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3. Exposing clients to models of effective decision making.

4. Providing time in session to engage in occupational information searches

and promoting greater use of information sources between sessions.

5. Helping clients attend to, identify, and (if necessary) build support for their

preferred career plans (see S. D. Brown et al., 2003, for a fuller discussion of

these ingredients and how they might be implemented).

More importantly, Brown and Ryan Krane also found that interventions that

employed any combination of three of these five critical ingredients, regardless

of how otherwise theoretically truncated the interventions might have been,

ielded large (d = 0.99), rather than small, overall effect sizes. Thus, we also sug-

gest that, whatever else they do, counselors build these critical ingredients into

their interventions.

Another important meta-analysis (Whiston et al., 2003) that compared directly

the effects of different intervention formats (e.g., group, individual, computer,

self-directed) has also yielded some important insights into how career choice in-

terventions might be improved. The potentially most important of these insights,

as summarized by S. D. Brown and McPartland (in press), included these:

•Totally self-directed and stand-alone computer interventions were substan-

tially less effective than all other intervention formats.

•The effects of computer-directed interventions were improved considerably

(effect size increase of 0.37) if a counselor was involved at some point during

computer use.

•Structured groups were more effective (effect size difference of 0.34) than

less structured groups and, perhaps, other forms of intervention—except

that the comparative effects of individual counseling had been studied so

infrequently that the relative benefit of this form of intervention could not

be ascertained relative to other formats.

Thus, it seems that totally self-directed interventions, including self-directed

computer-guided interventions, should be avoided unless no other alternative is

available, and some degree of counselor involvement may improve the effective-

ness of computer-guided systems (and perhaps other forms of self-directed inter-

ventions as well), especially if that involvement includes helping clients decipher

difficult-to-interpret information and assisting them in establishing future

reer goals (see S. D. Brown et al., 2003). These data also suggest that structured

group experiences may be the most empirically and cost-effective interventions

for many clients.

UMMARY AND

ONCLUSIONS

The research discussed in this section provides some important data on the ef-

fectiveness of career choice interventions and some equally important insights

about how they might be structured to maximize their benefits. First, it is clear

that career interventions for choice-making difficulties are demonstrably effec-

tive. Second, however, it is also clear that their effectiveness, although currently

somewhat modest, might be improved (perhaps substantially) in several impor-

tant ways:

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Counseling for Career Choice: Implications for Improving Interventions 447

•Ensuring that they are embedded more firmly and comprehensively than

they currently seem to be in the well-established trait-factor traditions in vo-

cational psychology.

•Incorporating more fully the insights and strategies provided by other em-

pirically supported theories of career choice and development.

• Building into them as many of the critical ingredients identified in the

meta-analytic research as possible.

•In the case of computer-directed guidance systems, incorporating counselor

involvement in ways that will maximize the effectiveness of these systems.

It is also, however, clear that each of these more general suggestions as well as

the more specific ones outlined in this section (e.g., the hypothesized added ben-

efits of ability and need assessments, the importance of critical ingredients to

outcome, and the necessity of identifying prematurely eliminated possibilities)

requires concerted research attention in the future. They thus provide a rich

source of ideas for those who are interested in contributing, now or in the future,

to the knowledge base of the field and to providing an empirical basis for helping

people reach their full career potentials and achieve more satisfying work (and,

ideally, personal) lives.

TAILOR ING INTERVENTIONS TO

CLIENT NEEDS AND GOALS

Although research over the past half-century and more recent meta-analyses

have yielded valuable insights into how people can be helped to make more sat-

isfying vocational choices, there is still much more that we need to know to pro-

vide maximally effective career service to the widest array of clientele. The final

two sections of this chapter focus on how we might tailor interventions more ef-

fectively on the basis of client presenting concerns and goals (this section) and

social/cultural experiences (next section). In both cases, our suggestions and

conclusions are much more speculative and clinically based than in the first sec-

tion simply because career intervention research has not yet made sufficient use

of available theoretical and empirical knowledge on these topics. The meta-analyses

have also not been able to identify client characteristics that might suggest differ-

ential treatments because clients are not described with sufficient precision in

the primary studies that are included in the meta-analyses to enable the types of

analyses that would shed empirical light on these issues. These sections should,

therefore, provide a rich set of ideas for those readers interested in a research ca-

reer in the field as well as some ideas that practitioners may want (if they have not

already done so) to attempt to implement in their practices.

