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Examining the ethical codes that guide Canadian career professionals and how to navigate ethical dilemmas in practice

Cassie Taylor and Roberta Neault

As career development is not yet a regulated profession outside of Quebec, formal career development training is not mandated throughout most of Canada, nor does it abide by a specific ethical code. With a current, co-ordinated national push led by the Canadian Council for Career Development (CCCD) toward professionalization, a cohesive definition of scope of practice, competencies and ethical practice is emerging. In the interim, five provinces (BC, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) offer voluntary “certification” which, in most cases, requires a 10-hour ethics course. However, in the complex contexts within which today’s career development professionals (CDPs) work, navigating ethical dilemmas can be tricky.

In this article, we will introduce several ethical codes that guide Canadian CDPs. To illustrate key practice points, the ethical decision-making model will be applied to a case vignette, concluding with 10 tips for ethical practice.

Snapshot of career development codes of ethics

Some professional associations have adopted the existing Code of Ethics from the Canadian Standards & Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners (S&Gs, 2004), while others have customized their own. Here are some of the similarities and differences between codes.

Canadian Standards & Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners (S&Gs) Code of Ethics

The S&Gs Code of Ethics is the most comprehensive code for Canadian CDPs, comprising ethical principles for professional competency and conduct, career development practitioner-client relationships and professional relationships. Each principle is sub-divided into ethical constructs, which are described in detail. The code includes a four-step ethical decision-making model to guide CDPs in effectively navigating ethical dilemmas.

The Career Development Practitioners Certification Board of Ontario (CDPCBO, 2015) and New Brunswick Career Development Association (NBCDA, 2018) have adopted this code, as have some jurisdictions where voluntary certification is not yet in place (eg, Manitoba Association for Career Development, n.d.).

Nova Scotia Career Development Association (NSCDA)

The NSCDA (2013) CDP competency framework includes references to the Career Professionals of Canada’s (CPC, 2019) Standards & Ethics, briefly outlining 10 high-level ethical concepts derived from the S&Gs. Although CPC’s simplicity may be desirable, multiple relations and conflict of interest could be addressed in greater detail.

BC Career Development Association (BCCDA)

BCCDA’s (2019) brief Code of Ethics outlines 13 ethical guidelines; however, several concepts aren’t addressed, including marketing, information and communication technology. However, BCCDA does specifically reference skills related to training and instruction, whereas the S&Gs more broadly refer to knowledge/skills/competencies.

Career Development Association of Alberta (CDAA)

CDAA’s (2018) very brief Code of Ethics outlines four key guiding principles (eg, only do good, integrity). Although the introduction provides good context (ie, defines purpose and references CDAA’s vision, mission and values), it does not include detailed ethical strategies and doesn’t fully address professional relationships.

Institute of Career Certification International (ICCI)

Canadian CDPs may also look to international sources. ICCI’s (n.d.) Code of Ethical Practice identifies 13 statements of what professionals should do and specific examples of actions to avoid (eg, not hiring employees of customers, respecting copyright law). Although it covers a wide set of principles, professional relationships don’t seem to be fully developed.

Ethical decision-making in practice

Although familiarizing oneself with ethical codes is important, codes don’t provide clear-cut answers and principles may contradict each other. Examining a case scenario is helpful to illustrate this complex process.

Your client is looking for volunteer positions – she needs new references after she was abruptly let go from her job in the finance sector after being accused of questionable bookkeeping practices. Although charges were never filed, she hasn’t explicitly disputed the accusations with you. She now wants to work with youth. You volunteer with the Girl Guides of Canada and know they always need help. She’s excited about that possibility and mentions her background would suit the vacant role of treasurer.

Using the scenario above, the four-step ethical decision-making model (S&Gs, 2014) may reveal the following:

1. Recognize that an ethical dilemma exists.

Even though you don’t know the accusations are true, the client’s desire to get involved with finances makes you nervous. You don’t want to refer her and risk damaging your relationship with the Girl Guides of Canada.

2. Identify the relevant ethical issues, all of the parties involved and the corresponding pertinent ethical principles from the Code of Ethics.

• 1g Respect for Persons – Are you respecting your client’s career direction desires?
• 2a Integrity/Honest/Objectivity – Is your client being honest? Are you being objective?
• 2b Confidentiality – Should you share the accusations with the Girl Guides?
• 2e Multiple Relations – How will you manage your own role as a volunteer?
• 2f Conflict of Interest – Should you be making referrals at all?

3. Examine the risks and benefits of each alternative action

• A: Ask client if accusations are true – Risk: damage working alliance / Benefit: deepened understanding of client
• B: Make the referral – Risk: damage relationship with Girl Guides / Benefit: support client’s goals
• C: Do not make the referral – Risk: sabotage client’s goals and damage working alliance / Benefit: maintain relationship with Girl Guides
• D: Suggest alternatives – Risk: sabotage client’s goals and damage working alliance / Benefit: maintain relationships with Girl Guides

4. Choose a solution, take action and evaluate the results.

You decide to suggest alternative volunteer positions. To maintain the working alliance, you don’t want to demand details; however, you do advise that employers will likely want to know what happened and you can help her in crafting that message. You work collaboratively with the client to identify multiple sites with volunteering opportunities and help her evaluate the pros and cons as they relate to her career goal (eg, getting involved with the Girl Guides finances may not align well with supporting youth). You maintain your personal relationships with the Girl Guides by not referring someone who may not be a good fit.

Pause and reflect. Consider this same scenario and the ethical code – what else may be relevant here?

10 tips for ethical practice for CDPs

Maintaining ethical practice is complex; however, the following tips (Life Strategies, n.d.) can provide some useful strategies for navigating the murky waters.

1. Understand the importance of ethical practice
2. Review relevant ethical codes
3. Ensure codes are put into action
4. Make ethics dynamic
5. Be proactive
6. Recognize ethical dilemmas
7. Follow an ethical decision-making model
8. Acknowledge shades of grey
9. Take action
10. Engage in professional development

With the continued push toward professionalization, ethical practice is primed to take on greater importance for CDPs and CDP educators/employers. Be ready by making ethical practice a priority now.

Cassie Taylor, BAA, Manager of Life Strategies, provides support for ethics-related course/workshop development and writing projects.

Dr Roberta Neault, CCC, CCDP, GCDFi, President of Life Strategies and award-winning professional, writes, speaks and consults extensively on ethical practice. She develops/instructs ethical courses for CDPs, counsellors-in-training and practicing counsellors.

