Family in Career Counseling: How to Succeed - Term Paper Example

 Family in Career Counseling: How to Succeed Introduction The ability to choose and sustain a career is important in one’s life. These not only shape the identity of people, from preparation to actual career work, but can also provide economic and psychological satisfaction. In retrospect, selecting particular careers and developing them toward successful fruition are fraught with a number of factors that may either account for constructive or failed career attempts. Several studies focused on gender-based experiences that define the struggles between men and women in balancing responsibilities from work and family roles. Aside from role conflicts, other significant issues include the extent of cultural dynamics (parental orientation, societal norms and class distinctions) as variables that influence the career moves of their children. In such cases, it is important to note the probable elements surrounding career development, the theoretical foundations that anchor career choices, its overall implications in practical counselling for better career implementation and sustenance. Influences in Career Development At large, cultural elements in family background in parental involvement, gender orientation and expectations, and gender norms may cement individual resolution on career paths. In British South Asian sample, concerted opinions on cultural impact had been exhibited through decisions to enter the teaching profession, in line with consensual families and community opinions. In an Asian community that highly values the norm of collectivism and strict religious compliance, these beliefs can have a relevant impact on individuals, especially the women, who tend to follow such orientations in deciding their career paths in life (Butt, McKenzie, & Manning, 2010). The infiltration can be explicit or implicit, as verbalization of preference and consequent actions manifest cultural inclinations toward specific objectives, leaving others with little options but to follow. Yet, the study on African American women resulted in positive outcomes, as according to Pearson and Bieschke (2001), there is a sequential reaction of cultural values and attitudes in family system, showing how subjects respond in deciding future professions. Relatively, family perceptions on education and work values can directly affect higher career moves in African American women, where education is seen as constructive medium for future accomplishments, duly sustained by better working attitudes drilled by their parents. It is their responsibility, then, to follow familial and communal cultural dictates to maintain ethnic harmony within such systems. As observed, there is a definite intertwining of cultural orientation on parental viewpoints. Parents serve as role model to children, and the latter tend to follow the former mainly because of such ideal. During actualization of career development in adolescents, five significant components emerged to conceptualize parental and adolescent interaction: “joint goals, communication, goal-steps congruence, parental agenda, (and) individuation” (Young et al., 2001, p. 196). In such procedure, parents served as their children's’ partners in establishing sets of goals, taking into consideration the role of parents in either boosting or striking down career plans--during the process of implementing individual decisions of children for their future. In all the transaction, constructive communication patterns are essential tools in mutually conveying intentions and plans for career prospects. As pointed out by Lindstorm, Doren, Metheny, Johnson, and Zane (2007), there is a positive correlation between “advocacy of family support and intentional career activities....(in) career development” (p. 362). The relationship maintained by family members manifests constructive outcomes, where highly flexible viewpoints and involvement in career planning and implementation are nurtured within family systems. As models for career choice, the type of family values and interactive patterns cultivated make a difference in young minds, as close proximity and emotional influence possibly make them so. Lastly, vast studies had been conducted on the extensive influence of gender-related impact during development and execution of chosen careers. As revealed by Slan-Jerusalim and Chen (2009), the interference of work responsibilities in family obligations is more pronounced in career-minded females, who divide their attention between professional careers and domestic roles. The gender expectation that men work outside to provide for the family while women tend the household activities may be traditional in form, but still remains true in other ethnic groups. According to Luban (2004), several degree-holder women give up their careers to commit as full-time wives and mothers, especially in Jewish communities, where they still seek the demands concerning the field of expertise. The difference in social orientation seemed to favor men, while restricting career opportunities to women. Needless to say, men may be significantly involved in family affairs and relationship, but the demands of career challenges engage their attention and priorities more (Duan, Brown, & Keller, 2010). Males do not share the women’s struggle to balance between work and family, as the latter aspired to be in both world (work and family) at the same time. Theoretical Basis for Career Selection A number of theoretical frameworks had been formulated to predict and explain the interaction of influencing factors in deciding for career plans. The ideal developmental age to introduce career development should start from childhood. In accordance with Self-Regulation paradigm, this is the ideal phase to develop newly-determined skills for initial enhancement of major career strategies. In review, two main theories, self-concept and social-cognitive career model, had been examined. In career development, the former posited three aspects in conceptual development: “formation, translation, and implementation.” It is an inductive process where initial experimentation and cognitive discovery are done, followed by translation, where children are taught to actually act on diverse interests and test their capabilities. Lastly, a more formal training is initiated, where former events are applied during job execution--done in preparation for adolescent or adult careers (Palladino-Schultheiss, 2008, p. 8). The step-by-step theoretical context shows that every individual has innate capacity proficiency in deciding for themselves--preparatory when the developmental age is ripe to do so. In another academic assumption, internal interests and capacities are combined with external influences to develop more effective career options. As indicated in social-cognitive career paradigm (SCCT), aspects in social and cognitive practices are important in promoting identified areas of skills and expertise. Learning competencies are cultivated for advanced educational predictions in skills and their accompanied outcomes (Palladino-Schultheiss, 2008). Such perceptions take into account the cognition and psychomotor domains in learning, and their interactive significance with environmental factors in the development of