OCATIONAL

ROBLEM

IAGNOSTICS

There is, for example, a large body of research that suggests that clients’ choice-

making difficulties may have different underlying causes, some of which may re-

quire different, and perhaps more intensive, forms of intervention than we

described in the previous section. A host of factors that might contribute to a

client’s feeling undecided have been studied over the years—for example, lack

knowledge, anxiety, vocational identity, career maturity, goal stability, and

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career decision-making self-efficacy beliefs. More recent research has begun suc-

cessfully to suggest a diagnostic scheme that might be usefully employed in coun-

seling (and instruments that can aid in the diagnostic process—see, for example,

Chartrand and Robbins’ [1997] Career Factors Inventory described in Chapter

15). Specifically, cluster analytic studies (Chartrand et al., 1994; Kelly & Lee,

2002; Larson, Heppner, Ham, & Dugan, 1988; Larson & Majors, 1998; Lucas, 1993;

Lucas & Epperson, 1990; Multon, Heppner, & Lapan, 1995), which have attempted

to identify homogeneous sets of clients on the basis of presenting characteristics,

have consistently identified at least two somewhat distinct client types: (1) those

expressing a need for more self- and occupational knowledge and (2) those pre-

senting with more pervasive problems. The latter clients, who have typically been

labeled as chronically indecisive, tend to report more long-standing problems in

making a variety of decisions that are accompanied, in some combination, by

high levels of anxiety proneness (trait anxiety) and negative affectivity; a ten-

dency to focus on, and ruminate about, what will go wrong with different choice

options (i.e., fear of commitment); and low levels of perceived problem-solving

abilities, career decision-making self-efficacy beliefs, and goal stability.

While the former (developmentally undecided) clients may respond very well

to the types of career choice interventions that we described in the first section of

this chapter, the more chronically indecisive client may, as has been frequently

suggested (S. D. Brown & McPartland, in press; Peterson, Sampson, Lenz, & Rear-

don, 2002; Salomone, 1982; Savickas, 1996), require more intensive, longer term

counseling. For example, although Whiston et al.’s (2003) meta-analysis sug-

gested that structured groups may in general be the preferred form of interven-

tion for many clients, this may not be true for the chronically indecisive. They

may, rather, require individual counseling that focuses not only on helping them

identify, and decide among, viable career options on the basis of their interests,

needs, and abilities, but also on managing their anxiety, fears of commitment,

and less than adequate confidence in their abilities to make important decisions.

Further, although the S. D. Brown and Ryan Krane (2000) meta-analysis also

found that maximum benefit for clients may be achieved after four to five ses-

sions of career help, this finding may hold primarily for the developmentally un-

decided—more indecisive clients may require not only individual counseling but

also substantially more than four to five sessions to be able to arrive at a decision

to which they can commit.

The cluster analytic research has also, albeit less consistently, found at least two

other client subtypes—those experiencing heightened anxiety that is focused only

on their current career decision (due, perhaps, to its growing imminence—see

Chartrand & Robbins, 1997) and those feeling stuck because of

conflicts with sig-

nificant others about their preferred career choices (Kelly & Lee, 2002). The for-

mer clients may need help managing their current feelings of anxiety in addition

to finding a viable career direction, while the latter may not really need help

identifying viable options (they may have already done that), but rather assis-

tance in managing conflict with their significant others, garnering support for

their plans, and (if necessary) considering compromise options.