References

British Columbia Career Development Association (BCCDA). (2019). Code of ethics. Retrieved from bccda.org/membership/code-of-ethics

Canadian Standards & Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners (S&Gs). (2004). Code of ethics. Retrieved from bit.ly/2EgHPAC

Career Development Association of Alberta (CDAA). (2018). Retrieved from careerdevelopment.ab.ca/ethics/

Career Development Practitioners Certification Board of Ontario (CDPCBO). (2015). Ethics. Retrieved cdpcbo.org/certification/ontario/ethics/

Career Professionals of Canada (CPC). (2019). Standards and ethics. Retrieved from careerprocanada.ca/about/cpc-standards-ethics/

Institute of Career Certification International (ICCI). (n.d.). Code of ethical practice. Retrieved from careercertification.org/codeofethics

Life Strategies (n.d.). 10 tips for ethical practice. Retrieved from bit.ly/2rHLK6Z

Manitoba Association for Career Development (MACD). (n.d.). Ethics. Retrieved from bit.ly/36vyPnf

New Brunswick Career Development Association (NBCDA). (2018). Code of ethics. Retrieved nbcdag-gadcnb.ca/

Nova Scotia Career Development Association (NSCDA). (2013). Nova Scotia career development practitioner’s core competency profile. Retrieved from bit.ly/2Pgm7mK

Career practitioners can help generate positive mental health outcomes for clients without overstepping professional boundaries

Michael Huston and Dave Redekopp

There is an important premise with respect to the ethical implications of practising career development with mental health awareness: Whether intended or not, career development intervention brings about positive mental health outcomes. The focus of this perspective is on career development intervention as a booster of mental health – a state of well-being – and not as an intervention for mental illness, which is associated with distress and impaired functioning (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2015). This idea isn’t completely new, but it is rapidly gaining interest from a wide range of stakeholders including career development practitioners. This article will share some of the discoveries that informed our recently released, CERIC-supported book, Strengthening Mental Health Through Effective Career Development: A Practitioner’s Guide. This book was developed based on extensive literature research and on feedback from front-line career development practitioners in Canada and Australia.

Implications of practising with mental health awareness

Our day-to-day activities change very little when practising with mental health awareness. The awareness implicates us and our profession in doing more to understand the issues and evidence and to communicate this information to our clients and stakeholders. We will continue to perform our career development work as we always have, except:

1. We will be aware of the mental health impact of our work, and
2. We will communicate the evidence about the positive mental health outcomes associated with career development.

The consultations leading to this book provided opportunities to hear practitioners’ reactions to the idea of career development intervention as a support for positive mental health. The most common fears we heard were related to competence and ethical practice, and the possibility of overstepping boundaries. Practitioners highlighted the following areas of concern:

• You identify as a career development practitioner responsible for creating career development outcomes. You have not thought about mental health outcomes as part of your work. This idea is new, and it forces you to reconsider your professional identity and integrate different thinking about your work and its impact.
• You are careful in all your work to not dabble in “personal counselling” and you therefore steer your clients away from talking about their personal concerns. Perhaps you have encountered an expert discussing how it is critical for career development practitioners to stay in the “career box” and leave personal content to other professionals.
• Your employer reminds you of the clear separation between your role and responsibilities as a career development practitioner and those of a mental health practitioner. These reminders are common in institutions that provide separate career development and mental health services.
• Your profession has not emphasized the mental health benefits of career development intervention. You have not had opportunities to learn how to integrate mental health outcomes in your practice. This area is new for most of us. Until recently, content addressing the positive mental health impact of our work hadn’t been included in education, professional development or practice guidelines for career development practitioners.
• You recognize you are not qualified to work with mental illness concerns. Even though you recognize and understand the difference between mental illness and positive mental health, when you hear the words “mental health,” you, like most of us, automatically think of mental illness. Your training and professional experience have led you to steer clear of addressing “mental health” in your work.

More on mental health on CERIC’s CareerWise website:
Overwhelm and burnout – what’s the difference?
What it means to consider trauma within career development
To put youth on path to well-being, we need to talk to them about careers

What are we to do?

With the above experiences in mind, concerns about overstepping make sense. What do we need to do to ethically practice with mental health awareness? Our understanding of career development as mental health intervention will expand considerably over the next few years. Here are some of the ways career development practitioners and our profession will be affected by integrating mental health awareness in career development practice:

Knowledge and skills – Practicing with mental health awareness implicates career development practitioners in establishing:

• an understanding of the evidence base supporting career development as a contributor to positive mental health,
• a basic understanding of mental health and mental illness (not as psychiatric experts), and
• skills for sharing this information with clients and other stakeholders.

Self-improvement – Practitioners and the field adapt to new information.

• Career development practitioners are committed to considering, learning and integrating new evidence.
• Our profession provides opportunities for professional development in the evidence about career development and mental health.

Boundaries of competence – Career development practitioners are clear that:

• their focus is on career development, and
• mental health and illness concerns are the professional domain of health-care professionals, but that doesn’t mean practitioners cannot discuss the mental health outcomes associated with career development.

Marketing – Evidence about career development and mental health outcomes is growing.

• Practitioners are implicated in knowing the meaning of evidence and communicating it accurately.

Integrity, honesty, objectivity – Career development practitioners are accountable for providing accurate information to clients and therefore must know:

• generally about mental health and have some understanding of mental health/illness concerns, and
• the evidence well enough to communicate it accurately and clearly so clients can make informed decisions.

Confidentiality and private information – Sharing mental health benefits will lead to more conversations about mental health and mental illness.

• Career development practitioners are clear and explicit about limits of confidentiality.
• Private information is shared only with client permission.

Informed consent – Mental health benefits are and will increasingly be an “expected” outcome of career development intervention.

• Career development practitioners are explicit and accurate about the nature of their services and their limitations.

Consultation – Working with mental health awareness will lead to more conversations about mental health and mental illness.

• To ensure client needs are addressed, career development practitioners may at times need to consult with colleagues and other professionals.

Respect for other professionals – Many other professionals interact with the clients of career development practitioners.

• Career development practitioners are clear about their own competence.
• Intervention with mental health concerns and mental illness is properly the domain of other professionals.
• Career development professionals refer as necessary.
• Career development professionals have relationships with other professionals and organizations as well as other potential referral resources.

In this article, you will have noticed a few recurrent key ideas. The fundamentals of our work haven’t changed by adding mental health awareness and, even if we change nothing, we will still be creating positive mental health outcomes for our clients. However, we can be intentional and improve these outcomes by learning more about mental health and its relationship to career development. The new guide is, we hope, a good start to understanding the evidence and how to use it to support your career development practice. 

Michael Huston is a Counsellor and Associate Professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary. His research and work focus on counsellor training, career intervention strategies and outcomes, career development as mental health intervention, stress and coping, and work and well-being.

Dave Redekopp is President of Life-Role Development Group in Edmonton. Working for over 30 years in the wide-ranging career development field, he is still curious about worker-workplace relationships, work-life connections, psychological health, the quirkiness of human behaviour and more.

References

Public Health Agency of Canada. (2019). Mental illness. Retrieved from canada.ca/en/public-health/services/chronic-diseases/mental-illness.html

Five practices for creating inclusive work environments

Julie-Christine Cotton and Annie Pullen Sansfaçon

Everyday life in professional environments rarely escapes the heteronormative and cisnormative structures[1] that dominate Quebec society. Indeed, workplace washrooms, dress codes, administrative records and even email salutations usually adhere to the gender binary of man or woman. It is no surprise that professional environments are ill-equipped to support employees with gender identity issues (Pullen Sansfaçon, Hébert, Lee, Faddoul, Tourki and Bellot, 2018). The purpose of this article is to increase awareness of the challenges these people face, as well as promote practices that facilitate their professional integration. It is important that employers and career professionals better understand the experiences of trans and non-binary people at work, and learn how to interact with them.

