THE ROLE OF RACE AND ETHNICITY IN CAREER CHOICE,

DEVELOPMENT, AND ADJUSTMENT

American Dream
James Truslow Adams (1931) defined it as the ‘‘dream of a land in which life should be better and
richer and fuller for every [person], with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement’’

EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL DISPARITIES

Educational Disparities
- In 2008, 3,118,000 individuals dropped out of high school; 34% percent of those were
African American, and 40% were Hispanic.
- There are also racial/ethnic disparities in the numbers of those graduating from high
school. In 2009, 87.1% of Whites had completed high school by the time they were 25;
these figures were somewhat lower for African Americans (84.1%), about the same (88.2%)
for Asian Americans, and substantially lower (61.9%) for Hispanics.
- In 2009, nearly 30% of all Whites and slightly more than 52% of Asian Americans over the
age of 25 had completed college, but only slightly more than 19% of African Americans
and 13% of Hispanics had completed college (U.S. Department of Education, Institute on
Education Sciences, 2011).

Occupational Disparities
- African Americans and Hispanics are underrepresented in management and professional
occupations and overrepresented in food preparation, building cleaning, transportation,
and service occupations. Asian Americans are overrepresented in scientific and engineering
occupations and underrepresented in many service occupations.
- In June 2011, the unemployment rate nationally was 9.2% but only 8.7% for Whites and
7.5% for Asians, yet 16% for African Americans and 11.6% for Hispanics.

CULTURAL FACTORS RELATED TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Cultural Values
- Cultural values are the core principles and ideals upon which the entire community exists
(morals, rules, values, languages, beliefs, arts, literature, music, social roles, customs, and
traditions).
- Participants indicated that the cultural values of familism and collectivism influenced how
they made career decisions; participants’ families were typically oriented toward a collective
 identity, and participants indicated that they had a responsibility toward the well-being of
their family and community.

Ex. A Latina college student who comes from a cultural background that emphasizes the
values of familismo(familism) and colectivismo(collectivism); this student may make career
decisions that meet cultural or family expectations that allow her to give back to her
community, regardless of her interests, self-efficacy, or outcome expectations.

● Familism
- Importance of strong family loyalty, closeness, and getting along with and
contributing to the well-being of their family, and kinship networks.
- A form of social structure in which the needs of the family as a group are more
important than the needs of any individual family member

● Collectivism
- Prioritizing the good of society over the welfare of the self.

Acculturation
- Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts, acquires, and adjust to a
new cultural environment as a result of being placed into new culture, or when another
culture is brought to someone.
- Flores and O’Brien (2002) found that acculturation was significantly correlated with career
choice traditionality, career choice prestige, and career aspirations for Mexican American
students; women who were more assimilated into mainstream culture chose more
gender-traditional and less prestigious occupations than women who were less assimilated
to mainstream culture.
- Self-efficacy was strongly influenced by acculturation, which in turn influenced interests
and career choices.

● Mainstream culture
- Seems to be “normal” to a large amount of people that live in a society.

Ethnic Identity
- The extent to which one identifies with a particular ethnic group(s). Refers to one's sense
of belonging to an ethnic group and the part of one's thinking perceptions, feelings, and
behavior that is due to ethnic group membership.
- Ex. Cebuano, Ilocano, Ibanag, Itawes, Kapampangan, Bicolano, etc.
- Two racial ideologies (nationalist and assimilationist) were predictive of career self-efficacy,
outcome expectations, interests, and barriers. A racial ideology that emphasized the
 uniqueness of being of African descent (nationalist) and an ideology that emphasized
commonalities between African Americans and other Americans (assimilationists) were
related to career self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, and barriers.

● Nationalist
- a person who strongly identifies with their own nation and vigorously supports its
interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.
(loyal to their nation)

● Assimilationist
- the process whereby individuals or groups of differing ethnic heritage are absorbed
into the dominant culture of a society. (kayang maki halo sa ibang race)

Role Models
- Role models can act as mentors, provide vocational information, and both, directly and
indirectly, influence career decisions, often playing a critical role in career development
(Gibson, 2004)
- Karunanayake and Nauta (2004) examined differences in role models between Whites and
racial/ethnic minorities; they found no differences in the overall number of role models
identified by either White or minority students or in the influences of role models on
students’ career development, although they did find that participants identified role
model who was of the same race as their own.
- In an investigation by Gomez and her colleagues, role models were identified as critical
influences in the career development of Latina women. Participants identified their
mothers as role models, although several of the participants stated that they lacked
Latina professional role models and thus sought role models across professions,
ethnicity, race, gender, and age.