OUNSELING

OALS

There are other data to suggest not only that clients’ indecision may have differ-

ent underlying causes, but also that people come to counseling with different

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Counseling for Career Choice: Implications for Improving Interventions 449

goals for what they want to accomplish. The counseling outcome research litera-

ture, unfortunately, treats all clients not only as if they are developmentally un-

decided but also as if they have only one goal, namely, to increase their career

options. Although many clients do, in fact, want to expand their options, research

has found that other clients seek counseling because they are confused by an

overwhelming number of options (e.g., Gati, Krausz, & Osipow, 1996), while still

others seem to need help deciding between, or among, a few viable options (e.g.,

Shimizu, Vondracek, Schulenberg, & Hostetler, 1988). Some even seek help to

confirm, and receive assurance about, an already chosen option before they com-

mit to it fully and attempt to implement it (Chartrand et al., 1994).

Again, although we have no data to support our clinical hunches and experi-

ences, we would suggest that counseling should be tailored to the goals that

clients bring with them to counseling. Those, for example, needing fewer rather

than more options might benefit from focused, in-depth information searches over

already identified options rather than broad information searches designed to un-

cover options. They may also benefit more from activities designed to help them

prioritize their needs, interests, and abilities (i.e., identify core requirements)

than from activities designed to help them broaden their self-understanding (see

Gati, Fassa, & Houminer, 1995, for additional suggestions).

Likewise, clients who come to counseling for help in choosing among viable

options are really not looking for more possibilities, but instead for help in mak-

ing a tentative choice. Activities designed to assist them with the decision that

they want to make are, therefore, clearly called for and may include help in con-

sidering the consequences for different decision alternatives. For example, a large

body of research on Janis and Mann’s (1977) conflict model of decision making

has shown consistently that the thoroughness with which people consider both

positive and negative consequences for the options they are considering is posi-

tively related to their postdecisional satisfaction and tenure and negatively re-

lated to feelings of postdecisional regret (Colton & Janis, 1982; Hoyt & Janis, 1975;

Janis & La Flamme, 1982; Mann, 1972). One theoretical mechanism that appears

to account for these results is that by considering potential consequences as com-

pletely as possible, people are inoculated against postdecisional setbacks if antic-

ipated negative consequences materialize—they have had an opportunity to

anticipate, and even prepare for, them.

However, it is also true that people may have preferred methods of making de-

cisions that may or may not correspond to the somewhat rational approach advo-

cated by the Janis and Mann (1977) model. Harren (1979), for example, suggested,

and subsequent research has confirmed (Mau, 1995, 2000), the existence of at least

three decision-making styles that represent people’s preferred methods of mak-

ing decisions across different types of decision-making situations—rational, in-

tuitive, and dependent. Those who prefer to make decisions rationally tend to try

carefully to consider their options and the likely consequences of each and ulti-

mately choose the option that minimizes negative and maximizes likely positive

consequences. Intuitive decision makers, on the other hand, tend to rely on emo-

tions more than cognitions and tend to choose that decisional option that “feels

right,” regardless of the balance or positive and negative consequences associated

with it. Finally, those who use a predominantly dependent style rely more on the

input, expectations, and suggestions of others (and may defer to family or peer

preferences) than on their emotional reactions to, or cognitive analyses of, possi-

ble options.

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Research on the relative effectiveness of these decision-making styles in terms

of their relations to postdecisional satisfaction has been both consistent and in-

consistent—the dependent style has been shown consistently to be the least ef-

fective style, while the evidence is mixed on the relative superiority of the other

two styles (see Mau, 1995). These data might, at first glance, suggest that we

counsel dependent decision makers to adopt one of the other, apparently more

adaptive, styles. Such a strategy might, however, be culturally insensitive and

multiculturally inappropriate when working with clients from collectivist cul-

tures in which the input from others, especially the family, are of paramount im-

portance. Tang, Fouad, and Smith (1999), for example, found in a test of Social

Cognitive Career Theory’s choice model (see Lent, Chapter 5, this volume) in a

sample of Asian American college students that the strongest predictors of these

students’ choices were their self-efficacy beliefs and their family preferences

rather than their interests—students’ choices were not based so much on their

interests but rather on what their families wanted them to do and whether they

felt capable in their family-preferred choices. This effect was also more pro-

nounced for less acculturated students—those who more strongly adhered to

traditional rather than Western values.

