Exploring New

Horizons

in Career CounsellingKobus M

aree and Annamaria Di Fabio (Eds.)

Spine18.974 mm

Exploring New Horizons in Career Counselling

Turning Challenge into Opportunities

Kobus Maree and Annamaria Di Fabio (Eds.)

S e n s e P u b l i s h e r s

Exploring New Horizons in Career CounsellingTurning Challenge into OpportunitiesKobus MareeUniversity of Pretoria, South Africa

and

Annamaria Di Fabio (Eds.)University of Florence, Italy

This book brings together eminent global theorists and practitioners to share their views on the evolution of career counselling in recent decades. Multiple changes of a fundamental and complex nature, as well as related challenges in the world of work, have necessitated career counselling to undergo such an evolution. The authors examine the future nature and scope of new directions in the field of career counselling psychology and they critically reflect on, as well as promote the predominant theoretical and conceptual framework of the field of career counselling. The latest models and methods in and for the 21st century are explored and teased out, including Mark Savickas’ proposal to shift the focus in interventions from conceptualising the self as content to seeing the self as a process. This approach is in keeping with the notion of career as a story and consistent with leading theories such as Jean Guichard’s self-construction framework and the life design paradigm. The authors deliver an avant garde text that is easy to read and use without diluting the conceptual and terminological complexities of the field.

The book is an invaluable resource for new, emerging and experienced researchers, academics, scholars, researchers, psychologists, social workers, teachers and clients:

• It merges what is known about the field with emerging approaches.• It gives an overview of theoretical paradigms that can be applied to a changing world of work.• It makes a critical analysis of germane questions such as “What does the future hold for the field of career

counselling and how can challenges be turned into opportunities?” and “How can different paradigms, approaches and strategies be harnessed to promote clients’ career-life wellbeing and resilience?”.

• It facilitates an understanding of the skills necessary to deal with career-related transitions, challenges and barriers to help people acquire transferable career-life skills and career(-choice) readiness.

• It examines the importance of career adaptability and how people can develop this vital 21st century (survival) competency.

• It challenges career counsellors to grasp and acquire skills to promote and advocate social justice agendas.

• It promotes and demonstrates the exciting and promising notion of dialogue writing to enhance the dialogical work of the career counsellor and client.

Individually and collectively, the authors team up to blend retrospect and prospect, and they make a concerted effort to convert 21st century challenges and frontiers in career counselling into opportunities, hurt into hope, hopelessness into inspiration.

Contributors to this volume are Marie-Thérèse Augustijnen, Susan Barclay, Jenny Bimrose, Jim Bright, Alan Brown, Charles Chen, Jennifer Del Corso, Annamaria Di Fabio, Alec Eshelman, Dale Furbish, Itamar Gati, Paul Gore, Alex Kelly, Reinekke Lengelle, Nimrod Levin, Kobus Maree, Peter McIlveen, Mary McMahon, Frans Meijers, A. J. Metz, Warren Midgley, Aaron Miller, Wendy Patton, Jackie Peila-Shuster, Mark Pope, Robert Pryor, Patrick Rottinghaus, Nupur Sahai, Kevin Stoltz, Raoul Van Esbroeck, and Mark Watson.

ISBN 978-94-6300-152-6

DIVS

Exploring New Horizons in Career Counselling

Exploring New Horizons in Career CounsellingTurning Challenge into Opportunities

Edited by

Kobus MareeUniversity of Pretoria, South Africa

and

Annamaria Di FabioUniversity of Florence, Italy

A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN: 978-94-6300-152-6 (paperback)ISBN: 978-94-6300-153-3 (hardback)ISBN: 978-94-6300-154-0 (e-book)

Published by: Sense Publishers, P.O. Box 21858,3001 AW Rotterdam,The Netherlandshttps://www.sensepublishers.com/

Printed on acid-free paper

This book has been independently peer-reviewed by international academics who are experts in the field. The reviews included the entire text that appears in the published book and peer reviews were exceptionally positive.

Cover photograph taken by Anton Vlock Maree.

All Rights Reserved © 2015 Sense Publishers

No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword ixWendy Patton

Part 1: Merging Retrospect and Prospect to Move Career Counselling Forward 1

1. Blending Retrospect and Prospect in Order to Convert Challenges into Opportunities in Career Counselling 3J. G. (Kobus) Maree

2. Converging Vistas from Scores and Stories: An Integrative Approach to Career Counselling 25Patrick J. Rottinghaus, Aaron D. Miller, Alec Eshelman and Nupur Sahai

3. Life Adaptability Qualitative Assessment (LAQuA): A Narrative Instrument for Evaluating Counselling Intervention Effectiveness 43Annamaria Di Fabio

Part 2: Projecting into the Future: Theoretical Conjectures 63

4. Mapping a Personal Career Theory 65Mark Watson

5. Career Human Agency Theory 77C. P. (Charles) Chen

6. Systemic Thinking: A Foundation for ‘Doing’ Narrative Career Counselling 99Mary McMahon

7. Exploring New Perspectives in Coaching: Coaching as a New Paradigm for Career Interventions 117Raoul Van Esbroeck and Marie-Thérèse Augustijnen

8. Limitation and Creativity: A Chaos Theory of Careers Perspective 131Jim E. H. Bright and Robert G. L. Pryor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

vi

Part 3: Anticipating and Managing Career-Related Changes and Challenges 149

9. Promoting Transferable Non-Cognitive Factors for College and Career Readiness 151A. J. Metz, Alexandra Kelly and Paul A. Gore

10. Imagined and Unconscious Career Barriers: A Challenge for Career Decision Making in the 21st Century 167Nimrod Levin and Itamar Gati

11. Work Traumas and Unanticipated Career Transitions 189Jennifer J. Del Corso

12. Career Development for Children: Addressing Barriers, Challenging Perceptions, and Building Hope 205Jacqueline J. Peila-Shuster

13. Turning Transition into Triumph: Applying Schlossberg’s Transition Model to Career Transition 219Susan R. Barclay

Part 4: Career Adaptability and Transition 233

14. A Semantic and Pragmatic Analysis of Career Adaptability in Career Construction Theory 235Peter McIlveen and Warren Midgley

15. Career Decision Making and Career Adaptability 249Jenny Bimrose and Alan Brown

16. Counselling toward Career Adaptability: The Charge of a New Era 263Kevin B. Stoltz

Part 5: Advancing Social Justice 279

17. Social Justice: A Seminal and Enduring Career Counselling Ideal 281Dale S. Furbish

18. Career Counselling with Underserved Populations: The Role of Cultural Diversity, Social Justice, and Advocacy 297Mark Pope

TABLE OF CONTENTS

vii

Part 6: Using Dialogues to Foster Awareness and Self-Direction in Career Counselling 313

19. Playwright Meets Career Coach: Writing Dialogues to Promote Awareness and Self-Direction 315Reinekke Lengelle and Frans Meijers

Part 7: Epilogue 329

20. The Next Horizon of Career Counselling: Ethics—The Philosophy of Living 331Peter McIlveen

Contributors 341

ix

WENDY PATTON

FOREWORD

This is a significant book in the career literature as it brings together authors from across the globe to pose new perspectives for career counselling in response to the significant, complex, and rapidly increasing challenges in the world of work. The book is impressive as each contributor challenges their own thinking, and in turn our field, to move beyond traditional paradigms and approaches to working with clients. In the introductory chapter, Maree quotes Romer “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. What is so positive in the current book is the response to the workplace challenges where each of the authors has undertaken to respond with positive suggestions for the field, and for the practice of career counselling – “ to convert challenges into opportunities” (Maree).

