restoring hope: responding to career concerns of immigrant...

Abstract

Immigrants, whose careerpath is often different from theone described in traditional ca-reer theory, compose a large por-tion of the work force. As aresult, a modified career theoryand career counseling strategiesthat respond to this population’sspecific circumstances areneeded. In this paper, issues inimmigrant career transition aredescribed, including barriers thatinterfere with the transitionprocess and factors that con-tribute to its success. Immigrantsface many intra-individual, rela-tional, and contextual level barri-ers along with challenges ofcultural adaptation. Successfultransition relies on factors withinthe individual, such as adaptabil-ity and hardiness, and also on re-lational and systemic supports,such as family, language pro-grams, and government spon-sored organizations. Suggestionsfor counselling practice are of-fered, derived from a multi-leveled interactive conceptualframework. Interventions tailoredto address individual, relationaland contextual levels are pre-sented, with an emphasis on so-cial justice interventions that areseldom discussed in psychologi-cal literature. The author presentsa part of her own experience toillustrate the issues.

I arrived at the WinnipegInternational Airport in the sum-

mer of 1996, welcomed by thesmiling faces of my husband anda few close friends. It felt good toreunite, and we were happy thatthe bureaucratic procedure thatincluded extensive paperwork,medical exams, and a long waitwas finally over. Prior to migra-tion, I graduated from the Uni-versity of Belgrade and workedfor several years as a psycholo-gist in a hospital. I made a deci-sion to migrate in order to joinmy husband who had left thecountry due to circumstances ofwar. According to professionaland administrative definitions, Iwas a voluntary migrant who hadmet the requirements of educa-tion and language proficiencyoutlined in the Canadian immi-gration guidelines. At the timethis decision was made, my coun-try was falling apart under thepressures of war that had broughtupon us economic sanctions andconsequent poverty. As a youngadult, I was not only facing inse-curities of my country’s economiccollapse, but was also dealingwith adversities of war and isola-tion, including separation frommy husband and his forced mi-gration to North America.

Like many professionalstrained in other countries, I lostthe rights to practice as a psy-chologist in Canada and em-barked on a long path towardsre-establishing career that I per-ceived to be a crucial part of myidentity. After a few jobs taken inorder to survive, a degree and

career in Marriage and FamilyTherapy, and a couple of chil-dren, I am currently completingPhD studies in counseling psy-chology. Now in my forties, I canfinally see a possibility of prac-ticing in my chosen field again.This prospect is exciting andscary, as I have struggled be-tween letting go and holding ontomy identity as a psychologist inthe past sixteen years.

A number of privilegesalong this path enabled me to ar-rive at this point, privileges thatmany immigrants are not so for-tunate to have. This includedwhite skin, physical ability, edu-cation, English proficiency, beliefin my capacity to succeed, eco-nomically self-reliant communityleft behind, familiarity with Euro-pean cultures and traditions, andstrong support of my husband.Without these privileges, my cur-rent education would likely havenot been an option.

The notion of migration isfrequently romanticized and as-sociated with images of a betterlife, safety, and increased accessto economic and occupational re-sources. In the hope of a betterfuture for their families andthemselves, immigrants leavehomelands and arrive at newlandscapes where they have tobuild lives, establish careers, andfind ways to adapt. After an ini-tial sense of relief, many immi-grants find themselves strugglingwith a difficult transition inwhich vocational obstacles fre-

Restoring Hope: Responding to Career Concerns of Immigrant Clients

Tatjana ElezUniversity of British Columbia

The Canadian Journal of Career Development/Revue canadienne de développement de carrièreVolume 13 Number 1, 2014

quently serve as a major sourceof stress (Yakushko, Backhaus,Watson, Ngaruiya & Gonzalez,2008; Yakushko, Watson &Thompson, 2008). Challengesoften include unemployment, un-deremployment, loss of previ-ously held professionalcredentials, and professional sta-tus, change from professional toservice and manual labour, ex-tended work hours, and lengthyperiods of time away from fami-lies (Pope, Cheng, & Leong,1998; Yakushko, Backhaus, Wat-son, Ngaruiya & Gonzalez, 2008;Yeh, Kim, Pituc & Atkins, 2008;Yost & Lucas, 2002). Researchindicates that over one half of therecent Canadian immigrants doesnot work in their specialized pro-fessional field after immigration,despite being highly qualified.They earn less, are more likelyunemployed and underemployed,and have a limited perspectivefor career advancement (Chen,2008).

Immigrant career path isoften different from that of per-sons who grew up exposed to ca-reer discourses typicallydescribed in traditional careertheories (Holland, 1997; Super,1957). Career counselling withimmigrant clients requires under-standing of this population’sunique and complex circum-stances, and a set of practicaltools specifically tailored to ad-dress issues of immigrant careerdevelopment. Unfortunately, psy-chological knowledge regardingcareer experiences of immigrantsis relatively sparse. In their re-view of four major professionalcareer related journals, Flores,Hsieh and Chiao (2011) foundthat only 0.01% of all articles

published in a recent twenty yearperiod address immigrants’ ca-reer development. This is surpris-ing, considering that numbers ofimmigrants have been steadily in-creasing in North America in thepast few decades.

