwvci
8b8LrzVz8fpiaXiu&index=4).
The second place app, “JobHappy”, was created by a
16 year old teenager and can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7imKYpvKZjk&
index=6&list=PLuvzHvGAOplwMwvci8b8LrzVz8fpiaXiu&n
oredirect=1
The overall link for the LMI for All portal, with
information about the development and access to
the web portal is: http://www.lmiforall.org.uk/.
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Summary prepared by Donnalee Bell, Canadian Career Development Foundation
Presenters: Marie Ducharme and Sara Savoie,
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM)
Seventy percent of those accessing guidance services
at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) have
an invisible disability. UQAM is not unique. On
university campuses across the country, the numbers
of clients with invisible disabilities have grown
significantly over the past 20 years. Many guidance
counsellors and career practitioners working on
campus are unsure how to support these clients in
university yet legislation (ACT 21) states that these
students must be afforded the supports to integrate
into campus life.
As a way of supporting service providers, UQAM has
developed a list of best practices for supporting
these students at UQAM:
1. Understand the disability: Often this means
researching and accessing experts. It is important
to recognize that each client is unique in their
disability and may have multiple invisible
disabilities that need to be addressed.
2. Assess both the strengths and challenges:
Assessment is key, but it often only looks at
challenges. Students’ strengths must also be
understood. The presenters profiled the typical
strengths and challenges of students with a range
of LDs, ASD, ADHD/ADD, and mental illnesses and
listed the supports that generally help these
students to progress through and be successful at
university. For example, students with LDs have a
strong experimentation focus, vivid imaginations,
strong conception and perception skills, and are
naturally curious. They need support with note
taking, completing exams, expressing ideas into
writing, and self-esteem. The presenters
emphasized that it is important that students
with invisible disabilities see and are realistic
about their strengths and challenges.
3. Coach for independence and protect self-
worth: While all post-secondary students need to
be independent, this need is far greater for these
particular students because they face constant
challenges to their independence. It is crucially
important, then, that service providers
understand a student’s abilities (strengths and
weaknesses) in order to maintain the student’s
self-worth.
4. Know what’s available and create services
where there are gaps: In University, integration
for these students takes longer, so getting
supports in place quickly is important. Not all the
services that students need are available on
campus. For example, quiet and/or stimulation
rooms are effective supports for students with
ASD and/or attention disorders, but typically not
available on campus. UQAM created these
through advocacy for their students.
5. Try new things: Sometimes the strategies that
these students used in high school no longer work
because the workload in PSE is higher. The
presenters recommend having a wide range of
supports at your fingertips.
6. Phantom Advocacy: Many students feel
vulnerable and stressed about “coming out” to
fellow students and teaching staff for fear of
being judged. The key for UQAM is to work with
professors, the administration and student
support offices in a way that tries to protect the
student from “being fully out.”
University Challenges for Individuals with a Mental Disorder, University Challenges for Individuals with a Mental Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)/Attention Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)/Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Learning Disability (LD) or Autistic Deficit Disorder (ADD), Learning Disability (LD) or Autistic
Spectrum Disorder (ASD)Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
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Summary prepared by Suzanne Klinga
Canadian Career Development Foundation
Presenter: Dr. Lyn Barham, Fellow, NICEC
Background: An Aging World
The world is growing older. In less than 10 years the
number of older persons (65+) will surpass 1 billion,
with the most significant increases occurring in the
developing world which has limited recourses to deal
with this demographic trend. By 2050, 80% of the
world’s older persons will live in emerging and
developing economies.
Dr. Barham pointed to three contributors to the
changing demographics:
Migration
Declining birth rate (especially in developed
nations)
Increasing longevity
Older people are often seen as a deficit by society.
This construct needs to be challenged and
longevity must be seen as a positive trend and an
opportunity.
Policy Responses and Concerns – An Aging World
Demands Changing Policies
Two concerns relate to the aging workforce:
As older workers retire, there is a shortage of
skilled workers. In the UK, 13 million vacancies
are projected, with only 8 million young
workforce entrances. Migration will not be able
to make up the needed participation rate.
