Economic Justice and Vocational Psychology: Towards Community Change

Abstract

In the present paper, we join the current dialogue in the field of vocational psychology regarding how neoliberal economic trends across the world have influenced the development of theory and approaches to vocational psychology. We propose an alternative perspective, that viewing career development from an economic justice lens, can provide an alternative to the existing neoliberal influence. An economic justice lens may aid us in moving from solely focusing on individual interventions and outcomes to those that help to create community-level change which in turn help create a more just economy for all. This is more than simply providing interventions to individuals in a community but requires shifting the locus of change to the community level. We detail four proposed career outcomes that center community-level change: Networking, Conscientization, Participation, and Liberation. Opportunities to utilize participatory action research, social network analysis, and other practice methods are encouraged. Finally, we offer examples of how vocational psychologists can take active roles in an economic justice approach to vocational psychology.

A Process Model of Career Decision-Making and Adaptation Under Uncertainty: Expanding the Dual-Process Theory of Career Decision-Making

“…For example, systemic issues, such as opportunity/resource disparity and discrimination, clearly impact what career is deemed acceptable or accessible. Thus, we position our process-oriented prescriptive model as an effort to help people make career decisions under contextual constraints, which supplements conversations about directly eradicating systemic barriers (Ali et al, 2022). This premise manifests itself in at least two areas of the process model which we detail later.…”

Youth Perceptions of Their Futures, Society, and the Work Landscape: A Psychology of Working Perspective

“…Despite significant political, social, religious and ethnic differences across the two national contexts, students from both samples expressed awareness of social and economic inequality in their countries and endorsed the importance of hard work. The Western neoliberal ideology that emphasizes personal success, hard work and opportunities for all is common in the US (Ali et al, 2022; Howard, 2010) and was previously documented among Israeli adolescents (Cinamon & Hason, 2009). While some students in our study recognized the limitations of hard work, others felt that those who do not succeed have not worked hard enough.…”

“…Hooley (2021) proposes a model of emancipatory career guidance that includes naming oppression or learning about the systems that marginalize people, problematizing or questioning what is normal, and encouraging people to work together for collective action. Critical analysis might be promoted through discussion of diverse economic policies, such as the debate regarding Universal Basic Income (UBI) or consideration of Ali et al’s (2022) assertion that prosperity and justice should be aligned for everyone to have a chance at a good life. Adolescents might also be asked to critically consider how their privilege and their efforts to sustain privilege are shaping their lives and career choices (Lapour & Heppner, 2009).…”

“…The US and Israeli students attending high-performing high schools interviewed for this study reflect the ideologies of the neoliberal economic systems in which they are embedded. Vocational psychologists (Ali et al, 2022) are challenging the field to move away from career development practices that perpetuate neoliberal assumptions that focus on personal success and strive instead to promote the collective good and economic justice. While this challenge entails the need for engagement in systemic community change, a critical lens can also be brought to vocational intervention at the person and group levels.…”

Why Work Matters: A Personal, Contextual, and Forward-Looking Exploration of Psychology of Working

“…The question of why work matters has been at the heart of my journey as a counseling and vocational psychologist for decades. The broader set of issues embedded in the differential ways that work matters and how it matters has formed the essence of the psychology of working theory (PWT) and of many related social justice-informed initiatives in our field (e.g., Ali et al, 2022; Blustein, 2006; Blustein et al, 2019; Brewster & Molina, 2021; Duffy et al, 2016; Flores et al, 2021). This article, which is a synthesis and extension of my Leona Tyler Award address at the 2023 American Psychological Association convention, provides an opportunity to reflect on these questions and to offer an integrative perspective on how to approach these issues.…”