Part one of the book carefully blends what we know with emerging approaches. Maree focuses on integrated strategies which blend qualitative+qualitative approaches, with an emphasis on “promoting clients’ wellbeing and resilience”. Rottinghaus and colleagues also extend their developing work which focuses on combining traditional quantitative approaches with narrative methods to “achieve a more holistic understanding of clients’ concerns”. Finally, Di Fabio proposes a new narrative instrument to evaluate clients’ change following life design based interventions.

Part two provides a strong collection of 5 chapters which provide theoretical paradigms which can be applied to a changing world of work. These frameworks include the development of a personal career theory map (Watson), the introduction of coaching as a new paradigm for career interventions (Van Esbroeck), and Bright and Pryor extend their chaos theory perspective to discuss limitation and creativity. McMahon extends the Systems Theory Framework to develop suggestions for career practitioners in ‘doing’ narrative career counselling. Finally, in this section, Chen draws from seven existing career theories to develop CHAT, Career Human Agency Theory, which he describes as a metatheory of career psychology. Each of these chapters provides direct suggestions to enhance practitioners’ understandings, and also to assist clients to develop their own personal theoretical frameworks. Each chapter challenges new ways of thinking in addition to offering suggestions to guide career counselling practice.

x

W. PATTON

Continuing with the theme of the challenge of change, the third section of the book emphasises the skills necessary to confront challenges and barriers and develop transferable skills, career readiness, and preparedness for career transitions. Its chapters focus on college transitions (Metz, Gore and Kelly), imagined and unconscious career barriers (Gati and Levin), work traumas (Del Corso), children’s career development (Peila-Shuster), and unanticipated career transitions (Barclay).

Career adaptability and transition is also the theme of part four, with a focus on understanding the career adaptability construct (McIlveen and Midgley; Bimrose and Barnes). In particular this section emphasises counselling to develop career adaptability (Stoltz).

Part five introduces two chapters which challenge career counsellors to understand and develop skills to work with social justice agendas (Furbish and Pope). The important role of advocacy in the role of the career counsellor is emphasised by both authors.

Finally an innovative chapter (Lengelle and Meijers) describes dialogue writing and illustrates how its use can enhance the dialogical work of both the counsellor and the client. Specific cases are provided to demonstrate the efficacy of this approach in careers work.

This book of 20 chapters combines helpful descriptions of theoretical frameworks with clear practical examples providing suggestions for career counsellors working in diverse contexts. It is very timely to revisit our current field and place a new light on existing work to pose fresh approaches to new challenges. The book challenges career counselling to “work together to blend retrospect and prospect in a concerted attempt to convert challenges in career counselling into opportunities, hurt into hope and hopelessness into inspiration” (Maree, chapter 1).

Professor Wendy PattonQueensland University of Technology

PART 1

MERGING RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT TO MOVE CAREER COUNSELLING FORWARD

K. Maree & A. Di Fabio (Eds.), Exploring New Horizons in Career Counselling, 3–24. © 2015 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved.

J. G. (KOBUS) MAREE

1. BLENDING RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT IN ORDER TO CONVERT CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES IN CAREER COUNSELLING

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste —Paul Romer

INTRODUCTION

Fundamental changes in the workplace across all countries call for a contemporary response from career counselling theorists and practitioners as well as researchers and clients. A positive career counselling approach is needed to enable career counsellors to equip clients with the necessary skills to respond to these changes. I first elaborate on the perspective guiding this chapter and then deal with the global world of work. Next is an overview of the fourth waves in psychology, career counselling and the economy with specific focus on the interaction between these fields. This is followed by speculation on the fifth waves in various disciplines and their likely impact on career counselling. Two main approaches to career counselling and aspects of an integrated, qualitative+quantitative approach are discussed as well as the impact of poverty on people’s self-construction. I conclude by calling for an active, positive approach to career counselling with the emphasis on promoting clients’ wellbeing and resilience.

NEEDED CHANGES IN THE SOCIAL ORGANISATION OF WORK

Savickas (2011a, p. 6) said the following about the disappearance of jobs in the 21st century, a phenomenon that has profound implications for career counsellors and their clients:

The employment premise of matching individuals to jobs is fading as the digital revolution produces jobless work. In response to the recurring transitions that they will face as they move from project to project, individuals cannot maintain their employment, so they must maintain their employability.

Much has been written about the dramatic changes that have taken place in the world of work in recent decades and the impact of these changes on the positions, jobs, careers1 and lives of workers (Sharf, 2010). Fluid working arrangements, brought about by shifts in societies in transition, no longer provide people with suitable

J. G. (KOBUS) MAREE

4

holding environments (Winnicott, 1964) such as the social, organisational and moral frames of reference of earlier times (Guichard, in press; Savickas, 2013). A dynamic response to work-related developments and challenges is required by 21st century people to help them make sense of changes and associated trauma in the workplace. Such a response should include a review and an update of existing theories on career counselling.

Counselling theories provide counsellors with the theoretical foundation to establish ‘best practice’ in the interests of clients. Best practice includes enabling people to deal with fundamental changes in the world of work. They should consider their own stories carefully and draw on them to find advice from within on how to deal with the increasing uncertainty in the workplace. Vital survival skills in the 21st century include the ability to make sound decisions, think critically, deal with challenges creatively and, most importantly, learn resilience (Ungar, 2012a, 2012b). Resilience here is regarded as

a set of behaviors over time that reflect the interactions between individuals and their environments, in particular the opportunities for personal growth that are available and accessible. (Ungar, 2012a, p. 14)

I subscribe to the view that resilience is a process (not a trait) that occurs throughout a person’s lifespan and that is demonstrated before, during and after unfavourable experiences. I also believe that it

involves a range of individual qualities that include active agency, flexible responses to varying circumstances, an ability to take advantage of opportunities, a self-reflective style making it easier to learn from experiences, and a commitment to relationships. (Ungar, 2012b, p. 40)

People need resilience2 as a key aspect of their personal make-up to enable them to manage change in the workplace, choose careers, successfully negotiate short- or long-term assignments and construct themselves so that they can design successful lives and make valuable social contributions. The aim of all forms of counselling, irrespective of whether it is career counselling, marriage counselling, psychotherapy, or any other kind of counselling, is to promote people’s wellbeing by helping them become more resilient as they face challenging global work and personal environments.

GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF THIS CHAPTER

An understanding of career counselling developments over time and across contexts is required to anticipate future developments. According to Savickas (2010, p. 33):

To address new and emerging needs, vocational psychologists and career counsellors need to examine how they help individuals manage their work

BLENDING RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

5

lives. This self-examination may include a “re-view” of career theory and techniques envisioned from different perspectives and elaborated from new premises. For example, the modern idea of actualizing a core self that already exists within a person served career research and practice well during the second half of the 20th century. However, for careers in the 21st century that idea might be replaced with the postmodern idea that an essential self does not exist a priori; instead, constructing a self is a life project. This constructionist view considers self to be a story, not a substance defined by a list of traits. Needless to state, self-actualization and self-construction offer fundamentally different perspectives on and prospects for career counselling.

Savickas (2010) adds that career counsellors who augment logical positivism counselling with narrative, postmodern constructs embedded in social constructionism stand a better chance to be useful or help clients succeed in the changed working environments of today’s global economy.

In the next section, I briefly discuss some of the major changes in the contemporary world of work.

THE CHANGING WORLD OF WORK

Repeated changes in the world of work are the result of successive economic waves (the fourth wave in particular) and pose fundamental challenges to career counsellors and clients alike. Work environments are becoming less stable. Lifelong employment and regular promotion are no longer guaranteed, and, accordingly, employees no longer feel obliged to remain loyal to one organisation throughout their working lives. Short-term contracts rather than lifetime employment have become commonplace. The postmodern world of work increasingly lists the specific skills and capabilities required of prospective employees rather than specific jobs (‘dejobbing’) (Aswathappa, 2005). Today, the emphasis in career counselling is on individuals and their identities and sense of self rather than on individual differences (how people differ from one another) (Byars-Winston, 2013).

Terms often used to describe the 21st century work situation:

1. ‘Customised’: People are generally less willing to sacrifice personal time in the interests of their careers. Rather, they tend to customise their career portfolios in accordance with their own needs and not so much those of the organisations they work for. In these uncertain times, many people attach more importance to taking care of their own personal needs than moving up the corporate ladder (Benko & Weisberg, 2007).

2. ‘Kaleidoscopic career’: A career that is created on one’s own terms and defined by one’s own values, choices and preferences (Mainiero & Sullivan, 2005).

3. ‘Postindustrial’: The notion of ‘stable’ work identities is disappearing. Instead, people have to redefine themselves repeatedly in work contexts (Gershuny, 1993).

J. G. (KOBUS) MAREE

6

4. ‘Boundaryless’: This denotes a move towards independence and away from traditional agreements with organisations (Arthur, 1994; Arthur & Rousseau, 1996).

5. ‘Portfolio careers’: People contract, ‘sell’ or commission their skills in various contexts and also negotiate self-employment agreements (Handy, 1995).

6. ‘Protean careers’: People have to remain resilient so that they can deal with the effect of new technologies on their work lives and new developments in the world of work (Baruch, 2004; Hall, 1996). Portfolio and protean careers thus relate to the contracting out of skills in different contexts and signify a preference for self-employment (Fenwick, 2004).

Savickas (2012) asserts that the process of ‘dejobbing’ has led to a sense of insecurity in many workers, especially among those who are referred to as temporary, contingent, casual, contract, freelance, part-time, adjunct, consultant and self-employed workers. There has been a move away from the employment contract towards the psychological contract. The latter (a non-written contract that falls outside the formal work contract; Rousseau, 1996) refers to workers’ wish to be treated compassionately and fairly and to be respected and trusted (The psychological contract, 2014). This ‘contract’ has come about because of workers’ perception that their rights have become less respected as work contexts have become increasingly fluid over the past few decades despite professed increased emphasis on these rights.

Predominant psychological, political, social and economic trends have had a significant influence on the development of career counselling theory and practice. I accordingly now briefly discuss some important epistemological approaches that have impacted career counselling over the past few decades. I first discuss in tabular format the main ‘waves’ that have characterised psychology, career counselling and the economy in recent times. I focus mainly on the impact of the fourth wave to demonstrate the interrelatedness of the waves or trends that have emerged over the past 30 years or so (time; vertical perspective) across various subject fields (disciplines; horizontal perspective). For a more complete overview of the four waves, see Maree (2013).

OVERVIEW OF THE THIRD AND FOURTH WAVES IN PSYCHOLOGY, CAREER COUNSELLING AND THE ECONOMY OVER THE PAST

FEW DECADES3 (MAREE, 2013; 2010A, 2010B)

In the next section, I briefly discuss the impact of changes in the global economy on helping models in career counselling4 (as shown in Table 1).

The Third and Gourth Waves in the Cconomy

The economic situation and the accompanying changes in the world of work at any given time influence developments in career counselling theory and practice

BLENDING RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

7

Tabl

e 1.

Hor

izon

tal (

acro

ss d

isci

plin

es) a

nd v

ertic

al (o

ver t

ime)

ove

rvie

w o

f the

fo

urth

wav

es in

psy

chol

ogy,

care

er c

ouns

ellin

g an

d th

e ec

onom

y

Wav

ePs

ycho

logy

(O’H

anlo

n, 1

994)

Hel

ping

par

adig

m

in c

aree

r co

unse

lling

(S

avic

kas,

2006

a;

2006

b; 2

007b

)

Asso

ciat

ed c

aree

r in

terv

entio

n (S

avic

kas,

2011

a, 2

011b

)

Econ

omy

(Mol

itor,

1999

, 200

0; P

erez

, 200

2 )

Trai

t em

phas

ised

(Sav

icka

s, 20

06a,

20

06b;

200

7b)

Third

Third

wav

e ap

proa

ches

in

psyc

holo

gy w

ere

unde

rpin

ned

by e

xist

entia

l-ph

enom

enol

ogic

al

and

hum

anis

tic

assu

mpt

ions

(O

’Han

lon,

199

4)

with

nar

rativ

e co

unse

lling

bei

ng

the

mos

t vis

ible

ap

proa

ch w

ith th

e st

orie

d ap

proa

ch it

s gu

idin

g m

etap

hor

(O’H

anlo

n, 1

994)

.

