10/01/2025

Beyond Borders: Cultivating Culturally Conscious Career Counseling

By Paige McDonough

From Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, individuals around the world make career decisions shaped in part by their cultural context, highlighting that people do not exist in vacuums but are influenced by their environments (Marks, 2024).

Intersecting factors like political structures and sociocultural dimensions affect how people view work, which in turn informs their career choices. This context makes it especially important for career development professionals to recognize cultural dynamics while remaining aware of their own cultural lens when supporting clients with the career decision process. I learned this firsthand while working in Australia, where clients’ preference for work-life balance—including taking gap years—stood in contrast to the American drive for upward mobility. 

Cultural Connection

In the era of global connection, clients increasingly navigate career paths across literal and cultural borders through remote work, international education, and migration. According to the United Nations (2024), more than 304 million people live outside of their birth country, underscoring the need for career development professionals to be culturally sensitive and responsive to clients’ diverse realities.  Whether supporting international students, serving a multicultural organization, or living abroad, career professionals should consider the client’s context to navigate their unique journey. This includes awareness of how cultural norms affect communication styles, such as expectations around privacy that may deter camera use in virtual calls, making it harder to read subtle nonverbal cues. As technology and globalization have connected people more than ever before, understanding the nuances and intersection of culture and career will support the client beyond borders.

Intersecting Influences

While there are a multitude of cultural factors that contribute to career decision-making, this article focuses on a select few to serve as a compass the career professional to incorporate into their work with clients. These are mere considerations and are not intended to be blanket statements that reduce an entire population to a singular dimension. 

• Political Structures: Political systems strongly affect the structure of national economies and directly impact the scope of public and private sector employment. In social democracies, including most Nordic countries, the government is seen as responsible for its citizen’s welfare, which frequently results in a large public sector. (Nordic Statistics, 2024). In State-controlled monarchies, like many Gulf nations, a large government sector is maintained to ensure employment for its citizens. These structures affect the formation of work values and career decision-making by reinforcing the notion that government roles are secure and readily available. I saw this first-hand in Qatar where public-sector jobs are favored due to the availability and stability. In this case, the concept of “follow your passion” takes a backseat to the desire for a low-risk role. Conversely, societies with a greater private sector may be more inclined to take career risks and pursue entrepreneurship opportunities.
• Cultural Norms: To really understand a culture, professionals must go beyond the economic data and strive to uncover cultural norms to get into the heart of the people. Societal beliefs, sayings, social norms, and common practices are more than fodder in a guidebook but are evidence of the soul of the people. Take Australia’s tall poppy syndrome, for instance, which emphasizes humility over hubris, and Japan’s group harmony (wa) concept, which prioritizes social harmony over individual interests, as two unwritten examples of cultural influence.
• Sociocultural: With roots in Geert Hofstede’s early research on cultural dimensions (Minkov & Kaasa, 2022), the societal perspective of being part of a group impacts work values and how they wish their work to contribute to the greater society (Nickerson, 2023).
  • Individualistic: Individualist societies emphasize personal achievements, needs, and passion (Brown & Lazzara, 2025). Workers are likely to pursue a role that fulfils their own aspirations and allows for individual growth and advancement. Typically, individualist nations favor independence and autonomy in their work and will look for opportunities that reflect those desires (Collegenp, 2023). Countries like The United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom are examples of more individualistic societies (Clearly Cultural, n.d.).
  • Collectivist: Collectivist societies prioritize the group over the individual and foster a sense of belonging with great emphasis on unity and altruism. Career decisions are often heavily influenced by family, society, group harmony, and the needs of the community, contributing to a preference in lifelong employment and stability amongst job seekers (Collegenp, 2023). Countries that have a collectivist approach include Japan, China, Korea, Mexico, many Arab and African cultures.
• Familial Expectations: Many make academic and career decisions related to family obligations (Mok et al., 2021), particularly in collectivist societies. In China, for example, individuals prioritize filial piety or xiao-a Confucian concept that puts familial obligations above one’s own desires (Xing & Rojewski, 2018). For example, a student may opt to study computer science according to her family’s desire for a prestigious job rather than her own interest of graphic design. A similar concept of familioso applies to individuals from Latin America (Frederick et al., 2024).
• Power: One’s cultural orientation towards authority forms expectations around work culture, driving career decisions accordingly.
  • Egalitarian: In egalitarian nations, people of different statuses are treated equally, meaning hierarchy plays a minimal role in restricting cooperation and communication. This cultural emphasis on equality results in clients pursuing personal interests rather than adhering to society or familial expectations. Example countries include Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, and New Zealand.
  • Hierarchical: Individuals in hierarchical societies favor obedience, rank awareness, formality, and top-down decision-making. There is great respect for authority and elders, which contributes to the pursuit of occupations according to the family’s wishes. For example, a student in South Korea may pursue engineering due to his father’s wishes to follow in his footsteps and his teacher’s assurance of plentiful job opportunities in STEM fields. India, China, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia are examples that follow this structure.

