Indian Association for Career and Livelihood Planning

Theory, Research and Practice, will look at some of the fundamental aspects of career guidance and counselling.  Are there new models that could be discussed for the Indian context?  What about the controversies that surround testing and assessment?  Do psychometric devices have a role to play in a country as diverse as India?  Do qualitative approaches have something to offer? How can those with special educational needs be best served?  Is there any information about impact and outcome that could inform a more evidence based approch to the practice of career guidance and counselling?  More specifically some of the topics that will be considered are: 

• New models suitable for the Indian context. 
  
• Testing and Assessment.
• Career Development Discontinuities.
• Careers Services for Special Groups.
• Career Development of Persons with Disabilities.
• Impact and Outcomes.
  



Realising Personal Potentials, will focus on what is perhaps most important to career guidance and counselling:  helping the individual discover him/herself and build a career based on a deep understanding of personal potentials.  It is well-known that successful careers rest upon what the individual is interested in and upon talents, strenghts and aptitudes.  It is also well-known that more often than not, career choices are more strongly influenced by cultural and economic factors.  This part of the conference will focus on developing a deeper understanding of how personal potentials could be brought to the centre of the career decision making process.  Some of the key topics that will be discussed are:

• Interest and Aptitudes.
• Life-Long Career Development.
• Second Career: Reasons, Motivations, Challenges.
• Work-life Balance.

Influences on Career Development, will conisder the wide variety of factors that influence career decisions.  Quite often career decisions are taken outside the career counselling process!  One's parents, community, gender, socioecononic status, beliefs and opinions all work together to shape career choices.  These influences can also vary in strength from one context to another.  In some cultures, the actual career decision may have to be closely tied to the wishes of the community, while in other cultures, it may be possible for the individual to make a more independent decision.  Career guidance, if it is to be effective, must acknowledge the cultural context within which career manifests and the circumstances under which choices are made. Some of the key factors influencing career development that the conference will consider are:  

• Culture and Career Development.
• Significant Others.
• Personal Identity.
• Gender.
• Socioeconomic Status.
• Career Development Barriers.

Career Preparation and the Future World of Work, will focus on how work has evolved over the ages and continues to do so. Today it is fashionable to talk about the post-industrial labour market and its attending features such as Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Internet of Things, Nonstandard Work, Gig Economy, Financialization, Autonomisation of Work Tools and so on.  The fact remains however that from a global perspective the features of pre-industrial work orientation can co-exist with industrial and post-industrial orientation in the same economy.  India is an example of this co-existance.  Preparing the young person of today for the future world of work therefore becomes an important target for career guidance and counselling.  Some of the topics that will be discussed are:

• The Future World of Work.
• Educational Pathways.
• University Vs. Vocational Orientations.
• Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment.
• Industry-Education Interface.
• Qualification and Employability.



Livelihood Planning and Career Guidance, will juxtapose the notions of career and livelihood.  Common beliefs about these fundamental human activities are that livelihood is related to survival needs and largely practised by those who are in lower income brackets such as farmers, artisans and skilled workers, and mainly in rural areas.  Career on the other hand is seen as something more linked to urban contexts, to middle and higher social classes, with greater potential for better opportunities and higher incomes.  Hence, the drive to abandon rural livelihoods and move toward a “better future” in the city is a rapidly growing one. Livelihood planning could be an application of the principles of career guidance at the broader level of facilitating individuals’ traditional engagement with work such that it gains contemporary relevance.  Topics to be discussed under this theme are:

• Rural-Urban Shifts.
• Preserving and Reviving Traditional Occupations.
• Indigenous Occupations.
• Traditional Occupations in the Modern World.



Establishing and Professionalising Career Services, draws upon one of the central objectives of the Indian Association for Careeer and Livelihood Planning: to establish quality standards and benchmarks for best practice in the delivery of career development services and to engage in advocacy for the mainstreaming of career development services.  Career guidance is today offered in multiple formats and theoretical perspectives.  Since the need and demand for career guidance services has risen sharply, it is essential that systems of training, certification and licensing are established.  Not many individuals and families can avail of expensive career guidance interventions.  The need to mainstream the service and improve access to these services is also an urgently felt need.  This theme will discuss:

• Models for Training Careers Professionals.
• Standards and Competencies.
• Affiliations and Licensing.
• Integrating careers services with existing structures and services.
• Models for optimising service delivery.





Negotiating the Labour Market, will build on an important objective of career guidance: help the individual succeed in the labour market. It is here that the notion of career management becomes relevant.  This requires the skill to transform information gained through career guidance into the ability to navigate the labour market.  This would include job finding skills, making career shifts and optimising a career decision.  Some of the topics that will be discussed under this theme are:

• Coping with Labour Market Trends
• Recruitment and Placement
• Rural-urban Migration and Career Development
• Career Shifts



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The best presentations will be selected for publication in a special issue of the Indian Journal of Career and Livelihood Planning.