Multicultural Career Counseling - Essay Example

Career Counseling: Multicultural Persons Background While there are a great many elements of career counseling that can universally related to individuals, its always necessary for the counseling professional to alter the counseling process to the clients particular needs and personal background. Niles and Harris-Bowlsbey (2008, pg. 97) note that, “cultural variables often rest at the core of the career intervention process.” Statistics demonstrate that in the last fifteen years, nonwhites, women, and immigrants constituted nearly 5/6ths of the new additions to the contemporary employment landscape (Niles, Harris-Bowlsbey 2008). When one considers that in the next decade minority populations will continue to rapidly increase, the subsequent need to understand this shift in terms of the 21st century workforce and career counseling process is abundantly clear. As a result, its necessary for career counselors to familiarize themselves with the various cultural backgrounds of the individuals they are attempting to help. When considering various theoretical approaches to multicultural career counseling one of the predominant issues is the question of the overarching paradigmatic approach. Two of the varying approaches have been the universal and the emic approach, with the emic approach contending that clients should be considered in terms of their cultural background. In these regards, the career counselor must be cognizant of the ways that the complex interaction of race, discrimination, and culture influence and affect the helping relationship. Conversely, the universal approach functions through emphasizing universal human elements between the client and the counseling professional; in this context great emphasis is placed upon the counselor/client relationship and shared worldviews. The universal approach is also highly influenced by Rogerian concepts of empathic understanding. Other theorists have attempted to integrate the universal and etic approaches. For instance, Leong (1993) utilizes a tripartite personality approach that considers universal features of humanity and individual elements that consider the individuals cultural background in the counseling process In these regards, its important for career counselors to switch between the various dimensions while working with an individual from a different cultural background. Other theorists acknowledge the differences in the counseling approaches and argue career professionals should be trained in both traditional and multicultural models (Evans, Larrabee 2002). Ultimately, while there are considerable factors that divide clients and professionals from different ethnic backgrounds, Paniagua (as cited in Bryan 2007, pg. 99) states, “the factors which appear to have the most impact upon treatment outcome are counselors sincerity and sensitivity.” This essay advances with an emic perspective of career counseling. Namely that while counseling professionals must be cognizant of shares worldviews, one of their primary responsibilities when dealing with multicultural clients. In considering the various elements that the counseling professional must consider in terms of the clients cultural background, Lee and Richardson (as cited in Niles, Harris-Bowlsbey 2008, pg. 97) state that, “counseling professionals must consider differences in language, social class, and most importantly, culture between helper and client.” Following Lee and Richardsons designation, this essay examines the various elements that the career counselor must consider when working with African-American, Native American, Pacific-Asian American, and Hispanic American cultures. African-Americans In a career counseling professional with a majority cultural background working with African-Americans there are a number of cultural elements that must be recognized to improve the counseling process. Particularly relevant in these regards, are racial identity models that function to examine the extent that the individual identifies with the minority or majority culture. The nature of the black American history attests to the dominant culture’s efforts to institute an oppressive view of black heritage. As a result, African Americans oftentimes have a conflicted view of their culture. It’s important for the career counseling professional to recognize the patient’s cultural heritage and alter their approach accordingly. Failure to do this has been recognized as one of the predominant reasons for the high cancellation rates among African American minorities. Another important factor for the career professional to consider is the role expectations play in the process. It’s very necessary that both the career counselor and the client have similar expectations. For instance, if the client is attempting to be classified as disabled to be eligible for disability benefits, when the counselor is attempting to prepare them for a job, there would be a significant conflict of expectations. It’s important that the counselor gain a thorough knowledge of the patient’s expectations. While the helper may experience resistance in this category, Bryan writes, “By being honest, understanding, and nonthreatening in his approach as well as being careful to explain the why’s and what for’s, the professional helper increases his chances of success” (pg.154). There are also cultural factors specific to African-American individuals that the counselor should become aware. For instance, many African Americans have a casual attitude towards time and may initially be late for appointments. While the helper need not tolerate such occurrences, it’s important to inform the individual of the importance of punctuality and not be offended during the first few visits. It’s also important to note the level of situational control the client believes they have over their life. For instance, if the client believes outside forces greatly shape their destiny, it’s important for the helper to empower the client to take greater personal responsibility over their life. African Americans typically experience lower levels of education as well. When considering disabilities, African Americans have been determined to have the highest rate of severe disabilities among on ethnic group. This seems to be a result of their socioeconomic position, lack of access to adequate health care, and their unskilled laborer status that causes them to work in more risky and labor intensive jobs. African Americans also experience