By Jim Gray
Canada, we have a problem.
As four generations work side by side in offices, institutions and factories across the country, they’re too often failing to communicate in a way other age groups understand, respect – and respond to.
by Blythe Shepard
Did you know?
By George Dutch
Like many young adults, Ken made a “practical and realistic” career choice, and entered the work force with technical skills that were in high demand by employers. He landed a job as a software tester in a large company during the hi-tech boom…and got stuck there.
Ken was reliable, dependable, and competent at his job, one that provided the stability and security that he needed in his 20s to get married and start a family. Before Ken made his practical career choice, he spent hours as a child and teen drawing and designing cars, planes, airports, museums, and once won a prize for a model home he built for a school project about homes of the future. It wasn’t building the model that stimulated Ken, rather it was telling his classmates about the new smart technologies that would revolutionize home construction and convenience.
By Rhonda Singer
Culturally Intelligent Career Professionals achieve greater client results
Cultural Intelligence (CI) makes diversity and inclusion a positive force for enhancing client performance and economic growth.
By Mario Gravelle
The Counselling Foundation of Canada, CERIC and Ashoka Changemakers are pleased to announce a collaborative initiative to support Aboriginal learning and improved outcomes for First Nations, Métis and Inuit learners in Canada. We invite you to participate!
By Christopher Little
My name is Christopher Little; I am a careers co-coordinator at the University of Lancaster in the UK, presently on a five month exchange program with the Career Planning Service at McGill University. How did this exchange program come about? Interested in looking for a possible job exchange with someone in another country? Read on! Back in the winter of 2010 on a visit to Quebec the idea of an exchange came to mind. This was not the first time I had gone down this road, for back in 2003, I had come up with a similar idea to undertake a professional exchange, at that time I was looking towards the southern hemisphere. Back then, one thing led to another and I began looking up universities on the web, and contacting various career departments in Australia and New Zealand. This process took quite a bit of time and persistence, sending emails to the various heads of department and enquiring if any members of staff wished to undertake an exchange. I thought the duration of the exchange would be manageable with around three to six months, though I was always flexible in my communications. Eventually, through trial and error, my hard work paid off and I was able to start a dialog with a colleague in New Zealand, after drawing a blank with Australia.
By Sean Townsend
“High-performance coaching” is how executive coach Laurie Hillis describes her recent experience with Patricia,* a senior analyst focusing on operational excellence in a Calgary-based pipeline company. Patricia was looking for ways to improve her communication skills to meet the challenges of her unique position.
By Mario Gravelle
Report generated by CERIC based upon findings from the On-line Survey on Public Perceptions about Career Development and the Workplace
The Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC) has released findings of a survey conducted by Environics Research Group asking Canadians about their job satisfaction, their perceptions about their workplaces and performance management, and the tools and resources they turn to when looking for a job or building a career (More detailed findings of the latest survey are presented in the On-line Survey on Public Perceptions about Career Development and the Workplace: Final Report). The following highlights how women and men feel about their workplace and career development. As will be seen, women echo many of the same opinions as men about the pay they receive for their work, their ability to meet career goals, opportunities for career advancement, and the inclusivity of their workplace. That being said, the men and women had some significant differences of opinion about the mechanisms they use or have available to use to build their career including, mentors, career specialists coaches or counsellors, and career development services.
As mentioned, this survey sought to identify how women and men feel about various aspects of their workplace. The initial question asked about their satisfaction with their current job. Women and men submitted very similar answers with 82 percent of men stating they are satisfied compared to 80 percent of women.
Q.3 Would you say that you are very satisfied, somewhat satisfied,
somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with your current job?
Subsample: Those who are employed full-time or part-time.
The survey delved deeper into job satisfaction by asking respondents about various components that underscore feeling gratified in the workplace.Some of these factors include how people feel about their remuneration, rewards and recognition. Despite expectations that wage inequalities would lead women to express frustration about their income, they were equally as likely as men to report they are being paid a fair amount for the work they perform. It is interesting to note that there was less than a 4 percent difference between women and men in all these answers categories.
Q.5-1 Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statement –
I feel I am paid a fair amount for the work I do.
Subsample: Those who are employed full-time or part-time.
Feeling rewarded for your efforts is another important component of workplace validation. Women and men likewise shared the same opinion when asked how strongly they agree or disagree with the statement “I don’t feel my efforts are rewarded the way they should be”. In this case, 50 percent of women stated they agree compared to 55 percent of men.
Q.5-9 Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements –
I don’t feel my efforts are rewarded the way they should be.
Subsample: Those who are employed full-time or part-time.