The purpose of this paperis to outline issues that the immi-grant population faces in theirprocess of career transitioningand to offer practical suggestionsfor career counsellors workingwith immigrant clients. Labels,such as immigrants, can be harm-ful and it is necessary to clearlydefine this term. While acknowl-edging her own ambivalenceabout the term immigrant, the au-thor maintained this terminologyfor the sake of consistency withexisting literature. Immigrantsare considered to be voluntarymigrants whose decision to moveis mainly motivated by eco-nomic, social, and familial fac-tors, and are generally able toreturn to their countries of originif they choose to (Yakushko,Watson & Thompson, 2008; Yost,2002).

The Experience of CareerTransition in Immigrants

In spite of the significantrelationship between unemploy-ment/underemployment andhealth, largely established in thegeneral population, little isknown about the impact of careertransition on immigrant healthand well being (Aycan & Berry,1996). Psychological literaturehas yet to provide informationabout the role employment belowthe level of one’s educationalpreparation and additional chal-lenges of adaption to a new coun-

try play in career transition of im-migrants. Career can be a signifi-cant source of empowerment inthe new country through creatingopportunities to learn about theculture and language (Yakushko,Backhaus, Watson, Ngaruiya &Gonzalez, 2008), providing asense of meaning, decreasing so-cial isolation, and defining statusand identity (Aycan & Berry,1996; Ishiyama, 1995). Aycanand Berry (1996) found that du-ration of unemployment and cur-rent employment status havecritical implications for well-being and adaptation of immi-grants. The decline inemployment status and difficultyregaining or achieving upwardmobility have been found to in-crease acculturation stress, result-ing in negative self-concept,alienation from the society, andadaptation difficulties (Aycan &Berry, 1996). Other scholars sug-gest that unemployment, eco-nomic hardship, and job demandsconstitute major factors con-tributing to depression, anxiety,and mental illness in the immi-grant population (Ishiyama,1995; Yakushko, Backhaus, Wat-son, Ngaruiya & Gonzalez,2008). These factors not only af-fect individual migrants, but alsohave a significant impact on theirrelationships and family dynam-ics, causing intergenerationalconflict and transforming familyroles (Pope, Cheng & Leong,1998; Yakushko, Backhaus, Wat-son, Ngaruiya & Gonzalez,2008;Yost & Lucas, 2002).Asanin Dean & Wilson (2009)identify three main pathwaysthrough which employment/un-deremployment affects mentalhealth of immigrants. First, lack

Strategies in Immigrant Career Counselling

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The Canadian Journal of Career Development/Revue canadienne de développement de carrièreVolume 13, Number 1, 2014

of income is particularly impor-tant for those in the position ofsupporting their families. Second,immigrants experience de-skilling, or a loss of skills previ-ously acquired through educationand work, due to their inability tocontinue in their chosen career.Third, identities tied to one’s roleof a breadwinner, a professional,or a person employed in the soci-ety are lost, which results in asignificant degradation of socialstatus.

Most of the existing liter-ature on immigrant career transi-tion focuses on barriers thatimmigrants face in their attemptto establish a career in the hostcountry and on associated chal-lenges. Consistent with contem-porary career theory that suggestsa view of career as inseparablefrom general life and personalconcerns (Krumboltz, 1993;Pope, Cheng & Leong, 1998;Savickas, 2009; Super, 1993),immigrant career transition isoften described in the context ofa larger adaptation process.

Barriers Affecting ImmigrantCareer Transition

After a long wait and sep-aration from my husband, I washappy to sign any documents atthe Canadian Embassy thatwould allow us to move on withour lives. I was warned that Imight not be able to practice as apsychologist in Canada, but ca-reer was not my primary concernat the time. I was in my late twen-ties, and my plan was to re-trainin order to eventually re-claimmy professional identity. As ayoung couple without children,having a considerable level of

education and being relativelyproficient in English, we wereequipped with privileges thatwould allow us to complete therequired training and re-claimoccupational rights. We did nothave an obligation to supportchildren, although for severalyears during the war we sentmoney to our family memberswho stayed behind. As I at-tempted to enroll as a graduatepsychology student, I learnedabout financial pressures, GRErequirements, and the need tostudy materials very similar towhat I had already learned backhome. The cost of the applicationfor multiple training sites, and tu-ition for years of graduate train-ing in psychology were wayabove what was affordable. Asnew immigrants, we could notmove to another Canadian city orto the US to study. The GRE testthat was designed for native Eng-lish speakers seemed impossibleto pass. My path to becoming agraduate student in my chosenfield was engulfed by insur-mountable financial and systemicobstacles. This experience wasdevastating, as my options for re-claiming this significant part ofmy identity seemed very limited.The future of my career appearedbleak.

Many barriers that delayimmigrant integration into thework force and significantly af-fect career transition have beenidentified. Research demonstratesthat educational and career barri-ers that are encountered becomeinternalized into immigrants’ be-lief system consequently limitingcareer aspirations (Jackson, Ka-canski, Rust & Beck, 2006).Yakushko, Backhaus, Watson,

Ngaruiya & Gonzalez (2008)classify barriers into individual,group, and contextual. Group andcontextual level barriers signifi-cantly overlap and will be con-sidered together. In addition, theauthor believes that it is impor-tant to consider the influence ofsignificant relationships in immi-grant career transition.