competent career choices. On a more adult perspective, Lent et al. (2004 as cited in Slan-Jerusalem & Chen, 2009) adapted the SCCT concept in emphasizing the importance of “self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals” during career selection and execution. As exhibited in the study, the positive concept in self-efficacy, where one’s beliefs and skilled competence are focused, frequently results in better career outcomes and work satisfaction. People who are highly self-efficient are better at formulating goals and turning expected plans into positive outcomes. Aside from better learning outcomes in career excursions, the overarching influence of family systems in career paths are also considered. Through the theoretical application of SCCT in career development, Hacket and Byars (1996, as cited in Pearson & Bieschke, 2001) contextualized the constructive potency of gender and cultural ethnicity as person inputs for reliable self-efficacy perceptions and expected career outcomes. Expressed verbally or through persuasive actions, people are inclined to adopt career values and attitudes that have been positively observed within the family, especially when tempered by encouraging and highly flexible collaborative interactions. Summarily, theories in self-concept and SCCT dominate in delineating the important dimensions of career development and decisions, especially with the latter concept, where it combined individualized self-proficiency in learning, person inputs, and related environmental predispositions to clarify individual strengths and weaknesses during career growth and subsequent progress. Practical Counseling for Successful Careers As early as the childhood days, career interventions are already indicated, where practical skills are elaborately enhanced to establish primary ideas for solid career preparations. Events in such settings may include exploratory and experiential strategies, as counselling practices promote these in actual settings for better career envisioning and awareness (Palladino-Schultheiss, 2008). They may be broad in context, but its significance lies in awakening career interests in children, and determining areas where they may excel--for future reference in progressive career planning. In addition, conflicts in cultural values and relationship within families, as well as gender-related work predicaments may impede successful formation of career plans and implementation. In dealing with family conflicts, Young et al. (2001) recommend collaborative counseling activities where adolescents are given every opportunity to be centrally involved within an “intentional and goal-directed perspective” (p. 200). In such attempts, adolescents are empowered towards career goals and plans, while counselors serve as information guides in monitoring whether there is progress in career orientation and awareness. Furthermore, Pearson and Bieschke (2001) suggested the initial assessment of family influences in career confusion and defective educational coping, and after formal identification of possible barriers, working out such family tensions may ease career pressures. In particular, family members can be invited to participate in career counseling, to give them clear picture on their related significance as model figures in success of their child’s career growth. Interactive conflicts can be resolved through career guidance and conflict resolutions, hence, family impediments should be determined first before any career counseling can proceed. With regard to gender-related altercation, counseling tactics should distinguish mixed emotions between devoting time with family and seeking satisfaction in work--especially for overworked married women. Particularly, counselors need to assess extent of imbalance in these two areas, and work towards returning work-life balance between career and family. Counselors may utilize steps such as fantasy exercise, where clients envision their present roles and future life and career prospects, or they may assist clients in “examining...multiple roles, clarifying beliefs...and help prioritize time and energy” (Slan-Jerusalim & Chen, 2009, p. 498). There are a number of counseling procedures that address conflicts from family systems to gender-related difficulties, but the process is still the same. It all starts with comprehensive assessment and history taking, potential problems are enumerated, and these are collaboratively resolved with applicable counseling methods. By all means, clients are empowered to stand on their own, where they are given autonomic options on how they want their career to progress. Simply, counselors act as guiding figures, where clients are central during the process of career selection and eventual development. Conclusion All in all, the challenge of choosing a career that fits one’s preference can be influenced by several factors, including cultural orientation that spills towards the values and attitudes adopted by families and communities, and gender roles expected to be executed by males and females in society. The theoretical frameworks in career development pointed that intercepting such influences should start from childhood, and should advance towards adolescence and adulthood. In such valid conceptions, it is important to note that cognition and social interactions in SCCT must be put into perspective, as it emphasized the role of family and individual learning capacities in improving career chances. In remedy, counseling strategies should consider all these variables, before further interventions are initiated--as the origins of conflict must be uprooted first in order for counsellings in career development to be successful. References Butt, G., MacKenzie, L., & Manning, R. (2010). Influences on British South Asian women’s choice of teaching as a career: “You’re either a career person or a family person; teaching kind of fits in the middle.” Educational Review, 62 (1), 69-83. Duan, C., Brown, C., & Keller, C., (2010). Male counseling psychologists in academia: An exploratory study of their experience in navigating career and family demands. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 18 (3), 249-267. Lindstorm, L., Doren, B., Metheny, J., Johnson, P., & Zane, C. (2007). Transition to employment: Role of the family in career development. Exceptional Children, 73 (3), 348-366. Luban, A.H. (2004). Sequencing: The latest recruitment and retention challenge. Journal of Jewish Communal Service, 139-142. Palladino-Schultheiss, D.E. (2008). Current status and future agenda for the theory, research, and practice of childhood development. The Career Development Quarterly, 57, 9-24. Pearson, S.M., & Bieschke, K.J. (2001). Succeeding against the odds: An examination of familial influences on the career development of professional African American women. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48 (3), 301-309. Slan-Jerusalem, R., & Chen, C.P. (2009). Work-family conflict and career development theories: A search for helping strategies. Journal of Counseling & Development, 87, 492-500. Young, R. A., Ball, J., Valach, L., Paseluikho, M.A., Wong, Y.S.,...Turkel, H. (2001). Career development in adolescence as a family project. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48 (2), 190-202. Read More