O*NET online and Dorece's Case

When looking at the discussion post this week I decided to do Doerce. Like me, she is also African American and is from Washington, D.C. She also was considering sacrificing possible career interests of hers, because her siblings, father, and boyfriend did not agree with them. Although I never changed my major based off of someone’s opinion, I have had people in my family ask what I am going to do with a degree in psychology. At the time, they were more focused on money and what could be done with psychology at a bachelor degree level. This is something common I hear a lot of psychology majors say which is why most of them pursue a master’s degree. I think this is why most people are unsatisfied with their career choices. They are sacrificing their career choices to make someone else happy instead of doing what they want. Is the money more important or being happy?

I also thought this would be a great time to explore not only jobs related to her, but jobs related to me as well in the Washington, D.C. Since moving, Washington, D.C. has always been an area that I wanted to move back to after graduating from college. Besides this area, I was also able to check possible areas I would consider moving and see the average salary for those in the psychology field. I saw a lot of positivity and upward trends in possible career choices for her as well as for me. This also gave me a time to explore O*NET online more. I was first introduced to it in my undergraduate career, but have been too busy to check back. Prior to this discussion post, I had to do another assignment in my undergraduate career based off of O*NET. This allowed me to make no excuses and to check my future career options and the projected outlook. It was also good to see I will be able to do something with my major in various areas once I get my master’s degree within the field of psychology.

Her case was very interesting coming from a middle-class family and attending an all-girls high school with an extremely high grade point average. A lot of the possible career options I found for Dorece also could intertwine with my career or be closely related. We also both enjoy the helping field. If I were a counselor, I think I picked out some good career choices for Dorese. They allowed her to do what she loved, but she would not have to answer to her father about what she would do with an English degree. She would still be able to help people and enjoy creative writing. 

Insights to Chapter 6 (Blog post 10)

While reading Chapter 6: "Clients with Special Needs” in the Brown (2012) text, I thought that she did a great job with highlighting all the important points of this very important topic.

She gives a disclaimer about reading the chapter, stating that one will not be an expert in providing career counseling to the vast population of clients who may request career counseling, though some of the topics discussed in the chapter are important points to consider for future clinical and professional practice. 

She breaks each of the populations down by category and addresses each one individually.

I thought it appropriate for this week’s blog post to talk a little more about some of the things she mentions in terms of 2 of the populations.

1. Disabled individuals - including those with physical and mental disabilities

2. Women

For Individuals with a Disability, some important things to consider are:

1.     First, for the disabled population it is important to be cognizant of the term "disabled" as it  the  implies deficits. In practice, you would always want to be careful of the language you are using so as to not offend, nor to disrupt the report between you and your client. Be mindful of the fact that the disability is not all encompassing of the individual. For example it is Individuals with a Disability, not Disabled Individuals. The client's disability is only part of what makes them who they are. However, there is much more to their story and narrative. 

2.     A disability is any restriction or lack of (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in a manner or within the range considered normal for a human being." The major classifications for disabilities include: Mobility, Hearing, Vision, Developmental Disorders, Seizure Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders, and Cognition (Kraus, Stoddard & Gilmartin, 1996). 

3.   The CPS survey (2004) reported the percentages for people who were non-disabled, moderate disabled, and severely disabled were 85%, 81% and 29.5%, respectively. Workers who were severely disabled tended to be concentrated in service occupations and earned considerably less than their non disabled counterparts as a whole. 

For women, some important things to consider are:

1.     Determine whether the woman's preliminary choices were made as a result of socialization or if it is in line with her actual interests.

2.     As career counselors, it will be important to discuss with women clients about discrimination in the workplace and also inform them of their rights when subjected to sexual harassment.

3.     Career counselors should be mindful of the fact that single mothers may require some additional guidance and support in the career counseling process. 

Resources

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.


Kraus, L., Stoddard, S., & Gilmartin, D. (1996). Chartbook on Disability in the United States. An InfoUse Report. Washington, DC: U.S National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Retrieved from: http;//www.infouse.com/diabilitydata/disability/.