Intra-individual barriers. Barriers in immigrantcareer transition, most commonlydescribed in psychological litera-ture, could be classified as indi-vidual level barriers. Thisincludes language proficiency is-sues (Amundson, Yeung, Sun,Chan & Cheng, 2011; Aycan &Berry, 1996; Ishiyama, 1989;Leong & Serafica, 1995; Ma &Yeh, 2010; Yost & Lucas, 2002;),individual differences in culturaladjustment (Lee & Westwood,1996; Aycan & Berry, 1996), un-realistic expectations prior to mi-gration (Lee & Westwood, 1996),and lack of job finding tech-niques (Westwood & Ishiyama,1991). Other intra-individual bar-riers that have been described arelack of knowledge regarding thelabour market and the commu-nity, no clear and feasible careergoals, lack of awareness of serv-ices (Amundson, Yeung, Sun,Chan & Cheng, 2011), difficultyin self-validation (Ishiyama,1995), skills, education, emo-tional and cognitive challenges(Koert, Borgen & Amundson,2011). Personal characteristicssuch as age, gender, and maritalstatus can also enable or slowdown immigrant career transition(Yost & Lucas, 2002). Intra-indi-vidual focus, typical within thepsychological discipline, offers


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strategies for improving immi-grant career transition through re-moval of intrapersonal obstaclesand through increased adjustmentto the new culture. These strate-gies mostly focus on learningnew skills and on developing alevel of flexibility necessary forcareer adjustment, often involv-ing a career change. For example,career counsellors can helpclients look for ways tostrengthen language skills, retrain(Lee & Westwood, 1996), de-velop efficient self-validationstrategies (Ishiyama, 1995), re-hearse mock job interviews (Ma& Yeh, 2010), and enhance per-sonal skills such as hardiness(Koert, Borgen & Amundson,2011). Limited findings indicatethat there is an increase in statusand earnings over time, as a re-sult of language skill develop-ment and expanded familiaritywith cultural and business relatedpractices (Aycan & Berry, 1996).

Although it offers helpfultools to career counsellors, a pureintra-individual approach maynot be sufficient for understand-ing the career transition experi-ence of immigrant clients. Careertransition does not happen in iso-lation, and is embedded in alarger network of relationships,society, and culture that enablesor thwarts individual attempts.Hartung and Blustein (2002) sug-gest that a career decision mak-ing model should incorporatedifferences not only in individualdecision making styles, but alsoin one’s access to social and eco-nomic opportunities. In spitebeing aware of the fact that theyneed to improve their languageskills or retrain, many immi-grants are limited in their efforts

by realities of our capitalist soci-ety. Long working hours, timeaway from the family, and lowpaying jobs become obstacles tolanguage or educational advance-ment (Ma & Yeh, 2010;Yakushko, Backhaus, Watson,Ngaruiya & Gonzalez, 2008).Due to financial pressures of sup-porting families in the new coun-try and the ones left behind,many immigrants are unable totake language classes (Flores etal., 2011; Yost & Lucas, 2002).Re-training is not an option formany immigrant professionals,due to systemic obstacles that areoutside the boundaries of theirpower. According to Bauder(2003), immigrant labour hasbeen systematically devaluedthrough regulatory institutions’active exclusion of immigrantsfrom the upper segments of thelabour market. As professionalassociations, regulatory bodies,and employers give preference tonative born and educated work-ers, access to the most highly de-sired occupations issystematically denied to immi-grants, resulting in eventual lossof skill, or de-skilling. Migrantswhose foreign education and cre-dentials are not recognized in thehost country are often limited inaccess to employment due to thedifferential assessment of theircredentials and work experience(Bauder, 2003). For many suchmigrants, the path towards re-es-tablishing the original career andrelated occupational and socialstatus is very long and extremelydifficult (Chen, 2008).

Relationship, group, andcontext level barriers. Unpre-dictable contextual factors, which

have a significant impact on theimmigrants’ transition, negate theconcept of linear individual ca-reer development, implied in tra-ditional career theory (Holland,1997; Supper, 1980). Accordingto Stableton (2007), contextualfactors are “any events or cir-cumstances that have an impacton an individual’s life-career” (p.293). Circumstances such as flee-ing one’s country of origin, polit-ical oppression, history, labourlaws, natural disasters, violenceand poverty are examples of suchcontextual factors. The author ar-gues that our understanding ofcareer development needs to takeinto account the role of family,community, history, socio-cul-tural, and political circumstancesinfluencing one’s career (Stable-ton, 2007).

