The focus in South African higher education in the 21st century is on the transformation of the curriculum. This is seen as necessary to address societal concerns such as socio-economic, educational, health disparities and intervene through addressing issues of access, equity and diversity. This study discusses revising the career counselling and assessment curriculum to address such societal concerns. Career counselling realities in the 21st century that are regarded as societal concerns include high failure rates and drop out in higher education because of a lack of access to career counselling. In South Africa disparities also exist in basic education delivery in the different provinces. Career counselling and assessment provision have also been characterised by affordability and accessibility issues. Another reality concerns the need to contextualise career development and intervention so that young people and citizens will be able to reconcile career pathing in the post-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic phase. The aim is to support the training and development of student practitioners to address such systemic factors that influence career decision making through focusing on a revision of the curriculum.

The University of Pretoria (Ogude et al., 2018) Curriculum Transformation Framework refers to decolonising and democratising higher education to address issues of exclusion, marginalisation and social injustice. These are listed as key priorities in informing a more relevant teaching and learning curriculum and has implications for the country at large (Ogude et al., 2018). The call to transform curricula is also seen as part of a larger vision of a return to the idea of the university as a space for discovery, critical inquiry, thinking and democratic public engagement (Ogude et al., 2018). Curricula are informed by the nature of the field or the discipline, the philosophical beliefs of the teacher, who the students are and the broader context in which the curriculum are enacted (Rhodes University, 2018). The context of South African higher education is regarded as complex with inequality, lack of resources and personnel characterising much of the landscape. The inability of the curriculum to respond to local challenges is a vital reason behind the call for the decolonisation of the curriculum in South Africa (Teferra & Fomunyan, 2017). Moll (2004) argues that curriculum responsiveness is the ability of curricula taught in schools or universities to address student needs as well as societal circumstances. The curriculum, therefore, not only focuses on what happens in the classroom but also on what students do with what they learnt (Moll, 2004).

A transforming curriculum recognises local and global contexts, histories, realities and problems and adopts both a critical and self-critical stance (Ogude et al., 2018). Drivers of curriculum transformation in higher education, according to the Curriculum Transformation Framework (Ogude et al., 2018), include a responsiveness to social context. This includes critically examining the role of race, socio-economic class, gender, sexuality, culture, nationality, age and other categories. Social transformation is prioritised by focusing on the ways in which disciplines can contribute to the development of society. A transforming curriculum envisages students and academics as thoughtful citizens, part of a diverse public who are able to contribute meaningfully to different communities and society. A transforming curriculum positions students as critical thinkers who acknowledge indigenous knowledge systems and world-views and also have the ability to draw from old and new frameworks and theories to inform intervention (Ogude et al., 2018).

In addressing issues of transformation and responsiveness this article discusses how the career counselling and assessment curriculum on the masters Counselling Psychology programme was revised to address such issues. In revising the curriculum to address systemic factors, the author pays homage to the work of Maree (2020), who emphasises practitioners to adapt, innovate and contextualise their career counselling service to address societal needs. In informing a socially responsive, decolonised and transformative curriculum, the author now provides a summary of the systemic realities.

In considering the education sector, the attrition rates of students in South African higher education is seen as a persistent problem. Undergraduate drop-out rates are high (Moodley & Singh, 2015), and it is indicated that 52% of learners made their career selection after Grade 12, while 34% made concrete career decisions during registration at tertiary institutions (Fundiconnect, 2021). This, according to Singh (2016), supports that many Grade 12 learners have not made well-informed selections of what they want to study post-school. Moodley and Singh (2015) further contend that one in eight learners believes that because of the lack of career-related information at the relevant time, students did not make the correct career choice. Okana (2010) also makes reference to how predictably the attrition of students from previously disadvantaged population groups may result in further racial and socio-economic disparity among future generations. This according to Okana (2010) should also be the concern of education authorities.

South Africa, according to the World Bank (2014), ranks among the world’s most socio-economically unequal countries and the practice of psychological assessment is seen to be directly impacted by such disparity (Laher & Cockroft, 2017). Laher and Cockroft (2017) further indicate that because of affordability issues, poor quality education and high levels of illiteracy, the majority of the population do not have access to the potential benefits of such assessment. Assessment practice is also confronted with administration challenges. The majority of psychological assessments are only in English and Afrikaans. There is limited practitioner proficiency in languages other than English. Assessment settings are also identified as unsuitable and test materials are limited. There also exists a shortage of practitioners to develop new tests for the multi-cultural South African population (Foxcroft & Davies, 2008; Johnston, 2015; Laher & Cockcroft, 2013; Seedat & Mackenzie, 2008).

Other priority areas to inform revising career assessment and counselling training include addressing how the changing career counselling needs of young people during the COVID-19 pandemic can be met. Maree (2021) refers to limited research conducted on the impact of COVID-19 on career counselling and, especially, the contextualisation of career counselling to address the changing career counselling needs of young people during the pandemic. The pandemic, according to Autin et al. (2021), has become to be viewed as a ‘vocational magnifying glass bringing knowledge of previous career development practitioners to the forefront of public life.’ The need for career practitioners is to be especially sensitive to workers’ basic survival needs, be knowledgeable about existing social welfare programmes and be prepared to serve populations that have reduced occupational choice (Autin et al., 2021).

The study implemented a qualitative research design utilising an exploratory approach. The focus was on the revision and evaluation of a career assessment and counselling masters’ curricula and exploring students’ perceptions of the experience of the course. Literature refers to curricula and the discipline in career counselling and assessment being traditionally informed by an objective, (positivist) perspectives (Maree & Beck, 2004). The need to revise curricula to support practitioners to also navigate systemic influences (discussed earlier) was thus deemed necessary.

