Career counselling university students with learning disabilities

ABSTRACT

One of the central missions of career counselling in higher education is to promote diversity, making the helping process more accessible and effective for students with special needs. With this goal in mind, some key issues pertaining to the career development needs and challenges of young university students with learning disabilities (LDs) are addressed in this article. The focus in the article is on the major psychological dynamics of the target group, linking LDs to the life-career experiences of these students in light of career maturity and career self-efficacy. Career counselling implications for this group are proposed, considering the role of the career counselling professionals in promoting social justice and supporting those with particular barriers.

KEYWORDS:

• Career development needs
• university students
• learning disabilities
• life-career experiences
• career counselling implications

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This article was supported in part by a Research Grant awarded to Prof. Charles P. Chen from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Standard Grant Program, Award No. 410-2009-2394.

Notes on contributors

Charles P. Chen

Charles P. Chen, PhD, is Professor of Counselling and Clinical Psychology and a Canada Research Chair in Life Career Development at the University of Toronto, Canada. His areas of interest are in vocational and career psychology broadly defined.