Practice and research in career counseling and Development—2005

Career Development Quarterly, Dec, 2006 by Thomas F. Harrington, Theresa A. Harrigan

A university counseling center was the site for a study examining psychological and vocational issues of a diverse student clientele (N = 597). Lucas and Berkel sought to identify specific needs of diverse student populations, particularly measuring gender and multicultural differences. They also designed their study to compare student clients who persisted with counseling and those who prematurely ended their involvement.

There were no significant gender differences, but significance was found across racial groups. White students scored significantly higher than did Asian American students on vocational identity and vocational information, and higher scores for White students than for African American students were obtained regarding lack of vocational barriers. The scores of White students on client functioning correlated significantly with vocational identity, vocational information, and lack of vocational barriers. Asian American students' scores correlated with vocational identity only. African American students' client functioning scores of symptom distress and social role dysfunction correlated significantly with vocational identity. Symptom distress, intrapersonal problems, and work and school adjustment difficulties of White students were linked with all vocational concerns. African American students with vocational concerns did not report problems with anxiety or depression. Asian American students lacked clarity and stability of vocational interests, personality, talents, and goals and demonstrated a need for vocational information.

Regarding the persistence in the counseling aspect of this study, Lucas and Berkel found that clients with the greatest symptomatic distress and interpersonal problems tended to stop their counseling prematurely. Recommendations specifically for career centers involved providing vocational counseling sessions that reflect attention to empowerment and also various interventions, such as keeping a journal and developing genograms, to facilitate discussion regarding values and stereotypes held by diverse students. Lucas and Berkel noted that African American students did not express feelings of distress, although they tended to perceive occupational barriers. Asian American students had difficulty with decision making stemming from cultural factors.

Hull-Blanks et al. looked at the critical period of freshmen year as it relates to retention. Career goals, academic persistence decision, academic performance, self-esteem, educational self-efficacy, and school and career commitment of 401 freshmen were assessed using a variety of measurements. Findings indicated that defined job-related goals were highly related to persistence decisions, which led to the observation that clearly identified goals contribute to the successful completion of an education. An unexpected finding was that women had more job-related goals and fewer value-related goals. Conversely, men had more value-related goals and fewer job-related ones. Hull-Blanks et al. offered social expectations as an explanation. Men may focus on a value, such as providing for the family, as important. Women, who are not expected to be concerned with prestige, find job-related goals to be more socially accepted. Results reinforced the need for career-related programs for 1st-year students and supported current career counseling practices of providing self-assessment tools and other career resources.