Since 2017, federal work organizations have had an obligation to adopt policies and accommodation measures designed to combat discrimination against trans and non-binary people (Laurier, 2017), in particular for the purposes of recruiting, hiring and assigning tasks. In fact, under the Canadian Human Rights Act, gender identity and expression are now prohibited grounds of discrimination (Parliament of Canada, 2017). Beyond the legal and regulatory requirements, inclusive practices have the potential to improve career development and human resources programs by directly contributing to workers’ well-being and productivity. At work as well as in life, legal and social recognition is paramount for self-actualization.

Transitioning at work

First, it is important to note that transitioning may involve social, legal or medical aspects, or combinations thereof (Dubuc, 2017). Not all journeys into transness / experiences of transness, and they are rarely free of complexities. Trans people who express their identity within the gender binary may find more acceptance and tolerance, as they are switching from the characteristics of one gender to those of the “other” gender. Non-binary people move even further from the cisnormative framework, because they cannot be defined as masculine or feminine.

One thing is certain: trans, non-binary and gender-questioning people are more vulnerable during their reflection and transition processes (Vogelsang et al., 2016). For some, the fear of discrimination or dismissal is so great that they avoid revealing their gender identity to their colleagues or employers (Cotton, Martin-Storey, Le Corff, Michaud and Touchette, 2019). Some may wait until retirement to transition (Phoenix and Ghul, 2016). Others prefer to leave their jobs, and many consider suicide (Cotton et al., 2019; Phoenix and Ghul, 2016). For those who remain at work as they transition, engagement and productivity are often affected (Budge, Tebbe and Howard, 2010).

Additional reading:
Case Study: Job-shadowing program helps LGBTQ2+ students navigate workplace concerns
LGBTQ2+ minority stress in the workplace: How discrimination hurts health

Unfortunately, a large proportion of these individuals experience transphobia or cissexism in the workplace. According to an Ontario study, 34% of the trans people surveyed had been victims of verbal or physical harassment at work (Bauer and Scheim, 2015). Transphobia encompasses discriminatory and hostile attitudes and behaviours toward people because of their gender identities. However, the concept of cissexism makes it easier to include indirect experiences of discrimination that can be translated into purely normative terms (Baril, 2013). An example of direct cissexism would be accusing someone who is wearing nail polish of being unprofessional when that person’s gender expression primarily involves elements that are socially related to masculinity. An example of indirect cissexism would be to assign to that same person tasks that do not involve customer service under false pretenses. Whether they are direct or indirect, these experiences of discrimination can have serious consequences for victims.

Drawing on the recommendations of Pride at Work Canada, we present five best practices when working with individuals with gender identity issues.

1. Don’t make assumptions about someone’s gender identity. Many people experience gender identity issues and choose not to disclose this at work. Others prefer to express themselves freely, in their curriculum vitae, for example. Whatever the case, give people the opportunity to share their preferred pronouns and names. This conversation can take place as soon as someone is hired and during the admission process for clients. Simply ask the question. Employers can also use more inclusive and non-cisnormative options in administrative records, asking people to specify their preferred pronouns, for example. When in doubt, use neutral language. In English, the pronoun they is often used in such circumstances. In French, a person’s first name can be used instead of il (he) or elle (she). The pronoun iel, a combination of il and elle, may also be used.

2. Use the appropriate pronouns and names, even when those concerned are not present. By demonstrating your sensitivity and knowledge to your colleagues or employees, you are effectively promoting diversity and inclusion in your workplace, in addition to giving them the opportunity to become familiar with these new practices. For example, many people are unsure about how to use gender neutral pronouns. Doing so in a natural and spontaneous manner requires regular practice.

3. Accept that you may make mistakes and are not an expert. If you use the wrong pronoun, for example, immediately and sincerely apologize, then correct what you said. Demand better tools and training to support the inclusion of trans and non-binary people in your work environment. Remember, they are the only experts on their gender identities. Moreover, humbly speaking with them is one of the best ways to become a stronger ally.

4. Be aware of your cisgender privilege, if applicable. The goal is not to minimize the difficulties you are facing in your life in general, but to remember that certain issues do not affect you on a daily basis. Your colleagues may be engaged in an ongoing battle for recognition of their gender identities, both at work and in their personal lives.

5. At the institutional level, demand a more inclusive work environment with safe spaces such as gender-neutral washrooms and changing rooms. Request that your workplace’s non-discrimination policies explicitly include gender identity and expression. Recommend that cisnormative documents be reviewed. Denounce transphobia and cissexism at your place of work, and help find solutions and implement measures to eliminate them. Lastly, whenever possible, consult and include trans and non-binary people when considering decisions and changes.

Ideally, these five practices should be part of an organizational culture that does not just tolerate but celebrates diversity (Pichette, 2019). We believe employers and career professionals play fundamental roles in helping gender diverse individuals thrive at work and realize their full potential. We hope this article inspires employers and career professionals to create inclusive spaces in their environments, as well as defend gender diverse employees when necessary.

Julie-Christine Cotton is an assistant professor in the career counselling department at the University of Sherbrooke. She also has a PhD in psychoeducation. Her research and clinical expertise are in intervention and evaluation involving people who are vulnerable and at risk of stigmatization, in particular the trans, non-binary and gender-questioning communities.

Annie Pullen Sansfaçon is a full professor at the Université de Montréal’s School of Social Work. She holds the Canada Research Chair on transgender children and their families, and has a PhD in ethics and social work. She is the co-founder of Gender Creative Kids Canada, and she co-authored the book Supporting Transgender and Gender Creative Youth: Schools, Communities and Families in Action (Peter Lang, 2014 and 2018).

References

Baril, A. (2013). La normativité corporelle sous le bistouri : (re)penser l’intersectionnalité et les solidarités entre les études féministes, trans et sur le handicap à travers la transsexualité et la transcapacité. Thèse de doctorat. Ottawa, Université d’Ottawa.

Bauer, G. R., & Scheim, A. I. (2015). for the Trans PULSE Project Team. Transgender People in Ontario, Canada: Statistics to Inform Human Rights Policy. London, ON.

Brewster, M. E., Velez, B., DeBlaere, C., & Moradi, B. (2012). Transgender individuals’ workplace experiences: The applicability of sexual minority measures and models. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(1), 60.

Budge, S. L., Tebbe, E. N., & Howard, K. A. (2010). The work experiences of transgender individuals: Negotiating the transition and career decision-making processes. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57(4), 377.