Similarities in responses between these two gender groups continued when they were asked about the recognition they receive for doing a good job at the workplace. While 17 percent of women agree strongly with the statement, 16 percent of men do so. A higher proportion of women (43 percent) agree somewhat with the declaration compared to men (38 percent).
Q.5-9 Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements –
When I do a good job, I receive the recognition for it that I should receive
Subsample: Those who are employed full-time or part-time.
The survey also sought to assess workplace contentment by exploring if respondents feel they had a good chance at advancing their career at their current employment. Women and men answered similarly when asked if they felt that others have better opportunities for career advancement. In this case, 57 percent of women and 64 percent of men disagree that others have better opportunities for advancement.
Q.5-17 Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statement –
I feel others have better opportunities for advancement.
Subsample: Those who are employed full-time or part-time.
The trend of women and men answering in concert continued when they were asked a similar question about the likelihood of meeting career goals. Eight in 10 (81 percent) of women and men were similarly optimistic (combining very optimistic and somewhat optimistic) about their ability to meet their career goals.
Q.22 How optimistic are you of your ability to achieve your career goals?
An examination of the survey data along gender lines seemingly demonstrates that the workplace is a welcoming environment for men and women alike. For instance, a similar proportion of employed respondents from both groups (85 percent of women compared to 80 percent of men) noted that they feel their workplace is inclusive and free of discrimination. Women and men also answered quite similarly when asked how often they felt uncomfortable or out of place in their organization for a number of reasons including gender. While 10 percent of men mentioned that they feel uncomfortable or out of place all of the time or most of the time compared to 8 percent of women. Conversely, 64 percent of women answered never compared to 60 percent of men.
Q.28 How often do you feel uncomfortable or out of place in your organization because of your ethnicity, culture, race, skin colour, class, language, accent, gender, disability, sexual orientation or religion? Is it…
Subsample: Those who are employed full-time or part-time.
The previous section has shown that women and men who responded to the survey share similar opinions about their workplace. It is important to note that differences between the two groups emerged when they responded to inquiries about various mechanism that used for career development. A question about the use of mentors revealed that women and men rely on this service roughly equally. In this case, 28 percent of women and 26 percent of men stated they had turned to a mentor for guidance about career and other important matters in life. Men and women who received some form of mentoring offered a difference of opinion about what three aspects of mentoring are most important. For instance, men found that advice was the most important aspect of mentoring while women felt that it was encouragement. Notable differences also exist in opinions about the value of feedback (women 50% and men 38%) and coaching (men 46% and women 37%).
Q18. When you think about what a mentor does, which 3 aspects of mentoring are most important to you?
Subsample: Those who have or had a mentor.
There are also notable differences between women and men respondents about career development. For instance, when asked about the value for workers of having access to professional career counselling programs nearly one-third of women (32 percent) believe that it is very valuable versus just over one-quarter of men (21 percent). Furthermore, a higher proportion of women (41 percent) than men (34 percent indicate that a career specialist, coach or counsellor in an educational setting had been helpful when they had sought career planning advice.
Q.14-B.10 When you sought to plan your career/select/change/get a job, overall, how relatively helpful was – career specialist, coach or counselor in an educational setting?
Subsample: Excluding those who have no experience with either.
A difference of opinion also emerged between the two groups about their likelihood of turning to a career development service. A higher proportion of women (59 percent) than men (51 percent) answered that they were certain that they would use/need a program to support their career development needs.
Q.16 Today, if you could choose a program that included one-on-one counselling/coaching from a career planning & development professional, how certain are you that you would use/need such a service?
As the research reveals, women report having many of the same perceptions as men of the workplace and career development on several key fronts. When it comes to remuneration as well as opportunities for advancement, there are no significant differences in the views of respondents along gender lines. But women and men were certainly not identical in all respects, with women identifying a greater likelihood to seek the guidance of professional career counsellors and the encouragement of mentors than men.
Mario Gravelle joined The Counselling Foundation of Canada in early 2011 as Learning and Innovation Analyst. His responsibilities include instituting and overseeing knowledge capture and knowledge transfer activities about projects that the foundation supports. Mr. Gravelle is a doctoral candidate in history at York University (B.A. from Concordia University and M.A. from the University of Ottawa).
By Alyson Nyiri
Savickas, Mark. (2011). Career Counseling. In Jon Carlson and Matt Englar-Carlson (Eds.), Theories of Psychotherapy Series. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
By Sharon Ferriss
CERIC has launched an online survey to gain an accurate picture of the career services community in 2011. The survey delves into research and education issues as well as career competency and mobility. Findings will help CERIC better understand the interests and challenges as well as professional development and information needs of career service professionals.