Ronna Shanae Williams
Texas Southern University
History of the Guidance Movement
Career counseling was first introduced in the early 1900 as vocational counseling it was used as a means to end poverty during the time when society was in uproar over a demising economy. “This new profession was described by historians as a “progressive social reform movement aimed at eradicating poverty and substandard living conditions spawned by the rapid industrialization and consequent migration of people to major urban centers at the turn of the 20th century (Whiteley, 1984, p. 2).” During this time the number of counselors was minimal and the counseling program was still in its developmental stages.
Frank Parsons, who is known as the father of counseling was an advocate for the rights of the underprivileged who were being exploited by new industries. Parsons created the Bureau of Vocational Guidance and develop scientific process to help people choose careers. His theories were rooted in first improving working conditions, then focusing on the individual workers ' needs. He initiated the vocational guidance movement in the early 1900. In 1905 he and his colleague Ralph Albertson founded the Breadwinner’s Institute in Boston. The institute offered courses to the working poor to help them attain skills to equip them for the new industry. Parson’s work on vocational guidance classified the fact identified the cause and drew the conclusions about several issues pertaining to suitability of people for different work environments.
The guidance movement emerged during the change in the American economy the vast decline of agricultural jobs is what set it in motion. Those who once thrived in this industry would now be over taken by the emergence of technology. Increasing urbanization of the country, and the calls for services to meet this domestic migration pattern, all to retool the new industrial
References: Brewer, J.M. (1942). History of Vocational Guidance: Orgins and Early Development. New York: Harper& Brothers Whiteley, J. M. (1984). Counseling Psychology: A historical perspective. Schenectady, NY: Character Research. Parsons, F. (1909). Choosing a vocation. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Pope, M. (). A Brief History of Career Counseling in the United States. The Career Development Quarterly, 48, 194-211.