Marginalized Group Career Counseling Paper: Individuals with Disabilities
Introduction
In the U.S. and the world at large, work is highly valued. Due to this fact, scholars have been interested in exploring why persons with disabilities are underprivileged career-wise, in the labor force, and other professional development aspects. Research by (Dahling & Librizzi, 2015) suggests that one contributing factor is the lack of transitional vocational programs for young individuals with disabilities. Experts have suggested creating programs based on the unique attributes and career goals of the disabled population as a valid program to motivate the disabled to develop their careers. This paper concentrates on the “individuals with disabilities” as a marginalized group. In the paper, a resource that can be used by a counselor when working with a client(s) with a disability will be presented.
Population and why they should Receive Career Counseling
Marginalized populations are all over the world. Persons with disabilities, for example, is among the world’s recognized marginalized group (Gysbers, Heppner, & Johnston, 2003). Different persons with disabilities present with different disabilities, ranging from vision impairment, deafness, autism spectrum disorder, acquired brain injury, intellectual disability, physical disability, and mental health conditions. For many years, studies have indicated that persons with disabilities have lower labor force participation rates than individuals without disabilities.
According to (Gysbers, Heppner, & Johnston, 2003), there are many reasons individuals with disabilities should receive career counseling. Career counseling for disabled people enhances their sense of personal and environmental control by enabling them to identify the specific career goals they endeavor to realize and the strategies of meeting them, access the required resources in the environment that they need to achieve their self-chosen career goals and learn more practical self-management skills. Also, counseling the disabled helps recognize their passions, personalities, and aspirations necessary in career choice and professional development once recruited (Dawis, 2005). Career counseling enables disabled individuals to learn practical networking skills, job search processes and understand their strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, career counseling for the disabled is vital in equipping them with confidence that they should apply for the same job opportunities as those without a disability.
Statistics on the Group
Individuals with disabilities, on average as a marginalized group, experience adverse socioeconomic impacts than those without disabilities. According to the World Bank 2020 statistics, approximately one billion (15 percent) of the world’s population experience some form of disability (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). The issue of disability is more prevalent in developing countries, with poor people being more vulnerable. In the U.S., in particular, as of 2017, approximately 13.2 percent of people had some form of disability. In the country, disability is common among older adults, especially those with 65-years-old or more. Older individuals living with disabilities in the U.S. account for approximately 41.4 percent.
As per the 2020 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2019, approximately 19.3 percent of individuals with a disability were not employed. In contrast, the employment-population ratio for individuals without a disability was reported at 66.3 percent (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). However, the unemployment rate for both people with disabilities and those without a disability declined to 7.3 percent and 3.5 percent from the 2018 statistics, respectively. As per the data, approximately 50% of all workers living with a disability were 65-years and older. Across all age groups, the ratio of unemployment was higher for people with a disability than those living without a disability. Besides, as per the 2020 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2019, 32 percent of employees with a disability were recruited part-time, while those without a disability accounted for 17 percent.
As a lifelong process, career development counseling is essential for anyone, including those with and without a disability. According to (Ratts et al., 2016), persons with disabilities are subjected to social stigmas, including assumptions about their capabilities, intelligence, and interests; those without apparent disabilities also face specific problems. Persons with psychiatric and learning disabilities tend to be unfairly characterized as dramatic, lazy, or lacking discipline. Despite such plights for disabled people, their access to career counseling is lesser than those without a disability (Dahling & Librizzi, 2015). This is due to the prejudice, bias, discrimination, and kind of stereotypes that society, including the labor industry, have against the capabilities, skills, qualifications, and productivity of disabled workers.
Career Counseling Theory
Developed by Rene Dawis and Lloyd Lofquist, the Minnesota theory of work adjustment (MTWA) is perfect for the marginalized populations, particularly for individuals with a disability. According to (Dawis, 2005), MTWA offers career counselors an appropriate approach to conceptualize the fit between a person and a job as required by the employing organization. Initially, this career counseling theory was influenced by scholars and research into the work placement problems that are faced by the physically disabled. Today, career development counseling for the disabled is based on vocational psychology programs, which is the essence of the theory of work adjustment framework (Dahling & Librizzi, 2015). In the labor sector and work environment, career counselors apply the MTWA framework to understand the relationship of the disabled workers with those without a disability in the same work environment.
In career counseling, the MTWA theory best suits individuals with a disability. According to (Dawis, 2005), this framework does not match the general populations; counselors apply it particularly for the disabled persons. According to the theory, the work environment envisions that particular tasks are performed, implying that the worker should bring the required skills to complete the job. In this perspective, career counselors utilize the MTWA model to equip individuals with a disability with the necessary skills needed in performing the task (Ratts et al., 2016). The framework also guides career counselors to educate employers that disabled workers are similar to those without a disability; this helps encourage employers to establish a safe and comfortable workplace for disabled employees. Additionally, career counselors apply the MTWA framework to educate disabled workers on strategies for work adjustment to achieve and maintain correspondence (Dahling & Librizzi, 2015). Besides, based on this theory, counselors are able to understand people’s personalities and relate them to work personalities, helping achieve avoid personality mismatch.
Plan for Counseling the Group
In the process of career counseling for persons with a disability, when using the Minnesota theory of work adjustment, the MTWA counseling strategies and interventions have to be included in the counseling plan (Dawis, 2005). Good examples include interviews, theory explanation, and assessment tools:
Structured and unstructured interviews: According to (Dahling & Librizzi, 2015), qualitative interview questions are a perfect tool for career counseling, particularly for the disabled, when using the MTWA theory. In counseling, a therapist cannot diagnose a client before he/she understands the client’s problem. Typically, the disabled people, especially those out of the labor force and yet are qualified for work, endure stress, stigma, depression, and other forms of crises. Interview questions based on the respective client problem would be of utmost priority when designing a counseling plan for individuals with a disability.