The contextual lens hasbeen widely acknowledged incontemporary career theory thatcalls attention to variables ex-tending far beyond the individualexperience (Blustein, Palladino,Schultheiss, & Flum, 2004; Har-tung & Blustein, 2002; Pryor &Bright 2009; Richardson, inpress; Young, Valach & Collin,2002). Although these contempo-rary theorists significantly differin their approach to career, mostmodern conceptualizations of ca-reer development call attention totrends of globalization, and thechanging nature of labour marketand work contexts. Modern so-cial trends, which affect careerdevelopment of all society mem-bers, are especially salient for im-migrants who, by definition,change life and work contextsthrough migration.

The effect of relationalvariables on career development


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has been demonstrated in litera-ture on social support. Relationalsupport from family and othersare critical factors in promotingacademic success and career as-piration of immigrant youth(Jackson, Kacanski, Rust &Back, 2006). Government spon-sored support systems and com-munity resources have beenidentified as helpful factors inimmigrant career success (Koert,Borgen & Amundson, 2011),while absence of such supportscan be major impeding factors inimmigrant career transition.

Group and contextual bar-riers that have been described inthe literature include cultural val-ues, immigration status, experi-ences of oppression anddiscrimination (Ma & Yeh, 2010;Yakushko, Backhaus, Watson,Ngaruiya & Gonzalez, 2008),strain on family roles, separationfrom the family left behind, andloss of support networks (Floreset al., 2011). Aycan and Berry(1996) identify four major barri-ers that delay integration of im-migrants into the work force inCanada. These barriers includelack of recognition of occupa-tional accreditation and educa-tion; the requirement for foreigntrained candidates to take occu-pation specific tests that are verydemanding, expensive, culturallybiased and unfairly administered;inadequate language training; and“Canadian work experience”.

Chen (2008) argues thatunfamiliarity with the new cul-ture is one of the major chal-lenges in immigrant life-careertransition. In addition to job-spe-cific skills, immigrants often ex-perience issues in cross-culturaladjustment, culture shock, and

unfamiliarity with cultural normsresulting in a need to negotiatecultures. It has been demon-strated that the impact of thesechallenges lessens with culturalimmersion and expanded experi-ence (Aycan & Berry, 1996;Chen, 2008).

Other systemic barriers,however, are much more difficultto overcome. Requirements ofCanadian credentials and “Cana-dian experience” place newcom-ers in a no-win position,systematically devaluing knowl-edge, experience, and human andcultural capital that immigrantsbring to their new country(Bauder, 2003; Chen, 2008). “Inmost cases, foreign-earned cre-dentials and qualifications be-come invalid in Canada, leadingto a total loss of previous profes-sional status and/or a re-qualifi-cation process that requires ahuge amount of time, energy, andmoney” (Chen, 2008, p. 430). Inaddition, newcomers are oftenmisinformed that their profes-sional credentials will be valuedin the host country (Neault,2005). Recognition of profes-sional qualifications is a jurisdic-tion of regulatory professionalbodies, such as colleges of physi-cians, teachers, psychologists,and engineers, which requireCanadian-earned education andwork experience that most immi-grants do not posses. Immigrantscan gain “Canadian experience”through accepting labour belowone’s level of educational prepa-ration and work experience. Astheir expertise acquired in thecountry of origin eventually di-minishes, accepting such jobsleads to de-skilling and loss ofcultural and human capital both

in the country of origin and in thereceiving country (Bauder, 2003).According to Asanin Dean &Wilson (2007), fifty five percentof skilled immigrants in Ontariowho are able to find work withinthe first six months in the countrydo so outside of their field of ex-pertise, mostly accepting parttime jobs. The phenomenon ofde-skilling exacerbates healthproblems not only for the indi-vidual migrants but also for theirfamilies (Asanin Dean & Wilson,2007).

Another source of sys-temic barriers is related to thehost culture’s attitudes towardsimmigrants and related oppres-sive practices. Immigrants can beseen as competitors in the labourmarket, as intruders in one’s terri-tory, or as difficult to interactwith (Lee & Westwood, 1996).Yakushko, Watson & Thompson(2008) suggest that oppression,rooted in racism, sexism, xeno-phobia, and poverty, is one of themajor sources of stress faced byimmigrants. According toIshiyama (1995), immigrantsoften face invalidating experi-ences related to loss of identity,role, sense of competence, andstatus while lacking validatingcommunity. As they leave behindlarge parts of community thatused to act as a powerful bufferin stressful situations (Lazarus &Folkman, 1984), the need for avalidating community becomeseven more prominent.

The current state of thelabour market, characterized byunpredictable workforce opportu-nities and lower earning poten-tial, is a significant contextualfactor that immigrants are facedwith (Koert, Borgen & Amund-


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son, 2011). In today’s unstableeconomy, immigrants have a dif-ficult time securing employmentand also face severe discrimina-tion.

