Something Old and Something New: Future Directions in Vocational Research With People of Color in the United States

Abstract

Vocational psychology scholarship has largely overlooked the work experiences of people of color. In this article, we present evidence that vocational research that addresses the work issues of people of color has been neglected in the key outlets for vocational research among vocational psychologists. We outline seven directions for research inquiry with people of color, namely using culturally sensitive research methods, increasing research on the effectiveness of career interventions, integrating interdisciplinary perspectives, merging psychological and educational science with vocational development, using intersectional approaches, examining collective mobility strategies and structural reforms, and assessing the impact of environmental disasters on long-term educational and work outcomes.

Racial/Ethnic Minority Community College Students' Critical Consciousness and Social Cognitive Career Outcomes

“…SCCT has been widely tested and adopted in career research, including among racial/ethnic minority communities (Flores & O'Brien, 2002; Lent et al, 2005). In line with SCCT's sensibility toward contextual barriers facilitating or blocking career development, research suggests that external factors (e.g., social oppression, marginalization) affect the career development and career decision‐making process, particularly among communities of color (Diemer, 2007; Diemer & Hsieh, 2008; Duffy & Dik, 2009; Flores et al, 2019). Aiming to understand the role that resisting marginalization plays in the career development of racial/ethnic minority community college students, we propose a framework that integrates elements of critical consciousness (Freire, 1973; Watts et al, 2011) within SCCT (Lent & Brown, 2013; Lent et al, 1994).…”

“…Our study aims to add to the literature on career development in a number of ways. First, it is responsive to recent calls by career development researchers to address systemic issues impeding marginalized groups' career development, as well as their responses to this marginalization (Flores et al, 2019). Additionally, our study seeks further understanding of the applicability of SCCT among racial/ethnic minority populations and the role of critical consciousness within it (Cadenas et al, 2018).…”

Person- and System-Focused Prevention in Preparing Youth to Navigate an Uncertain Work Future

“…While this article is intended to increase awareness of career development education as a prevention activity, it is also a call for increased collaboration among prevention scholars, vocational psychologists, and career practitioners drawn from the fields of school counseling, counseling/vocational psychology, career guidance, rehabilitation counseling, career coaching and consulting, and multicultural researchers in designing preventive and health-promoting interventions. As so poignantly pointed out by Flores et al (2019), vocational theory and research have not attended to the experiences of persons of color or to the intersectionality of race and ethnicity with systems of colonialism, patriarchy, and capitalism. While the focus of this article has been on youth career development education, the well-documented relationships between decent work and well-being across the life span call for preventive and health-promoting interventions that integrate social, vocational, educational, and psychological issues for those no longer in school settings.…”

Bringing Students Closer to the World of Work through the School of Industrial Culture Implementation (SIBI) at State Vocational School of Mandiraja 1, Banjarnegara

“…Planning is done to find out the various potentials that make it possible to be appointed as a program. [16] a lot of things that can be explored become a potential to develop a good vocational school which is considered entirely new and even already used but can still be developed.…”