Cotton, J. C., Martin-Storey, A., Le Corff, Y., Michaud, A. et Touchette, L. (2019). Le vécu scolaire, professionnel et psychologique des personnes trans, non-binaires ou en questionnement identitaire de genre : résultats d’enquête et discussion. Séminaire organisé dans le cadre de la 7e édition de Fière la fête. Sherbrooke, Canada, 23 août.

Dubuc, D. 2017. Les mots de la diversité liée au sexe, au genre et à l’orientation sexuelle. FNEEQ-CSN. 15 p

Laurier, J. (2017). Enjeux et conseils pratiques : les personnes transgenres au travail. Magazine des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CRHA), 1 novembre 2017.

Parlement du Canada (2017). Statutes Of Canada 2017, Chapter 13: An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code.

Phoenix, N. et Ghul, R. (2016). Gender transition in the workplace: An occupational therapy perspective. Work, 55(1), 197-205.

Pichette, J. (2019). LGBTQ2+ minority stress in the workplace: How discrimination hurts health. CareerWise. https://careerwise.ceric.ca/2019/10/11/lgbtq2-minority-stress-in-the-workplace-how-discrimination-hurts-health/#.XbyylpqTbIU

Pullen Sansfaçon, A. Hébert, W.  Ou Jin Lee, E. Faddoul, M. Tourki, D et Bellot, C. (2018) Digging Beneath the Surface: Results from Stage One of a Qualitative Analysis of Factors Influencing the Well-being of Trans Youth in Quebec.  Journal of Transgenderism. DOI :10.1080/15532739.2018.1446066

Vogelsang, A. C., Milton, C., Ericsson, I. et Strömberg, L. (2016). ‘Wouldn’t it be easier if you continued to be a guy?’–a qualitative interview study of transsexual persons’ experiences of encounters with healthcare professionals. Journal of clinical nursing, 25(23-24), 3577-3588.

[1] These mores help establish heterosexuality as a normative model (a man is in a relationship with a woman and vice versa). The cisnormative model underlying heteronormativity presupposes that gender is a binary concept, static and homogenous, which builds on biological sex (one is born / is a man or a woman). The model presumes that sex assigned at birth determines an individual’s social and professional roles, and even sexual orientation.

Career professionals working in co-op have to manage a complex landscape in co-ordination with students, employers and educational institutions

Craig Cameron, Christine Dodds and Cynthia Maclean

Career practitioners encounter ethical issues, dilemmas or conflicts (“risks”) in the delivery of their work. Ethical risks that are not properly managed can have reputational, legal and financial consequences for an individual and their organization. A recent research study in the growing field of work-integrated-learning (WIL) reveals characteristics of ethics that can be useful for career professionals to consider. The case study of Canadian co-operative education practitioners can be applied to a variety of stakeholders to raise ethical awareness and improve the management of ethical risks (Cameron, Dodds & Maclean, 2019).

Work-integrated learning is defined as a “model or process of curricular experiential education which formally and intentionally integrates a student’s academic studies within a workplace or practice settings” (Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada, 2019). One form of WIL is co-operative education programs, often differentiated by work-term length relative to classroom study, and the requirement that the work term is paid.

Managing stakeholder needs

Co-op practitioners work in an increasingly complex landscape as they manage the needs of three key stakeholders: the co-op student, the work-term employer and the higher education institution (HEI). While program rules and policies exist, each student-employer experience is unique and practitioners may find themselves faced with situations that are both ethically charged and potentially damaging from a risk-management perspective.

Career practitioners juggle stakeholder needs as well. In presenting findings from our article titled Ethical risks in work-integrated learning: A study of Canadian practitioners (Cameron, Dodds & Maclean, 2019), we invite all practitioners to consider the ethical dilemmas and risk-management issues mired in the work you do providing career counselling and direction to your stakeholders.

“Co-op practitioners work in an increasingly complex landscape as they manage the needs of three key stakeholders: the co-op student, the work-term employer and the higher education institution.”

The study

With an interest in better understanding ethical dilemmas that co-op practitioners encounter, and how they manage associated risks, we interviewed 10 seasoned co-op practitioners working in HEIs across Canada. Three overarching questions guided each 30-60-minute interview.

• What is ethics in the delivery of co-operative education programs?
• What ethical risks do practitioners manage in co-operative education programs?
• How do practitioners manage ethical risk in co-operative education programs?

We intentionally asked participants to provide their own interpretation of ethics in relation to their practice. Participants discussed how ethical dilemmas were handled and which situations involved clear risk to any/all stakeholders. In many cases we documented creative, team-driven solutions and unforeseen support from a range of areas across campuses. The research uncovered themes, commonalities and effective tools/tips for managing risk. Stories shared provided a rich collection of data, and many of the scenarios resonated with the interviewers. In our work as career practitioners, counsellors and educators, we are similarly tested as we care for our stakeholders with limited time, resources and on-the-ground experience when difficult or complex situations arise.

Read more on CERIC’s CareerWise website:
Canada’s global leadership in co-op and work-integrated learning
How to help students describe their learning on their resume
Bridging the academia-industry gap to boost graduate employability

The results

The research revealed five characteristics of ethical conduct as it applies to WIL. It may help to consider these characteristics as overarching categories under which the stories lay. They are equity, transparency, integrity, care and adherence to rules. Recognizing the needs of the student, the employer and the educational institution, let’s look at how these categories help in better understanding and managing ethical risks.

• Equity: all students and employers are treated fairly within their respective stakeholder groups, and between stakeholder groups. Equity between stakeholder groups requires the WIL practitioner to balance student, HEI and employer interests when making decisions.
• Transparency: clear and timely communication by WIL practitioners with staff, students and employers, and about the WIL program in general. Honesty and disclosure by employers and students are two important characteristics of transparency.
• Integrity: stakeholders “doing the right thing,” which includes taking responsibility for conduct during co-op, and remaining engaged as a partner in the student’s education during the co-op program.
• Care: WIL practitioners suggest that greater care is required in co-op programs compared to traditional study programs because of the students’ lack of workplace experience and the greater involvement WIL practitioners have in students’ lives before and during the work term. Relationship management was a primary theme underpinning care by WIL practitioners in interactions with employers.
• Rules: external rules or laws as well as internal rules, such as policies, procedures and guidelines set by the HEI or the employer. WIL practitioners focused on the importance of all stakeholders adhering to internal rules, which were influenced by ethics or morals. Rules can guide decision-making when the WIL practitioner is presented with an ethical risk and enable them to maintain objectivity when completing tasks and delivering the co-op program. Conversely, in the absence of rules, ethics can be a grey area for the WIL practitioner to navigate. (Cameron, Dodds & Maclean, 2019)

When unpacking the stories shared by our research participants, it became clear that scenarios did not always align with only one identified characteristic. There may be two ethical characteristics, or a conflict between ethical characteristics. For instance, a co-op practitioner exercises the ethic of care toward the student in a scenario, but this exercise may be in breach of the institution’s rules (as represented by Care v Rules in the table below).