Revision of the curriculum involved addressing competency development of practitioners in two different areas identified below:

The aim was to provide empirical evidence of the need to revise the curricula to address individual-level intervention and systemic intervention in career counselling and assessment training. Given the emphasis on revising curriculum for social responsiveness, addressing both levels was deemed necessary.

In this section, the researcher highlights the different themes and subthemes that emerged at the different levels. The different levels and themes will be discussed in conjunction with direct quotes and will also be contextualised within existing literature.

In revising a career counselling and assessment unit for master’s in Counselling Psychology training, to address social responsiveness and transformation goals, this article highlighted that the traditional (match and fit) psychometric assessments and theories can no longer be used in isolation. There needs to an integration of both the traditional approaches and theories that inform systemic level intervention to inform curriculum transformation. Studies on curriculum transformation in career counselling and assessment are limited and it is hoped that this study (in a limited way) prompts future studies in the field.

Critical consciousness raising at the systems level was seen as paramount to driving sense of agency in developing practitioners to becoming scientist practitioner advocates. Raising critical consciousness at this level was seen to strengthen distal level influences. There was an awareness that while individual-level interventions and the confidence of administering, one-on-one psychometric career assessments serve to increase proximal influences. They, however, do little to influence distal influences (critical consciousness) raising which provides the impetus for change and intervention at systemic levels.

Traditional quantitative assessments were highlighted as important so that trainee practitioners could feel confident in their assessment ability and better equipped to practice at their internship sites. Krishnamurthy et al. (2004) highlight those surveys of assessment training practices in graduate programmes in North America also indicate a reliance on traditional tests and that although issues of multiculturalism were addressed, these needed to be expanded. The importance of a curriculum that combines both quantitative, objective assessments and qualitative, social constructivist approaches that address multi-culturalism and socio-economic realities was regarded as necessary given the limitations in accessibility and administration of career assessments discussed earlier. Expanding the curriculum to include social constructivist and post-modern approaches to address the 4th and 5th Industrial Revolution and an unstable job market post the COVID-19 pandemic is deemed necessary. Post-modern interventions such as ‘positive career compromise’ (Chen, 2004) were seen as relevant in confronting such realities. There is a need for Counselling Psychologists as Autin et al. (2020) indicate to return to traditional career counselling practices like provision of job search skills (e.g. resume writing, networking skills), exploration of interests and values, and assessment of experience and expertise as these will continue to be important during the pandemic and recovery from it (Autin et al., 2020). The authors caution that because of an unstable labour market, career counsellors should be especially sensitive to workers’ basic survival needs, knowledgeable about existing social welfare programmes, and prepared to serve populations that have reduced occupational choice (Autin et al., 2020). Deconstruction and reconstruction of career counselling and career theory may be worth the effort as constructivist approaches have a ‘greater capacity to accommodate the complex and dynamic processes of a rapidly changing society than theories underpinned by the logical positivist worldview’ (McMahon, 2014, p. 18).

Further at the systems level, Robertson (2013) highlights the importance of integrating a public health agenda to intervening with at risk population groups. This is identified as a key area to inform training of practitioners. Many authors have begun to highlight how career guidance has the potential to promote public health by contributing positively to both the prevention of mental health conditions and to population level well-being (e.g. Robertson, 2013). While practitioners recognise barriers to career counselling and the need for a public health agenda that intervenes at the different systemic levels, they often lack training on how to intervene at such levels. Integrating a public health agenda in career counselling training thus has implications for transformation and social responsiveness in low-middle income contexts such as South Africa. Internationally as well, the need for additional curriculum content to address broader social and structural issues as key priority areas identified to inform the future of career counsellor education in countries such as Canada have also been highlighted (e.g. Burwell & Kalbfleisch, 2007).

Other themes identified at the systems level in this study included the role of career counsellors in integrating career and mental health counselling interventions with clients impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Autin et al. (2020) identify that there will be an increased need for career development professionals who are proficient in trauma-informed care. According to Barrow et al. (2009), trauma-informed career counselling approaches include: (1) establishing an environment of trust and safety, (2) assessing for trauma-related symptoms, (3) use of ecological frameworks to conceptualise associations between traumatic experiences and work, (4) developing healthy coping strategies and (5) promoting career adaptability (Barrow et al., 2019).

In informing a curriculum for social change and responsiveness, facilitating training of practitioners as critical consciousness raisers through engaging them as agents of social ecologies is paramount. According to Seccombe (2002), the role of social ecologies in career development should engage practitioners in proactively ‘changing the odds’ that obstruct the wellbeing of young people. The training of practitioners to intervene at different ecological levels enables what Seccombe (2002, p. 384) refers to as ‘beating the odds’. This highlights the dual role South African career counsellors have in intervention. Firstly, they should make contemporary, culturally relevant career interventions (as documented by Ebersöhn, 2012; Maree, 2013; Maree et al., 2006; Morgan, 2010; Savickas, 2012) available to young people in disadvantaged communities. Secondly, South African career counsellors need to make it their business to expose clients to the multiplicity of employment trajectories shifting youth focus away from narrow stereotypical career expectations. Heightening individual clients and community awareness of 21st-century opportunities and career paths based on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) (Diale, 2015) have an important role to play in this endeavour.

Counselling Psychologists in South Africa have a significant role to play in the development of culturally sensitive models of career psychology to address issues of transformation and social responsiveness. To accomplish this, however, requires a recommitment of Counselling Psychologists to affirm their specialisation area in vocational counselling. This draws attention to the role of the curriculum in ensuring relevance and thereby influencing the growth and professional identity of Counselling Psychology. This article provides a systematic way of revising curriculum content to address both these objectives.