An Exploration of Career Counselors’ Perspectives on Advocacy

Abstract

This study surveyed male counselor educators regarding the impact of being male upon their professional relationships. Participants (N=163) were surveyed about their attitudes concerning the influence of gender on their relational behavior, as well as their relationship practices with students and colleagues. Mixedmethods analyses revealed a majority of respondents believed being male influenced their relationship behavior and reported experiencing relationship challenges unique to male counselor educators. Male counselor educators shared strategies to avoid the perception of impropriety when engaging in teacherstudent relationships. Consultation, engagement in group activities and avoidance of being alone with students were cited as common strategies to ensure appropriate teacher-student boundaries.

Social Justice in Career Services: Perspectives of University Career Center Directors

“…Researchers have found that career counselors hold social justice values (Fickling, 2016;McMahon et al, 2008b), and our study is among the first to document these shared values among career center leadership. However, the low survey response rate and the small sample size limit representativeness MARCH 2018 • VOLUME 66 of the population of career center directors.…”

“…Career counselors who are competent in promoting social justice must juggle multiple roles and intervene at both individual and system levels (Bhat, ; Blustein, McWhirter, & Perry, ; Heppner & O'Brien, ; Herr & Niles, ; Ratts et al, ; Tang, ). Research indicates that career counselors value social justice and desire the skills and ability to advocate beyond the individual level, but lack the institutional support and skills to be able to do so (Fickling, ; McMahon, Arthur, & Collins, , ). Furthermore, there may be resistance to seeing career counselors as change agents (Gainor, ; Hansen, ), particularly beyond the individual level of the client–counselor relationship.…”

“…Reason and Broido () specified that student affairs professionals in upper administration may be best situated to increase institutional involvement in social justice work. Although research indicates that career counselors value diversity and social justice (Fickling, ; McMahon et al, , ), little is known about how career centers actively seek to serve students in ways that put these values into action.…”

“…The question of how to practice social justice is central to career counseling's relevance in the 21st century (Arthur, Collins, McMahon, & Marshall, ; Blustein et al, ; McMahon et al, ). It seems clear that career counselors wish to engage in social justice work more frequently and more skillfully (Fickling, ; McMahon et al, , ), but feel challenged in being able to adjust their roles and work demands. Therefore, it seems important to understand the perspectives on these issues held by university career center leaders.…”

Teaching career counseling as a pathway for justice and advocacy work

“…Clients would be better served if counselors were trained with a more systemic lens through which critically compassionate intellectualism, a framework developed by Latine scholars, could provide models of advocacy at the micro‐, meso‐, and macrolevels (Rector‐Aranda, 2019; Hanna et al., 2000). Furthermore, we need to help prepare students for supervisors and institutions where they will intern and work that maybe resistant to justice initiatives (Fickling, 2018).…”