As the aging population grows, there will be
more people drawing pension funds than
younger working people contributing to them.
This is a public policy issue, with various possible
responses:
Increase the retirement age;
Raise the pensionable age;
Increase immigration; and/or
Rethink work and workforce structures.
The growing older
cohort is one of
the largest voting
groups in EU
elections and,
therefore,
commands policy
attention.
Dr. Barham asked:
Should people
work for the
economy or should
the economy work
for people? Is
economic
development the
only measure a
nation’s progress?
She pointed to alternative models of measuring
progress, including Bhutan’s Gross National
Happiness Index and Thailand’s Sufficiency Economy
Index. If the economy is meant to work for people,
this change in demographics and the retention of
older people in the work force is an opportunity to
look at more flexible work and workforce structures.
There are multiple aspects of age:
Chronological age (the least informative)
Biological age (changes/deterioration of the
body)
Social-cultural age (influenced by society’s
expectations)
Psychological age (changes in abilities, memory
and attitudes)
Dr. Barham advocates celebrating and capitalizing on
these changes. The older generation is a great
reservoir of talent, skills and experience. We need to
Older Workers and Career Management SkillsOlder Workers and Career Management Skills
continues on page 8
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look at how different generations can live and work
together.
Older Workers Needs and Concern-How Do We
Support Careers of Older Workers?
People in their fifties vary hugely in terms of their
work situation, their expectations, their attitudes to
work, their financial position, their health and their
personal lives. Many difficulties, which they
encounter, stem not from an inability to face up to
the trade-off between income and leisure in later
life, but from a lack of choice and control. (Philipson
and Smith, 2005)
Increases in life expectancy mean that, for many
people, there will be an extended period of active
retirement. It is
becoming less an issue
of ‘when’, but ‘how’
to retire. Research
shows that a
managed retirement
process enhances
physical, mental and
financial well-being in
later years.
Retirement needs to
be viewed
as a
process
rather than
an event.
Often, there is an assumption that pension income
‘solves’ older workers’ financial issues. But, it is
important that financial planning be well integrated
into career services, especially as it concerns
retirement.
Changes in Social and Intrinsic Work Values
Although individual differences outweigh the
commonality of age, there tends to be a strong shift
in older workers away from ambition, from building
work identity or seeking hierarchical and financial
advancement towards the belief that there is more
to life than work. Older workers have a greater
unwillingness to compromise core values especially
those around family.
Thinking about Time as an Important Factor in
Career Concerns for Older Workers
When helping older workers with their careers we
have seen ‘Time’ emerge as an unforeseen theme.
Time horizons change over the course of one’s life
and in older workers time is valued and not seen to
be something that is ‘wasted’. Employers and career
advisors need to be aware about older workers
perspectives about time. Their ‘future time
perspective’ affects their orientation to values,
particularly when it comes to family.
Implication for Career Guidance Services for
older workers
In relation to older workers, career guidance
practitioners need to be aware of life experience,
life circumstance (financial, social and intrinsic work
satisfactions), factors of time and recognizing
retirement as a process, not an event. As the
number of older workers utilizing career guidance
services continues to grow it will be important to:
Develop conceptual frameworks about the later
stages of career
Respect individuality within common trends
Consider methods of initial engagement
(publicity, staff, premises and delivery modes)
Training and development needs for staff
Be a “Age” champion – keep issues of older worker in
the forefront.
continues from page 7—Older Workers and Career Management Skills...
can see a reversal of these
phenomena. Indeed, since the
late 1970s, we have been
witnessing individual life
course diversification
characterized notably by
moving back and forth
between states and stages
that used to follow one after
the other in sequence. This
diversification is seen by
several authors as a destandardization of individual
careers caused by two other phenomena:
deinstitutionalization, which refers to the
erosion of the social guarantees of a salaried
society, the out-come being that stable jobs are
much less numerous today, and
dechronologization, which reflects the fact that,
to a large extent, age has lost its role as a norm
in relation to specific social or psychosocial
expectations, which may be manifested, for
example, by the fact that people may have to
reorient themselves when they reach their
fifties.
