Counselor perceived barriers and supports to employment

Abstract

This study seeks to understand how counselors perceive barriers and supports to employment in their clients' lives. For the purposes of this research, a descriptive comparative (causal comparative) design was used. In this study, the two groups compared were rural versus urban counselors. Perceptions of barriers and supports to employment among these two groups (i.e., rural versus urban counselors) were compared. In this sample of counselors, there was not a statistically significant difference between rural versus urban counselors’ perceived barriers to employment. Similarly, among this sample, urban and rural counselors seemed to endorse approximately an even amount of perceived supports to employment among their clients. While this research showed no statistically significant difference in counselor perceived barriers and supports to employment among clients, this does not necessarily mean that actual barriers and supports in rural versus urban areas are equal. Rather, this research simply shows that counselors did not report perceiving this to be true. It is important for counselors to be able to understand specific barriers and supports in order to efficaciously work with their clients in their career development.