Car

eer

coun

sello

rs

who

adv

ised

in

divi

dual

s on

care

er c

hoic

es

emer

ged

afte

r W

orld

War

2, a

pe

riod

that

saw

th

e ad

vent

of

larg

e, h

iera

rchi

cal

inte

rnat

iona

l co

rpor

atio

ns.

Subj

ectiv

e pe

rspe

ctiv

es p

ortra

yed

as in

divi

dual

de

velo

pmen

t em

erge

d. P

eopl

e w

ere

seen

as a

gent

s di

stin

guis

hed

by th

eir

read

ines

s to

deal

with

lif

e-st

age

appr

opria

te

deve

lopm

enta

l tas

ks.

Thes

e ta

sks i

nclu

ded

the

acqu

isiti

on o

f ne

w a

ttitu

des,

belie

fs

and

com

pete

ncie

s (A

BC

s), a

ll of

whi

ch

wer

e ai

med

at h

elpi

ng

them

pro

mot

e th

eir

care

ers.

Dur

ing

the

serv

ice

wav

e (c

a. 1

940-

1990

), th

e em

phas

is w

as o

n th

e em

ploy

men

t of

third

par

ty p

rovi

ders

to re

nder

spec

ialis

ed

serv

ices

.

Mea

ning

-mak

ing

and

the

view

that

in

divi

dual

s are

m

ore

than

just

plo

ts

on n

orm

al c

urve

s em

erge

d as

a m

ajor

tre

nd a

nd su

bjec

tive

pers

pect

ives

beg

an

to a

ugm

ent t

he

logi

cal p

ositi

vism

pe

rspe

ctiv

e (S

avic

kas,

2003

; 20

05; 2

006a

). (Con

tinue

d)

J. G. (KOBUS) MAREE

8

Four

thTh

e em

phas

is

shift

ed to

war

ds

mul

ticul

tura

l as

pect

s of

coun

selli

ng.

Mod

els,

th

eorie

s and

st

rate

gies

de

velo

ped

in

Nor

th A

mer

ican

an

d Eu

rope

an

cont

exts

cam

e un

der a

ttack

be

caus

e of

th

eir f

ailu

re to

ac

com

mod

ate

the

need

s of

mar

gina

lised

gr

oups

of c

lient

s (P

eder

son,

19

90).

The

life

desi

gn

coun

selli

ng

para

digm

em

erge

d as

the

first

-eve

r co

ordi

nate

d co

unse

lling

theo

ry

(Sav

icka

s, 20

13).

Supe

r (19

90) a

nd

Hol

land

(199

7)

had

prev

ious

ly

espo

used

theo

ries

of v

ocat

iona

l be

havi

our a

nd

deve

lopm

ent.

In

the

life

desi

gn

coun

selli

ng

para

digm

, the

em

phas

is is

on

empo

wer

ing

peop

le to

mov

e fo

rwar

d, m

ake

inst

ead

of fi

nd

mea

ning

, aut

hor

thei

r ow

n lif

e st

orie

s and

co

nstru

ct th

eir

own

care

ers a

nd

futu

res (

Savi

ckas

et

al.,

200

9).

In c

ouns

ellin

g fo

r car

eer

cons

truct

ion

(Sav

icka

s, 20

11a)

, clie

nts

are

rega

rded

as

aut

hors

who

co

ntin

ually

w

rite

thei

r au

tobi

ogra

phie

s. Em

pow

erin

g cl

ient

s to

refle

ct

repe

ated

ly

on th

eir

auto

biog

raph

ies

is e

ssen

tial

to h

elp

them

id

entif

y th

eir

mai

n lif

e th

emes

an

d ex

tend

thes

e th

emes

to th

eir

care

ers.

The

info

rmat

ion

wav

e (1

990-

), fa

cilit

ated

by

info

rmat

ion

and

com

mun

icat

ion

tech

nolo

gy (I

CT)

, fun

dam

enta

lly c

hang

ed

wor

k-re

late

d co

ntex

ts an

d ca

used

gro

win

g un

certa

inty

but

also

an

incr

ease

d in

tere

st in

co

nstru

ctiv

ist a

ppro

ache

s (em

bedd

ed in

soci

al

cons

truct

ioni

sm) (

Har

tung

, 201

1; L

ock

&

Stro

ng, 2

010;

Sav

icka

s, 20

06a,

200

7a, 2

007b

)M

ovem

ent t

ook

plac

e in

var

ious

way

s:Fr

om

– To

a jo

b fo

r life

–

an a

ssig

nmen

t for

a

few

yea

rsco

mpe

titio

n –

coop

erat

ion/

colla

bora

tion

elec

trom

echa

nica

l –

elec

troni

cfo

cus o

n w

ork

only

– ba

lanc

e in

life

imm

igra

tion

– w

orld

wor

kers

indi

vidu

alis

m

– te

ams

indu

stria

lisat

ion

– di

gita

lisat

ion

indu

stry

–

info

rmat

ion

in-h

ouse

serv

ices

–

outs

ourc

ing

isol

atio

n –

conn

ecte

dnes

sm

anag

emen

t –

netw

orki

ng

natio

nal

– ac

tivel

y w

orki

ng in

co

mm

unity

on-s

ite se

rvic

es

– on

line

serv

ices

urba

nisa

tion

– gl

obal

isat

ion

(Sav

icka

s, 20

06a,

201

1a; T

he p

sych

olog

ical

co

ntra

ct, 2

014)

.

Car

eer i

dent

ity a

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BLENDING RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

9

(Savickas et al., 2009), Theorists and practitioners alike are consequently called on to formulate timely and adaptive responses (Hartung, 2013b). The historical evolution of career counselling can best be understood by tracing its link with the different global economic waves. In the first (agricultural) economic wave (roughly 1850–1910), workers used the land to make a living, and in the second (industrial) economic wave (roughly 1900–1950), the focus was on “mass fabrication of fabricated goods” (Molitor, 2000, p. 324). ‘Jobs’ (a new concept) were created (Savickas, 2007a).

In the course of the third (service) economic wave (roughly 1940–1990), the skills of third party providers were used to render specialised services. A career was considered the pursuit of a particular occupation during a worker’s working life marked by a gradual climb up the career ladder involving ever-increasing complexity levels and responsibilities (Savickas, 2000). The fourth economic wave5 (roughly 1994-; driven by ICT developments) is characterised by communication and computer technology (Hartung, 2011; Savickas, 2011b). There are widely differing perceptions of work and work content, and work values and the meanings that people attach to the workplace are changing rapidly. For example, the notion of ‘climbing the ladder’ of seniority in the workplace is fast disappearing (Bimrose, 2010). Career counsellors should attempt to predict future economic waves and formulate appropriate responses timeously.

