2.11: Career Counseling

Career Counseling is a process that helps an individual know and understand themselves, and the world of work in order to make career, educational, and life decisions. Oftentimes, this type of work is done in the college setting for students who are trying to decide on both their college and career pathways so career counselors in an academic setting have great influence on students. They are usually part of an institution's student servicesdepartment.Career Centers/Career Services support students (and sometimes alumni) in their career development process. The career development process includes self-exploration/reflection, career & major decision making, and support with everything needed to obtain post-graduation goals: resume/cover letter/interview support, internship and job search strategies, and support.

The field of career services/career counseling in higher education is deeply entrenched in white supremacy and patriarchy. The field as a whole is only beginning to consider the ways in which those in it perpetuate systemic & individualized oppression. One example of how students are counseled centers around student’s presentation of self. Many college career centers state their aim is to support their students in becoming what is often termed“professional.” Research into the use of the focus on professionalism has demonstrated that the idea of professionalism itself is a white, western, patriarchal ideal, which when employed perpetuates unequal access to opportunity for students of color (Gray, 2019).

Additionally, beyond the goals and aims of a career center, they are one of the departments on campus that has access to employers who hire students.Because of their access to employers, counselors have the opportunity to help level the playing field in a mindful and positive way.This unique role creates a huge opportunity for true student advocacy focused on dismantling systemic issues. At present, there are clear and identified hiring practices that are harmful and/or discriminatory to people of color, specifically Black individuals(Rios, 2015).

Many career centers and career counselors state that they believe in and prioritize diversity, inclusion, and equity,however, the focus is mainly on creating resources and best practices for working with diverse students. This positions these students in relation to whiteness which in and of itself keeps structures in place (Gerdman, 2017). These types of policies or advocacy statements do little to actually advocate/educate employers on how their hiring practices may be racist or discriminatory. Many in the field of career counseling, have started getting requests for access to “diverse students” (Anderson, 2020). The purpose of this may be an attempt at equity, but it also begs the question of how universities and career centers are protecting their students and ensuring those workplaces are actually inclusive, as opposed to doing further harm by sending them into environments that are at best, tokenizing,and at worst, racist and discriminatory (Dali, 2018). Decentering whiteness as the norm for gauging professionalism in students can be done intentionally by career center staff and faculty without tokenizing, if staff commits to self-reflectivity and ongoing anti-bias work (Anderson,2020).