Career counselling Chinese youth in North America

ABSTRACT

As a core component of culture, family influence plays an essential role on youths and individuals who grow up in families of Chinese cultural heritage in North America. This influence, overtly and covertly, shapes many aspects of these individuals’ life experiences, including their work-life experiences and vocational behaviours. In this article I delineate the familial influence on work-life and careers in Chinese youths within a North American context, namely, the USA and Canada. To this end, I elaborate on the interactions between North American and Chinese cultures, family acculturation and intergeneration conflicts. Based on that, I propose ideas and career counselling strategies for Chinese North American youths struggling with negotiating between personal fulfilment and family obligation in their career development.

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese in North America
• family influence
• culture
• career development
• career counselling

Disclosure statement

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

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.