These streams of research, therefore, create a bit of a counseling conundrum—

how do we remain true to the data but, at the same time, culturally aware and ap-

propriate? One possibility that we have used is first to help clients, following the

Janis and Mann (1977) strategy, to consider carefully the pros and cons of each de-

cisional alternative, but then to encourage them to use their personally and/or

culturally preferred strategy in arriving at a tentative choice and supporting

them in their choice. Although the cross-cultural viability and effectiveness of

this strategy needs research attention, it does have the potential advantages of in-

oculating clients against postdecisional setbacks while remaining true to their

personal preferences and cultural dictates.

UMMARY AND

ONCLUSIONS

Clients would benefit greatly if counselors attended more closely to the condi-

tions that might underlie their clients’ choice-making difficulties and their goals

for counseling rather than taking, as is the case in the research literature, a one-

size-fits-all intervention approach. There are rich literatures that can be called on

to direct such counseling efforts and to provide testable ideas and questions for

subsequent research.

Some of the most clinically important questions for future research include:

•Are the types of well-developed, theoretically sound, and empirically based

interventions that we advocated in the first section of this chapter as effec-

tive for chronically indecisive and choice-anxious clients, and those who are

experiencing significant conflict with their families, as with more develop-

mentally undecided (i.e., information-needing) clients?

•Are the interventions also equally effective for clients with goals of expand-

ing, reducing, or deciding among options?

If the ultimate answers to either or both of these questions are, as we obviously

expect them to be, negative, we need research that tests out in the counseling

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Counseling for Career Choice: Implications for Improving Interventions 451

arena the effectiveness of interventions that are built specifically to address the

needs of clients with differing presenting concerns and goals.

Such interventions, whether generic or specifically tailored, also need to at-

tend to the unique career-limiting and inhibiting influences that clients may

bring with them to counseling on the basis of their gender, race/ethnicity, or sex-

ual orientation. It is to these that we turn next.

IMPROVING CAREER CHOICE INTERVENTIONS

WITH DIVERSE POPULATIONS

The outcome research on career choice interventions seems to treat all clients, re-

gardless of presenting concerns and goals, not only as if they are alike but also as if

clients’ gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation have inconsequential influ-

ences on their responsiveness to counseling or the outcomes that they might attain.

In fact, except for gender, we know little about the race/ethnicity and sexual orien-

tations of participants in the intervention research. For example, in the 62 studies

employed by S. D. Brown and Ryan Krane (2000) in their meta-analysis of the career

choice counseling outcome literature, only 19% (n = 12) provided data on the racial-

ethnic composition of their samples and none provided sexual orientation data.

Further, although it is often assumed that extant interventions may not be as ef-

fective for these clients as for others, there has been little research of which we are

aware that has compared directly the effects and effectiveness of extant interven-

tions with people of different races and ethnicities or sexual orientations. Finally,

although some comprehensive models for directing career counseling with these

groups have been developed (e.g., Cook, Heppner, & O’Brien, 2002; Fouad & Bing-

ham, 1995; Leong & Brown, 1995), these models have not yet to any consistent ex-

tent been subject to direct empirical testing. All of this is somewhat surprising

and very disconcerting given that professional guidelines have been developed

that provide recommendations for responsible multicultural counseling (Ameri-

can Psychological Association [APA], 2003) and rich literatures exist on the career

development experiences of women; people of color; and lesbian, gay, bisexual,

and transgendered (LGBT) individuals. In the remainder of this section, we re-

view the latter literatures to provide some suggestions for working with cultur-

ally diverse clientele and for directing future research.

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OUNSELING WITH

OMEN

The career development of women has become one of the most investigated topics

in vocational psychology over the past 20 or so years. Although this research has

revealed that the career development of men and women is similar in a number of

respects, it has also identified some unique experiences that women may en-

counter that make their development somewhat more complex and their decision

making more challenging and complicated than men’s (Betz & Fitzgerald, 1987;

Fassinger, 2000; Fitzgerald, Fassinger, & Betz, 1995; Flores & Heppner, 2002).