(Cameron, Dodds & Maclean, 2019)

Understanding what is at the core of an uncomfortable scenario (the ethical risk) can help practitioners process complex situations. Communication, transparency and clear policies are essential in ensuring that all stakeholders are aware of their roles and responsibilities and are prepared to act with integrity. Adherence to ethical conduct and risk management go hand-in-hand in developing healthy and robust delivery of any form of career services.

Dr Craig Cameron is a Senior Lecturer at Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia. Cameron has presented and published extensively in the fields of generic skills development and risk management in work-integrated learning. 

Christine (Christy) Dodds is faculty and Co-op Coordinator at Capilano University with over 20 years of teaching experience. She is a certified BC Career Development Practitioner, enjoys research and writing, and has received numerous awards for her student-centred approach to education.

Cynthia Maclean works for British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Centre for Workplace Education as a WIL/co-op faculty member with over 25 years’ experience. She has served in a number of career education leadership roles and received recognition for making outstanding contributions to the field.

References

Cameron, C., Dodds, C., and Maclean, C. (2019). Ethical risks in work-integrated learning: A study of Canadian practitioners. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 20(1), 83-95

Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada. (2019). Work-integrated learning definition. Retrieved from cewilcanada.ca/_Library/Rebrand_CEWIL/WIL-Def-Final.pdf

Dealing with constant crises leaves little time to help students with career development

Danielle Savage

Is it possible for today’s school counsellors to meet the career counselling needs of K-12 students in Canada, given the ever-increasing demands on our time? I believe all counsellors want to be proactive in their practice and address career development, but in the midst of ongoing student crises – panic attacks, debilitating depression, high levels of absenteeism, a child-welfare system in desperate need of an overhaul – working with students on their post-secondary planning is often the last thing we are able to address. But isn’t the development of the whole student – including how they plan to live as an independent, functioning member of society – the goal of education itself? I believe it is, but there are days when I have no idea how, as educators, we are meeting that goal and that’s when I struggle with ethics and professionalism.

A recent series of articles from Global News captured the changing role and challenges faced by school/guidance counsellors. Citing the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), one article noted that school counsellors often “feel stretched and pulled in several directions, often away from career counselling. In the long run, this is hurting our students and their futures.”

The role of a school counsellor according to the CCPA is to support “the personal, social, academic, and career development of students in order to provide children and youth with the opportunity to achieve their true potential.” However, there are no national certification standards for counsellors across Canada; each province has different course requirements and regulations. This inconsistency contributes to a lack of support for school counsellors who are doing their best to tackle a growing laundry list of responsibilities while wondering when the shoe will drop. School counsellors need to consider, can we ethically fulfill our obligations to students in the current environment? I personally struggle with this question daily.

Why career development matters in school counselling

In a recent edition of Careering magazine, Ed Hidalgo, Chief Innovation and Engagement Officer for the Cajon Valley Union School District, wrote: “Providing career development in the early grades affords educators the opportunity to proactively moderate contextual barriers that can impede students’ success, such as gender, race, learning differences and socio-economic status. Integrating career development with classroom learning ensures access for all students, which in turn benefits the communities where they live by putting them on a path to gainful employment.”

“… school counsellors who are doing their best to tackle a growing laundry list of responsibilities while wondering when the shoe will drop.”

I couldn’t agree more. However, in my experience, career exposure is often relegated to annual events such as Take Your Kid to Work (TYKTW) Day rather than integrated into curriculum or ongoing support from school counsellors. While some students benefit from this event, it is not a comprehensive approach to career development. I have also found that students who are able to obtain useful TYKTW Day placements are often those who already have the privilege of being exposed to post-secondary education options and career-exploration discussions.

Tools for career development

So, how can school counsellors provide career development to students amid competing priorities and insufficient government support for education? There are useful tools and success stories school counsellors can draw on.

For instance, My Blueprint is a career development program that offers streams for K-6 (“All About Me”) and 7-12 (“Education Planner”). The All About Me stream allows children to explore their interests and develop online profiles, learn about hundreds of different career options in kid-friendly language and earn rewards. The Education Planner is one of the best tools I have ever used with students in terms of giving them real-time information about high school, post-secondary education and career options. They start the process by completing surveys designed to home in on their strengths, interests and what challenges they might face in achieving their “dream career.” These tools expose students to thousands of careers and help them map out how to achieve their goals. Given the limited time that many counsellors can devote to career development, a tool like “My Blueprint” can fill that gap quite nicely. It does an excellent job of providing specific details regarding any given career option such as educational requirements, job prospects, salary information, etc.

I am also inspired by school divisions that understand the importance of investing in career planning. For instance, Portage la Prairie, MB, recently established a mandatory Grade 9 career development course. It includes information on resume-building, interview preparation, safe work and more. This course is taught by a teacher but is still relevant to the practice of school counselling for two reasons: one, it demonstrates career development is a priority for the school district; and two, it frees up counsellors’ time to deal with student crises.

Helping unlock potential

Adults often ask children what they want to be when they grow up without giving them specific tools to help them answer the question. For kids who are more concerned with fulfilling their basic needs, career discussions may seem even more out of reach. But isn’t that what we are here for? To help them reach and show them how? To me, that’s really what career counselling is all about – supporting students in becoming the best person they can be, unlocking potential and providing hope for a brighter future.

When I reflect on my work and the challenges I face in my profession, I try to tell myself the same thing I tell the students I work with: at the end of the day, can you look yourself in the mirror and say that you did everything you could that day? That you had an honourable day? That doesn’t mean every day is successful; it means that all I can do is try my best. That is how school counsellors ethically meet the challenge of doing the job that has to be done. We can know that in increasingly difficult circumstances, we’re doing the best we can.

Canadian School Counselling Week is taking place Feb. 3-7, 2020. Learn more: ccpa-accp.ca/chapters/school-counsellors/

Danielle Savage works as a School Counsellor in Winnipeg in a Grade 5-9 school. She is on the executive of the Manitoba School Counsellors Association (MSCA) and a Member-at-Large for Manitoba on the School Counsellors Chapter of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA).

References

All about me, (n.d.). Retrieved from myblueprint.ca/products/allaboutme

Collie, M. (2019, September 24). Canadian school counsellors are stretched thin — and it’s our students that suffer. Retrieved from globalnews.ca/news/5903259/school-counsellors-canada-career-planning/

Education planner, (n.d.). Retrieved from myblueprint.ca/products/educationplanner

Hidalgo, E. (2019). Principles in action: Elementary career education equips students to navigate complex world of work. Careering. Retrieved from ceric.ca/2019/10/principles-in-action-elementary-career-education-equips-students-to-navigate-complex-world-of-work/

School counsellors, (n.d.). Retrieved from ccpa-accp.ca/chapters/school-counsellors/#id17

Career professionals from across Canada are collaborating to set a new standard for practice in the field, an exercise that highlights the pride and professionalism of its members

Kathy McDonald and Philip Mondor

The contexts in which career development professionals (CDPs) perform their jobs are becoming increasingly complex. As the labour market prioritizes competencies and credentials, greater specificity surrounding jobs and skills, and improved productivity and competitiveness, it is time for the career development sector to claim its role as a shaper of the economic and social well-being of Canadians. Through the development of the new Pan-Canadian Career Development Professional Competency Framework (the Framework), career professionals are gaining coherence to see themselves as their clients do: essential and professional.

