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between universities, as well as with other bodies. Other countries lament the lack of such
coordination. In Poland it is estimated that some 30 postgraduate courses may exist, but
there is no central information source and only limited networking between universities, many
of which are private institutions.

1.5. The role of career guidance specialists in dispersed

delivery networks

In reviewing the wide range of qualifications currently acceptable for entry to career guidance
practice across various European countries, the OECD report (2004, p. 97) comments that
many are general in nature (psychology or pedagogy) and do not cover the ‘specific theories
or specific methods of career guidance’. Sultana (2003, p. 30) found that in relation to the (then)
acceding and candidate countries for EU membership, ‘career guidance … is not yet
professionalised – i.e. it is not often offered by staff who have specialised and regulated career
guidance qualifications, with clear entry and qualification routes into clearly defined occupational
roles …’.
These views are endorsed and developed by national contributors to this study. There is
comment on the need for improved training and ‘professionalisation’, with one contributor
(Latvia) declaring that ‘the quality of career counselling services is mainly determined by the
counsellor’s competences, which should be varied’. This leads to an assertion that career
counselling of good quality can only be provided by appropriately educated specialists. This
theme is developed by another contributor (Luxembourg) who maintains that such training
‘should in my opinion consist of a specialised MA programme in career counselling based on
a bachelor diploma obtained in several subjects’.
These views lead to one of the important considerations to arise from this study: the idea
that it may be helpful for all countries to share views on a basic level of ‘sufficiency’ for
professional training of career guidance practitioners. This question takes us in two
directions: first, which roles would such a definition of ‘sufficiency’ apply to (discussed here);
and second, how might ‘sufficiency’ be defined (discussed in more detail in Section 3.1.).
In most countries, specialist career guidance roles are recognised in one or more of three
arenas: within the education sector; within the public employment service; and in distinct and
specialised organisations, frequently in the public sector, but sometimes also in
private-sector bodies operating either under public-authority contracts or independently.
Training provision in each of these arenas varies widely between and within countries, and is
explored in more detail in Section 2.
There is general recognition, however, that career guidance specialist practitioners are
not the only people who are able to play a significant role in helping individuals with their
career plans and choices (Nykänen et al., 2007). Other professionals have a role to play
because of their detailed knowledge of the individual and/or immediate opportunity structures
(for example, teachers and educational counsellors), or because of their particular skills in
engaging ‘hard to reach’ people (for example, social workers and youth workers, especially
those experienced in outreach activities). People without a professional ‘helping’ role also
have a part to play: parents; mentors, including peer mentors; employers, employer

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