Reviewing psychologists' qualifications for career development practice in Australia

Abstract

Vocational psychology and the practice of career development are important dimensions of the psychology discipline and profession. This paper contains an overview of Australian career development practice in light of recent trends, particularly the formalisation of career development practice amongst professions other than psychologist. Given the advent of the Professional Standards for Australian Career Development Practitioners, a review of postgraduate degrees in organisational, developmental and educational, and counselling psychology was conducted to determine their correspondence with the competencies presented in the Standards. The review revealed significant consistency with generic competencies. Degrees in organisational psychology provided the broadest correspondence; however degrees in counselling, developmental and educational psychology had lower levels of correspondence on specific competencies. The implications of the review are discussed in light of the evolution of the career development industry and psychologists’ standing in this field.