Three somewhat unique issues that have been identified in the literature that

make women’s career decision making and success challenging are:

1. Dealing with multiple role relationships.

2. Coping with and overcoming gender-related barriers.

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3. Managing the reentry process (see Betz, Chapter 11, this volume, for a more

detailed discussion of these and other issues pertaining to women’s career

development and choices).

Multiple Role Relationships One unique aspect of women’s career development is

the societal, familial, and individual expectation that a woman manage household

responsibilities in addition to her career. While multiple role responsibilities (e.g.,

wife, partner, worker, parent, and homemaker) rarely affect the career develop-

ment of men, women often must choose a career that simultaneously allows them

the time and flexibility necessary to manage these extra-work roles. The effect of

having to manage multiple roles may be to limit the number of viable career choices

available to women; that is, women may choose (freely or not) to trade their career

aspirations for work that accommodates multiple role responsibilities. Counselors,

however, must also realize that not every woman seeking choice counseling desires

to maintain household or familial responsibilities. Ultimately, career counselors

must pay attention to how their clients assign meaning and importance to career

and family and tailor career choice interventions appropriately.

Sex-Related Internal and External Barriers Internal (e.g., work-family stress) and

external barriers (e.g., discrimination, lack of support systems) can also reduce or

restrict the range of acceptable occupational choices women consider. For exam-

ple, the presence of barriers often results in women making traditional, stereo-

typic, female choices (Betz & Fitzgerald, 1987). Therefore, career counselors need

also to take intentional steps to attend to and help clients identify potential bar-

riers to their preferred choices and to other options they might have ruled out.

Counselors can also help clients consider how barriers may be prevented or sur-

mounted, including how support systems might be built as an aid in overcoming

barriers (Richie et al., 1997).

Reentry A number of women reenter the workforce after an extended period of

absence (Padula, 1994). This population of women typically took a leave from the

workforce due to multiple role responsibilities, including parenthood and familial

responsibilities (Morgan & Foster, 1999). Reentry women are typically in their 30s

or 40s, choose social or helping occupations, exhibit higher levels of self-reported

career indecision and lower levels of self-reported assertiveness and autonomy,

and tend to use the rational career decision-making style (MacKinnon-Slaney,

Barber, & Slaney, 1988; Morgan & Foster, 1999; Pickering & Galvin-Schaefers, 1988;

Slaney, Stafford, & Russell, 1981). Two other seemingly consistent findings from

research with reentry women is that they have lower career aspirations and tend

to choose lower level occupations than other women (Chae, 2002; Pickering &

Galvin-Schaefers, 1988). While this may reflect the necessity of reentry women

finding occupations that accommodate multiple role responsibilities, career coun-

selors must also be cognizant of the fact that many reentry women aspire to occu-

pations that underutilize their talents (Chae, 2002; Pickering & Galvin-Schaefers,

1988). Although standardized interest measures (e.g., Strong Interest Inventory)

and card sort techniques (e.g., Vocational Card Sort) have been shown to reduce

the career indecision of reentry women (Slaney & Lewis, 1986), counselors might

also consider strategies provided by Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Chap-

ter 5, this volume) and other emerging theories (e.g., Cook et al., 2002) to help

their reentry clients identify prematurely eliminated career options.

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Counseling for Career Choice: Implications for Improving Interventions 453

Some reentry women also face increased stress and conflict stemming from

the accumulation of work and family demands. In addition, the reentry client

must often face the barriers experienced by all women in the workforce (e.g., dis-

crimination based on sex or age). Given the increase in mental and physical en-

ergy required as a partner, worker, and parent, in addition to possible sex and

age discrimination found in the workplace, reentry women have been found to

be at increased risk for emotional, physical, and psychological distress (Chae,

2002; Morgan & Foster, 1999). In sum, in working with reentry women, coun-

selors may need to attend to and help clients manage or reduce any or all of the

following factors in addition to those already discussed in relation to choice

counseling in general:

•Work-family conflict.