Considerations for Career Development Professionals

This framework offers professionals a lens to better understand the cultural nuances driving clients’ career decisions. Begin to uncover these factors by building rapport with the client and leveraging culturally responsive tools like work values inventories. Consult reputable sources including Career Convergence web magazine and Gaining Cultural Competence in Career Counseling for deeper cultural insights. Recognize which factors are non-negotiable for the client to provide guidance according to their lived reality. Culturally conscious career guidance is more than a strategy, it is the foundation for establishing respect and support that transcends borders.

References

Brown, J., & Lazzara, J. (2025). The connected mind: Exploring psychology through culture. Open Maricopa.

Collegenp. (2023, Career, April 19). Youths’ career choices in individualist and collectivist societies: A cross‑cultural comparison. https://www.collegenp.com/career/youths-career-choices-in-individualist-and-collectivist-societies 

Clearly Cultural. (n.d.). Geert Hofstede cultural dimensions. Retrieved July 15, 2025, from https://clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/ 

Frederick, A., Monarrez, A., & Morales, D. X. (2024). Strategic familismo: How Hispanic/Latine students negotiate family values and their STEM careers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 38(2), 180–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2024.2365191 

Marks, L. R. (2024, November 1). Gaining cultural competence in career counseling [Review of the book Gaining cultural competence in career counseling (2nd ed.), by K. M. Evans & A. L. Sejuit]. Career Convergence.  https://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/390266/_self/CC_layout_details/false 

Minkov, M., & Kaasa, A. (2022). Do dimensions of culture exist objectively? A validation of the revised Minkov‑Hofstede model of culture with world values survey items and scores for 102 countries. Journal of International Management, 28(4), Article 100971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2022.100971 

Mok, S. Y., Bakaç, C., & Froehlich, L. (2021). ‘My family’s goals are also my goals’: The relationship between collectivism, distal utility value, and learning and career goals of international university students in Germany. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 21, 355–378. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-020-09431-9 

Nickerson, C. (2023, October 24). Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory & examples. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/hofstede-cultural-dimensions.html 

Nordic Statistics. (2024, February 29). Public sector employs one third of Nordic employees. Nordic Statistics. Retrieved August 6, 2025, from Nordic Statistics database.

United Nations. (2024). International migrant stock 2024: Key facts and figures. UN DESA/POP/2024/DC/NO. 13.

Xing, X., & Rojewski, J. W. (2018). Family influences on career decision-making self-efficacy of Chinese secondary vocational students. New Waves: Educational Research and Development Journal, 21(1), 48–67.

Paige McDonough, M.Ed., is a Certified Career Counselor passionate about helping individuals achieve their career goals. Her career spans education, not-for-profits, and the public and private sectors, including nine years living and working in Australia and Qatar, where she developed and implemented career initiatives. She is the recipient of NCDA’s 2025 Outstanding Practitioner Award and currently serves as Senior Director of Career Development at Kuder, Inc. Connect with me here: (14) Paige McDonough | LinkedIn