Prechter (2014), arguing from a socioeconomic perspective, contends that it is not only a case of the economy setting the pace for psychology but also of markets being driven by mass psychology and waves of social moods, which can be observed in trends in dress, music and politics:

Mass psychology drives markets. But it also drives other things. A positive mood induces people to expand businesses, dress with flair, buy happy music, make peace with others and buy stocks. A negative mood induces people to contract businesses, dress conservatively, buy morose music, fight with others and sell stocks. So social mood moves not only the stock market but other measures of social action as well. (p. 3)

In other words, counsellors should not summarily accept that the relationship between the economy and psychology and related fields happens in one direction only. Psychologists therefore need to find ways to influence the economy from their side as well, directly or indirectly. They should endeavour to help their clients understand this two-way concept and approach the world of work accordingly.

Connection between Helping Models in the Career Counselling and Economic Waves (Molitor, 1999, 2000; Savickas, 2006a, 2006b, 2007b)

During the third economic wave, career counsellors advised clients on how to choose an occupation, develop a career in it and start climbing the corporate ladder (Savickas, 2000, 2006b). This economic wave is associated with Holland’s (1997)

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and Super’s (1957) theories. With the emergence of ICTs, workers’ concerns about the lack of job security in the work environment prompted a changed approach to career counselling.

Character traits (attributes) emphasized by the career counselling profession during the third and the fourth wave in particular (Table 1) will now be discussed briefly.

Traits Emphasised during the Fourth Economic Wave and Concurrent Helping Models in Career Counselling (Savickas, 2006a, 2006b, 2007b; Maree & Morgan, 2012)

During the third economic wave, with the emergence of subjective perspectives in career counselling (Savickas, 2003; 2005; 2006b), the emphasis on meaning-making and the accommodation of these perspectives alongside logical positivism led to a shift towards existential and humanistic (third force) psychology. The aim was to forge an approach that would highlight people’s uniqueness (’matchlessness’) (Hergenhahn, 2005). Objective testing in relative isolation thus yielded to an approach that stressed subjectivity and idiographic differences (Lent, 1996). This approach, the client-centred approach to career counselling, regained momentum, and theorists and practitioners began to value the importance of determining and using people’s unique way of constructing their own reality. An appreciation arose for ensuring moments of (therapeutic) movement forward (Rogers, 1942; Seligman, 1994) to establish career identity.

Identity rather than personality and vocational personality types is thus highlighted in the fourth economic wave. This development coincided with a decreased emphasis on climbing the career ladder and an increased emphasis on achieving career adaptability and learning throughout life. It exemplifies the course from premodernism to modernism to high modernism and, ultimately, to postmodernism (Watson & Kuit, 2007) and stresses the restructuring of the respective roles of counsellor and client as well as what lies at the heart of assessment in career counselling (Savickas, 2011a; Watson & Kuit, 2007; Watson et al., 2011). Deconstructing career and life stories is aimed at promoting forward movement with the use of dialogue and repeated reflection on reflections to construct, deconstruct, reconstruct and co-construct career and life stories built on respect, hope and a future perspective (Brott, 2001).

In the next section, I offer a tentative overview of the fifth waves in psychology, career counselling, public health and the economy as well as of the digital ‘revolution’. The aim is to gain an understanding of current perspectives views on future developments to enable me to examine informed, contemporary theoretical considerations and associated practical steps for advancing career counselling theory and practice. Attainable goals have to be set and viable strategies co-designed to achieve these goals and outcomes.

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OVERVIEW OF CURRENT PERSPECTIVES ON FIFTH WAVE APPROACHES IN CAREER COUNSELLING

The Fifth Wave in the Economy and the Digital ‘Revolution’

Molitor (2000) believes that the leisure time era (fifth economic wave) will commence early in the 21st century. In this era, hospitality, recreation, entertainment and other leisure time pursuits will take centre stage when ‘free time’ begins to dominate people’s natural life activities. The impact of this development is already being felt globally with many people losing their jobs and many millions of others being unable to find suitable employment. Two conflicting forces are currently vying for global domination in work-related contexts. Hierarchical structures, on the one hand, reflect conventional power structures characterised by disregard for the individual, a top-down approach, centralisation, slowness, emphasis on procedure, ambitious strategies and rolling three-, four- and five-year plans, obsession with position and status, sometimes ‘brutal’ insistence on adherence to rules, which often make little sense to workers and create the impression that they are not being listened to, inadequate allowance for creativity and initiative, limited and regulated potential for self-construction and control of virtually all aspects of workers’ behaviour.

Networking and connectivity (the hallmark of the fifth wave), on the other hand, highlight connectedness via digital devices (such as PCs, laptops, smart phones, tablets, game consoles, satellite TV) and associated programmes such as Skype and WhatsApp. This force has none of the characteristics of the hierarchical structures; rather, it is characterised by impermanence, fragmentation, immediacy, disregard for authority, unlimited potential for creativity and innovation, freedom of expression, the feeling of being listened to by all people at all times, unlimited potential for self-construction, and electivity (i.e. people can now choose freely whom they wish to associate and connect with – on both the individual and the collective level) (The Fifth Wave, 2013). This conflict between the two forces lies at the heart of work-related changes, and career counsellors should be prepared and ready to guide their clients appropriately

Perez (2002) speculates that the sixth economic wave will be the age of ‘cleantech’ and biotech with nanotechnology and genetic engineering the initial predominant technologies. Millions of new jobs could be created in this wave, which could transform the utility, oil and gas, and vehicle industries in particular. Lynch (2014), writing from a techno-economic perspective, argues that society shapes and, in turn, is shaped by developing technology. He believes we are nearing the end of the fifth wave in techno-economic change and that the sixth wave (the neurotechnology wave, 2010-2060) is being fast-tracked by advances in biochip and brain-imaging technologies that will render biological analysis economical and universal. Career counsellors need to acquire a sound understanding of the implications of these important developments. They should upskill themselves regularly to enable them to provide relevant career counselling to their clients.

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The Fifth Wave in Counselling

Ratts (2009) contends that social justice counselling can be seem as a fifth force in the counselling profession, succeeding the psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural, existential-humanistic and multicultural counselling forces already in the profession. He argues that, as was the case with previous evolving paradigms, social justice counselling urges career counsellors to transcend their traditional helping roles and practices. He states that “[t]he need to consider social justice counselling as a paradigm rooted in advocacy is critical if counsellors are to answer the growing call to attend to the social ills that negatively affect client well-being” (p. 170). Robertson (2013) declares that career counsellors should carefully reflect on the possible implications of their actions Practitioners and researchers alike are encouraged to examine the scope, character and impact of career counselling’s contribution to the promotion of the health and wellbeing of not only their clients but of people in general, be it directly (when therapeutic counselling is administered) or indirectly (when clients are encouraged to involve themselves in beneficial work and to become more skilled). Lastly, Robertson (2013) argues that career counselling should seek rather to promote positive health than to attempt to cure ‘disease’ and suffering.

