ICG President defends Career Guidance on Gender Stereotyping

ICG President defends Career Guidance on Gender Stereotyping

In the week that the ICG Council is to formulate its policy towards Gender Stereotyping, ICG President Dr Rachel Mulvey has defended accusations of poor careers advice.

Speaking in article in Careers Adviser magazine which looks at a recent survey conducted by ConstructionSkills, in which 70% of girls claim there is gender in the careers advice they were given, Dr Mulvey said that while she respected the views of respondents, she stressed that career guidance was only one of the "myriad of influences that shape career decision".

"We play a part in the process of coming to a career decision and, for the most part, our intervention is very helpful," she said.

"To disregard the many other influences in a young person's life though - family members, friends and peer groups for example - is to take a very simplistic view of what can be a very complex decision. While we sometimes tip the balance when a client is weighing up his or her career choices, we are simply one element in the equation."

Dr Mulvey agreed that up-to-date LMI was an essential requirement of the careers job and stressed that it could date very quickly. "Employment sectors are subject to regular fluctuations and the skills they need are changing all the time. Our members understand how important it is to keep information current and, for the most part they pay real attention to genuine trends rather than today's headlines."

She then added: "Although the vast majority of members do a highly effective job, it would be wrong to suggest that all careers advisers are perfect. We are not complacent, and we realise that both as individuals and as a profession we must constantly strive for best practice. Our attention to both initial professional training and continuous professional development attests to our commitment to drive up standards."

The ICG policy statement on gender stereotyping comes in light of numerous reports during the last 12-18 months which have laid substantial blame for this issue at the feet of careers advisers.

This statement will be distributed to all ICG members in the coming weeks and we would like to thank you for feedback during the past few months on this important and topical issue.

ICG also hopes to meet with CITB Construction Skills shortly to discuss at length the findings of this survey.