Article Review on "Graef, S.T.; Tokar, D.M.; Kaut, K.P. (2010)"

Article Review 4 pages (1770 words) Sources: 2

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Graef, S.T.; Tokar, D.M.; Kaut, K.P. (2010). "Relations of masculinity ideology, conformity to masculine role norms, and masculine gender role conflict to men's attitudes toward and willingness to seek career counseling." Psychology of Men & Masculinity, Vol.11, No. 4. Pp. 319-333.

This article follows a study that attempts to link men's attitudes toward seeking career counseling and occupational aid. It does this by linking the willingness to seek help with three basic social constructs relative to masculinity. These constructs are 1) masculinity ideology, 2) conformity to masculine role norms, and 3) masculine gender role conflict (Graef, S.T.; et. al., 2010). The article and study also help to explore the links between masculine role contributions and the prediction of men's attitudes toward career counseling. These connections help to uncover the basic social and cultural constructs relative to men's attitudes toward career counseling and, at the same time, help to measure the impact that masculinity and gender roles have on the career counseling field with respect to access and attitudes for men.

Rationale

The rationale of the study is surrounded by the working assumption that men have a tougher time asking for help relative to careers and career counseling than women do. This population's difficulty in asking for such help may stem from many issues both personal and cultural, and this study helps to narrow down how each of the three above mentioned constructs influences men's attitudes and behaviors. The rationale is based upon the idea that further exploration into gender roles and how they relate to people's ability to seek help is a useful piece of information that can help direct the future of career counseling.

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to establish clear connections between constructed gender roles and attitudes toward masculinity and the ability to or attitudes toward seeking career counseling (Graef, S.T.; et. al., 2010).

Method

Study participants were 179 men of college age enrolled in psychology courses and 19 of whom who were athletes, not enrolled in these courses. These men completed a questionnaire after reading over and agreeing to informed consent to take part in the study. The questionnaire related to questions of masculinity, ideology, and the willingness to seek help in specific areas of the man's life. The questionnaires were filled out along with a demographics sheet (Graef, S.T.; et. al., 2010).

Participants

The participants were a total of 179 college age men. 160 were enrolled in psychology courses and 19 were not. The 19 who were not were self-identified athletes participating in one or more school sports (Graef, S.T.; et. al., 2010).

Procedures

Data was collected through questionnaires and then put through regression analysis to determine the specific links between masculinity, gender roles, and help-seeking attitudes and behaviors. All of the participants were given informed consent notices to read and sign.

Data collection

The data was collected via a series of questions on a questionnaire relating to the topic of the study. The data was collected from each participant as they completed the questionnaire in private.

Data analysis

The data was analyzed through regression analysis to help establish connections and patterns between the men's attitudes and their behavior.

Results

The results of the study were quite interesting in that they supported the study hypothesis that more traditionally-aligned gender roles were indicative of attitudes that were not in favor of help-seeking, especially in the career realm (Graef, S.T.; et. al., 2010). This is to say that those men with more traditional attitudes toward masculinity and gender roles identified as having a harder time seeking help from career counselors.

Discussion

This study helps to show some of the major weaknesses in men's ability to seek help relative to socially constructed gender and masculinity norms. This means that of the men surveyed, many whom identified as more traditional in their gender and masculinity attitudes and roles would have a harder time finding a job or the necessary career counseling later in life. This supports the need to further understand and possibly retool efforts by career counselors to help identify and reach this population of men in their efforts as counselors. Gender roles certainly significantly influence men's attitudes toward willingness to seek help.

Implications for career counselors.

Career counselors need to understand how and why certain populations are less willing to seek help so these populations can be targeted and serviced in different alternative ways. This also helps to explain why some men are more reluctant than others to seek help and counselors should understand some of the cultural and social constructs that limit their efforts in the counseling world.

What is your overall impression of the article?

This article is interesting and could likely be extrapolated to cover other issues and attitudes outside the career counseling world. This is to say that it helped to highlight the power and influences of social constructs within a very specific environment.

What was the most important piece of information obtained from me the article?

The most important piece of information obtained from this article is the fact that social constructs can limit the individual's ability to seek help, and that career counselors need to understand and adjust their practices relative to this.

How would you implement this information into work as a helping professional?

I would implement this information as a helping professional by understanding that traditional gender and masculinity roles limit the individual man's ability to seek help / This might help clue me in on a population of men who are not willingly seeking help but who may need help the most. This could also lead to a differentiation in the targeting and treating of this population in a manner that is supported by their world view and set of social constructs.

Article #2

Vespia, K.M.; Fitzpatrick, M.E.; Fouad, N.A.; Kantamneni, N., & Chen, Y. (2010).

"Multicultural Career Counseling: A National Survey of Competencies and Practices." Career Development Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 1. Pp. 54-71.

Overview of the article

This article helps to understand the link between career counselors' multicultural competence and their ability to serve certain populations. More specifically, the study surveyed self-efficacy and counseling competence on specific scales to better understand how different cultures and professional competencies affect the efficacy of career counseling. This article shows some of the institutional flaws in the education and multicultural experience levels of many career counselors.

Rationale

The study is based on the idea or rationale that within certain multicultural groups, there are different strengths and weaknesses within the professional world that need to first be identified and then better understood. For example, one culture many value certain types of professional interactions and the ability to understand and comprehend the cultural idiosyncrasies involved in counseling.

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to shed light on the shortcomings and strengths of career counselors relative to multicultural environments (Vespia, K.M.; et. al., 2010). This means that as far as career counselors are able to self-identify, the study's purpose is to better understand how to serve specific cultural populations while, at the same time, better preparing specific counseling populations to deal with these cultural groups.

Method

The study was conducted as a questionnaire where 230 career counselors were surveyed online and asked questions based on self-identification and efficacy of their professional skills and habits. These questionnaires were then compared to real-world, concrete results relative to each professional (Vespia, K.M.; et. al., 2010).

Participants

The participants were 230 career counselors who were members of a professional career counseling association or group. Of the 230 participants, 51 were male and 176 female. 3 did not report their gender. Nearly 79% of the study population was Caucasian (Vespia, K.M.; et. al., 2010).

Procedures

The questionnaire was sent out online to each professional who then filled it out in their own time. The questionnaires were meant to be kept confidential and a notice of confidentiality was signed by each participant. The questions were open-ended and called for specific examples whenever possible. These answers were then compared to the actual efficacy and results of each counselor to establish a reality vs. self-identification result (Vespia, K.M.; et. al., 2010).

Data collection

The data was collected in an online database to be used at a later time during analysis and discussion. The questionnaires were administered and collected within a three-month period (Vespia, K.M.; et. al., 2010).

Data analysis

The data was analyzed via multiple regressions to help establish patterns within the data relative to study hypotheses. This was accomplished on a computer and the data was sorted to help highlight the more visible correlations between multicultural training and awareness and the attitudes, efficacy, and behavior of the career counselors being studied (Vespia, K.M.; et. al., 2010).

Results

Results indicated that counselors rated themselves as multi-culturally competent, but those ratings were more closely linked to general career counseling self-efficacy than to external evaluations of their self-reported multicultural counseling practices (Vespia, K.M.; et. al., 2010).

Discussion

While counselors can self-identify as having multicultural experience and training, it is not… READ MORE

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