The Fifth Wave in Public HealthWorkers today feel alienated and isolated by the changes and uncertainties in the

labour field, and we, as psychologists in the first and career counsellors in the second place, need the theoretical and practical skills and know-how to help our clients harness these changes and uncertainties to their own advantage. Hartung (2013a) alludes to the implicit link between career counselling and public and mental health:

Individuals confront career planning, work entry, job search, job loss, work inopportunity, work stress, and work adjustment in an era of severe economic downturn and ‘dejobbing’… where assignments replace jobs.

Workers have no choice but to become more adaptive, to take stock of their situation constantly and to upskill themselves in order to manage their career trajectories.

Writing from a public health perspective, Hemingway (2011) argues that the first four waves of public health action were characterised by the view that the human spirit and capability were relatively unimportant. He proposes that human beings should rather be viewed within a caring context (Todres, Galvin, & Dahlberg, 2006) and demonstrates how this could help public health professionals in the impending fifth wave of public health action:

The first four waves of public health activity have focused primarily on structural changes within the organization of society and more recently the potential to blame or hold accountable individuals for their health behaviour. What seems to be missing is a view of human beings as ‘‘assets’’ with the potential to harness their qualities of passion and effort as a possible force

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for public health improvement. (Hanlon et al., 2011; McKnight & Kretzmann, 1996, Hemingway, 2011, p. 2)

Here, Hemingway (2011, p. 2) contends that all people have a propensity for acting energetically and passively, for learning and for constructing their own wellbeing. The downside of this view is that people’s wellbeing can also be impacted negatively when their potential is restricted by adverse circumstances. Hemingway (2011, p. 5) stresses the importance of focusing on people’s lived experiences6 of wellbeing rather than disseminating “expert knowledge to implement no matter what the context”.

Hanlon et al. (2011, pp. 34–35) propose six strategies that help define the nascent qualities of a fifth wave in public health care. To a larger or smaller extent, these strategies (briefly discussed below) have significance for career counselling and the approach advocated in this chapter.

1. Acknowledging that the public health system does not comprise simple systems that can be predicted and controlled but, rather, multifaceted adaptive systems with multiple balancing points that are unpredictably responsive to small changes in the public health system.

2. Shifting the focus from ‘anti’ (antibiotics, fighting drugs, battling inequalities) to ‘pro’ (promoting wellbeing, a sense of balance, integration), and from control and independence (through expert, specialist knowledge) to interdependence and collaboration (the capacity and willingness to learn from and with other people).

3. Shifting the focus from a ‘mechanical’ understanding of the world and of people as ‘mechanics’ who simply detect and repair what is wrong to animate beings who support life’s natural capacity for healing and good health.

4. Shifting the focus towards integrating objective factors (biological and social processes) with subjective factors (lived experience and inner transformation) and inter-subjective factors (shared symbols, meanings, values, beliefs and aspirations (p. 35)).

5. Advancing a future awareness that can inform the present; allowing innovation to bolster the future rather than sustain the current, unsustainable situation. Likewise, it is essential to advance different forms of growth outside the economic sphere to promote human welfare.

6. Repeating and extending through learning. In other words, we should try things out, learn and then share what we have learned to enable us to adjust to change by developing new approaches. This should be seen as a naturalistic growth process driven by a desire to adapt and learn and not as a mechanistic process that is often characteristic of managers in large bureaucracies.

The authors maintain that such an approach to the fifth wave does not clash with earlier waves; rather, it embraces and builds on them.

These six strategies are incorporated in the qualitative+quantitative approach that is advocated in this chapter.

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HELPING PEOPLE MAKE THE MOST OF AND NOT MERELY DEAL WITH THE IMPACT OF REPEATED CHANGE DURING THE FIFTH WAVE

McAdams (2007) claims that factors such as luck are crucial in the lives of human beings:

Sometimes we are just lucky, or unlucky. Fate, happenstance, blind chance, serendipity – tragedy teaches us that lives sometimes turn on these capricious factors. (p. 26)

Many other authors also claim that ‘chance’ and ‘unpredictability’ characterise the lives of people and that clients should be helped to see these and related factors as opportunities for action and potential growth instead of reasons for despair and an excuse for passivity. Krumboltz (1998) observed that career development theory had previously placed too much emphasis on the degree of control people had over their individual lives and careers. He accordingly expounded the ‘happenstance’ learning theory of career development (Krumboltz, 1998) as an action-theory approach which accentuates investigation that inescapably facilitates opportunities for events that are unplanned. Moreover, he stresses the role of feedback and learning during the process of discovering apposite career choices.

Krumboltz (2009) goes on to say:

The interaction of planned and unplanned actions in response to self-initiated and circumstantial situations is so complex that the consequences are virtually unpredictable and can best be labeled as happenstance. (p. 136)

Bright and Pryor (2014) maintain that Krumboltz and Levin (2004) and Krumboltz (2009) reframed undecidedness as open-mindedness and encouraged people to identify and explore opportunities (a process or concept referred to as ‘luck readiness’ by Neault (2002)). Bright and Pryor (2014) later augmented these views by identifying eight dimensions of luck readiness or opportunity awareness, namely flexibility, optimism, risk, curiosity, persistence, strategy, efficacy and luckiness (for a more complete description of these terms, see Bright & Pryor, 2005). The views expressed by these writers should be read in conjunction with the views of Gladwell (2008) who argues that serendipity, ability, willingness and readiness enhance resilience and the ability to make choices that will optimise people’s chances of ‘constructing’ themselves and achieving success in their careers and lives.

Comments on the ‘How’ of Exploiting Change

McIlveen and Midgley (2014) ask the following questions in respect of the views expressed above (pp. 235–236):

“How does one achieve this state of readiness?” “What does ‘be prepared’ mean?” “What is prepared?” “Prepared for what?” “How does one ‘get prepared’”? The word ‘prepared’ invokes a variety of connotations: readiness,

BLENDING RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

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resources-in-hand and a future orientation. It may also connote psychological resourcefulness (e.g. attitudes, knowledge, traits), social resourcefulness (e.g. supportive family, community) or material resourcefulness (e.g. capacity to acquire goods and services on demand). The phrase ‘be prepared’ also has time connotations (i.e. a present state of preparedness for a future challenge).