Barriers stemming fromchallenges of cultural adaptation. In the first yearafter immigration, I found myselfmourning numerous losses – lossof familiar language, scenery andsmells, loss of occupation andstatus, loss of cultural and familyrituals, and, most of all, loss ofthe relationship network thatused to provide support and en-velop my experience with mean-ing. A sudden shift to becominga minority group member, a per-son with a foreign accent, and aprofessional whose educationand experience were not recog-nized resulted in feelings of pow-erlessness. Our priority was tosurvive economically and psy-chologically, so my husband andI secured employment below thelevel of our education that paid aminimum wage. Some job search-ing strategies seemed strange, asmarketing one’s skills and em-phasizing one’s accomplishmentswere contrary to humility thatwas valued in our culture. Wehad to learn much in respect tothe job market, educational sys-tem, and re-training opportuni-ties. In addition to separationfrom family and friends whostayed behind, realization that wemight not be able to re-claim ourprevious occupations was verypainful. Even though we werewilling to “re-train” and be-lieved we had the capacity to doso, obstacles to receiving educa-tion in the new country furthercontributed to a sense of loss,

powerlessness, and anxiety aboutour future.

As the notion of career isinseparable from general life andpersonal concerns (Krumboltz,1993; Super, 1993; Savickas etal., 2009), career transition expe-rience of immigrants needs to beviewed in the context of their ex-perience adapting in the newcountry. According to Chen(2008), “many immigrants gradu-ally gain a real sense of settlingdown only after they have rebuilttheir vocational life” (p. 428).The quality of transitional experi-ence in other aspects of personaland social lives significantly de-pends on the quality of careertransition (Chen, 2008).

Migration related phe-nomena that are considered to besignificant obstacles to career ad-justment are culture shock (Chen,2008; Yost & Lucas, 2002), ac-culturation stress (Berry, 1997),immigration stress (Yakushko,Backhaus, Watson, Ngaruiya &Gonzalez, 2008; Yakushko, Wat-son & Thompson, 2008), and cul-tural dislocation (Ishiyama,1995). Culture shock is definedas anxiety caused from contactwith a new and unknown culture,resulting in feelings of confusion,loss, and powerlessness that fol-low the loss of familiar culturalcues and social norms (Oberg,1960). Concepts of acculturationstress and immigration stressdraw attention to pressures im-posed on internal resources incoping with the new environ-ment. Cultural dislocation is asubjective experience of feelingdisplaced in a given socio-cul-tural environment, stemmingfrom a lack of validation of self,feelings of cultural uprootedness,

and conflict regarding culturaldifferences (Ishiyama, 1995).

Another concept com-monly used in the literature is ac-culturation, a set of phenomenathat result when a person from acertain culture comes into contin-uous first-hand contact with an-other culture, includingsubsequent changes in the origi-nal culture patterns (Berry, 1997).Similarly to other above de-scribed concepts, the concept ofacculturation often implies a uni-directional nature of change re-sulting from cultural interactionand can be problematic as such.It is implied that an acculturatedindividual is the one who hasmade changes necessary to fitinto the dominant culture’s sys-tem even if this is done at a detri-ment to her/his own well being.An immigrant employed belowher/his level of preparation, inorder to support her/his family,could be seen as acculturated re-gardless of the impact her/his oc-cupational situation has onher/his health and career. In thiscontext, the concept of accultura-tion can further reinforce circum-stances that unjustly disempoweran immigrant population.

In understanding immi-grant career transition experi-ence, it is important to considerpre-migration, migration, andpost-migration sources of stressand validation (Mock, 1998).Pre-migration circumstances mayinclude involuntary migration,(un)available support, expecta-tions, losses, reversibility of themove, experiences of threat, andpre-migration trauma. Migrationand post-migration stressors mayinclude stress of relocation, im-migration status, acculturation


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stress, relational stress, loss ofsocial status and social contact,and oppression (Yakushko, Wat-son & Thompson, 2008). It is im-portant to note that therelationship between adaptationalstressors and career transitionprocess is bi-directional. Whileadaptation stressors may interferewith career transition, successfulcareer transition aids culturaladaptation in the new country(Chen, 2008).

Bhatia and Ram (2009)argue for a fluid and politicizedunderstanding of immigrant iden-tity, calling for a shift from con-ceptualizing acculturation andimmigrant identity as an individ-ual process to a broader contex-tual and political phenomenon.According to these authors, iden-tity should not be defined interms of fixed absolute essencesbut rather as a creation of culturaldiscourses, history, and power.Cultural identity is about “posi-tioning” – it is situated in histori-cal context, bound up in a set ofpolitical positions and entails ne-gotiation, dislocation and conflict(Bhatia & Ram, 2009). In con-ceptualizing issues that immi-grants face in the process ofcultural interchange, the field ofcareer counselling needs a bi-di-rectional understanding of thisprocess. Considering that bothimmigrants and their new contextchange as a result of the intercul-tural exchange, it would be help-ful to examine how the newenvironment can provide optimalconditions for adaptation. In ad-dition to helping clients adjust totheir new cultures, counsellorscan advocate for changes in thenew culture that will result in op-timal benefits for both the new-

comers and the new country. Bynot doing so, counsellors riskhelping clients adjust to unjustsituations, which may be thesource of the clients’ problems inthe first place (Waldegrave,2005).

