Reframing and re-telling: The changing identity of the careers guidance profession

Abstract

The aim of the article is to critically reflect on what may now constitute the occupational and professional identity of career guidance practitioners after a decade of rapid change, and in the face of further significant policy developments. It seeks to build on recent research, e.g. Colley et al (2010), in order to consider the effects of policy shifts, and their attendant managerialism, on the identity of careers practitioners in a wide variety of organisational settings. The article proposes that Bolman and Deal’s Four Frames model (2003), with its holistic and constructivist basis, can be used to illuminate and critically examine the structural, political, motivational and symbolic aspects of change, including identity reformation. It concludes by suggesting that the various professional bodies that represent career guidance have an opportunity to re-appraise and redefine professional value and identity.