Legal Issues in Career Counseling

Kaitlyn Zaiser

Grand Canyon University

CNL-510 Counseling for College and Career

Dr. Kristen Green

August 23, 2023

 Ethical or Legal Considerations and Career Counseling for PK-12 Students

Counselors in the PK-12 setting are abided by ethical and legal considerations when

collaborating with students. Counselors have a responsibility to the students and to ensure they

are treated with dignity and respect while supporting the student in their academic progress and

social-emotional well-being (ASCA, 2022). Career counseling requires collaborative efforts

from internal and external stakeholders to establish a culture that promotes career readiness to

students’ post-graduation. Additionally, there is a responsibility to advocate for all students

needs and desires for any postsecondary endeavors whether it be career, higher education,

technical school, workforce, or military. Having the ability to distinguish gaps in areas that

hinder a student from pursuing college or career access is vital to eliminate any biases or

systemic policies that are inequitable (ASCA, 2022).

Ethical or Legal Considerations and the Common Good

Ethical dilemmas will occur in a counseling experience, and counselors have ethical and

legal considerations to consider to the common good. The ethical decision-making model

encourages counselors to apply certain principles such as beneficence, autonomy,

nonmaleficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity (ASCA, 2022). Beneficence is ensuring the

counselor is promoting good overall sense of well-being and mental health to the student and

autonomy is abiding that counselors cannot sway a student to make certain decisions and that

those decisions must come from the student. Counselors are ethically bound to avoid causing any

harmful actions towards a student while treating them equitably. Fidelity ensures that counselors

honor their responsibilities and commitments to their students, where veracity requires

counselors to be honest with whom they are professionally collaborating with (ASCA, 2022).

Each of these ethical codes assists counselors in navigating through ethical and/or legal
considerations with compassion towards students and justice to ensure advocacy to student rights

for the common good.

Eliminating Bias

There are several laws to protect students from discrimination such as Title VI, Title IX,

Section 504, and IDEA. Counselors can work with students to mitigate biased based on gender,

race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disabilities in career counseling by cultivating an

atmosphere on campus that eliminates acts against marginalized groups. Bridging gaps in

opportunity and achievements for students on campus is a way to allow students to be involved

in areas they find interest in (ASCA, n.d.). Identifying harmful behaviors in students and

correcting them to create safe spaces for all. Teaming up with the community and other

partnering families to place an emphasis on eliminating bias and racism in programs and

organizations. Other collaborations include working with administrators to develop intervention

strategies in times of crisis, and taking action to educate others on unconscious bias and how to

develop cultural competencies (ASCA, n.d.)

Balancing Responsibilities

Counselors guide students through the process of post-secondary institutions by developing

goals both long and short to help them prepare for their next endeavor. Additionally, as

counselors are not ethically responsible to promote a student to make certain decisions, they can

assist in the decision-making process to ensure the student is making informed decisions and are

aware of their rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (ASCA, 2021).

Creating balance to this responsibility is bridging any gaps between the student and their families

with the recruiters or institutions that are interested in the student ensuring they are
understanding to any waivers and information required of them. Additionally, collaborating to

ensure the families have open discussion about endeavors and interests in certain higher

education opportunities prior to moving forward in the application processes (ASCA, 2021).

Career Development Interventions

There are several interventions a counselor can implement for career development. Such

as developing groups that are equitable to students to participate that revolve around specific job

interests or fields (ASCA, 2022). Career exploration programs to help students identify areas

they would fit in most, more commonly using career assessments to examine where their

interests lie and what careers correlate towards. Building relationships within the communities to

come in as speak to students about different job fields and what duties and requirements of the

jobs entail. Ethical responsibilities also require that the counselor create realistic opportunities

for students while supporting them towards endeavors they are interested in.
 References

American School Counseling Association (ASCA). (2022). ASCA Ethical Standards for School

Counselors. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/44f30280-ffe8-4b41-9ad8-

f15909c3d164/EthicalStandards.pdf

American School Counseling Association (ASCA). (n.d.) Standards in Practice.

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/542b085a-7eda-48ba-906e-24cd3f08a03f/

SIP-Racism-Bias.pdf

American School Counselor Association (ASCA). (2021). The School Counselor and Student

Postsecondary Recruitment.

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-

Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Student-Postsecondary-Rec