Success Stories: Helpful Factors in Immigrant CareerTransition

I consider mine to be asuccess story, replete with obsta-cles, persistent effort, belief in mycapacity to be a psychologist,and with plenty of support alongthe way. This was not a straight-forward path. I have made a “de-tour”, acquiring a Master’sDegree in Marriage and FamilyTherapy, in a program where myskills were recognized and mycontributions were valued. I waslucky to come across mentors andcolleagues who saw my potentialand supported my pursuit in be-coming established in the field offamily therapy. I was also fortu-nate to have a very supportivepartner who stood by me duringa long adaptation period. Withnew confidence, experience, andexcellent references, I found thecourage to apply to a PhD pro-gram in counselling psychologyand was accepted. Once again, Ifound myself fortunate to havemy potential recognized by mynew PhD program. Fourteenyears after immigration, I was onmy way to reclaiming my longlost professional identity. In myten-year career as a family thera-pist, I have had the honour ofwitnessing many similar storiesand was amazed by resourceful-ness and resilience of many suc-cessful immigrant clients.

Although it is importantto name and describe barriers thatstand in the way of immigrant ca-reer transition, viewing thisgroup only through the lens ofchallenge further contributes tostereotyping and discrimination.In spite of obstacles, many immi-grants are successful in accom-plishing life and career goals.With the focus on deficit in thepsychological literature,strengths, resilience, and commu-nity networks are often disre-garded (Yakushko, Watson &Thompson, 2008), and factorsthat contribute to successfuladaptation are neglected in re-search. A small body of recentlyemerging literature has shed lighton successful cultural and careeradaptation in immigrants. In astudy examining factors thathelped and hindered successfulcoping with work related chal-lenges of immigrant women,Koert, Borgen and Amundson(2001) identified a range of help-ful internal and external factors.Internal factors described by suc-cessful immigrant women werebeliefs, traits, values, innerstrength, resilience, active searchfor skills and resources, and self-care. The external factors in-cluded relationships and supportfrom family, friends, community,religious groups, government andcommunity resources, and char-acteristics of the work environ-ment such as positive interaction,training, orientation, flexibility,and team-work (Koert, Borgen &Amundson, 2011). Another studyof the transition experience ofsuccessful Chinese immigrantsindicated four major success fac-tors: 1. Having a positive attitudeand personality; 2. Skills and re-


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source development; 3. Educa-tion and work experience back-ground; and 4. Community andfamily support (Amundson,Yeung, Cun, Chen & Cheng,2011). In a study on academicsuccess and career aspirations ofimmigrant youth, Jackson, Ka-canski, Rust & Back (2006)found that contextual supports,particularly relational supportfrom family and others were crit-ical factors in promoting aca-demic success and careeraspiration.

Even though the studiesdescribed above may be limitedas they reflect values of the cul-tures of their participants, theyconsistently demonstrate that im-migrant career transition needs tobe approached from a multi-leveled and holistic perspective.In addition to attitude, personal-ity, skills, and resiliency, factorssuch as relationships, governmentsponsored support systems, andcommunity resources have alsobeen identified as helpful in suc-cessful career transition. This re-search indicates importance ofinternal, relational, and contex-tual factors in successful careertransition.

Suggestions for Counselling Practice

Based on the issues iden-tified in career transition, careercounselling can be tailored to ad-dress challenges and support im-migrant efforts towards theirchosen career goals.

Goals of Career Counsellingwith Immigrants

The goals of career coun-

selling with the immigrant popu-lation can be conceptualized as:1. Helping clients cope with loss,ambiguity, and unjust socio-polit-ical situations; 2. Establishingand/or strengthening factors help-ful in a successful career transi-tion; and 3. Removing contextualbarriers that hinder successful ca-reer transition. Various types ofstrategies can be used to work to-wards these goals. To help clientscope with loss, ambiguity, andunjust situations, strategies suchas listening, acknowledging,naming, raising consciousness,and collaboration in challengingunjust situations can be used. Fo-cusing on factors helpful in ca-reer transition, counsellors canuse interventions aimed at foster-ing resiliency or hardiness. To re-move the contextual barriers,strategies of advocating, educa-tion, and research can be used.

To accomplish thesegoals, career counsellors need toobtain a thorough understandingof this population’s concerns, payattention to how their own expe-riences and cultural heritageshape this understanding, remaina high degree of openness, anduse appropriate interventions.

Establishing a More ComplexPicture

The experience of careertransition in immigrants is influ-enced by a number of factorsfunctioning on intrapersonal, re-lational, and contextual levels.This is a multidirectional processand affects not only the individ-ual in transition, but also relation-ships, groups, and systems thatshe/he is a part of. A deeper un-derstanding of the career transi-

tion process of this populationneeds to be rooted in an integra-tive approach that takes into con-sideration intrapersonal,relational, and larger contextuallevels. In the context of careertheory, this means going beyondintegration of personal and careerissues (Krumboltz, 1993; Super,1993), in order to intervene onthe level of relationships andcontexts that individuals are em-bedded in (Blustein, 2001; Blus-tein, McWhirter & Perry, 2005).It also requires abandoning theunidirectional model of careerand cultural adaptation, and re-placing it with a dynamic interac-tional model. The followingdiagram illustrates a model forunderstanding career transition ofimmigrants that is both contex-tual and interactional. This inte-grative conceptual frameworkdraws from the ecological modelof human development (Brofen-brenner, 1979), applications ofwhich have been recommendedin counselling of immigrant pop-ulations (Yakushko & Chronister,2005), and from the systems the-ory of career counselling de-scribed by McMahon and Patton(2006).

