1. Abstract. 2. Study objectives. 3. Methods and data CAREER COUNSELLING IN FLANDERS. Key words: Clarification of key concepts

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1 CAREER COUNSELLING IN FLANDERS Author(s): Marijke Verbruggen 1. Abstract This research - based on two studies evaluates a number of aspects of the entitlement to external career counselling in Flanders. In a first study, the inflow into and the effects of career counselling (Verbruggen & Sels, 2009) were studied. The results show that people often resort to career counselling when faced with a difficult and in some cases even problematic situation. Career counselling thus seems to meet a real need. Moreover, participation in career counselling turned out to be quite relevant. During the career counselling sessions, participants improved various selfdirecting skills. After the counselling, participants undertook various actions to achieve the intentions they had defined during the counselling. Six months later, they had effectively realised part of their ambitions. All this contributed to the subjects being more satisfied about their career and life six months after the counselling. The second study (Verbruggen et al, 2009) examined the demand for career counselling within a particular disadvantaged group which is currently difficult to reach, namely workers of immigrant origin. The study concludes that persons of immigrant origin like the average Fleming experience a real need for career counselling though a number of participation thresholds (e.g., dispositional barriers, language) may prevent them from participating. Key words: Career counselling; inflow; effects; persons of immigrant origin 2. Study objectives In Flanders, the employed individuals are entitled to external career counselling since January 1st, The Flemish Government thus grants every employed Flemish subject with at least 1 year of work experience the opportunity to take part in career counselling once every six years at a low cost by means of subsidies to external career counselling centres. The purpose of this policy measure is to help people with career questions and to encourage them to increasingly steer their own career. In order to monitor social equality, a special emphasis is on counselling disadvantaged groups, like migrants and people with a disability. The purpose of this research was to evaluate different aspects of this right to career counselling. The research was divided into two studies. The first study aimed to verify the use and the value of career counselling as a service. To this end, we studied the inflow into and the effects of external career counselling. This allowed us to check whether (1) career counselling meets a real need and (2) whether it succeeds to help people with their career questions and to develop self-management skills. In the second study, we focused in more detail on the policy concerning disadvantaged groups. Specifically, we examined the demand for career counselling of one specific disadvantaged group, namely people of immigrant origin. Since it is difficult to reach this group in career counselling the aim (1) was to verify whether the subjects in this group require career counselling and (2) to map the factors that may potentially prevent them from making use of this service. Clarification of key concepts External career counselling: career counselling that is not organised by and is not performed at the request of the participant s employer. Career counselling: face-to-face counselling by a professional career counsellor in relation to career questions and problems. VDAB: Flemish Service for Employment and Vocational Training, the Flemish Public Employment Service Werkwinkel: The Werkwinkel or Job-shop is the one-stop shop for all organisations that provide assistance when people are searching for a job. Werkwinkels are organised at local or intermunicipal level. 3. Methods and data In a first study, we gathered longitudinal data from individuals who were making use of career counselling services. The data collection took place between April 2006 and September Career counselling clients were interviewed on three occasions using a standardised questionnaire: at the start of the career counselling (N=556), at the end of the 1

2 career counselling (N=283) and finally six months after the end of the career counselling (N=295). We worked with 12 career counselling centres which actively offered career counselling services in 2005 and in In a second study, cross-sectional data were collected from 424 persons of immigrant origin, using a standardised questionnaire. 424 people of immigrant origin participated in the study. Respondents were found and questioned through three channels. First, a representative sample of employees of foreign origin were extracted from VDAB s database and contacted to participate in a telephone survey. This data collection resulted in 258 filled-in questionnaires. In addition, we performed a face-to-face survey among employees of foreign origin who were acquaintances of the project workers or who were part of their (direct and indirect) environment (N=115). Finally, an online questionnaire was disseminated through 24 minority organisations (N=51). 