In this context, the issue of life-long career guidance
must be raised. It becomes a major issue for indivi-
duals and groups, and it is actually situated at the
intersection of personal, community, and work life
realities. The significance and complexity of offering
guidance to people in this process is apparent, as
well, because this guidance should not be limited to
the work sphere alone, but must take into account
all roles that people are called upon to play in their
lifetimes, as well as the contexts (social, family,
economic, etc.) in which they are set.
The problems outlined above help us to understand
the extent to which guidance and career
development are topical issues and at the heart of
political and social debates, not only at home but
Summary prepared by Charles Bujold, Université Laval
Keynote presented by Dr. Geneviève Fournier,
Université Laval, Québec
At the start, the participants were given five
questions to think about:
1. What is meant by sustainable integration into the
labour market?;
2. Where does individual freedom fit in when it
comes to individuals building a life?;
3. How, through our guidance and career
development practices, can we facilitate
sustainable, satisfying integration into
meaningful employment?;
4. How, in training the next generation, can we
prepare them to provide people with guidance
and career development throughout their career
paths and during the transitions along the way?;
5. How, through our research, can we help come up
with explanatory hypotheses and possible
solutions?
To begin thinking about these questions, the speaker
first looked at three major transformations that she
believes have affected not only people’s career
paths, but also their life course. When speaking
about the changing nature of the labour market,
characterized by the rise of individualism and
uncertainty, she brought these changes to light by
borrowing an expression from sociology: “3D
system,” i.e., destandardization,
deinstitutionalization, and dechronologization.
During the Fordist period of the industrial era, career
paths were homogenous and predictable, thus
reflecting a phenomenon of standardization.
Supported by the state and work organizations
(phenomenon of institutionalization), those paths
were set in an "employment for life" context. For its
part, chronologization refers to the chain of roles
(including the work role) and life stages. But in the
post-industrial and post-Fordist salaried society, we
Diversification of Career Paths:Diversification of Career Paths: Individual and Collective IssuesIndividual and Collective Issues
Dr. Geneviève Fournier
continues on page 10
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Tel: 613-729-6164 Fax: 613-729-3515 [email protected] www.ccdf.ca
around the world, as shown by the many reports
published over the past 10 years. According to Dr.
Fournier, guidance and career development may be
such topical issues around the world because our
profession was able to take into account the major
transformations that have marked the changing
nature of societies and suggest relevant approaches
when individual and community benchmarks
changed.
Dr. Fournier then looked at the challenges to the
classical theories of career development formulated
against the backdrop of a stable labour market and
identified three criticisms levelled at these theories:
1. a phase-based and linear conception of work life,
generally seen as being independent from other
life spheres;
2. the exaggerated importance attached to the
stability of certain character traits, such as
interests;
3. too little importance attached to contingency
factors, such as chance events, changes in con-
texts, and the forks that appear in career paths.
The speaker shed light on two perspectives for
analyzing these challenges, proposed in the early
2000s: the constructivist perspective (e.g., the life
designing paradigm proposed by Savickas and an
international team of researchers) and the systemic
perspective (e.g., the contextualized action theory
of Young, Valach, and Collin).
On the basis of the preceding, we can note the
substantial changes in the concept of guidance and
career development that have occurred over the past
two or three decades, as well as in research and
professional practices.
In closing, Dr. Fournier noted the many challenges
facing:
1. people working in the school system or in the
fields of employability, socio-occupational
integration, and business with young and older
people dealing with impasses in their career and
social paths and whose physical health is
becoming fragile;
2. students who must think about the complex
issues of the academic world and the workplace
and the contribution they want to make to the
development of individuals in the workplace, as
well as the growth of a more just society;
3. trainers of the next generation of practitioners,
who are responsible for developing the skills,
critical thinking, and capacity for innovation of
future career counsellors;
4. researchers, given the need for studies to test
and validate the new theoretical models in
guidance and career development, specifically
with respect to contemporary career paths.