Perception of Discriminations
- Individuals from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds may experience discrimination that
restricts their opportunities for employment. Anticipated discrimination may further
restrict vocational choices.
- Ethnic minorities perceived more discrimination in the workplace than did their White
counterparts.
- Occupational segregation and differential rates of unemployment between racial/ethnic
groups may be due to, in part, restrictions of career work choices based on bias and
prejudice in hiring process; individuals from racial/ethnic minority background may
experience discrimination that restricts their opportunities for employment.
 - Anticipated discrimination may further restrict vocational choices (Ex. individuals may not
chose to enter certain types or careers based on fear that they will be discriminated against
because of their race ethnicity or other factors- gender, sexual orientation)

Perceived Barriers and Support

- In two separate studies, McWhirter (1997) and Luzzo and McWhirter (2001) found that
ethnic minority college students perceived more educational and career barriers than
European American students; ethnic minority college students also perceived themselves to
have lower efficacy to cope with their perceived barriers.
- American students are expected to encounter more barriers to attaining postsecondary
education and experience more difficulty in overcoming their perceived barriers than their
white counterparts.
- Perceived parental support was positively related to career certainty. Perceived general
support and kinship support was related to school engagement, career aspirations,
expectations for future career success, and the importance of future work.

Occupational Aspirations and Expectations

- Career aspirations represent vocational preferences or career possibilities if ideal conditions
are present, whereas career expectations can be thought of as career pursuits that are
realistic and accessible (Metz, Fouad, & Ihle-Helledy, 2009).
- The career aspirations and expectations of minority students were more congruent than
those of White students; however, career barriers, self-efficacy, and differential status
predicted discrepancies between aspirations and expectations for ethnic minority students,
but not for White students.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH ON THE CULTURAL FACTORS

As we noted, several cultural factors have been studied in relation to racial/ethnic minority group
individuals. It is critical for career counselors to understand the complex and dynamic ways that
cultural variables related to race and ethnicity affect many aspects of career decision-making. We
have several specific recommendations based on our review of the research:

● Explicitly attend to racism and oppression and the role that they may have played in
suppressing options or creating barriers. It is important that counselors create a safe
environment to ask about experiences with and perceptions about discrimination.

● Help clients develop strategies to augment resistance to racism.

 ● Ask clients about the expectations their family or significant others have for their
career choices and who have been important positive or negative role models.

● Cultural background may affect the perception that career or work choices are (or
are not) exclusively individual choices. In addition to family expectations, there
may be cultural assumptions about the desirability (or lack thereof) of some
choices. Ask clients whom they will consult on their decision-making.

● Culture shapes the perception that career concerns are a problem or that career
development is a process. For some individuals, the concept of a career trajectory
may be quite foreign. Ask clients how they envision the process of making a
decision or a series of decisions about their career or future work.

● Culture will shape career adaptability, including how clients develop resiliency and
future orientation. Ask clients how they typically overcome obstacles or barriers.
Assess a client’s support system and coping skills. Assess whether the client is
oriented to future planning or is more focused on the present.

● Cultural values are more influential for some clients than traditional career
planning variables such as interests. Ask clients about the strongest influences in
their decisions or choices.

● Ask about both potential barriers and supports, focusing on the client’s strengths
to facilitate the development of supports and to counter the barriers.

● Determine if the client identifies differences between his or her aspirations (or ideal
occupations) and realistic occupational goals. If so, help them to clarify,
understand, and address this gap.

References:
● Steven-D.-Brown-Robert-W.-Lent-Career-Development�and-Counseling_-Putting-Theor
y-and-Research-to-Work�Wiley-2013
● https://tilford.k-state.edu/resources/ethnic-identity�development.html
● https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/familism?fbclid=IwAR0NIrjJ_eZpl
1quemY6khEqjgs-RaBivmN0djnKIiwCPJLSXa__iXVLCQA
● https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/collectivism?fbclid=IwAR2SncTKIakyGAo2Da
Vsq8VCtzo3DPJK0KRZNgjWLV2ridTyRInr3LL6r9A
● https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/using-the-gothic-as-a-marketing-tool/65567?fbclid
=IwAR12yUULAx2ivSOKN92Fhmo9QEe1CPm53qiP7BNOINmvPHaFN_6J4Y_XoI
E#:~:text=Mainstream%20culture%20is%20the%20culture,typically%20disseminated%20b
y%20mass%20media
● https://www.britannica.com/topic/assimilation-society