The development of career guidance and counseling in Taiwan

Abstract

This paper presents a report on the development of career guidance and counseling services in Taiwan, Republic of China. Based on extensive interviews in 1983 and 1987 with leaders in public and private education, government agencies, and faculty and students in junior colleges and universities, the services currently provided are described as they interface with the educational system. Certain issues emerged from the research which may affect the further development of counseling services in Taiwan; guidelines are offered for addressing these. The issues discussed are: the stigma against counseling; the general resistance to change and the traditionalism of the educational system; the potential conflict between serving national labor needs and developing individual human potential; the stress produced by the educational system itself; the traditional emphasis on testing in schools and colleges; the need to professionalize counselors; and the judicious integration of western perspectives into an indigenous Chinese philosophy of counseling and guidance.