Career counseling with African immigrant college students: theoretical approaches and implications for practice

Career Development Quarterly, June, 2007 by Michael J. Stebleton

The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to explore the career development needs and issues that are unique to Black sub-Saharan African immigrants, with an emphasis on college students, and (b) to discuss how career development professionals can implement strategies to better serve these students. The number of Black immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries has increased recently. Many immigrants are confronted with complex life decisions. Career counselors are in a unique position to assist. Theoretical approaches, with a focus on contextual factors, are discussed. Six strategies for career counseling practice, suggestions for their application, and implications for practice are highlighted.

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  Mulualem, a Black African woman, is a long way from her home in
  Ethiopia. She immigrated into the United States approximately 5 years
  ago to pursue a college degree. Her husband and two daughters, ages 9
  and 10 years, remain in a refugee camp in Kenya. Mulualem is eager to
  earn a 4-year degree, but she is undecided about her plans. She tells
  you, "I don't know whether I will make it right now. But I hope to
  bring my daughters here and to give them a better education, if it
  works for me and my husband."
  --Student Case 1

  When asked about his plans after graduation, Andile, an East African
  immigrant student responds, "I do not know yet. There is an African
  proverb that states 'You have to cross the first river successfully
  before you ask the second river if it's okay to cross it.'"
  --Student Case 2

The faces of students in college career development centers and on campuses in the United States have changed dramatically in recent years (Livingston, 2006). Like Mulualem, the student referenced in the introductory section of this article, many of these new students are more racially and ethnically diverse than in the past. They are recent immigrants into the United States from a variety of places around the world, including Africa. Families journey to the United States--often enduring discrimination, war, disease, and other obstacles--to create better lives for themselves and their children. There are two main objectives of this article: (a) to explore the career development issues that are unique to Black sub-Saharan African immigrants, with an emphasis on the college student population, and (b) to discuss how career development professionals can implement strategies to better serve the needs of these African students. Several theoretical approaches are used to gain a better understanding of the needs and issues of these African immigrant clients. Implications for practice are highlighted, and a call for career counselors to take a more active role in serving the immigrant populations of the 21st century concludes this article.

Black sub-Saharan African immigrants are often confronted with complex decisions regarding work, family, and community. Many Africans are border-crossers--building new identities in the United States while maintaining family ties in their home countries--and are often faced with uncertainty about the future (Rendon, 1996, p. 20). It is highly likely these African immigrants' career development needs and experiences are unique compared with those of other immigrants and, therefore, have heuristic merit. It should be noted that Africa is a vastly diverse continent with more than 50 countries, 900 million people, and more than 2,000 languages spoken. There are varying histories of colonization, civil strife, and political instability in each country. Likewise, there are differences in culture, ethnicity, race, traditions, economic viability, and sociocultural factors that have a significant impact on the career needs of emigrants from each of these countries to the United States (Fanon, 1968). To honor these differences, the focus of this article is primarily on the career development issues of Black sub-Saharan African immigrants.

Exploring the Need to Study African Immigrant College Students

Further inquiry into the career development needs of immigrant groups, including African populations, should be initiated (Fouad, 2001). Although research on immigrant populations has appeared in education and social science literature (Alfred, 2003; Lacy, 2004), there has been a dearth of inquiry in the career development field regarding African immigrants and, in particular, African immigrant college students (Stebleton, 2004). This lack of research thus far may be explained by the fact that most recent African immigrants have journeyed to the United States within the last 5 to 15 years, since the early 1990s.

Despite legitimate concerns about a decrease in the number of student visas allocated in recent years (Florida, 2004, 2005), immigrants, including students from African countries, will continue to immigrate into the United States and pursue college degrees. In 2000, the number of African immigrants admitted to the United States was approximately 40,000; approximately 80,000 documented African immigrants were admitted in 2005 to the United States according to the Department of Homeland Security (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, 2006, p. 11). During the 1990s, African immigrants were the fastest growing immigrant group at a rate of 620.7%, based on proportional growth; however, in terms of actual numbers, immigrants from Asia (55,121) and Latin America (53,319) were the fastest growing during this time period. According to 1990 and 2000 census data, the African immigrant population totaled 29,686 during the 1990s (Ronningen, 2003). More Africans have entered the United States voluntarily since 1990 than the total that disembarked as slaves prior to 1807, the year international slave trafficking was outlawed (Roberts, 2005). According to census data (as cited in Roberts, 2005, p. A1), the proportion of Black people living in the United States who described themselves as African-born more than doubled in the 1990s, and approximately 2 million U.S. residents identify their ancestry as sub-Saharan African. On the basis of these trends, career development professionals in a variety of settings, including career development centers on college campuses, will be called on to help serve the diverse needs of African immigrants as the population continues to grow.