As illustrated in Figure 1.,career is embedded in a largercontext of personality and indi-vidual’s life, a network of rela-tionships, and a largercultural-socio-political context.Changes and events on each levelaffect all other levels and may aidor hinder career transition.

The individual level con-tains information regarding per-sonal and career aspirations,experience of career transition,educational and professional ac-complishments pre migration,


39


(in)validation of career relatedachievements in the new country,and feelings of loss and grief. Ca-reer related exploration needs tobe placed in the context of theperson’s life experiences, strug-gles, goals, and dreams. Thismight mean exploring the mean-ing of career in the client’s indi-vidual and cultural environments,examining how it relates to asense of identity, and where it fitsin the larger context of one’spast, present, and future.

The relational level in-volves changes in family andcommunity functioning related tomigration and career transition.Consideration of this level mayinclude family loyalty, interper-sonal connections, those left be-hind, those that the client feelsobligated to support, those whooffer support to the client, andother relational concerns. Estab-

lishing new relationships andstrengthening one’s communityof support may be a crucial partof the career transition process.

The contextual level con-tains predictable and unpre-dictable factors (Pryor & Bright,2009), including career relatedcultural norms and values, socialidentity, ethnic and other commu-nities, school system, govern-ment, helping agencies, medical,and school system. It is charac-terized by culturally defined con-structs such as gender, andexperiences of oppression anddiscrimination related to clients’various social locations. War,exile, voluntary or involuntarynature of migration, and range ofoptions available are also signifi-cant contextual factors.

In addition to providing away of conceptualizing the tran-sition experience of immigrants,

this multileveled interactiveframework can offer tools for in-tervening on each level.

Individual Level Interventions

Most career counsellingapproaches primarily rely on in-dividual quantitative and qualita-tive assessment and counsellingtools description of which can befound elsewhere (Amundson,Harris-Bowlsbey & Niles, 2009;Brott, 2004; Campbell & Ungar,2004; McIlveen, McGregor-Bayne, Alcock & Hjertum, 2003;McMahon & Patton, 2002). De-pending on the client’s uniquecircumstances, a career counsel-lor can draw from a number ofinterventions, such as question-naires, inventories, behaviouralobservation, interview, autobiog-raphy and biography, games, cardsorts, life line, life role circles,the goal map, and many other.These tools may be useful inidentifying intra-individualstrengths and growing edges, andin building skills, attitudes, andpersonality factors helpful in im-migrant career transition. For ex-ample, strategies aimed atincreasing the level of resiliencyand hardiness, such as portfolios(Borgen, Amundson & Reuter,2004), or career narratives(Campbell & Ungar, 2004) canbe used.

Literature on immigrantcareer counselling suggests indi-vidually focused strategies suchas pre-departure preparation, dis-cussion of culture shock, learningabout local labour market, in-creasing language proficiency,and enhancing work related inter-cultural competences (Amund-son, Westwood & Prefontaine,

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1995; Ma & Yeh, 2010;Yakushko, Backhaus, Watson,Ngaruiya & Gonzalez, 2008; Yost& Lucas, 2002). Selected inter-ventions need to make sense toclients in their contexts. Clientswho hold different cultural valuesmay not benefit from interven-tions designed in the WhiteNorthern American culture, andmay appreciate more culturallyrelevant tools, such as story-telling, or community approach(Stebleton, 2007).

Relationship Level Interventions

For the counsellingprocess to be successful, immi-grant clients need to feel valued,understood, and supported(Ishiyama, 1995), which requiresa complex combination of cul-tural, interpersonal, and personalskills on the part of the counsel-lor. In addition to strong coun-selling skills, knowledge aboutimmigrant issues and awarenessof the counsellor’s own culturalassumptions is necessary.

Relationship level inter-ventions can be aimed at helpingclients examine roles and obliga-tions in families and communi-ties, validating their loyalty, andexploring changes in relationshipand family functioning that arerelated to their career concerns.Considering the importance ofsupport system in immigranttransition, strategies can be estab-lished for strengthening existingsocial networks, negotiating rela-tionships with significant onesleft behind, and building new re-lationships. Family roles, inter-generational conflict, andintercultural negotiation can be-

come the focus of career coun-selling sessions when relevant tothe client’s career concerns. Sig-nificant others can be importantwitnesses of career experienceand competencies for immigrantclients who have lost professionalrights in the new country. Usingthe Significant Other Question-naire, or discussing how clientsare being perceived by their sig-nificant others, can offer a newperspective on clients’ strengths,abilities, and work experience(Amundson, Westwood & Pre-fontaine, 1995). Successful im-migrant role models andmentoring programs can also behelpful (Ma & Yeh, 2010).