Despite the real progress made over the past 20
years with regard to theories and practices, Dr.
Fournier believes we are still in a period of transition
and tremendous dynamism, with the challenges this
poses for the development of guidance and career
development practices and research.
continues from page 9—Diversification of Career Paths...
implement appropriate measures to strengthen
employer/education links must connect with the
work of career development professionals.
This presentation resonated with me because it
is so in tune with InspireNB (inspirenb.ca), now
being implementing province-wide in my new home
province, New Brunswick.
For Deirdre’s and Jenny’s PowerPoint go to: http://
deirdrehughes.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
Why_business_education_and_careers_sector.pptx
Download the National Careers Council’s “An
Aspirational Nation: Creating a culture change in
careers provisions” here: https://www.gov.uk/
government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/205147/bis-13-919-national-
careers-council-report-an-aspirational-nation-
creating-a-culture-change-in-careers-provison.pdf.
Deirdre Hughes: [email protected]
Jenny Bimrose: [email protected]
continues from page 3—Why Business, Education and Careers Sector ...
119 Ross Avenue, Suite 202 Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 0N6 CANADA
Tel: 613-729-6164 Fax: 613-729-3515 [email protected] www.ccdf.ca
Summary prepared by Deirdre Pickerell, Life Strategies Ltd.
Presenters: Jessica Isenor, Roberta Neault and Sareena
Hopkins
This presentation shared the results of a recent
research project exploring career counselling
education in Canada. The pre-research perception
was that career counselling was marginalized within
counselling programs; the “career” course is an
elective in many programs and some programs don’t
have a career course at all. When career courses do
run, they sometimes aren't taught by career
specialists and, in some cases, are taught by grad
students with no interest or expertise in the career
area but who need to fill their course load.
The research partnership between the Career
Counsellors Chapter of the Canadian Counselling and
Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) and the Canadian
Career Development Foundation (CCDF) sought to
identify:
Which Canadian counselling programs offer a
career course
How often career courses run
Who teaches the career courses and what
experience/research interests those instructors
have
The research began with in-depth reviews of
institution websites to get a sense of department,
programs, and areas of speciality. The researchers
then moved to a questionnaire to collect more
specific data, including course title and description,
credits, and information about whether the course
was mandatory vs. elective, instructor qualifications,
and how many times the course ran within recent
years. The research team completed as much of the
questionnaire as possible, to help minimize the time
and effort it might take for a university
representative to “fill in the blanks.”
Overall, the researchers collected data across 58
separate programs. Results were interesting, and
also showed a clear differentiation between English-
speaking Canada and programs in Quebec where
there are significantly more opportunities to
specialize in career and work with career experts.
Of the 23 programs that indicated a specialization
(e.g., trauma, art, play, career), career was a
speciality in only four; of those, three were in
Quebec. Career courses taught by core faculty were
a rarity in English Canada; core faculty who self-
identify as having an interest/focus on career were
even rarer.
Broadly, the research indicated that, despite work
being an integral part of most people’s lives,
counsellors are not getting the training they need to
support clients with career concerns. Counselling
students likely don’t even realize the importance of
career when in programs where the career course, if
it exists, is an elective and not taught by individuals
with any interest or expertise in career.
For more information, contact the Career
Counsellors Chapter of the Canadian Counselling and
Psychotherapy Association through the current
President, Jessica Isenor: [email protected]
A Snapshot of Career Counselling Education in Canada A Snapshot of Career Counselling Education in Canada
Presenters: Dr. Norman Amundson, University of British
Columbia, Canada & Dr. Spencer Niles, College of
William and Mary, USA
Norm Amundson and Spencer Niles walked their talk,
using humour, active engagement, metaphor, and
even a Montreal Canadiens baseball cap to connect
with participants in their keynote address at the
IAEVG conference in Quebec.