•Multiple role demands.

• Age and sex discrimination in the hiring and advancement process.

Additionally, it may be important to assess the realism of clients’ aspirations and

help clients counter aspirations that seem to be unrealistically low (see Cook

et al., 2002; Lent, Chapter 5, this volume).

HOICE

OUNSELING WITH

ESBIAN

, G

, B

ISEXUAL

AND

RANSGENDERED

NDIVIDUALS

While research on the vocational development of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-

gendered (LGBT) populations has been sparse (Chung, 1995; Lonborg & Phillips,

1996; Pope, 1995), more theoretically oriented writing has consistently high-

lighted some factors that may relate to choice-making difficulties that LGBT

clients might experience, including (1) sexual identity development, (2) barriers

related to sexual orientation, and (3) sexual identity management.

Sexual Identity

Salient aspects of sexual identity development (see Troiden,

1989, for a review) typically occur during adolescence (Morrow, Gore, & Camp-

bell, 1996). Given the stigmatization often associated with a nonheterosexual

identity, it is possible that sexual identity development can be a traumatic and

stressful experience for many LGBT individuals. Because sexual identity devel-

opment typically occurs during the same period when academic and career in-

terests crystallize (i.e., adolescence), LGBT individuals may not consider fully

their career possibilities, may abandon potentially acceptable career choices due

to stress and turmoil associated with an LGBT sexual identity development, and

may even

present with a very limited set of career options or no options at all

(Fassinger, 1996; Morrow et al., 1996; Prince, 1995).

Barriers Related to Sexual Orientation Morrow et al. (1996) and Chung (1995) sug-

gested that career choices of LGBT individuals may also be directly limited by ex-

ternal barriers related to sexual orientation (e.g., discrimination, lack of social

support), which serve to hinder their ability to choose appropriate and satisfying

careers. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered populations have a long history

of being discriminated against and oppressed in work and educational environ-

ments. Discrimination may cause LGBT clients to rule out otherwise gratifying

and acceptable career alternatives; therefore, it restricts ultimate choices (Chung,

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1995; Elliot, 1993). Discrimination in the workplace may make safety (as opposed

to interest) the primary influence on career choice for LGBT individuals, limiting

their career choices to occupations that they perceive as LGBT-friendly (Fassinger,

1996; Morrow et al., 1996). Assisting clients to explore nondiscrimination policies

of different work environments may also facilitate the career choice-making pro-

cess of LGBT clients (Rostosky & Riggle, 2002).

Sexual Identity Management Sexual identity management is the way in which LGBT

individuals handle self-disclosure of their sexual orientation (De Montefloers, 1986;

Prince, 1995). Many LGBT individuals may choose to “pass” as heterosexual,

while

others may disclose their sexual orientation in the workplace. While the strategy of

passing may eliminate the barriers associated with an LGBT orientation (e.g., dis-

crimination, oppression), it may be detrimental to the overall well-being of the indi-

vidual in the long run (Prince, 1995). Unfortunately, disclosing an LGBT orientation

can have serious (and typically negative) repercussions on the individual’s career

advancement. It, therefore, seems important for career counselors to discuss the im-

plications of sexual orientation disclosure with their clients (Elliot, 1993).

Pope (1995) summarized the major issues faced by many LGBT individuals and

suggested that career counselors need to learn models of sexual identity develop-

ment and be aware of their own personal biases and attitudes. Additionally, Pope

suggested that counselors may need to:

1. Openly discuss disclosure of sexual orientation and discrimination in the

workplace.

2. Assist clients in identifying and resolving internalized negative stereo-

types about LGBT issues.

3. Identify, support, encourage, and use LGBT professionals as role models for

clients.