major health issues at disproportionate levels to the dominant Euro-American culture. These health issues include hypertension, heart conditions, diabetes, and stroke. For instance, African American men have 40 percent greater heart conditions than the dominant culture, and women have 64% greater differences. The rate of strokes is even higher, as African American women have an 80% greater risk of stroke than Euro-American women. The predominant theory of the increased stress levels that result in these conditions is that African Americans experience stress as a result of tension caused by prejudice from the dominant culture. These issues must be considered in developing a holistic understanding of the issues that influence and direct the clients interaction with their career and the world at large. There are also number of specific historical dynamics that counseling professionals must familiarize themselves with when acting as helping professionals to African Americans to avoid misguided stereotypes. One of the major considerations professionals must make concerns the divergent dynamics of the family structure between African and Euro Americans. There are a high number of African American families where the mother is the only parent in the household. Misconceptions are also rampant when considering the role of the African American father. In order to oppress males during the slavery period, slave masters engaged in techniques to psychologically degrade the African American male. This is where conceptions of the black male as lazy, ignorant, and not worthy of trust arose from. Furthermore, the stereotype of African American males as poor fathers is a misconception, and when given access to adequate economic resources to provide for their children, they have proved to be effective fathers. Many African American families are achievement oriented, and they encourage their children to attain education as a means of attaining a greater existence. The conception of African Americans as lazy is misguided, as they are similarly work oriented. While these aspects by no means represent a comprehensive understand of African-American culture, they function to offer general guidelines to that must be recognized to ease the challenges of the counseling and career decision making process. Native Americans When the career professional engages in assistance with Native American patients it’s necessary for them to recognize their own previously held misconceptions, and to understand the Indian cultural dynamics. In terms of acculturation there are a number of specific elements wherein Native Americans have exhibited extended challenges that the career counselor must be aware of when engaging in the counseling process. Considering education, Native American exhibit lower percentages of having obtained a high school education when compared with the rest of the population – 65.3% to 75.2% respectively. Similarly, Native Americans exhibit lower rates of people having obtained a Bachelor’s Degree, with 8.9% having a degree compared to 20.3% of the rest of the United States population. Theorists have also recognized the importance of considering multicultural aspects of family structure in the career decision making process (Evans, Rotter 2000). In terms of Native Americans, Wager (1976, as cited in Bryan 2007) divides contemporary Native American families into “traditional-oriented, transitional, and American middle class” (pg. 238). It’s important for counselors to understand that research attests to the mother’s role in the family in recent years has been elevated near that of the father, and that this is reflected in their career decision making process. It’s also important for the counseling professional to have an adequate understand of what Native American constitutes. Choney (as cited in Bryan 2007) argues, “it is more important to consider Native Americans levels of acculturation rather than attempt to develop a theory or model of Indian identity” (pg. 239). The argument for this perspective is that Native Americans don’t experience a ‘Native American’ culture, but find identity through tribal affiliations; thus, perpetuating an understanding of a monolithic ‘Native American’ ethnicity is perpetuating a misguided stereotype. When assessing levels of acculturation the counseling professional should determine the patient’s tribal affiliation. Once the tribal affiliation has been determined the helper can make a number of determinations. These include: Does the person participate in tribal activities? What are some of the customs and beliefs of the tribe? What is the tribal language? When does the person speak the language? These issues must be factored into potential career placement. It’s also important for the helping professional to recognize misguided perceptions. For instance, there is a stereotype of Indians as taciturn individuals. This understanding is false and, indeed, Native Americans exhibit a wide-range of communicative competencies. Similar to African Americans, Native Americans may be initially guarded in revealing information, so it’s important for the counselor to be patient. Lengthy eye contact is also discouraged. As with African-Americans these aspects by no means represent a comprehensive understand of Native American culture, but function to offer general guidelines to that must be recognized to ease the challenges of the counseling and career decision making process. Asian Pacific Americans There are a number of issues that career counselors must considered when working with Asian Pacific Americans. Asian Americans constitute one of the fastest growing ethnic groups within the United States, as its highly important for the counselor to be aware of these elements. This cultures growth has largely been an aspect of the past forty years, as this period has witnessed an astonishing 800 percent increase in this minority group. Still, even with this rapid growth Asian Pacific Americans only constitute 3 percent of the entire population. One notable misconception of this ethnic minority group is that they are homogenous. In actuality, Asian Pacific Americans constitute a highly diverse group of cultures from a wide array of countries that includes China, Japan, Korea, Burma, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. There are over twenty subgroups of Asian Americans. In this regard, it’s important not to over generalize as to one monolithic ‘Asian Pacific’ culture, as therapy patients will have a variety