Multicultural career counseling: theoretical applications of the systems theory framework

Career Development Quarterly, March, 2005 by Nancy Arthur, Mary McMahon

Increasing recognition of cultural influences on career development requires expanded theoretical and practical perspectives. Theories of career development need to explicate views of culture and provide direction for career counseling with clients who are culturally diverse. The Systems Theory Framework (STF) is a theoretical foundation that accounts for systems of influence on people's career development, including individual, social, and environmental/societal contexts. The discussion provides a rationale for systemic approaches in multicultural career counseling and introduces the central theoretical tenets of the STF. Through applications of the STF, career counselors are challenged to expand their roles and levels of intervention in multicultural career counseling.

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As populations change from homogeneous groups to a mosaic of people with diverse customs and cultures, career counselors must shift their perspectives from monoculturalism to multiculturalism (Hartung, 2002; Leong & Hartung, 2000). There is a myriad of literature attesting to the problems of applying Western frameworks of career development theories and counseling techniques to populations whose values and cultural norms are in contrast to those of the dominant culture (e.g., Fitzgerald & Betz, 1994; Gysbers, Heppner, & Johnston, 2003; Leong & Hartung, 2000; Leung, 1995). Increasing recognition of cultural influences on career development has prompted a call for expanded theoretical and practical perspectives to increase the cultural validity of career development practices (Leong & Brown, 1995). Theories need to explicate the interplay between individual and systemic levels of cultural influences and provide direction for career counseling interventions.

More than 20 years ago, Osipow (1983) suggested that through using systems theory,

    elements of the social, personal, and economic situation within
    which individuals operate may be more explicitly analyzed, and the
    relationships of the larger systems to one another may be more
    clearly understood than in the traditional approaches to behavior,
    which tend to emphasize only one major segment of the individual or
    the environment. (p. 320)

The potential of systems theory to account for diversity and the complexity of influences on career development has only recently been documented. What is shared in common by systems approaches is the "ongoing relationship, between elements or subsystems of the system and the changes that occur over time as a result of these continual interactions" (Patton & McMahon, 1999, pp. 9-10). Systems perspectives emphasize both the parts within a whole system and view the whole system as greater than the sum of its parts. In practical terms, clients seeking career development assistance are viewed within the contexts of their lives; in turn, individuals are viewed as active agents for influencing their surrounding contexts. Systems theory examines the interconnections between internal and external variables that have an impact on people's career development. It is a theoretical lens for examining both a macroanalysis of external influences on people's lives while also facilitating a microanalysis of factors that are relevant for the career development of individual clients (Patton & McMahon, 1999). Systems theory appears to have strong conceptual utility for integrating issues of culture into career development practices.

The purpose of this discussion is to introduce the Systems Theory Framework (STF) of career development (McMahon, 2002; McMahon & Patton, 1995; Patton & McMahon, 1997, 1999) as a theoretical foundation for enhancing multicultural career counseling. The STF has been specifically chosen because in its short history, its application across countries, cultures, and career counselor training has been suggested (e.g., Association for Counselor Education and Supervision and National Career Development Association, 2000; Lim, 1997; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2002). Our purpose is not to compare the STF to other systems approaches (e.g., the ecological approach; Conyne & Cook, 2004; Cook, Heppner, & O'Brien, 2002) or the developmental-contextual model (Vondracek, Lerner, & Schulenberg, 1986). The focus of this article is to highlight the theoretical applications of the STF to multicultural counseling. First, we discuss views on cultural influences in career development to provide a rationale for using systemic approaches in career counseling. Second, we provide a summary of the core theoretical foundations of the STF. The overriding goal of the discussion is to expand perspectives about multicultural career counseling through integrating theoretical foundations from the STF. In a subsequent article currently under development, we will elaborate on the practical applications of the STF for multicultural counseling.

Incorporating Culture Into Career Development and Career Counseling

Career counselors need to examine how culture is represented in theories of career development and in models of career counseling. There are debates about "who counts" as clients who are culturally diverse and debates about how theories of career development should account for cultural diversity. Each debate has implications for how professionals approach counseling (Patterson, 1996; Thomas & Weinrach, 1998).