Chapter 15 Blog

I enjoyed last week’s discussion and class activity about whether or not college is for everyone. Many believe that school counselor’s main objective is getting students to college. As I’ve thought about my future profession and reflected on my personal experiences and the experiences of those close to me, I’ve realized my stance on the whole “college for everybody” argument. Although a lot of the work of a school counselor is scheduling and assisting students with college preparation, their value is not found in how many of their students go to college, but how much they advocated for the needs of their students. As far as my stance is concerned, I believe that if the student does not believe college is right for them, then I plan to advocate for them and support them in whatever endeavor they choose.

Moving on to Brown’s chapter about career development programming in business organizations. This chapter was dense, but informative. Brown (2012) notes that the current rationale for implementing a career development program within businesses is to meet internal needs, allowing businesses to make better use of their employee’s skills, increase loyalty, and enhance communication, among other things. I agree that the needs assessment is extremely important prior to implementation of such programs. If the employers are made aware of the needs of their employees they can better serve them in career development programs. As Brown (2012) suggested, these programs are a way to give back to employees and can lead to increased employee morale. One study, according to Brown (2012), found that morale increased by 66 percent.

The most popular form of professional development Brown (2012) discusses is mentoring. By “sponsoring” junior members, senior members of the company can provide support and create opportunities to demonstrate competence to their mentees. I’ve experienced this on a smaller level in my previous jobs and can understand how important this would be in a big company so that new employees can transition well, and move on progressively. 

Finally, the benefits of career development within businesses are clear. The most prominent, other than increasing employee morale, is the increased responsibility and increased ownership over one’s career. This relates with the importance of increasing student’s sense of belonging to school. When an employee feels that sense of belonging they are more likely to engage in professional development and do their best at work. The workshop my group is presenting in a few weeks is about increasing student’s belonging through career education integration into general subjects. I thought this was an interesting parallel to see the importance of career development programs for not only students but for workers. 

Brown, D. (2012). Career development programming in business organizations. In Career Information, Career Counseling, and Career Development (10th ed., pp. 330-348). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.