Career Counseling and Multicultural Competencies

There has been some work to integrate multicultural counseling competencies and career counseling competencies (Evans & Larrabee, 2002; Hargrove, Creagh, & Kelly, 2003; NCDA, 1997). The career counseling competencies, revised by NCDA in 1997, identified one of the domains as competencies related to “Diverse Populations”. This domain emphasized that career counselors should demonstrate an awareness of a range of dimensions of culture (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, etc.). This domain also suggests that career counselors may need to advocate, make links to the community, and provide accommodations needed given diverse needs of clients. While this endorsement is essential, there was a need for more specificity to guide career counselors regarding cultural competence. Hargrove and his associates examined the competencies proposed by Sue et al. (1992) and adapted them to address the particular issues related to career counseling.

• Career counselor awareness of own world view toward educational and career-related behaviors, as well as career counseling interventions (p. 401)
• Career counselor awareness of client’s world view toward education, work- or career- related behaviors, and career counseling interventions (p. 401)
• Culturally appropriate career interventions (p. 402)