Critical reflections and conversations

The Framework was created using a rigorous social research model centred around listening to and learning from CDPs. From January to August 2019, CDPs helped shape a draft set of competency elements by submitting curriculum, regulations, organization policies, job descriptions, training outlines, occupational standards and certification program information. At the same time, a literature review investigated Canadian norms and how the field of career development is defined worldwide. This research surfaced eight trends and emergent themes: delivery via technology, complexity of client, role with employers and community, evidence-based practice, generalist versus specialist, co-ordination role with professional network, tailored and timely labour market information, and globalization.

The essence of developing the competencies happened from September to November 2019 in focus group meetings, where CDPs provided rich evidence of the eight trends in their professional practice.

CDP subject matter experts (SMEs) convened in four different regions of Canada to define the field of practice. SMEs set the parametres of the Framework and determined the content through consensus. The SMEs ensured that the complete scope of the field was well documented and that the competencies contained the right level of specificity and context.

From October to December 2019, we held coffee conversations with more than 600 CDPs across Canada to review the draft competencies. During each session, CDPs discussed specific topics related to the eight trends by describing what they do in their workplace, what is going well and what challenges or issues they face. Participants then reviewed a competency element related to the discussion topic and made suggestions for revision, including adding competency statements or examples and recommending edits.

Read more: Supporting Canadians to navigate learning and work – Updating the Standards and Guidelines for career professionals

Something for everyone – the competency Framework structure

The Framework is a coherent definition of the skills and knowledge required of CDPs in Canada and takes into account varying types of work environments, positions and levels of complexity. It applies to the overall field of career development practice rather than a single context or role; individual CDPs need only select and apply the competencies that are relevant to them.

There are four main types of competencies that make up the career development domain, depicted by the pyramid, which shows the progression from foundational to leadership competencies:

Professional Practice comprises competencies foundational to the profession, such as professional responsibility, ethical judgment and decision-making or client-practitioner relationship. These enabling skills are required of all CDPs. These are also the competencies that CDPs have in common with affiliated professions such as counsellors, health professionals, teachers and others.

CDP Characteristic refers to competencies that are distinct to the career development field. CDPs do some or all of these in their job and over their careers. During focus groups, we found that specific role responsibilities of CDPs varied, from acting as a generalist to a specialist based on organization location and identity.

A member of the Arctic/Atlantic focus group said exploring the competencies helped illustrate the unique role of career professionals in the North. “Within remote, Indigenous communities, career development professionals are experiencing multi-faceted and complex cases,” the participant said. “CDPs serve as a holistic source of support for their clients.”

Others echoed the sentiment that the complexity of their clients’ needs is increasing, and they are seeing more vulnerable and multi-barriered individuals. As a result, competency elements such as referrals to professional services and tailored services for specific target populations are included in this section. This section places a strong emphasis on commitment to cultural competence and embracing diversity.

CDP Advanced are common competencies for specialized services that usually apply to highly experienced CDPs. Competencies in this area tend to reflect emergent practice. For example, CDPs told us that they are increasingly using technology to deliver services. CDPs also told us that, in some specialized roles, they are expected to have expertise in working with assessment and evaluation instruments and procedures.

Outreach and Leadership aims to capture competencies that CPDs require to be effective in working with the community. CDPs told us that in addition to working one on one with individual clients, they are playing a central, co-ordinating role with community organizations and employers. Increasingly, CDPs are leveraging their professional affiliations, helping clients navigate a complex maze of community services to access appropriate support, and also acting in a co-ordination role among organizations, with the client as the focus. For instance, one focus group participant described their need for labour market knowledge and a network of job-shadowing opportunities to support a client.

The Framework builds on the Standards & Guidelines, with a focus on benchmarking the profession against accepted standards of practice from around the world. It is forward-looking, containing skills that CDPs require to be responsive to new and emergent skills demands.

The currency of competencies

The Framework will serve several individuals and groups. Individual CDPs can use it to guide career decisions or for personal and professional development planning. It can help them assess what skills they possess and may still need to acquire. By enabling program articulation, credit transfer and prior learning recognition, the Framework can also act as a currency of competencies used by programs where comparisons of type and level are possible. Institutions can use the framework to manage human resource systems and organizational change, to inform curriculum and workforce planning, and to guide policy on improved learner and worker mobility systems.

Over the next 16 months, the Canadian Career Development Foundation (CCDF), the Canadian Council for Career Development (3CD), provincial and territorial partners, the network of existing certifying bodies and others will work together to create a new Pan-Canadian Voluntary Certification Program for Career Development Professionals. Validation of the Framework will take place between January and March 2020. The multi-phased process will involve broad stakeholder review, and formal ratification and endorsement by the project’s National Stakeholder Committee. Ultimately, the designation evolving from this professional certification will be recognized as the pre-eminent credential of CDPs across Canada and their essential role in promoting positive health, social and economic outcomes of individuals, institutions and communities.

Kathy McDonald, Project Director with CCDF, has worked in key educational leadership roles at the school, school board and ministry levels. She is honoured to collaborate with career development stakeholders across Canada to lead the Supporting Canadians to Navigate Learning and Work project.

Philip Mondor is President and CEO of Tourism HR Canada and Emerit Consulting. He has dedicated his career to labour market projects and specializes in competency-based models for both regulated and non-regulated professions. His work spans over 15 industrial sectors and in 11 countries, having worked with foreign governments, pan-global organizations, industry associations, corporations, and various education and training bodies.

Two simple questions can help career practitioners evaluate whether they are being ethical in interactions with clients and colleagues

Briony Penrose

Most career professionals are familiar with the code of ethics they are supposed to follow, but how well do we really understand how to apply ethics in daily practice? When we consider ethics from a theoretical standpoint, it can seem overwhelming. Instead, what if we thought about ethical practice as the foundation that underpins all of our communication, decisions, interactions and daily work duties? Rather than viewing a code of ethics as a rulebook filled with things we shouldn’t do, we could see it as a supportive document that guides us in every facet of our professional lives (Career Development Institute, 2019).

Most practitioners have a working understanding of ethics in relation to specific ethical dilemmas; however, there can be a knowledge gap in applying our codes of ethics to our daily work. Ethical practice is not something to just be considered when an issue arises; rather, “all of our professional behaviours have ethical components” (Anderson & Handelsman, 2011).

In Australia, we have recently undergone a review of our Professional Standards, and the opening paragraph states that “the Code of Ethics guides the professional behaviour and practice of Australian Career Development Practitioners and informs the public about the ethical standards to which the Australian Career Development Practitioners adhere” (CICA, 2019). The words guides and behaviour suggest that this code should be assisting us with everything that we do, from our interactions with clients, to our relationships with our colleagues. In other words, ethical practice and ethical decisions should be our daily goal.

