ABSTRACT
The status of persons of African descent in the United States is well known. Given their low status with respect to educational attainment, occupational prestige, unemployment rates, rates of underemployment, earning ratios, delinquency, and more, the quality of life for many African Americans warrants continued attention and vigorous intervention (Bingham & Ward, see chap. 3, this vol.; Brown, 1995). Effective careerdevelopment counseling constitutes a critically important element of the social, economic, political, and psychological emancipation of many African Americans (Brown, 1995; Parham & Austin, 1994). Immediate and culturally appropriate intervention into the vocational trajectories of persons of African American heritage is needed and needed early in their development (Brown, 1995; Fouad, 1995). For example, career intervention of some sort is needed, intervention that addresses the early and persistent bleeding of many African Americans from the educational pipeline (Brown, 1995; Fouad, 1995; Leung, 1995; Ogbu, 1991; Steele, 1997). Surveys show that African Americans want assistance with their educational and vocational problems (Carter & Wilson, 1992; Leong & Brown, 1995; Webster & Fretz, 1978) and are willing to use such counseling services (Stabb & Cogdal, 1992). Yet, there are important challenges facing those who wish to provide career services to African Americans.
