“Where I Can Be Myself”: Black Youth Narratives of Their Future Careers

Abstract

This qualitative study centers on the career narratives of seven Black youth enrolled at an urban public school in the Midwest. We used critical race theory to analyze participants’ responses to a narrative career counseling intervention, My Career Story (Savickas & Hartung, 2012). The four interconnected themes found were (a) persistence against all odds, (b) unconditional acceptance and connections, (c) self-advocacy, and (d) tranquility. We discuss direct implications for school/career counselors and school counselor educators.

Reclaiming the System: Group Counseling Landscape in Schools

“…And although not all of the school counselors who facilitated the interventions were Black, both those from White and Black racial backgrounds infused Blackness into their interventions. We add to previous scholars’ calls for interventions created within school settings to confront racism (Byrd et al, 2022; Day-Vines & Day-Hairston, 2005; Franklin & Pack-Brown, 2001; Washington, 2021) and we challenge those who understand the efficacy of groups to create homeplace for our students.…”

“…Prior studies have reported barriers to facilitating small groups in schools, but those barriers did not consider PPI (Steen et al, 2007). Fighting racism and offering opportunities for students of color to thrive and dream about future opportunities may generate forms of resistance (Byrd et al, 2022). While scholars are producing creative, innovative, and fresh models to gather student voices (Edirmanasinghe et al, 2022b), we still need further clarity on engagement strategies school counselors use to overcome barriers and resistance in doing antiracist work.…”

Using an Antiracist Lens in School Counseling Research

“…This ideology ignores the presence of racism and ultimately protects whiteness as a cultural norm and the dominant sociopolitical influence (i.e., power) that comes with whiteness (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995;Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Byrd et al (2022) The final tenet, intersectionality, a term coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989), explores the interconnectedness of oppression when racism is combined with other forms of subjugation (ie. sexism, homophobia, classism, and ableism).…”

“…While many scholars justly argue that racism is inextricably woven into our educational structures and is untreatable (Givens, 2016;Watkins, 2001), others hopefully look to CRT as a tool to dismantle structures of oppression (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). Many K-12 education and school counseling scholars utilize CRT and encourage others to deploy it as a lens to support research, practice, and advocacy efforts (Appling & Robinson, 2021;Byrd et al, 2022;Henfield & Washington, 2012). Unfortunately, school counseling research overall has largely ignored these suggestions.…”

“…This ideology ignores the presence of racism and ultimately protects whiteness as a cultural norm and the dominant sociopolitical influence (i.e., power) that comes with whiteness (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Byrd et al (2022) critiqued the ASCA Student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success: K–12 College-, Career- and Life-Readiness Standards for Every Student (ASCA, 2021) for upholding the myth of meritocracy and ignoring how racism represents a barrier for Black and brown students.…”