Career Guidance For Social Justice

This edited collection examines the intersections between career guidance, social justice and neo-liberalism. Contributors offer an original and global discussion of the role of career guidance in the struggle for social justice and evaluate the field from a diverse range of theoretical positions. Through a series of chapters that positions career guidance within a neoliberal context and presents theories to inform an emancipatory direction for the field, this book raises questions, offers resources and provides some glimpses of an alternative future for work. Drawing on education, sociology, and political science, this book addresses the theoretical basis of career guidance’s involvement in social justice as well as the methodological consequences in relation to career guidance research.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This edited collection explores ways in which social justice can be integrated into career guidance practice. Chapter authors propose models and practices which can contribute to struggles for social justice and consider how career guidance can play a role in these struggles. They explore policy and practice in the light of critical social theory both critiquing career guidance and opening up new possibilities for the field. The volume moves the discipline away from its overwhelming reliance on psychology in favor of theoretically pluralistic approaches informed by critical thinking in a range of disciplines. It seeks to expand the possibilities that are available to career guidance practitioners and researchers to support the growth of human flourishing and solidarity.

"Abstract: The handbook seeks to provide a state-of-the-art reference point for the field of career development. It engages in a trans-disciplinary and international dialogue that explores current ideas and debates from a variety of viewpoints including socio-economic, political, educational, and social justice perspectives. Career development is broadly defined to encompass both individuals' experience of their own careers, and the full range of support services for career planning and transitions. The handbook is divided into three sections. The first section explores the economic, educational, and public policy contexts within which careers are enacted. The second section explores the rich conceptual landscape of career theory. The third section addresses the broad spectrum of helping practices to support both individuals and groups including career guidance, career counseling, and career learning interventions. Keywords: Career; career development, career counseling, career guidance, career learning, career theory, public policy, social justice"--

Career development interventions can serve as one means to constructively address the problems of inequitable access to educational and occupational options and achievement that promote health and well-being across the lifespan. Career Development Interventions for Social Justice: Addressing Needs across the Lifespan in Educational, Community, and Employment Contexts offers practical examples of career development interventions that may be adapted to constructively address social justice needs at various points across the lifespan (ranging from elementary school ages to older adults) in educational, community, and employment contexts. Tailored to the needs and context of a specific underserved group of individuals, each intervention integrates relevant career development theory, research, ethical considerations, elements of sound program design and evaluation, and professional competencies for best practices in multicultural career counseling and social justice advocacy. Unique to this book are the contributions of authors, including practicing professional counselors and psychologists, who share their personal reflections of self-awareness from privileged and marginalized identities regarding potential biases and resources of relevance to their chapter’s intervention. In the process of designing and providing career development services for individuals from marginalized groups, it is imperative for counselors to continually reflect on and consult about their own biases and resources for empathic understanding and effectiveness with those whom we serve.

This book is based on the Life Design paradigm and discusses the efforts made to overcome the matching paradigm between individuals and their work contexts, in order to guarantee the adoption of an active role for future career planning. Starting from the evolution of career counselling and vocational guidance in the 20th century and then following the more updated reflections in the Life Design paradigm, this book discusses research results from the Larios Laboratory (Padova, Italy) in collaboration with numerous international colleagues and institutions. These results show that career counselling and vocational designing can not only help people to plan their future in agentive ways, but also to help them getting out of the ‘mists of the present’ and to project themselves into a future that is yet to be created. This future is aligned by the world of research and international institutions, such as the UN and WHO, and follows the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with particular attention to Sustainable Development Goals 4, 8 and 12. This book reveals how trajectories can be created from one’s own mission, realized with the help of others and newly acquired strengths. It shows how career counselling and vocational designing can help people to build their own future from an inclusive and sustainable perspective, based on social justice, and to help build a better future for all.

This book discusses the scientific developments on the new roles of interventions in career-and-life design (career education, career counseling, etc.) regarding the world's main challenges. Thanks to the strong partnership between the UNESCO Chair and partners ECADOC (European Doctoral Program on Career counseling and Guidance) and ESVDC (European Society for Vocational designing and Career counseling), this book represents a strong collection of models, scientific proposals and analyses of practices and interventions by scholars from all different parts of the world. It provides a large overview of current research in the field of Interventions for Life and Career Design (ILCD) in Northern and Southern countries, and calls for increased responsibility of individuals, groups and communities to design their life and their individual and collective future.

This handbook offers a comprehensive review on career guidance, with an emphasis on the applied aspects of guidance together with research methods and perspectives. It features contributions from more than 30 leading authorities in the field from Asia, Africa, America, Australasia and Europe and draws upon a wide range of career guidance paradigms and theoretical perspectives. This handbook covers such subjects as educational and vocational guidance in a social context, theoretical foundations, educational and vocational guidance in practice, specific target groups, testing and assessment, and evaluation.