Context Level Interventions

The field of career coun-selling has been critiqued for alack of attention to contextualfactors and for inaction regardingissues of social justice (Blustein,McWhriter & Perry, 2005;Hansen, 2003; Hartung & Blus-tein, 2002; Stebleton, 2007).Blustein, McWhirter & Perry(2005) suggest that vocationalpsychology has a potential to im-prove the education and workinglives of all people by assumingan activist social justice agenda.According to Hartung and Blus-tein (2002), a just model of ca-reer decision making includesattention to the opportunity struc-ture, in addition to differences indecision making styles. Counsel-lors should move to actionthrough partnering with commu-nities and other service providersin order to provide integrated in-tervention programs.

In addressing career con-cerns of immigrant clients, it is

not enough to acknowledge theloss of unrecognized credentials,discuss it, and help clients con-sider information about training,as suggested by majority of thecounselling literature. Consistentwith the social justice model,counsellors need to take a stepbeyond helping clients adjust tothe unjust circumstances (Walde-grave, 2005), and work towardschanging these circumstances tocreate equal opportunities. Whileacknowledgment of the loss ofprofessional identity and explo-ration of training options are cru-cial aspects of counselling (Lee& Westwood, 1996), it is impor-tant to consider a full range of al-ternatives. This may includechallenging the system that un-justly de-skills trained and expe-rienced immigrant workers.Immigrant workers are a minoritywork group that may not alwaysspeak out against poor conditionsthat they are facing (Flores et al.,2011). Equipped with knowledgeregarding the impact of discrimi-nation, oppression, and injustice,counsellors can address these is-sues through theory and socialaction, which requires steppingoutside the boundaries of tradi-tional counselling practice. So-cial action may involve buildingrelationships with employers, ad-vocating for more accessibletraining and hiring practices, con-ducting workshops for potentialemployers, training governmentrepresentatives and legislators,and educating workers on theirright and responsibilities (Floreset al., 2011). Other types of ac-tion include consultation, com-munity outreach, programevaluation, and engagement withteachers, families, clinicians, and


41


administration (Blustein,McWhriter & Perry, 2005).

Immigrants are typicallyinvolved with a number of sys-tems, such as medical and legalorganizations, language schools,welfare, childcare programs, andethnic communities. Assuming acollaborative approach in whichthese various systems are con-nected would help provide amore integrated holding environ-ment for immigrant clients.

Counsellors need to becareful to not narrowly conceptu-alize this group as oppressed andhelpless (Yakushko, Backhaus,Watson, Ngaruiya & Gonzalez,2008), but to actively engage im-migrant clients and communityinto partnerships that will helpremove barriers standing in theway of successful career transi-tion.

Counsellor Competencies and Training Issues

As a form of counselling,career counselling of immigrantsrequires proficiency in complexrelational and counselling skills.Career counsellors need to attendto intricacies of working with di-verse populations (Sue & Sue,2002), potential language issues,unfamiliarity with counselling,and different cultural healingpractices. They need to be awareof their own cultural legacies,able to challenge own assump-tions (Yakushko, Backhaus, Wat-son, Ngaruiya & Gonzalez,2008), and knowledgeable aboutissues such as migration, colo-nialism, oppression, and armedconflict. Career counsellors areseldom trained to provide contex-tual interventions, build team ap-

proaches, be aware of immigrantrelated issues, or challenge theirown cultural assumptions (Flores,Hsieh & Chiao, 2011; Hansen,2003). In order to better equip ca-reer counsellors with these skills,training programs need to includematerials on affecting socialchange, immigrant issues, andawareness of one’s own culturalvalues and related assumptions.To offer a comprehensive and fairservice to immigrant clients,counselling psychology alsoneeds to recruit more immigrantmembers into its profession andits leadership (Hansen, 2003).

Conclusion

Since immigrants’ hopefor a better future may be dimin-ished by barriers encountered inthe new country, career coun-selling with this population in-volves restoration of hope. With asense of hope, an immigrantclient will be able to envisionmeaningful goals and believe thatpositive outcomes are likely tooccur if specific actions are taken(Niles, Amundson & Neault,2011). The counselling processcan increase the level of hopeful-ness through several mecha-nisms. A trusting counsellingrelationship characterized by atrue understanding of circum-stances surrounding the immi-grant client’s career transition iscrucial. In addition to individuallevel variables, often emphasizedin career counselling theory,counsellors need to pay attentionto relational and systemic factorsthat affect successful transition.Other necessary steps includecollaborative examination ofavailable options; exploration of

ways in which the range of op-tions can be expanded; and actiontowards challenging systems thatstrip away identity, knowledge,and power from minority groups,such as immigrants. Learningthat the counsellor is on their sideand that change is possible, im-migrant clients can start re-claim-ing their power andre-establishing hope for a betterfuture.

Whether a life story isabout success or failure is partlya matter of interpretation. I con-sider mine to be a success story,although it is also a story aboutloss, struggle, and inability totrain or practice in my chosenfield. As many other immigrants,I have experienced de-skillingand am now working towards re-building some of the skills. Ob-stacles that immigrants face intheir process of career transitionare enormous. These obstaclesunnecessarily block us from con-tributing our expertise to society,causing loss of capital, and af-fecting our health and well-being. A more equal access toemployment opportunities wouldnot only promote immigranthealth, but would also bring eco-nomic benefits to their new coun-try.

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