Case Study Thoughts

     I find it appropriate to speak about my interview for the case study paper which is coming due for this blog post.  It was an intriguing and interesting experience and I was not prepared for the amount of information that would be freely shared.  I believe that individuals enjoy having their stories heard, especially when it is someone younger asking a person who is older than them.  I also believe that the questions allow them to gain insight into their own decisions and path they chose to take.  For confidentiality reasons, I will not disclose the name of my interviewee.

     While interviewing my chosen person for the case study paper, I learned about their life and heard personal stories that I would not have access to if it was not for the interview.  They did not simply answer the questions, but the questions allowed for self-reflection which they reported to me as well.   They were gaining insight to their decisions and I was witnessing it firsthand.  I find it interesting how each person has an extremely individualized path to get where they are in their career.  There are many more factors that go into choosing a career than I believe the average person realizes and I got to hear this person's path.  

     When asking the simple, general question "how did you chose your career?" most people come up with a response of a couple sentences that explain a basic path of either they knew what they wanted to do or thing's just happened to work out in that direction.  But what we do not hear about is how certain decisions and actions have domino effects in their life and how things went wrong or right for awhile.  I learned personal details of failings and successes that led to indecision and need for guidance.  

     I think it is good for us to reflect, not just as counselors, but as friends, sons, daughters, etc. that sometimes we need to simply ask and listen.  And maybe we need to let people us ask and actually answer them.  I feel as if these things will connect people more and we will learn more about each other, and in turn, help us because we can learn from other's mistakes and we can learn from theirs.  For example, I learned that a mistake in priorities can alter your life, but can lead to a path that will allow you to be more successful.

     I hope as a counselor people will be able to be as honest and open in their sessions with me as my interviewee was because I believe the client would be able to often help themselves with the gain in personal insight.  I also believe that being honest and open might make us vulnerable, but is best in helping us grow as individuals.

Blog 9

For this week’s blog post, I will evaluate my experience in relation to the Career Development Case Study Project. I will discuss my selection process for selecting a participant. I will also discuss my preparation and experience with the interview process, the analysis of the collected background information and the theory selected. 

For the career development case study project, I have to admit that selecting a participant to interview and analysis was the most challenging part.   My goal was to select an individual that I could relate to and understand his or her career indecision and aspirations. I was interested in a participant who had experience in the field of psychology or someone with a similar vocational stage of development as mine.   This would allow me to compare and contrast my career development.

My friend informed me of her brother that had dealt with career indecision and lack of career aspirations over the years.   After speaking with Thomas briefly, I was intrigued with his family background and the impact it had on his vocational aspirations.  I prepared interview questions following the outline provided in the syllabus.   The interview was captivating as he informed me of the details of his background, his parent’s business and the impact it had played on the development of his career aspiration. 

Thomas is the son, of the founders, of a family owned trucking company.  His parents and older brothers found careers in the business. However, Thomas was not interested in the remedial and corporate lifestyle of the family business.  He wanted to find a career that was meaningful to him and that positively impacted the lives of those around him.

I was shocked at my ability to easily recognize the various components of each theory we have studied thus far in the class, such as his identifying his occupational life themes, the influence of pendulum attractors during his times of transition and recognizing that small changes bring about large effects.         

Due to his young age and lack of a lifelong career development, I ran into difficulties with the application of a beneficial theory that I felt applied accurately and fully.  However, I selected a theory rooted in postmodern philosophy because of his non-traditional approach to career development. I also felt his career indecision and career development was best explained through the use of narratives.

I believe the Career Development Case Study was beneficial to my overall understanding of the theories and application of the theories to real-world settings. It also improved my ability to distinguish between the schools of philosophical assumptions and recognizing the different components of the individual theories.

...and that's what little girls are made of.

            This year, my TSS job finds me in a kindergarten class every afternoon.  This is my first time in kindergarten (besides of course that time I was the one learning my ABCs).  Sitting in the classroom as mostly a silent observer, I’ve been privy to in vivo observations of the child development that was conceptualized in our graduate courses.  This year has been especially exciting because of the rapid rate at which learning occurs for the students and the overt expression of that growth.  Besides the educational growth, I have found the development and expression of gender within the classroom to be especially intriguing.  

