Social Justice

Social Justice

Social justice is something that I have to talk about. If you read some of my post, you may know that most of the clients that I work with are immigrants. I know that some people (hopefully no one in this class) in the United States have negative ideas when thinking about immigrants. I have to work with my clients to overcome the negative connotations that come along with immigrating to the United States as well as help them adjust to their new environment. It is hard to be an American living in America so imagine how hard it is to be an immigrant living in America; I can’t even imagine.

Today I was working with a client, she has been in the United States for 3 years and has been working to get her degree (from Egypt) verified so that she can practice as a licensed pharmacist. She was literally in tears because she has to pass 2 more exams before she can become licensed in the United States. Not to mention she only has 5 years to complete the entire process or she will need to start it over again. She has taken the exam over 10 times and always falls short on the score needed for the different categories. This woman is very intelligent and well educated but is still struggling. Now imagine how hard it must be more an uneducated person to find employment or even to continue their education being that this is the same exam (TOEFL) used as a stand in for the SAT for those with a different native language than English.

Brown 2012 made an excellent point by citing Blustein and colleagues suggestions that “emphasis on meritocracy and free competition is misguided because the race for social attainment starts at different places for the poor, some racial and ethnic groups, and people with disabilities” (page7). Some people such as immigrants have to jump through hoops to prove their social standing and to be considered on the same levels as other who have the same education and experience as them. I will continue to fight for my clients and help them reach the outlined goals that they have. I think it is very important for career development professionals to realize that we have to be an advocate for our clients. We are placed with these clients to help them and regardless if it is for career development or any other issue we have to do our best as professionals to help clients progress.  

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed., p. 14). Boston: Pearson