I concur with the definitions of these colleagues. To facilitate productive forward movement, it is not sufficient to tell people to adapt, to move forward, to become ready or to be prepared. If career counsellors wish to achieve these outcomes, they should help clients set feasible goals and co-design strategies to achieve these goals and outcomes rather than merely offer them hope, optimism and motivation.

In the next section, I discuss the two main approaches that have guided the career counselling profession over the past 120+ years and then elaborate on what I mean by an integrated, qualitative+quantitative approach.

FOCUS ON TWO COMPLEMENTARY APPROACHES TO CAREER COUNSELLING

‘Traditional’ Approach

During the industrial era (roughly 1900–1950), numerous jobs became available, and people streamed to the cities to find work. Work environments were predictable, and the person-environment paradigm (finding a perceived optimal ‘fit’ between work seekers and possible jobs) served a useful purpose by preparing workers for ‘unchanging’ work environments. In the 21st century, however, the notion of occupying a ‘job for life’ is fast disappearing (Watts, 1996). Many people today will make frequent career changes in the course of their working lives. A ‘test-and-tell’ approach alone or ‘helping’ people find an optimal ‘fit’ between their profiles and work environments (based on the trait and factor theory) no longer suffices. Hartung (2011) states that it is now widely recognised that so-called ‘objective’ psychometric tests on their own are not sufficient for career counselling purposes. It is generally accepted that these assessment instruments cannot adequately assess subjective or phenomenological aspects of people’s career counselling make-up, including their lived experiences and other variables. It is also generally accepted that people and their personality (including interest) profiles change over time and it is therefore easy to understand why professionals are concerned about the impact of unreliable profiles on career counselling practice (Hartung, 2011; Nauta, 2010; Savickas et al., 2009). Basing career choices on such profiles can lead to career disappointment in younger as well as older clients (Borchard, 1995).

Postmodern7 Approaches

Today, career counsellors expect clients to choose careers (and, more importantly, conduct meaningful job analysis (Krumboltz, 2015)), construct and advise themselves and design successful lives, albeit under the counsellor’s watchful eye.

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Looking at a career as an unpredictable ‘journey’ (with numerous twists and turns) has replaced the dated approach of trying to help clients ‘find’ a predictable, stable career path. Postmodern career counsellors elicit the subjective aspects of clients’ career and life stories in addition to obtaining ‘objective’ test results. Using objective test results and at the same time considering the subjective meanings people attach to their career (and life) stories is key to successful career choices, self- and career construction and life designing.

An Integrated, Qualitative+Quantitative Approach to Career Counselling

Ratts (2009) contends that theoretical paradigms guide theorists and practitioners’ understanding and interpretation of developments in any given field. Kuhn (1996) asserts that changes in paradigms often occur as a result of new research findings in given fields: theoretical underpinnings in virtually any discipline or subject field almost inevitably change when the field’s paradigm ‘shifts’. Barclay (1983, p. 2) argues that paradigms are important in career counselling because of their impact on

thinking about the nature of [people], the focus in research, methods of inquiry, and the classification of phenomena.

The recent, major paradigm shift in career counselling theory and practice should be examined against the views outlined above; also taking into account changes in the global economy that prompted fundamental changes in the world of work. This shift resulted in the adoption of an integrated, qualitative+quantitative approach to career counselling. The aim was to obtain more reliable and trustworthy ‘results’ (career stories) during career counselling assessment. Research-based evidence has shown that a skilful combination of quantitative and qualitative assessment techniques enables career counsellors to triangulate and crystallise assessment ‘results’ thus making them more reliable, valid and trustworthy (Di Fabio, 2014). Likewise, it is generally accepted that clients should be assessed on different occasions and at different times during their lives to gauge the extent of any changes in their personality and interest profiles. The new focus is on individual clients and their personal stories rather than on how individual people differ from each other.

The practicalities of the 21st century labour market now co-determine assessment strategies, and theory development is aimed at integrating benchmark concepts such as globalisation of the workforce, labour surplus, downsizing, outsourcing, corporate reorganisation, diversification, lifelong learning, multi-skilling and the acquisition of information communication technology skills (Maree, 2009). However, we should always remember that while the global community is now more connected than at any previous stage in human history and hierarchical structures are disappearing in some contexts, the situation remains largely unchanged in many other contexts. But, irrespective of where it takes place, intervention is aimed at enhancing people’s employability, improving their career adaptability and helping them assume authorship of their career and life stories. Feedback is aimed at encouraging clients

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to acquire transferable work-related skills and become critical thinkers, creative problem solvers and skilled decision makers – qualities that increase their chances to find employment

An integrated, qualitative+quantitative approach helps career counsellors assist clients to accept authorship of their careers and life stories and become flexible, creative, adaptable, employable, lifelong learners. In essence, ‘older’ and ‘newer’ theories in career counselling have been merged into a feasible theoretical framework for assessing, understanding, interpreting, explaining and directing clients’ career-related behaviour.

REFLECTION AND REFLEXIVITY AS INTEGRAL ASPECTS OF AN INTEGRATED, QUALITATIVE+QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO CAREER COUNSELLING

A qualitative+quantitative approach offers career counsellors and their clients the opportunity to reflect and re-reflect repeatedly on the clients’ career and life stories. Consequently, self-construction (self-realisation; Maslow, 1987) is facilitated, and desire, motivation and intention are converted into action (Savickas, 2011b). Giving objective and subjective methods and strategies equal importance (Hartung, 2011; Maree, 2013) facilitates reflexivity, which enables identification of overt and covert strengths and motives in clients through its power to draw on lived experiences.

UPDATING COUNSELLING THEORIES AND PRACTICES AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF POVERTY

Millions of people globally have never had the opportunity to occupy any kind of work position, pursue a career, construct themselves, design successful lives, make social contributions and achieve self-completion or, put differently, find deeper meaning in their lives. Bar-On sums this up as follows:

Conditions in which people are deprived of an opportunity to blossom hide, if not bury, many gifted individuals, compounding the human tragedy that they evoke … Have we lost another Abraham, Jesus, Nostradamus, Spinoza, Mahler, Kafka, Pissarro, Marx, Freud or Einstein who may have significantly contributed to human existence and mankind? (Bar-On, 2007, p. 137)

One could add many other names such as Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King (Jr) and Bill Gates to that list.

