Competency Category:

Competency Series:

4.1 – Respect Diversity and Inclusion

Purpose & Context

Career Development Professionals (CDPs) recognize that values and beliefs held by a person may be aligned with, or different from, their own. CDPs reflect on their own values, beliefs, privileges, and biases, both conscious and unconscious, while seeking to understand those of their clients. CDPs challenge their own assumptions and avoid stereotypes that might negatively impact the well-being of the client and the outcomes of the intervention.CDPs develop the skills necessary to better understand diversity and inclusion principles as they impact the client populations they serve. CDPs develop individualized services to meet the needs of each client.

Effective Performance

Competent career development professionals must be able to:

P1. Recognize their own values, beliefs, privileges, and biases
P2. Reflect on their own worldview
P3. Seek to understand client’s background and worldview
P4. Research information relevant to client’s cultural background, e.g. history, values, beliefs
P5. Develop collaborative relationships with partners and stakeholders within communities served
P6. Identify potential challenges and barriers to the client, e.g. language, racism, discrimination
P7. Identify tools and resources suitable to address client’s barriers
P8. Develop tailored intervention based on client needs
P9. Participate in learning opportunities relating to diversity, inclusion, and systemic barriers faced by clients

Knowledge & Understanding

Competent career development professionals must know and understand:

K1. Principles of anti-oppressive practice
K2. Legislation and regulation, e.g. Canadian Human Rights Act, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Provincial
Acts and Codes and the Criminal Code, rights of LGBTQ2+ persons (i.e. gender identity and gender expression as
protected groups from discrimination)
K3. Systemic barriers impacting specific groups
K4. Community resources and other support services available to clients, including:
- Eligibility criteria for these services
- Quality of these services
- Referral process for these services

Contextual Variables

Competent career development professionals must be able to perform this competency in the following range of contexts:

CDPs serve clients with diverse worldviews. Clients’ worldviews may influence career choices and career decisions. CDPs must reflect on worldview issues to develop appropriate interventions. In addition, CDPs serve clients that may present with complex barriers and challenges.

Glossary & Key References

Terms

Industry-specific terms contained in the standard defined here, where applicable.

Worldview: how a person perceives and interprets the world as shaped by cultural lens, individual values, and beliefs.

Information Sources and Resources for Consideration

— Shepard, Blythe C. & Mani, Priya A. Eds. Career Development Practice in Canada. Toronto: CERIC Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-9811652-3-3.
— Zunker, Vernon G. Career Counselling: A Holistic Approach 9th edition. Boston: Loose-leaf Edition, 2016. ISBN-10: 978-1-305-40106-8

Context Rating Scales

Criticality

Q: What is the consequence of a professional being unable to perform this skill according to the standard?

Moderate risk: CRITICAL

Frequency

Q: How frequent and under what conditions is this skill performed?

Routinely, regular course of procedure

Level of Difficulty

Q: Under routine circumstances, how would you rate the level of difficulty in performing this skill?

Moderate difficulty or complexity

Time Required to Gain Proficiency

Q: What is the average length of time or number of repeated events that are minimally necessary for an individual to become proficient in performing the skill to the standard?

A competent career development professional requires a minimum of one year of experience with at least 40 different clients, representing a broad range of individuals.

Autonomy

Practitioners typically perform this competency without supervision, and alone.

Automation

It is unlikely that this competency will automate.

Requisite Work Aids, Tools, Equipment or Materials

None

Our Purpose

Thank you for being a part of the Career Development Professional Centre. To ensure that all members have the best possible experience, we have a few ground rules that we ask everyone to adhere to. This code of conduct applies equally to every person in the community and is intended to foster an online space that is inclusive, safe, and welcoming to all.

Centre Rules

Be welcoming

We strive to be a place that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. We aim to be a place that promotes excellence and innovation in career and workforce development. Please extend respect to all members; we all come from different backgrounds and levels of knowledge and there is no such thing as a stupid question.

Be respectful

We won’t all agree all the time, but when we disagree don’t let those disagreements turn into personal attacks. A place where people feel uncomfortable or threatened will not be a productive one. When having discussions in the online community, commenting on a library article, or participating in other Centre activities, strive for productive conversations around the content being presented, not the person behind the content. Any comments determined to be “hate speech” towards any individual or group will be deleted, and the user account may be locked until an investigation regarding the comment has been concluded. The user may be given a written warning or removed from the CPDC platform depending on the findings of the investigation.

Hate Speech could include and is not limited to:

Violent threats or language directed against another person

Discriminatory jokes, language, or materials

Defamatory or abusive language or materials

Profane or illegal materials

Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior

A good rule of thumb is to never say anything that you wouldn’t be comfortable with the world seeing or that you wouldn’t want anyone knowing came from you. We ask that you keep in mind the focus of this place, which is building excellence and innovation in career and workforce development for all individuals.

Be considerate of the purpose of the Centre

The Centre focuses on building excellence and discussing innovation in the career and workforce development field. The goal of the social learning community is to communicate goals, challenges, constructive feedback, and questions in relation to career and workforce development. The Centre should be a place for continued learning and development as well as a place to discuss the future of our field (solicitation without written consent by the Project or Advisory team, is strictly prohibited). Any post or comment that is determined to be soliciting any individual or group will be deleted, and the user account may be locked until an investigation regarding the post has been concluded. The user may be given a written warning or removed from the CPDC platform depending on the findings of the investigation.

Post your discussions or documents in the most appropriate group or topic

Especially within the social learning community, make reasonable efforts to ensure that posts and materials are allocated to the appropriate group or topic. This will prevent cluttering the feed and make it easier for everyone to find the information that they are seeking. Individuals who do this repeatedly will be contacted by one of the group admins and asked to follow these guidelines.