Collectivist Counselling Theories and Practices: Central and South America
Original article in Hungarian
The author: Dr. habil. Tibor Bors Borbely-Pecze
Introduction
Building a career is a solitary life mission in Europe. Orienting from Hungary, from our highly individualised culture, mainly towards the Euro-Atlantic region, it seems even more so that individuals today have not only the possibility but the ‘right’ to define themselves, and to put their own careers and career goals before other priorities or the priorities set by others. Urbanisation is strong in Europe, community spaces have been transformed and depersonalised, and the community’s career guidance function has also changed. Although the impact of globalisation is also very strong in the field of career counselling, the cultural-social vectors that give direction and proportion to career development are visible.
The main tool of counselling is discussion. Even if the counsellor and the counselee communicate with pictures or movements instead of talking, all counselling is based on interpersonal communication. As in all communication situations, communication in counselling is culturally loaded, i.e. both the practice and the theories of career counselling are culturally dependent, as is the understanding between sender and receiver in general communication theory. In this blog post, we will discuss Latin American career counselling practices that fall outside the Euro-Atlantic orientation. At the same time, culturally, Latin America has been largely involved in the Catholic Christian cultural sphere as a result of European colonisation, with the influence of pre-Columbian cultures behind it, which are particularly important today in countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay. Decolonisation has led to the emergence of a desire in Latin American career counselling to search for and understand pre-colonial identities, and re-frame personal and family, multi-generational career histories.
Latin America
Latin America is a vast geographical region of more than seven million square kilometres, stretching from the North American deserts of Northern Mexico to the southern tip of Argentina in South America. All kinds of landforms and climates can be found here, including the scorching deserts of Chile’s Atacama and snowy mountain ranges like the Andes. The name ‘Latin’ in Latin America is directly linked to the dominant languages of the area. Latin languages include Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian, among others. In Latin America, the majority of people speak Spanish (Portuguese is the second most widely spoken language), which has led to the region being called ‘Latin America’. Countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, England and many African countries have contributed to the culture and traditions of Latin America.
We have obtained more and more information about career guidance in Central and South America in recent years. For example, following the COVID pandemic, the OECD (2021) assessed adult career counselling in four countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico).[1] NCDA[2] (National Career Development Association), a major US counselling association, is also showing a keen interest in the solutions of the continent classically considered as ‘quasi-abroad’.
Latin American labour markets are characterised by a high degree of informality, which can also limit formal learning opportunities or access to career guidance. Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico have some of the lowest informal employment rates in Latin America (OECD, 2021). In Chile, Argentina and Mexico, at least 80% of adults “very much rely” or “somewhat rely” on advice provided by their family and friends when making work-related decisions. While career guidance for adults, remedial and career counselling has not received significant policy attention in Latin American countries, there is a greater interest in career guidance for young people. Youth training programmes are widespread in the region and mostly target young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. These programmes often include a specific career guidance component. However, here too, the large-group approach is predominant and individual counselling is less frequent.
In Latin America, according to an OECD survey (OECD 2021), the most common reasons for using career guidance services are: progress in current job (40%), needing help in choosing study/training options (29%), changing jobs (23%). Adults in the four Latin American countries surveyed are significantly less likely to report that they are “looking for a workplace” or “looking for a job” (21%). This fact has a significant correlation with the informality of labour markets. Formal job search in the European sense is less widespread. In this context, the OECD questionnaire showed that 36% of adult counselees would like to get advice on exactly how to formally apply for a job.
For a recent update on the practice of counselling services in Latin America, see the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, 2025) surveys. Published in 2025, their study is a flash report on the career guidance experiences of five countries (Panama, Peru, Chile, El Salvador and Mexico). The focus was on the policy issue of youth employment, which is ‘automatically’ linked to the lack of access to youth career guidance in the region.
Latin American theories of career orientation draw heavily on Northern-Hemisphere theories, although such approaches are shaped by considering the context of the Global South (Fonseca da Silva & Paiva & Ribeiro, 2016).
Brazil
Brazil is also struggling to escape from its colonial past. Career counselling for middle and upper class people in Brazil is inspired by the classic Global-North (read: Western) theories. However, these are not really relevant for the majority of the population.
There are two relevant proposals for the development of an autonomous Brazilian career counselling theory and practice, which produce theory and practice in different ways in the field of career development/orientation.
Firstly, Silvio Bock proposed a socio-historical approach to career development, which is based on historical and dialectical materialism and inspired by the ideas of Paulo Freire (1975). It is intended to draw attention to the socio-historical context and the place people occupy in the power relations in which they find themselves, in order to seek ways to surpass them. To achieve this goal, group counselling is carried out (Riberio, 2020).
Secondly, in Brazil, the intercultural career development approach proposed by Marcelo Ribeiro combines the epistemology of social constructivism, compounding mainly the design paradigm, inspired by career paths and life-works, the theory of work psychology (Blustein, 2013), the contextualised theories from the Global North with theories from the South. Brazilian career development/orientation practice is based on the theory of narrative counselling. Where the counsellor helps the counselee to process his/her own post-colonial family traumas, to reframe intergenerational narratives, while helping the counselee to develop his/her own career narrative.
Colombia
In Colombia, career counselling as an occupation or profession does not exist. These functions fall within the general remit of school counsellors (Brual, 2018). Counselling training was first developed in the country in the 1950s, inspired mainly by the need to prevent drop-outs, rather than to pursue the aims of career counselling. The concept of transitions between educational levels in relation to career choices is not well developed in the country. Therefore, the tasks associated with this process are not structured, either.
Reference literature
Borbely Pecze, T. B. (2025). Career and career guidance beyond the Euro-Atlantic culture. Opus Et Educatio, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.3311/ope.40136
Related literature
Blustein, D. L. (2013). The psychology of working: A new perspective for a new era. In D. L. Blustein (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of the psychology of working (pp. 3–18). New York: Oxford University Press.
Brual, A. A. (2018). The Status of Career Services and Credentialing in Colombia from 2010 to 2016. in Hyung Joon Yoon ed. International Practices of Career Services, Credentialing and Training NCDA Url: https://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/asset_manager/get_file/259697?ver=2758
Freire, P. (1975). Conscientization. Geneva: World Council of Churches.
Fonseca da Silva, F. & Paiva, V. & Ribeiro. M A. (2016). Career construction and reduction of psychosocial vulnerability: Intercultural career guidance based on Southern epistemologies Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling 36, 46-53 DOI: 10.20856/jnicec.3606
Inter-American Development Bank/ IAB (2025). CAREER GUIDANCE EXPERIENCES IN FIVE COUNTRIES: PANAMA, PERU, CHILE, EL SALVADOR, AND MEXICO Url: https://iyfglobal.org/library/career-guidance-experiences-five-countries-panama-peru-chile-el-salvador-and-mexico
Ribeiro, M. A. (2020). Career Development Theories from the Global South The Oxford Handbook of Career Development Edited by Peter J. Robertson, Tristram Hooley, and Phil McCash DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190069704.013.17
OECD (2021), Career Guidance for Adults in Latin America, Getting Skills Right, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4eaf4996-en.
[1] Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA) https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/career-guidance-for-adults-in-a-changing-world-of-work_9a94bfad-en.html
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH7kty9Dr_g