Differences between the genders appear to be apparent to the children but it does not lead to self-segregation.  During free time they engage in mixed gender play, opposite gender friendships and partner choices.  Where gender is made obvious, in classroom rules, routines, and lessons, adults have imposed it.  Common expressions heard from the teacher include: “Girls repeat first, then the boys; If you’re a girl, then stand up; or the girls get pink and the boys get blue.”  There seems to be a distinct cyclical nature of gender socialization.  From day one, adults teach children, directly and indirectly, what it means to be a girl or a boy according to gendered characteristics that are assumed to be natural.  When that child grows up she teaches her own children or students similar lessons about gender.  Her children will eventually teach their children gender-norms, and on and on.  In my opinion gender equality is contingent on an understanding of gender differences based in biology and ones that have been imposed by the culture. 

            Here in kindergarten, it’s safe to assume that even if a kid can dress himself independently, the parents are the ones who have ultimate control over what makes it into the closet.  The exact nature of this phenomenon certainly varies with the economic and cultural make-up of a community.  The school where I have spent the last two months is a rural-suburban community in Lancaster County.  The teaching staff is entirely white and the student majority is white and middle class with the resources for more material goods than their urban neighbors.  The boys wear an unofficial uniform of jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers.  The girls, however, vary widely in their style of dress.  Some wear clothes similar to the boys while others come to school everyday in a dress and sparkly sandals.  I had not recognized the implications of the differences in dress until gym class a few weeks ago.  The class was taught a passing/running game to work on functional motor and cognitive skills.  One girl, in a skirt and red velvet flats had to sit out of the game because of the impracticality of her outfit for the activity.  It occurred to me then, that this brand of isolation from the group is very rarely imposed on boys; they are always dressed in clothes that facilitate activity.  Girls might have more variety in clothing choice, some more gender enforcing than others, but not all of those options allow for equal participation. 

            Could there be an additive effect to this brand of gendered segregation?  Over time, these students will witness many other instances where their female cohorts will be set apart because of practical limitations of their clothing.  Each time that red velvet shoed girl comes to school in an outfit unfit for gym class and has to sit out, she is being indirectly taught that she is less fit for physical activity and that gym-type activities are not feminine.  Furthermore, the male students see only girls sitting out, possibly leading to the adoption of standard social acceptance of women as uninterested in and less fit for physical exertion.

            According to Linda Gottfredson’s Theory of Circumscription and Compromise, career choice involves ruling out jobs deemed unfit based on stereotypes of the job and the individual.  In adulthood girls might discount careers that require physical exertion or masculine qualities.  Do little girls want to wear dresses and pretty shoes because of a natural proclivity or only because adults have reinforced gender standards? Is it even possible to tease out these separate influencers? 

Insights of Interview

For this week’s blog I will discuss my thoughts and experiences with the interview for the case study paper. Before choosing my interviewee, I was nervous for the interview. I did not know whether to choose someone I sort of new or asking a complete stranger to hear all about their career development. I stuck with the semi easy route and selected my interviewee who is a family friend’s daughter. In order to keep her identity confidential, I will use her initials (KG).

KG is a middle-class, white female. She is in her early twenties and has a bachelor of science in nursing degree. I was hesitant to interview such a young person for career development, but I thought that I could see any indecisiveness that occurred during her process. She currently works as a registered nurse in a well-respected hospital. In the hospital, she works in the intensive care unit. KG grew up with a father who is an entrepreneur and a mother who is a certified nurses aide. When KG was eight years old, she knew she wanted to become a registered nurse. In my own perspective on her situation, I believe that KG developed this goal because of her mother.

KG lost her father in 2007. Watching her mother go to work and the tasks she would perform as a nurse’s aide surrounded her; that became the only thing she knew. During high school, KG found a love for art. She excelled in art and it soon became her hobby. At this point, she was in a time of indecision. She loved art and was outstanding, she received multiple awards for her art pieces, but she also had a passion for becoming a nurse. KG received counseling for both the loss of her father and her indecision. She was able to come to a conclusion that she would further her education and go to school for nursing.

Without going into full detail of her previous part-time jobs, I will state that I do not see why they are pertinent to her career development process. She worked a number of retail positions which are completely opposite of nursing. I see some similarities in wanting to help people and being around people in her previous and current job, but I do not see any of the connections. KG also wondered about the connections between all of her jobs. I can relate to KG in this way. In my own experience with part-time jobs, I have not seen any relation to my ultimate career goal.