4. Findings 4.1 Inflow in career counselling The results of the first study first of all showed that employees who request career counselling assistance are quite different from the average Flemish employee. For example, career counselling clients often have a job with a low workability (e.g.,: they experience stress, burnout,...), they generally had a rather turbulent career and they also expect a rather turbulent career in the future. In addition, people with a temporary contract and people who are in their notice period are overrepresented in career counselling. These differences between career counselling clients and the average Flemish employee suggest that participants in career counselling programs often find themselves in a difficult and challenging career situation. It is therefore not surprising that the main reason for recourse to career counselling is dissatisfaction about one s employment situation. Subjects in particular are not very satisfied about job content, career development opportunities, the job s workability and the atmosphere at work. Yet, not everybody who finds him/herself in a difficult employment situation will request career counselling services. Certain conditions appear to encourage/prevent people from relying on such a service. First of all, time and money seem to play a role. People who are the breadwinners in their household tend to choose the career counselling option less frequently. By contrast, people who are not currently employed (e.g., due to a career break) tend to use this option more often. We also established that men, older workers and low-skilled workers are more difficult to reach. Possibly these groups may experience bigger dispositional barriers for requesting external assistance. It is also possible that they do not need such assistance. 4.2 Career counselling Respondents participated on average in six sessions (a total of 9 hours) of intensive coaching. During the process, the career counsellor covers a whole range of topics. The program includes a self-analysis as well as an analysis of one s career and career development opportunities. Furthermore, themes related to the employee s private life are not avoided. The topics that were discussed were well suited to the participant s situation and problems. In the case of people who were contending with a conflict between their job and their private life, the career counsellor reflected more frequently on themes related to private life. The choice of the method used was also influenced by the participant s characteristics, more in particular of his/her personality. For instance, participants who were conscientious and introvert were given manuals and workbooks to work with. These people prefer a more systematic approach and are also more reserved and introverted. Workbooks and manuals are a way of complying with this. The career counselling program always started with an intake interview. During this conversation the career counsellor generally painted a clear picture of the program s content. Moreover, the majority of respondents also had a say as regards the topics that would be discussed. About half of the respondents established a personal action plan during the program. Most action plans, moreover, seem to have been well developed. They not only contain personal goals (in the short and/or long term) but also individual actions and a time schedule. Setbacks and alternative scenarios tend to be discussed less frequently in the action plan. Finally, approximately 16% of all the participants returned for an addition session six months after the career counselling program s completion. 4.3 Effects Respondents felt that the counselling they received was highly relevant. Half a year after the counselling program nearly ¾ of the participants said that they still regularly reflected on the insights gleaned during the program. The respondents were also very satisfied about the counselling that they received. The cost and competence of the career counsellor were especially appreciated. One of the oldest expectations as regards career counselling is that it contributes to a greater career insight in participants. The Flemish career counselling centres seem to be doing an excellent job. Respondents significantly improved both their self-knowledge, their knowledge of the labour market as well as their understanding of their career goals and development during the counselling program. In fact, the large majority of respondents felt that 2

3 these improvements were largely a result of the career counselling. Moreover, the scores for these competences were still significantly higher six months after the career counselling program than at the beginning of the program. After the career counselling program has ended, there is a small but noticeable drop in the competence understanding of career goals and career development". We suspect that this is a rather normal phenomenon. At the start of the career counselling program, many respondents finds themselves in a difficult, confusing career situation, about which they are often very unhappy,. They try to find a solution for their situation by having recourse to career counselling, and this solution provides them with a 'career goal'. In the months following the career counselling, they try to achieve this goal and thus to improve their situation. Their career goal becomes partly irrelevant when they have succeeded in improving their situation. Possibly the respondents are interested in catching a breath and sorting out the situation before setting new career goals for themselves. The Flemish government expects that career counselling achieves much more than simply increasing a participant s understanding of his or her career. It is hoped that this service will also help participants to increasingly self-manage their career. That is why the impact of career counselling on four career self-management competences was examined: (1) self-confidence to manage one s own career, (2) adaptability, (3) networking