They set the context for their presentation by talking
about hopelessness as an underlying theme for many
of our clients, regardless of
what their specific problems
are. Career counsellors are
uniquely positioned to help
clients identify possibilities for
a new tomorrow, restoring a
sense of hope.
The hope-centered approach
to career development is a
theoretically-grounded model
influenced by Snyder’s work on
hope, Bandura’s work on agency, and Hall’s work on
Protean, adaptive careers (Niles, Amundson, &
Neault, 2011). Hopeful thinking comprises goals
(what to do), pathways (how to do it and adaptive
planning), and agency (the motivation and will to
accomplish those goals). Action-oriented hope is
much more than wishful thinking; instead it’s
grounded in achievable goals with realistic pathways
and the motivation to keep moving forward, even
when obstacles are encountered.
Amundson is well known internationally for his work
with metaphors and the hope-centered model is no
exception. A children’s pinwheel toy illustrates how
hope is the linch-pin, connecting all components of
the model to each other (i.e., self-reflection, self-
clarity, visioning, goal-setting and planning, and
implementing and adapting). The pinwheel metaphor
also illustrates the impact of the environment – both
external winds and intentional interventions can set
the pinwheel in motion.
In their keynote, Amundson and
Niles noted that successful people
rarely make time to slow down and
reflect. They cited authors who
had influenced their work with
concepts including “busyness is an
offence to the soul” and “we focus
too much on human doing but
need to focus more on human
being.” A key to a hope-centered
approach to career development,
therefore, is to pause and find a healthy balance
between constant “doing” and simply “being” who
we are each meant to be.
Amundson and Niles introduced research conducted
in the US and Canada using their Hope-Centered
Career Inventory (HCCI; Amundson, Niles, Yoon,
Smith, & Mills, 2013). Through case examples and
video clips, Amundson and Niles reported findings
from their international work. Study participants
have confirmed that a hope-centered approach
ignited their inner fires again so that they could
successfully move on to achieving their unique goals.
Reference
Amundson, N., Niles, S., Yoon, H. J., Smith, B., In,
H., & Mills, L. (2013). Hope-centered career
development for university/college students: Final
project report. Toronto, ON: Ceric. Retrieved from
http://www.ceric.ca/ceric/files/pdf/CERIC_Hope-
Centered-Career-Research-Final-Report.pdf
Niles, S. G., Amundson, N. E., & Neault, R. A. (2011).
Career flow: A hope-centered approach to career
development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
An ActionAn Action--Oriented, HopeOriented, Hope--Centered Career Centered Career Development Approach Development Approach
Dr. Norm Amundson
Dr. Spencer Niles
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The evening of June 3rd, 2014 was memorable and
meaningful. The 2014 IAEVG Conference in Québec
City opened with an International Welcome Cocktail
attended by over two hundred delegates and held in
the magnificent “Chapelle du Musée de L’Amérique
française”. The Cocktail was generously sponsored
by Université Laval. The organizers of
the conference, Laurent Matte,
Président de OCCOQ and Nicole
Galarneau, Director of RQuODE
graciously set time aside during this
special evening for the presentation of
two Gold Medals and Diamond Pins for
Leadership in Career Development.
The two deserving recipients of these
honours were Sareena Hopkins and
Michel Turcotte.
Stuart Conger, a Canadian and international icon in
career development, was a lifelong champion of
leadership. In 2003, he decided to personally create
an award to recognize individuals who, in his view,
had consistently and over time made exceptional
contributions to advancing career development
policy, research and practice. In his lifetime, he
personally awarded five Gold Medals for career
development leaders, and in his last year of life, he
selected two final recipients. Sadly Stu Conger
passed away in 2013. The career development
community was honoured that Stu’s wife, Shirley
Conger, personally presented the awards on his
behalf. As these will be the last Gold Medals and
Diamond Pins to be given, it was especially wonder-
ful to be able to do so in such a magnificent setting
and with such a distinguished audience present.
