Week 11

Brown’s Chapter 15 discussed career development programs in the work place (2012).  I found it interesting reading about this and compared what I was reading to what opportunities I have in the work place.  While I have a lot of the resources discussed in the chapter such as access to a career counselor, tuition reimbursement to further my education, and mentoring (for leadership positions), I understand that many other businesses or corporations (especially those smaller than Lancaster General) do not have similar programs most likely because of cost or lack of advancement availabilities.  Not only are there constantly opportunities for advancement in the company I work for, but lateral moves are available too that might better suit employees who are experiencing dissatisfaction with their current position and do not want to further their education.  I think these are all wonderful benefits to offer employees and are valuable to me when considering future employment after receiving my Master’s degree and eventually licensure.  When I look at other opportunities outside of a large organization like the one I am currently in, I do not foresee as many of the benefits I am offered now because of the cost of such programs.  Mentoring is one piece of career development that does not have a big financial impact that I think is important in many different fields, including psychology. 

Mentoring has many positive effects for both the mentor and mentee to which Brown agreed (2012).  He pointed out that gains to the mentee may be obvious, but there are positive gains the mentor can make from the relationship (2012).  Over this summer I took part in a panel presentation on multicultural mentoring at the Pennsylvania Psychological Association conference.  Some positive aspects mentors provided for a mentor-mentee relationship were learning new things from their mentee, gaining a different world view perspective, and feeling good about helping someone else.  I believe mentoring relationships could be integral in the field of psychology to help novice counselors navigate the field, navigate licensure, discuss issues not met during supervision, and assist in advancement in the field.  It can help with networking opportunities as well.  Through the panel discussion it was concluded that graduate minority students do not have specific preference for same culture mentors as long as the mentor is open to understanding the cultural values and world view of the mentee.  Examples of cross-gender mentor-mentee relationships were also discussed.  Some stories were those of gender oppression; however some were positive and involved mentees learning behaviors and perspectives outside of the scope of their own behaviors.  

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10thed). New York : Pearson Education, Inc.