Parents’ and school career counsellors’ evaluations of the occupational competence of children with dyslexia

Abstract

This article studies the cognitions of (a) parents of children with dyslexia and (b) school career counsellors about possible career choices for dyslexic children, by comparing their evaluations of occupational competence (EOCs) for dyslexic children, to those for children without dyslexia. For dyslexic children, 116 participants rated the suitability of 28 occupations, varying according to the required level of written-language use. For children without dyslexia, the same participants rated these same occupations according to if they estimated it might be a “good” occupational choice or not. Participants were free to take into account different criteria often used when considering a job (employability, remuneration, prestige, job security, career prospects). By the aforementioned differentiation of terms used (i.e. suitability vs “goodness”), it was indirectly solicited from the participants to also consider the impairment in their judgement. The results showed that occupations requiring high written-language skills were evaluated as “good” for children without dyslexia but less suitable for children with dyslexia. The exact opposite trend was observed for occupations having lower such requirements. Another noteworthy result is the discrepancy between the ratings obtained from counsellors and those from parents: while both groups provided similar ratings for children without dyslexia, substantial differences were recorded when rating the suitability of these same jobs for dyslexic children. This different pattern of cognitions is discussed herein, and their connection with parental expectations and aspirations is analysed, while contrasted with shifts due to counsellors’ stereotypical views.