Degges-White and Schoffner (2002) added that it is important to acknowledge (as

opposed to minimize or discount) barriers, assist clients in weighing the costs

and benefits of disclosure of sexual orientation, encourage the exploration of a

wide variety of occupations, and use local LGBT resources, publications, and

community centers when working with this population. Elliot (1993) also sug-

gested that career counselors provide workshops that specifically address LGBT

issues in the workplace.

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OUNSELING WITH

ACIAL

INORITIES

It is estimated that by 2006 approximately 30% of the workforce in the United

States will consist of persons from racial minority groups (U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, 2001). Career counselors need to be familiar with the unique sociopo-

litical history of the client’s racial and cultural group and take steps to learn the

values, norms, religion, tradition, and other aspects of the culture relevant to the

career development of the client (APA, 2003; D. Brown, 2003; Sue & Sue, 1999). In

addition to understanding group differences, the culturally informed career

counselor should also realize that individual differences exist within each cul-

tural and racial group and that variables of interest in career counseling may

vary in salience across culture and race (Fouad & Bingham, 1995). In this sec-

tion, we review salient issues for major racial groups in the United States (see

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Counseling for Career Choice: Implications for Improving Interventions 455

Worthington, Flores, & Navarro, Chapter 10, this volume, for a more detailed

discussion of these and other important issues).

Hispanic Americans Hispanics are the fastest growing (Arbona, 1995; Lucero-

Miller & Newman, 1999) and currently the largest numerical minority group in

the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban

are the first-, second-, and third-largest Hispanic subgroups, respectively (Arbona,

1995; Herr & Cramer, 1996). It is important to note that the term Hispanic is not

universally accepted. Instead, some have suggested that Latino be used as a desig-

nation for this population (Calderon, 1992; L. Gomez, 1992).

Despite the fact that there are currently more than 35 million Hispanics in the

United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), research on the career development of

this population is sparse (M. Gomez et al., 2001). What we do know from the lit-

erature is that, whereas Hispanics are a diverse group, they:

1. Are, in general, less well off than the general population.

2. Are underrepresented at all levels of education.

3. Are concentrated in the lower paid, less skilled occupations.

4. Have staggering drop-out rates from school, with many of them not finish-

ing the 10th grade.

5. Are overrepresented among the poor and unemployed (Flores & O’Brien,

2002; Herr & Cramer, 1996; Miranda & Umhoefer, 1998; Sue & Sue, 1999).

Limited educational attainment as well as constricted knowledge and exposure to

occupations may restrict the range of perceived or real occupational choices for

many Hispanics (Herr & Cramer, 1996).

Cultural values may also influence the career development of Hispanics and the

choices they make. While not exhaustive, some of the important Hispanic cultural

values to consider are allocentricism, familismo, simpatia, respeto, and machismo (Fouad,

1995; Lucero-Miller & Newman, 1999). Allocentricism is the value that group goals

come before individual goals (D. Brown, 2003; Marin & Marin, 1991). Similarly,

familismo represents the strong familial relationships in the Hispanic culture. Allo-

centricism and familismo, when taken together, may mean that a Hispanic client seek-

ing assistance for a career choice may be influenced more by family or community

concerns than by personal interests. Simpatia and respeto refer to the desire to avoid

conflict and deference to authority, respectively.

Machismo is a term used to indi-

cate the freedom, power, and authority of men in the culture. Career counselors,

therefore, must realize that when working with Hispanic clients, desire for group

welfare, deference in hierarchical relationships, and traditional sex roles may be

present and will need to be considered in the decision-making process.

English proficiency and acculturation are two more factors to consider in counsel-

ing Hispanic clients. For many Hispanic individuals, their language of choice may

be their native language rather than English. Preferred language (i.e., English ver-

sus culture of origin language) may best differentiate Hispanic and other minority

groups in the United States (Herr & Cramer, 1996). Sue and Sue (1999) reported

that Spanish is the primary language in more than 50% of the Hispanic households

in the United States. Thus, limited English language proficiency for some Hispan-

ics may represent a real barrier in the choice-making process.

Acculturation, which can be described as the degree to which the values

of the dominant culture are adopted, accounts for much of the within-group

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