of historical backgrounds and cultural paradigms (Leong 1993). Today nearly 70 percent of the population is first generation immigrants (Bryan 2007). For the career professional it’s necessary to determine a number of things about the Asian Pacific client. The foundational elements in the counseling process should consider whether the Asian American was foreign born and which Asian country they are affiliated. The helping professional must also be cognizant of which generation the Asian American represents, as acculturation levels will be different in proportion to time spent in the United States. The extent to which the Asian American has adapted into American culture is also greatly reflected in their communication style, with the more acculturated exhibiting communication trends similar to that of the dominant society. It’s necessary for the counseling professional to work towards determining what barriers to communicative adaptation the client may have experienced in terms of past employment. They also may view the counselor as an authoritarian figure and expect this professional to have firm answers rather than questions. Researchers have also identified significant differences between Asian Pacific and Euro Americans in value orientation. It’s been argued that Eastern values place higher emphasis on group and collective values, while westerners are more pragmatic and individual. There are also a number of misconceptions that career professionals must be cognizant of when working with Asian Pacific Americans. Asian Pacific Americans have been portrayed as the ‘successful’ ethnic minority. While ethnic minority has demonstrated great adjustment to Western culture and has in great part exceeded the median national income, a number of researchers argue that positioning Asian Pacific Americans as the ‘model’ minority is a misconception. Hispanic/Latino Americans There are a substantial number of issues career counseling professionals must consider when working with Hispanic Americans. One of the major problems Hispanic/Latino Americans face in successfully integrating into United States society arises as a result of communication barriers. Because of their language difficulties Hispanic Americans face considerable amounts of discrimination, most prominently in employment (Vespua, Fouad, Yung-Lung 2010). Their communication difficulties also make them frequent victims of exploitation, such as experiencing hazardous work and living conditions, as well being underpaid. Indeed, Hispanic/Latino Americans have a long documented history of being underrepresented economically in the workplace in comparison to the rest of the population. Puerto Ricans have the lowest economic status, followed by Mexicans, and Cubans. The average family income for Hispanic/Latino Americans was $24,000 compared with $37,000 for Euro-Americans. (Bryan 2007) Grouping Hispanics into one economic class reduces the emphasis on the gross rates of poverty experienced by Puerto Ricans in respect to the rest of the population. The rate of unemployment for Hispanic/Latino Americans has been documented to be generally more than twice the national average, and as much as 44 percent of Hispanics dropout of high school. As a means of addressing these career challenges Toporek, Flamer (2009) suggests a narrative approach to addressing these issues through the development of a resume that utilizes the individuals challenges and barriers to employment as positive character elements. Similar to Asian Pacific Americans, it’s necessary for the career counseling professional to attend to the specific details of the patient’s background. This regards both the specificity of their culture, be it Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, etc. as well as their level of acculturation. When considering communication styles it’s necessary for the counseling professional to remain conscious of distinct factors. Oftentimes, Hispanic silence is not demonstrative of a lack of intelligence or understanding, but a communicative expression of respect. In these instances, it’s recommended that the counseling professional proceeds by asking questions of the client in accepting and non-threatening ways. In some instances the client’s reticence may be an aspect of not understanding English, so that the career professional should seek an interpreter or refer the client to a Spanish speaker. In all instances it’s important for the client to remain actively involved in the process, as communication barriers and discrepancies arise when the client maintains a passive and reticent stance. Conclusion In conclusion, its clear there are a great many issues that the career counseling professional must consider when working with multicultural persons. While the contents of this essay have largely explored emic elements – the aspects that divide the counselor and client – this has been done in an effort to establish a level field for the helping relationship. The most effective counselors will come to understand that while there are a broad array of elements that must be considered when working with individuals of divergent cultural backgrounds, its the common ground and shared world views that can be established that will largely create the most functional environment. Ultimately, in integrating the universal and emic perspectives, the counselor will achieve optimal efficiency. References Bryan, W. V/ (2007) Multicultural aspects of disabilities. (Second Edition). Charles C. Thomas publisher. Springfield Il. Evans, K., & Larrabee, M. (2002). Teaching the Multicultural Counseling Competencies and Revised Career Counseling Competencies Simultaneously. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, 30(1), 21. Evans, K., & Rotter, J. (2000). Multicultural Family Approaches to Career Counseling. Family Journal, 8(1), 67-71. Leong, F. T. (1993) The career counseling process with racial ethnic minorities: The case of Asian Americans. Career Development Quarterly, 42, 26-40. Niles, S., & Harris-Bowlsbey, J. (2008). Career development interventions in the 21st century. New York: Prentice Hall. Toporek, R., & Flamer, C. (2009). the résumés secret identity: a tool for narrative exploration in multicultural career counseling. Journal of Employment Counseling, 46(1), 4-17. Vespia, K., Fitzpatrick, M., Fouad, N., Kantamneni, N., & Yung-Lung, C. (2010). Multicultural Career Counseling: A National Survey of Competencies and Practices. Career Development Quarterly, 59(1), 54-71. Read More