Assessment tools: In career and career development counseling, a counselor needs to assess the personalities, capabilities, skills, and passions of the disabled job seekers or the employed ones who seek to advance and progress their careers. In this career counseling plan, the counselor would use tools such as aptitude tests, job simulations, personality tests, experience analysis, and more (Ratts et al., 2016). Based on different cases, the counselor would identify the appropriate assessment tool. In the course of assessment, the counselor would journalize and note down the client’s results for use in career guidance and counseling planning.
Theory explanation: To ensure the persons with a disability seeking therapy achieve their career counseling goals, this plan would involve the explanation of the theory under use. For example, the MTWA being used to facilitate work adjustment, work personality development, work conceptualization, and work satisfaction among disabled persons under therapy (Dawis, 2005).
Environmental/Personal Barriers
Disability as a factor may prevent a job seeker from finding employment. According to (Ratts et al., 2016), a wide range of personal and environmental factors prevent persons with disabilities from finding employment. These main barriers include disability, limited access to employment resources/internet access, transportation, and more.
Disability: According to the 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2019, the unemployment rate for persons with disabilities was 7.3 percent (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). Although the unemployment rate among disabled people is dropping, individuals with disabilities are two times more likely to be unemployed than people without disabilities. The reason behind this gap is the prevailing stereotype that disabled people are weak, slow, and less capable of producing high performance in the workplace compared to those with a disability.
Limited computer access: In today’s labor force world, most employers advertise jobs across online resources such as O*Net. Typically, the majority of the unemployed people with a disability come from poor backgrounds and thus are not exposed (Gysbers, Heppner, & Johnston, 2003). Also, this indicates that they have limited access to computers and the internet where they can access and apply for job posts to secure a job.
Transportation: Most likely, people living with disabilities live in poverty, are more likely to lack jobs, and tend to be discriminated against in the workplace. Despite this, environmental and personal issues, such as transportation, disadvantage disabled job seekers when finding employment (Ratts et al., 2016). For example, the physically disabled and visually impaired people experience movement issues; this tends to prevent them from finding work at the right time.
Local Resources Available
There are a wide range of resources available to help people with disabilities obtain work. For example, support groups, vocational programs, and job centers:
Job centers: In the U.S., for example, there are over 3,000 job centers across the American local communities. To help the individuals with disabilities obtain job, these local job centers enlists the job vacancies, the computers they can utilize to search/look for employment and the career and career development counselors who can assist them find and obtain jobs, train for the preferred profession, and write their curriculum vitae (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). To find jobs near their neighborhoods, people with disabilities can also call or visit such websites.
Support groups: Disabilities present in all severities, hearing loss, vision impairment, physical disability, cognitive impairment, and more. Those living with disabilities deserve critical care. One key area is helping them obtain work in order to assist them to afford overall self-care. In this context, support groups provide unemployed people with disabilities to share personal feelings and experiences, coping strategies, and first-hand information about job offers (Ratts et al., 2016). Support groups would help them gain self-awareness and awareness of others; hence transforming their mindsets as far as seeking and obtaining new jobs is concerned.
Vocational programs: When utilizing the MTWA theory in counseling individuals with a disability, the theory emphasizes more on the use of vocational groups. This resource, in the context of helping clients acquire a job, opens room for the counselor to train the client and equip them with job skills applicable in diverse work settings, as well as the interview process (Dahling & Librizzi, 2015). Vocational training programs for disabled clients help identify their career goals and find out job posts that match their skills and qualifications. Also, training programs equip clients with skills important for jobs that suit their educational qualifications.
Feasibility of the Plan
In the context of this marginalized group, the counseling plan would involve interviews, theory explanation, and assessment tools (Ratts et al., 2016). This counseling plan is tenable and would help individuals with disabilities become motivated, encouraged, and confident in their career progression and development goals. This counseling plan is also valid and practical as per the unending need to address the employment rights of disabled people. As explained in this paper, persons with disabilities are underprivileged, discriminated against, and treated with bias in the employment sector compared to those without a disability (Dawis, 2005). Therefore, counselors have the mandate to guide, educate, and journey together with these clients in the course of career counseling to equip them with confidence, motivation, and the focus required in obtaining work just like those without a disability. However, since the general public also seeks for career therapy, counselors should equitably attend to their counseling goals and ensure a non-judgemental, non-bias, and a fair process (Dahling & Librizzi, 2015). Also, counselors should ensure multicultural competence by being sensitive to different clients’ cultures and avoiding to impose their opinions on those of the clients.
Conclusion
There is an ongoing trend of the declining unemployment rate for disabled persons. However, the unemployment rate for individuals with a disability exceeds the unemployment rate for people without a disability. To lower this joblessness rate among disabled individuals, career counseling is needed. Therefore, counselors should endeavor to offer career counseling for the disabled people, help them identify their career goals, and help them achieve these goals.
References
Dahling, J. J., & Librizzi, U. A. (2015). Integrating the theory of work adjustment and attachment theory to predict job turnover intentions. Journal of Career Development, 42(3), 215-228.
Dawis, R. (2005). The Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (p. 3–23). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Gysbers, N. C., Heppner, M. J., & Johnston, J. A. (2003). Career counseling: Process, issues, and techniques (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Ratts, M. J., Singh, A. A., Butler, K., Nassar-McMillan, S., & McCullough, J. R. (2016). Multicultural and social justice counseling competencies: Practical applications in counseling. Counseling Today.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2010). Unemployment rate for people with a disability declines to 7.3 percent in 2019. TED: The Economics Daily.