and (4) self-directedness. The conclusion was that most participants had significantly improved their career management competences during the career counselling program. In the six months after the career counselling some of the participants did, however, seem to lose part of their competencies, especially in terms of their adaptability and networking competences. Two out of three participants link the improvements in their career management skills to the career counselling program. According to the participants the career counselling program mainly seemed to be geared towards being able to manage your career yourself. As for the increase in terms of adaptability, less than half the participants (40%) felt that the career counselling program had influenced this aspect. The respondents defined a whole range of intentions under influence of the career counselling program. More than half of the respondents planned a labour market transition. This mainly entailed a change of employer and/or another type of job. In addition to this, a significant proportion of the participants decided to search for a solution within the company to their problem. Training and plans for changes in one s private life were also frequently invoked. Almost all the respondents also pursued these intentions in the six-month period after the career counselling program. On average a respondent took 10 actions. Applying for another job, following a training and networking were considered the most relevant actions. Another noteworthy observation is the fact that it was mainly the low-skilled workers chose to follow training after the career counselling program. About half of the respondents experienced internal or external obstacles while pursuing their intentions. A lack of time and too small of a network were the main obstacles. Six months after the end of the career counselling program respondents had achieved 1 in 4 of their initial intentions, and they were still working hard to achieve 2 out of 4 intentions. The respondents had mainly focused on changing employers or jobs. This resulted in major changes in the respondents labour market position: 25% changed jobs and 40% was already employed by another employer six months after the career counselling program. The extent to which a person achieved his/her objectives appears to depend on the learning effects of the career counselling program. The better the understanding of one s career at the end of the career counselling program (selfknowledge, labour market knowledge and an understanding of one's career development) and the better one's career management competences (especially networking competences and adaptability), the more progress one will have probably made. Actions and obstacles also play a role. The number of actions appears to exert a positive effect, while obstacles - and especially external obstacles have a negative effect. In other words: individuals who undertook more actions and experienced fewer external obstacles made greater headway in respect to their goals. Career counselling not only leads to learning effects and real career initiatives, but also contributes to a better wellbeing. Participants in career counselling improved their self-image and satisfaction about their career and life during the career counselling - and (partly) thanks to it. Moreover, the learning effects of the career counselling and the progress someone made compared with his intentions appeared to have a positive effect on the sensory effects. 4.4 The demand for career counselling by workers of immigrant origin The second study (on the demand for career counselling among workers of immigrant origin) showed that immigrant workers, like the average Flemish worker, feel that they need external career counselling. This need primarily is caused by workability problems. People who are stressed, who experience difficulties combining work and private life and/or discrimination in their career tend to want to take part in career counselling more often. Efficacy issues such as a turbulent career have less influence on the intent to participate among people of immigrant origin. At the same time, there are a number of specific obstacles for participation which interfere with this intention. These factors withhold people who need career counselling from taking that first step. Dispositional barriers, especially attitudes as regards career counselling, seem to be very important. The intent to participate is lower when one associates fewer benefits and more disadvantages with career counselling. Next to this the fact that immigrant workers are not sufficiently familiar with career counselling prevents them from actually participating in it. 34% of respondents are familiar with career counselling. It is suspected that this is an overestimation of the actual situation. 3

