Sassaman Chapter 7 Blog
Reading Chapter 7 was very
emotional and exciting for me. There
were two main topics that continued to cross my mind: women still not seen as
equals, and one of my previous students, Sarah*.
As an American
Studies major in college, I felt prepared and not shocked when reading of all
the injustices and biases women have faced in the past regarding the
workforce. The first, which still persists
as an issue today, is the assumption that women must be the primary caregivers
for children, and therefore make sacrifices for their career accordingly. Women are more likely than men to consider
time commitment and hourly schedule when deciding on a career than men. This still happens today.
In 2015, (not
even 1 year ago!) women were approved to fight in combat. IT TOOK UNTIL 2015! I have great respect for the United States Military,
but I do have trouble understanding their resistance to change. It took until the 1960s to fully desegregate
the military, and it took until 2015 to treat females as equals!!! The military is a career for a lot of people,
and these previous restrictions on race and gender made it difficult for
minority groups in the military to receive promotions, be eligible for lateral
movement, limited training opportunities, etc.
I was happy to read the sociological perspective, as I think it’s absolutely
crucial for career counselors to consider a client as a whole person with their
own barriers (gender, race, SES-status, etc.).
Another part of
the chapter that I found compelling was on page 126 where Brown quotes the
Quran and the Bible. Both of these
quotes are justify the oppression of women.
But I was thinking not just of women, but of how religious beliefs can have
a large influence of career choice for clients.
In particular, a student I worked with as a college adviser, Sarah, was
a devout Jehovah Witness. Sarah was
ranked in the top 5 students in the senior class, and I could not even get her
to take the SATs. While she was listened
to my plea and speech about her potential and the benefits of college, I could
not sway her in anyway. Sarah would not
even consider community college. After
she left my office, I immediately met with Sarah’s school counselor. She gave me a little back story of her
family, and we did some research of their religion. We found out that their religion discourages
college! I could hardly believe it. While I was enamored by this fact and dwelled
on it for days to come, I did have to realize that it wasn’t for me to judge
Sarah or beg her to change her religion, I just had to assist her to find a job
that was suitable for her upon graduation.
So despite the fact that Sarah was in the top 5 of her graduating class
and received the award for top honors in physics, she is currently not pursuing
higher education. I believe she wanted
to be a secretary, but I’m not sure what’s she’s’ doing now. It’s important that as a career counselor we
don’t try to push our own beliefs on our clients, but instead listen to their
story and try to assist in the best way we can.
*name has been changed
References
Brown, D. (2016). Career information, career
counseling, and career development, (11th ed.). Chapel Hill, NC:
Pearson.
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