Ronald G. Sultana

This paper focuses on commonly used terms in career guidance in order to examine the impact they can have on the way problems are conceptualised and consequently on the solutions that are envisaged. Four such terms are considered, namely ‘vulnerability’, ‘resilience’, ‘employability’, and ‘activation’. Drawing on critical social theory, this paper explores the relationship between language, thought, and action. It demonstrates the intimate relationship of the four terms to the neoliberal agenda in general and to responsibilisation in particular. The paper concludes by arguing that the career development field has a role to play in the struggle over the meaning of concepts in the public sphere, as the outcome has a bearing on the opportunities for people to flourish.

This scoping paper sets out to consider various aspects of the phenomenon of people on the move, and to examine some of the ways in which career guidance has responded to the challenge of integrating the newly arrived. The paper is informed by a recognition of the dignity of individuals above any classificatory system that places persons in a hierarchy, with some having access to rights that others are denied. This stance requires career practitioners to confront the prevalent vocabulary, discourses and attitudes circulating in the mainstream in order to become aware of—and to overcome—personal prejudice, thus opening up possibilities for more socially just forms of service. A synthesis of relevant literature concerning the integration of migrants and refugees in the labour market is provided in order to signpost emancipatory forms of career guidance, ones that move beyond an emphasis on individual resilience to take seriously the impact of exclusionary social practices and structures. The paper concludes by highlighting a number of initiatives that suggest that career guidance is rising to the challenge of catering for a diverse group of newly arrived by mobilising theoretical frameworks that are fit for purpose, by developing bespoke training programmes for practitioners, and by sharing the lessons learnt from the field.

This paper engages with and reacts to the five papers authored by the UNITWIN research teams responsible for this special issue. It highlights some of the key concepts, themes, and analyses in regard to prolonged transitions and decent work, weaving them together while offering a series of reflections about them. In so doing, this paper adopts a social justice lens and deploys critical social science perspectives in order to make sense of the trials and tribulations faced by low qualified, emerging adults under the long shadow of neoliberalism. Such an approach enables a contrapuntal reading of the papers under consideration, with a view to generating fresh insights on contemporary transitions in both developed and developing country contexts. These reflections seek to further enrich a powerful and compelling set of papers by adding complementary layers of analyses, providing pointers to renewed policy and practice.

This paper draws on the fund of regional knowledge about career guidance that comparative research has generated in the “global South”. The goal of the paper is to add another voice to the challenge to the universalising language that characterises career guidance theory and practice, and to further highlight the serious attention that needs to be given to “localisms” and “particularisms” so that responses that are sensitive to context can emerge. While several authors make a case for attention to context, few explicitly link epistemological and ontological concerns to the issue of political power. In contrast, in this paper I argue that inductive theorising is more likely to not only generate relevant and useful knowledge and practices: it is also more likely to serve the interests of social justice.

(2019). The importance of work in an age of uncertainty: the eroding work experience in America. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. Ahead of Print.

This article investigates the relationship between career guidance and TVET in Arab Mediterranean Countries (AMCs), drawing on insights generated by two research projects carried out 10 years apart, and on the broader international literature available on the subject. An account of the two research projects is given, locating them within the spate of overlapping career guidance reviews that have been carried out in over 50 countries since 2000. Three issues are then highlighted in this article. These include, first, that there is little in the way of career guidance provision in educational settings; second, that even where a modicum of services is available, or where policy makers have declared their resolve to develop such services, career guidance is mainly valued in instrumental ways in order to steer students towards the unpopular, vocational tracks; and third, that career guidance in the region is generally considered to be of little use to those already in vocational schooling, the assumption being that those there made their occupational choice prior to entry. The article concludes by considering the role that career guidance, properly conceived, can play in facilitating youth transitions in the MENA region.