Sareena Hopkins is Co-Executive Director of the
Canadian Career Development Foundation. Her vision
for career development as a recognized profession,
her determination to establish a pan-Canadian
representative and influential body for the career
development community, and her capacity to create
and nurture collaborations that really work, are
changing the face of career development in Canada.
Sareena is the founder and Chair of the Canadian
Council for Career Development (CCCD). She is
singularly responsible for establishing and growing
the CCCD, bringing together career development
leaders from across Canada to address priority issues.
Certification of career development practitioners,
reciprocity agreements across provinces, increasing
the profile of career development with policy
makers, developing a common language, profiling
the evidence base for the field are
all initiatives being led by working
groups under the CCCD umbrella.
Canada has never had a
representative national career
development body and it has been
a major roadblock for the field as
a whole. Sareena’s leadership, along with her
warmth and energy, has changed that and will
continue to do so.
Sareena demands excellence in everything she does.
At the same time, she is a compassionate, person-
centered and dedicated individual as exemplified by
her commitment to volunteerism. Her volunteer
roles include Director of the IAEVG Administration
Centre, recipient of the Mental Health Service
Award, Past-President of Project Upstream (an
organization committed to housing and supports for
the persons with mental illness), Past-President of
the Career Counselling Chapter of the Canadian
Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, and past
member of the Board of Directors, Rideauwood
Addiction and Family Services.
The values of CCDF are abundance (putting whatever
is developed internally into the public domain),
collaboration, innovation, quality and integrity. No
individual could exemplify these values more
powerfully and purposefully. Sareena is shaping and
mobilizing the field of career development in Canada
towards influence and excellence.
The Gold Medal for Leadership in Career DevelopmentThe Gold Medal for Leadership in Career Development
continues on page 14
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Tel: 613-729-6164 Fax: 613-729-3515 [email protected] www.ccdf.ca
Michel Turcotte is the visionary behind many
activities that have brought recognition to career
development in Canada. Guided by a vision of
accessible career development services delivered
competently and professionally, he has worked with
unfaltering commitment to mobilize the driving
forces of the career development field in Canada.
Michel spent most of his career in the Canadian
public service. He gave true meaning to his role as a
public servant for more than 20 years by serving as a
link between the community and public
employability policies and services, bringing together
the country’s key stakeholders for the purpose of
innovating, moving a research agenda forward, and
facilitating Canada’s participation in international
thinking on career and employment counselling and
services. Throughout those years, he was an
exceptional catalyst who encouraged debate and the
sharing of ideas which have advanced the field of
career development in Canada.
He exercised ongoing leadership in the organization
of the first Pan-Canadian Symposium on Career
Development, Lifelong Learning and Workforce
Development following the model of the
international movement of Symposia on Career
Development and Public Policy, which began in
Canada and is now held regularly in different
locations around the world. He participated actively
in the development of the Canadian Standards and
Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners and
was instrumental in the establishment of the
Canadian Research Working Group on Evidence-Based
Practice in Career Development.
Michel has also been a leader in professional
associations. From 2001 to 2006, he was the
President of the Ordre des conseillers d’orientation
et des psychoéducateurs du Québec, the largest
professional association of career counsellors in
Canada. He sat on the board of directors of the
Canadian Counselling Association (CPA) and on the
board of the International Association for Educational
and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG). He was the chair
of the CPA’s Certification Committee. He is currently
a doctoral candidate in career counselling at
Université Laval.
Michel’s actions have changed the landscape of
career development in Canada. He has earned the
respect and recognition of his peers and contributed
to keeping the flame of career development burning
bright.
To see photos of the conference and the Award
Ceremony specifically, visit the IAEVG Conference
website, go to photo album and click on Tuesday
evening. It truly was a night to remember.
continues from page 13—The Gold Medal for Leadership ...
Stu Conger for Leadership
in Career Development
Gold Medal Winners
Michel Turcotte (left) and
Sareena Hopkins (right)
with Shirley Conger
(middle)
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