How do we know if our practice is ethical?

There are plenty of models to help us manage ethical issues, such as the seven-step ethical decision-making model discussed by Forester-Miller and Davis in a Practitioner’s Guide to Ethical Decision Making (1996):

1. Identify the problem,
2. Apply the code of ethics,
3. Determine the nature and dimensions of the dilemma,
4. Generate potential course of action,
5. Consider the possible consequences and determine a course of action,
6. Evaluate the selected course of action, and
7. Implement the course of action.

This model provides the practitioner with a detailed, practical process to follow. The result is a course of action that we can explain and justify if our ethical decision-making process is questioned and requires explanation. Being able to explain our ethical decisions is important because at the heart of it, “ethical decisions are formed by inner impulses (personal values), judgements, and knowledge about professional obligations” (Theurer & Neault, 2013). However, we don’t always require such a detailed tool to make decisions. As we navigate our daily work, we need our own ethical practice-checker.

Ethical ‘gates’ for guiding practice

An unattributed but popular quote suggests that before we speak, we should let our words pass through three gates: “Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?” If we use this premise of gates and underpin this with the principles of ethical foundations, we could have a practical tool that would aid us in our daily interactions.

Ethical foundations

• Nonmaleficence – not intentionally or unintentionally causing harm to others
• Beneficence – being proactive, promoting positive growth, doing good for others
• Autonomy – respecting the right for independence and self-determination
• Justice – fairness and equality for all
• Fidelity – honouring commitments, loyalty and fairness
• Veracity – honesty and transparency

(Makela, 2019; Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996)

This tool, an ethical practice-checker, could consist of two components – ethical “gates” for us to use in our daily practice:

1. Does this respect me? To answer this question, we require a deep understanding of our values and morals; we need to understand who we are, professionally and personally (Anderson and Handelsman, 2011). This can be achieved by undertaking a process of reflection and self-examination, determining what we value in our personal life and in our professional careers.
2. Does this respect others? We need to be mindful and respectful of all, understanding that our own complex system of values and morals may be different from others. This ties back to our ethical foundations of autonomy, justice and fidelity.

In addition, to have the foundations to be able to answer both of these questions, it is imperative that we are maintaining our currency in the career development field by being familiar with our professional standards and code of ethics, ensuring we have the appropriate qualifications for our respective roles and undertaking regular continuing professional development.

Reflecting on our daily decisions

Take a moment and reflect on your week. Consider the conversations you have had with colleagues and clients, the emails you have written and read, the decisions you have made. Now consider any moments during your week where you might have struggled with a client’s decision, been frustrated with an email or been angry at a colleague’s tone of voice. If we break down this struggle, frustration or anger, what is at the root of the issue? In many cases, it can be traced to an incongruence in two individuals’ personal values. It could be as simple as two people valuing different levels of formality in their email communication, or it could be a more complex ethical issue of a client following a career path imposed by their family, rather than following their own passions and interests. Reflect on your reaction and resulting actions and then answer the two ethical gates questions: Did you respect yourself? Did you respect others?

These two ethical gates are not intended to replace an ethical decision-making model or a code of ethics; they are quick phrases that we can use during our daily work and also during challenging moments to reflect “in action” as to whether we are behaving ethically. As career development practitioners, we are highly skilled individuals, supporting our clients to develop the skills they need to manage their own careers in a very complex and turbulent world. Our work is often demanding, time-consuming and can also be emotionally testing. By having a practical way to reflect on our own behaviour, we can feel more secure in the knowledge that we are always striving to demonstrate ethical practice.

Briony Penrose, MEd, is a Professional Careers Practitioner at the Australian Centre for Career Education, where she works in the training division, delivering the two entry-level qualifications for Australian Career Development Practitioners.

References

Anderson, S. K., & Handelsman, M. M. (2010). Ethics for Psychotherapists and Counselors [Kindle Version]. Retrieved from amzn.to/3aztSNf

BBC. (2014). Ethics: a general introduction. Retrieved from bbc.in/2rwUb57

Career Development Institute (CDI). (2019). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from bit.ly/2PIGCr9

Career Industry Council of Australia (CICA). (2019). Professional standards for Australian career development practitioners. Retrieved from cica.org.au/professional-standards/

Forester-Miller, H., & Davis, T. E. (2016). Practitioner’s guide to ethical decision making (Rev.ed.). Retrieved from bit.ly/2qSwMe0

Makela, J. P. (2019). Enhancing Ethical Practice in Career Services: Inspiring conversation, empowering professionals. Live International Webinar Series on Professional Standards, August 8, 2019.

Theurer, G. & Neault, R. (2013). Ethics: Do we do what we say we will do? CERIC. Retrieved from bit.ly/35iN5jj

Interviews with well-educated economic immigrants reveal work-search struggles and unmet expectations

Charles Chen and Jen Davies

Note: This article is a short summary of the dissertation Learning experiences and career successes of immigrant professionals in Canada by Jennifer L. Davies (OISE/University of Toronto, 2019).

In the late 1990s, Canada began seeking out highly skilled immigrants and welcoming more racially diverse newcomers. These newcomers often fared poorly in the labour market when they arrived. Large numbers of immigrant professionals were redoing their bachelor’s degrees at the college level, which seemed inefficient both for the economy and the professionals.

Roughly five years ago, Canada’s economic immigration system underwent another significant shift toward a labour market-driven system. As interested parties await data to show whether this was an improvement for the economy and for the newcomers themselves, this article examines a study that looked for the best (and worst) practices in work-search experiences of individuals who arrived under the previous human capital or “potential-focused” system.

Context

Canada admitted 1.1 million immigrants from 2001–2006, which represented two-thirds of that period’s population growth (Chui, Tran, & Maheux, 2007). More than half of them were racialized, which was a major shift for Canada from less than a decade before (Statistics Canada, 2009).

In 2008, 45.8% of all immigrants to Canada were classified as economic immigrants, a majority of them coming through the Federal Skilled Worker Program (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2008). Appropriately, 54.7% of immigrants intended to work in a professional field, 14.6% in a managerial field and 25.0% in a technical or skilled field (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2008).

Yet newcomers with at least a bachelor’s degree had an unemployment rate that was 3.85 times higher than their Canadian-born peers in 2001, and 2.4 times higher in 2016 (Keung, 2019). Studies from both Ontario and Alberta found that only 10-16% of immigrants had secured employment appropriate to their education and skill level, suggesting that the background-employment mismatch for recent newcomers is a national problem (Salaff & Greve, 2003; Bhandari, Horvath, & To, 2006).

Many newcomers facing in difficulty finding employment are encouraged to pursue Canadian education, since university graduates in Canada have higher employment rates and more full-time jobs than any other group (Chung, 2006). However, an analysis of the 2003 Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) found that self-initiated training did not affect the career success of immigrants or non-immigrants (Fang, Zikic, & Novicevic, 2009). Employer-sponsored training had a positive effect on non-immigrants’ careers, but not on immigrants’ careers. This is a very significant finding given the wage gap and drop in professional status faced by immigrant professionals. Clearly there are factors affecting their career development beyond education–job matching.

