This article explores the challenges of unemployment via the lens of critical psychology. The conventional discourse on unemployment is critiqued, revealing ways in which conventional policies and practices serve to further marginalize the lives of the unemployed and impede the development of ethical, effective, and empathic individual interventions and structural changes. In the practice realm, the importance of inclusion of mental health treatments in work-based interventions is highlighted based on the prevalence of psychological problems as a direct outcome of unemployment. New directions in research and public policy emerging from a critical analysis of existing are also outlined.

The lack of research that examines usage of career development services by racial/ethnic groups has been noted. The current study attempts to explore the relationship between students' racial/ethnic backgrounds and their experiences of a university career counseling center in terms of referral, process, and outcome. The authors examined the experiences of 1,051 students of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds who sought career counseling at a university career development center. Chi-square analyses found racial/ethnic differences in various aspects of the counseling process, such as referral sources, reasons for seeking counseling, counselor perception of client outcomes, and number of sessions held. Implications for service provision are discussed, including the need for career development centers to be proactive in ensuring that the needs of diverse racial/ethnic students are being met.