4 Irrespective of this, if only 1 in 3 immigrant workers is aware of the existence of career counselling it will come as no surprise that many never choose to participate in career counselling. They simply have no idea that this service exists. Finally cost and language also play a role. If people have to pay for career counselling and if it is only available in Dutch, then fewer immigrant workers will decide to participate. 5. Conclusions and policy implications 5.1 The inflow into and effects of career counselling All in all the results of the inflow and effects study provide good support for the Flemish entitlement to career counselling. The service appears to meet a real need and succeeds in improving participants career insight and various career management skills. The results in terms of training also support the Flemish policy on career counselling. After all, low-skilled workers frequently decided to follow training after following career counselling more frequently even than high-skilled workers. In other words, career counselling could play a role in reducing the education gap. To this end, access to career counselling has to be carefully monitored, however. Currently low-skilled workers tend to have some difficulty to access this service. Therefore additional efforts, aimed at the inflow of lowskilled workers seem necessary so that career counselling could play its corrective role in the proper way. Maybe the use of Werkwinkels as a frontline can create the relevant leverage in this frame. 5.2 The demand for career counselling among workers of immigrant origin Increase the inflow We think that it is important to increase the notoriety of this service in order to increase the inflow of immigrant workers in career counselling. To this end communication campaigns targeting this disadvantaged group seem essential. What s more, these campaigns can also contribute to a positive image of career counselling. Secondly, centres may consider offering career counselling for free to immigrant workers. This decision must be taken with the necessary caution. Free participation may reduce the participant s commitment and thus increase the chances of early drop-out. The language barrier is less obvious to tackle. Possibly multilingual career guidance counsellors or the presence of an interpreter may provide a solution. When a participant has difficulty expressing himself it then becomes possible to switch to one's own native language briefly. Next to this specific communication actions are probably also necessary aimed at immigrant workers with an inferior command of the Dutch language. The idea is to provide information about career counselling through training centres which offer Dutch classes to non-native speakers. Addressing organisations which specifically target certain minorities may also prove useful. The same applies to the inflow of persons of immigrant origin in general The definition of "immigrant" used here Currently, people are considered to be of foreign origin when they, one of their parents or two of their grandparents came from outside the European Economic Area. There are some disadvantages to this definition. Firstly, it is quite complicated, meaning which is not very useful in practice. This is evident among others from the fact that career counselling registration system uses a slightly different, more practicable definition, namely: individuals with a current or previous nationality from outside the European Economic Area. This definition is easier to use because nationality data as opposed to ethnicity data are often recorded. This also facilitates comparisons with the population. This brings us to a second disadvantage of the definition used. There are no good population data that use the same definition of immigrant. In other words, it is impossible to determine what proportion of immigrant workers is reached with career counselling. Nor is it possible to determine how representative the proportion of immigrant workers in career counselling effectively is. In other words, there is no opportunity for a correct evaluation of the actual reach in terms of ethnic minorities in career counselling. Finally, the definition used for career counselling considers people from an EU27 Member State as non-immigrant workers. This includes immigrants from certain eastern and southern European countries (e.g., Poland, Portugal) who are not included in the disadvantaged group of immigrants. And yet their labour market opportunities are often quite similar to those of the real immigrant workers. In terms of efficacy their opportunities are, at any rate, significantly lower than those of native Flemish workers. All in all there are very few objective reasons for excluding any EU27 nationals from the disadvantaged group of immigrants. It therefore seems appropriate to consider extending the definition of immigrant worker that is used here Reach per centre Finally we would like to point out the (presumed) unequal geographic distribution of immigrant workers in Flanders. "Presumed" because due to the lack of accurate data based on the same definition of immigrant as in the conclusion regarding career counselling means that it is impossible to arrive at a conclusive statement on this subject. At any rate, the figures based on nationality show that most immigrant workers live in the provinces of East Flanders and Antwerp respectively. In all probability there is also a strong spread of immigrant workers in each of the provinces. It is important that this geographic distribution be taken into account when the reach in terms of immigrant workers is 4

5 evaluated per career counselling centre. Centres located in a region with few immigrant workers will probably have a harder time reaching immigrant workers than centres in regions with a greater immigrant worker population. Full reference of study report(s) and or paper(s) and other key publications of the study summarised here Verbruggen, M., & Sels, L. (2009). Loopbaanbegeleiding in Vlaanderen. De instroom in en effecten van loopbaanbegeleiding onder de loep genomen. WSE Report. Verbruggen, M., De Winne, S., Forrier, A., & Sels, L. (2009). De vraag naar loopbaanbegeleiding bij werkenden van allochtone origine. WSE Report. Verbruggen, M., & Sels, L. (2008). Can career self-directedness be improved through counseling? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73(2), pp