Seeking Career Services on Campus: Racial Differences in Referral, Process, and Outcome

Abstract

The lack of research that examines usage of career development services by racial/ethnic groups has been noted. The current study attempts to explore the relationship between students' racial/ethnic backgrounds and their experiences of a university career counseling center in terms of referral, process, and outcome. The authors examined the experiences of 1,051 students of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds who sought career counseling at a university career development center. Chi-square analyses found racial/ethnic differences in various aspects of the counseling process, such as referral sources, reasons for seeking counseling, counselor perception of client outcomes, and number of sessions held. Implications for service provision are discussed, including the need for career development centers to be proactive in ensuring that the needs of diverse racial/ethnic students are being met.