This paper presents the design and rationale for a two-day career counseling workshop targeting Hispanic high school students within a school district. It outlines a structured agenda covering self-assessment, career exploration, decision-making, and goal-setting, while situating the workshop within the broader context of Hispanic educational achievement and workforce participation. The paper examines cultural factors — including family values, lack of professional role models, and high dropout rates — that make targeted career counseling especially important for this population. Drawing on research in cross-cultural counseling competency, the paper argues that effective career guidance for Hispanic students must be grounded in cultural sensitivity and awareness of the community's unique values and challenges.
The following is a proposed two-day career counseling workshop for all school district Hispanic students, to be held at Aaronson Auditorium from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on January 5 and 6, 2015. Refreshments, including bottled water, soft drinks, and doughnuts, will be available throughout both days.
Workshop Goals:
Participants will identify and assess their skills, interests, and abilities; identify potential career opportunities; and establish career and education goals.
Day One: Monday, January 5, 2015
9:00–9:30 a.m. — Welcome and orientation by the vice principal, followed by an overview of the importance of career counseling and its goals presented by the career counselor.
9:30–9:45 a.m. — Break.
9:45–11:30 a.m. — Self-assessment, Part One: Using the Myers-Briggs self-assessment instrument and developing an inventory of interests, values, and skills, led by the career counselor.
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. — Lunch in the school cafeteria.
12:30–1:30 p.m. — Self-assessment, Part Two: Continued development of an inventory of interests, values, and skills, led by the career counselor.
1:30–2:15 p.m. — Career exploration: Learning about job opportunities and employment resources such as the National Career Development Association and the National Career Development Guidelines, led by the career counselor.
2:15–2:30 p.m. — Break.
2:30–3:00 p.m. — Questions and answers with career counselors.
Day Two: Tuesday, January 6, 2015
9:00–10:30 a.m. — Making decisions: Counselors help students narrow down options and create a career plan.
10:30–10:45 a.m. — Break.
10:45–11:30 a.m. — Setting goals: Counselors help students learn how to set target dates for the completion of their career goals, including education and training requirements, and how to evaluate their progress toward meeting those goals, making adjustments as necessary.
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. — Lunch in the school cafeteria.
12:30–1:30 p.m. — Review of current high-demand career fields for Hispanics, presented by the school district human resources director.
1:30–2:30 p.m. — Summary: The importance of career planning during high school, presented by the career counselor.
Today, the need for timely and informative career counseling for Hispanic high school students has never been greater. Hispanics are the youngest, largest, and fastest-growing minority group in the United States today (Zalaquett & Baez, 2012). Current estimates of the growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S. indicate that this group will become an increasingly important segment of the American workforce in the foreseeable future (Zalaquett & Baez, 2012). According to Zalaquett and Baez, however, "Their career paths seem to be non-linear or non-traditional and they may not be aware of or use career counseling services. Their progress and contributions to our society can be enhanced by providing career counseling" (2012, p. 58).
Unfortunately, the majority of research to date concerning career counseling and Hispanics has been based on stereotypical perceptions and anecdotal accounts rather than hard evidence (Zalaquett & Baez, 2012). In this regard, Kolodinsky and Schroder emphasize that "career development at the adolescent stage may have long been constrained by biases in the dominant culture via, for example, perceptions of the meaning and implications of gender, ethnicity, and economic station" (2009, p. 163). In addition, there are other constraints specific to Hispanic students, including (a) the definition of the role of the Hispanic helper, (b) the degree to which the student identifies with Hispanic culture, (c) the other roles the student plays, and (d) an understanding of the importance of family in Hispanic culture (Nelson & Jackson, 2007, p. 3).
Despite their growing representation and importance in the American workforce, Hispanics lag behind all other minority groups in the United States in terms of educational achievement. Nearly 50% of Hispanic high school students drop out before graduation — a rate twice as high as that for African-Americans and three times higher than the rate for white students (Dunn & Griggs, 1999). According to Dunn and Griggs, "These statistics negatively affect the Hispanic's occupational choices and contribute to the lack of Hispanic role models in such professions as engineering, physics, computer technology, and higher education, all of which require an education" (1999, p. 50).
It is vitally important for career counselors to develop the cross-cultural competencies needed to provide minority groups such as Hispanic students with culturally sensitive career guidance. Watkins and Campbell (2000) report that "value differences have import for the way in which people make life decisions. In counseling and assessment, it is important to avoid automatic assumptions about what is 'best' without incorporating into that consideration the culturally-specific values held by the individual" (p. 507). Some especially salient value differences for Hispanic students involve the importance of family, living harmoniously with nature, living in the present, placing an emphasis on being rather than doing, and the subordination of individual goals to group goals (Watkins & Campbell, 2000).
Commitment to family is among the most important values in many Hispanic cultures. According to Dunn and Griggs (1999), "That commitment includes a loyalty to the family, a strong family support system, the sense that adolescent behavior reflects on the honor of the family, hierarchical order among siblings, and a duty to care for members who are disabled, infirm, or aged" (p. 49). This value often places Hispanic students at odds with mainstream American culture, which places a high premium on individualism (Dunn & Griggs, 1999). These cross-cultural differences can even have an adverse impact on academic performance. As Dunn and Griggs note, "Their culture's emphasis on cooperation in the attainment of goals can result in Hispanic adolescents' discomfort with this nation's conventional classroom competition" (1999, p. 49).
In addition, a majority of Hispanic high school students are inclined to follow their parents' occupational choices without taking into account other potential career possibilities (Dunn & Griggs, 1999).
"Culturally sensitive counseling skills and awareness"
"Self-efficacy, career interest, and transition outcomes"
"Minority career paths and absent professional models"
"Outreach strategy using social media and posters"
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