I believe Bar-On (2007) is correct when he says the world has sufficient human capital and resources to facilitate change in the lives of all people. We should enable as many people as possible to contribute to the execution of a positive career counselling strategy (Maree, 2014) that can be applied across the diversity continuum irrespective of gender, socioeconomic circumstances, sexual preference, colour, race, age, creed or geographical location. We need an approach that will be useful to, for example, a) a gifted learner from a private school, b) an average

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learner in an inner-city school, c) a learner from an informal settlement who sells newspapers to support his siblings, d) a destitute learner from a ‘shelter’ who has no access to schooling, e) a glue-sniffing street child, f) a middle-aged man with AIDS serving a prison sentence, g) a drug-addicted gangster, h) a young woman ‘sold’ into prostitution for liquor money by her parents and i) young people who survive by begging and scavenging for morsels of food (real-life examples of people I come into contact with on a regular basis). Adopting and streamlining such an approach is very achievable. The support I have received from active, committed individuals in my own efforts to help people such as the above has been humbling and uplifting.

Everyone has the right to be engaged in self- and career construction. Counsellors should collectively endeavour to enable all people to share in the benefits of an integrated qualitative+quantitative career counselling approach. Such an approach can facilitate understanding of individual and collective strengths and weaknesses in personal and career stories, help people from all walks of life exploit their strengths and navigate their weaknesses, improve their employment opportunities, deal with major life transitions, take their rightful place in society and link their career and life stories with life’s fundamental choices (Savickas, 2005).

All career counselling interventions should accordingly be based on the following three broad principles.

1. Equity (equal treatment of all individuals and groups)2. Redress (addressing prevailing imbalances)3. Access (making career counselling freely available to everyone)

The career counselling theory base globally needs to be adapted to make it more inclusive, holistic, contextually based and suitable for individuals as well as small and large groups of people. Career counselling in one-on-one settings should be augmented by counselling in group contexts. Career counselling should therefore be offered in workshop (group) formats, in paper-based communication formats and, inevitably, in electronic formats. Furthermore, it should be acknowledged that the values informing counselling theories developed elsewhere cannot summarily be transposed directly and uncritically to any other (African) contexts. The development of home-grown theories, models, assessment instruments, strategies, techniques and methods should be promoted simultaneously with the advancement of international collaboration (Savickas, 2011a).

CONCLUSION

Changes in the world of work pose many questions to career counsellors eager to help workers in the 21st century information age deal with change and its effects. There seems to be general agreement among professionals that a fifth wave of changes is currently occurring in a number of related fields such as psychology, (career) counselling, public health and the economy (ICT in particular). Some authors contend that social justice factors constitute a fifth force in psychology while others

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believe that the aim of career counselling should be the wellbeing (and resilience) of people by promoting good health and healthy work contexts rather than just helping clients deal with illness and pain. ICT professionals believe that theorists and practitioners alike should help people deal with the impact of networking and connectivity in a world of work characterised by hierarchical structures on the one hand and networking and connectivity on the other. Work seekers will, generally speaking, largely be left to their own devices in constructing their careers and lives, yet at the same time it should not be forgotten that many economies throughout the world still uphold top-down, hierarchical structures. Many people will succeed in finding employment outside the traditional, hierarchical structures, but many (some say the majority) will still have little choice but to endeavour to ‘fit’ into more traditional work-related structures. The latter will faced with an ongoing dichotomy: on the one hand, their traditional work environments will impose on them the need to ‘toe the line’ and ‘respect’ set regulations, and, on the other, the reality of networking and connectivity will remind them constantly that the world at large is changing rapidly and that they are within their rights to be treated with respect as individuals with unique needs.

Career counsellors should join forces with theorists and practitioners from different subject disciplines to determine how best to work collaboratively to promote resilience and wellbeing. They should also keep abreast of fifth wave changes in the world of work globally in order to adapt and improve their existing theory and practice.

A positive approach is needed to tackle the issues faced by clients in the early decades of the 21st century. Career counsellors require the necessary acumen, skills and strategy to help clients deal with work-related changes, which are often accompanied by insecurity, uncertainty and conflicting messages. A narrational approach that facilitates reflexive social co-construction of meaning (Blustein, Palladino Schulteiss & Flum, 2004) in a turbulent and bewildering work environment can help clients deal with the many challenges associated with the repeated transitions brought about by the fifth wave (Di Fabio, 2012; Duarte 2010; Savickas et al., 2009).

The demise of stable organisational structures that provided holding environments for workers (and their families) in the past lies at the heart of the discussion in this chapter. Workers consequently now have to design innovative holding environments for themselves and their significant others. It is impossible to predict future developments accurately and to provide clear-cut guidelines for everyone (one size does not fit all), yet the proposals in this chapter may be of help to theorists, practitioners and their clients in resolving many of the challenges associated with the arrival of fifth wave, work-related developments. They will hopefully provide some guidelines on how clients can be helped to choose suitable careers, design successful lives and make social contributions.

A shift in emphasis away from negativity and ‘curing’ towards positivity and ‘caring’ is advocated (Dahlberg, 2011). Responding to challenges reactively is not the answer. Every generation has a choice in terms of whether to deal with change as

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an inevitable, insurmountable burden that has to be endured and accepted passively or to strive for an action-orientated, positive approach. In a nutshell: I propose that all of us in career counselling should work together to blend retrospect and prospect in a concerted attempt to convert challenges in career counselling into opportunities, hurt into hope and hopelessness into inspiration.

NOTES

1 For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions will apply: A ‘position’ is a set of work tasks performed by an individual. A job is a group of positions involving similar tasks, an occupation is a group of related jobs, and a career is a series of positions occupied by an individual during his or her working life. A ‘vocation’ is a calling or what a person is are called to do (personal communication with M. L. Savickas, 2014-02-24).

2 For the purposes of this chapter, resilience includes career resilience (self-knowledge, flexibility, an information-seeking attitude, as well as prioritisation of medium- and long-term career objectives independently of any employing organisation, focusing on current and future employability) (Duarte, 2010; Waterman, Waterman, & Collard, 1994)

3 Such an overview is complicated by the fact that one type of time frame may apply to one part of the world (capitalist environments, e.g. North America and Europe) while an entirely different time frame may apply to another part of the world (socialist environments e.g. Eastern Europe Africa, India and China). The ways in which economies are structured in given contexts at a given point in time will largely determine which approach may best address the particular needs of people at that time.

4 For a more complete overview, see Maree (2013) and Maree and Morgan (2012).5 Perez (2002) refers to this wave as the fifth economic wave.6 I prefer the more descriptive terms ‘lived context’ and ‘subjective experience’ (Niles, 2013, p. 4) to

‘lived experiences’. The terms are used interchangeably in this chapter.7 For the purposes of this chapter, ‘postmodern’ is regarded as an umbrella term for qualitative, narrative

or storied approaches.

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Kobus MareeDepartment of Educational PsychologyUniversity of PretoriaPretoria