Research

A team of researchers conducted semi-structured interviews between 2009 and 2011 with well-educated professionals who came as economic immigrants to Canada between 1996 and 2006.

The study included 26 men and 26 women from 21 countries of origin, most of whom still had not fully re-established their careers. The challenges they described included finding a fit in Canada’s economy and managing their expectations for initial employment; work-search difficulties such as lacking a professional network; and retraining, which often did not lead to desired employment.

Economy and expectations

Many participants realized in the course of their struggle to find suitable work that their expectations had been shaped by the large, labour-driven economies and labour markets in their countries of origin, which are significantly different from the Canadian labour market. While their education and skills might have been highly sought after in their countries of origin, in Canada, their expertise did not seem to be valued. This flew in the face of their expectations that they would find comparable employment in Canada fairly quickly. For example, one woman described having become a manager only six months after having completed university in her country of origin. She expected that with her 3+ years of managerial experience she would be able to find a similar job in Canada. She chose to pursue a college diploma as a solution to unemployment, which led to her obtaining entry-level employment in her field. Going to college is common advice in employment resource centres. One wonders if she had been advised to pursue higher education instead, like an MBA, what outcome she might have had instead. CDPs ought to refer newcomer professionals to reliable, up-to-date resources like LinkedIn for the likely outcomes of various kinds of re-training programs, to ensure they are able to make well-informed decisions.

Read more on CERIC’s CareerWise website:
How Kingston, Ontario is using diversity and inclusion to tackle labour shortages
Supporting newcomers on their path to career success
How to support clients facing bias in their job search

Some participants arrived expecting that their job applications would garner positive responses, and others seemed to have acquired some false expectations from local employment resource centres about the likelihood of positive responses to their applications. Participants said they expected to receive more responses to their job applications, because in their countries of origin they would have received replies. One participant explained that he was advised at an employment resource centre that if he met about 80% of the qualifications for a position, he should apply. However, even when applying to jobs where he exceeded that threshold, he did not hear back, which surprised him since the job-search “experts” had advised him otherwise. It seems as though career development professionals were not always able to advise immigrant clients on all the nuances of work-search strategy. CDPs ought to ensure, as per the core competencies outlined in the Standards & Guidelines for Career Development Professionals (Canadian Council for Career Development, n.d.), that we are accommodating diversity; collecting, analyzing and using information; and conveying information clearly.

Overqualification/underutilization

The participants often received mixed messages from employers about the value of their credentials, so it was difficult for them to determine their worth in the labour market. A former professor of economics noted that he could not land work as an instructor because he had no PhD, and yet because of his master’s degree, he was often told he was overqualified for other work. Similarly, a physician who was applying for entry-level jobs in health care found that employers struggled to understand why she would be interested in such roles, given her previous experience: “They thought I was either irrelevant or I did something bad back home. It [was] very, very strange to explain.” Career development professionals encourage clients to leverage their transferable skills, but it is not clear whether this is actually helpful in all fields of work. As noted, a core competency outlined in the Standards & Guidelines is to collect, analyze and use information, and it is important that we ourselves know or are able to find industry-relevant resources to share with our newcomer clients, because they often struggled to interest potential employers the way they were choosing to introduce themselves.

Likewise, another participant noted that he had removed his MBA from the resume he used to get the job he had at the time of the study. The participant remarked that he had begun to receive more responses to his applications when he removed his master’s degree. After obtaining permanent employment, he told his supervisor about his MBA, and was informed that he would not have been hired if he had included it on his resume. Ordinarily, a career development professional would probably advise a client to keep a highly desirable credential like an MBA on a resume, but apparently not all MBAs are created equal, with degrees earned outside Canada valued less. This speaks to the need for career development professionals to be aware of biases in hiring processes, and to make clients who are newcomers aware that these biases may impact their job search.

Social justice lens

While only one of the 52 participants of this study identified the belief that they were facing discrimination, it is likely that some human resources departments and hiring managers are biased against immigrants’ credentials and experience. There is an extensive body of research developed since the early 2000s that has demonstrated that everyone possesses implicit or unconscious bias, which affects our preferences and decisions (Agarwal, 2018). While organizations need to put checks in place to reduce the impact of these biases on hiring processes, career development professionals could also provide strategic advice to immigrant professionals on how to re-establish a professional network, “whiten” their resumes and work to decipher the “rules” of a job-search game that does not play fair. To that end, career development programming ought to connect immigrants to relevant networks of established professionals who can help them to navigate their job search.

Charles Chen is a distinguished Professor at OISE and a Canada Research Chair in Life Career Development. Jen Davies has worked as a career and employment counsellor since 2007, when she first noticed the unfairness immigrant professionals experience in the labour market. She is currently the Manager, Career Development Services at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

References

Note: In February 2016, Citizenship and Immigration Canada was renamed Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. References to documents published before then are referenced to “Citizenship and Immigration Canada.”

Agarwal, P. (2018, December 3). Unconscious bias: How it affects us more than we know. Forbes.  Retrieved from forbes.com/sites/pragyaagarwaleurope/2018/12/03/unconscious-bias-how-it-affects-us-more-than-we-know/#57625f276e13

Chui, T., Tran, K., & Maheux, H. (2007). Immigration in Canada: A portrait of the foreign-born population: 2006 census (Catalogue no. 97-577-XIE2006001). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Minister of Industry.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada. (2008). Facts and figures: Immigration overview: Permanent and temporary residents (Catalogue no. Ci1-8/2008E-PDF), p. 9. Retrieved from publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2009/cic/Ci1-8-2008E.pdf

Bhandari, B. S., Horvath, S., & To, R. (2006). Choices and voices of immigrant men: Re-flections on social integration. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 38(1), 140–148.

Chung, L. (2006). Education and earnings (Catalogue no. 75-001-XIE). Perspectives, June, 5–12. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistics Canada.

Canadian Council for Career Development. (n.d). The Canadian Standards & Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners. Retrieved from career-dev-guidelines.org/

Fang, T., Zikic, J., & Novicevic, M. M. (2009). Career success of immigrant professionals: Stock and flow of their career capital. International Journal of Manpower, 30(5), 472–488.

Keung, N. (2019, January 18). Employment gap narrows between university-educated immigrants and Canadian-born counterparts. Toronto Star. Retrieved from thestar.com/news/gta/2019/01/18/employment-gap-narrows-be-tween-university-educated-immigrants-and-canadian-born-counterparts.html

Salaff, J., & Greve, A. (2003). Gendered structural barriers to job attainment for skilled Chinese emigrants in Canada. International Journal of Population Geography, 9, 443–456.

Statistics Canada. (2009). Immigrant population by place of birth and period of immigration (2006 census). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Minister of Industry. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/hlt/97-557/T404-eng.cfm?Lang=E&T=404&GH=4&GF=1&SC=1&S=1&O=D