Enhancing DEI Strategies: What Career Practitioners Can Do

This webinar is part of the CICA Series, Empowering Futures: The Role of Career Development in Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. All sessions in the series are free to attend. Be sure to check out our other webinars in the series running each week in February 2025.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are widely discussed concepts, but translating these ideals into meaningful and impactful career development practices can be challenging in organizations. In this webinar, we will delve deeply into the essence of DEI, examining how these concepts can inform and transform the work of career development professionals. Participants will explore strategies to enhance their professional practice, make a lasting positive impact within their organizations, and improve service delivery to diverse populations.

The Culture-Infused Career Counselling (CICC) model will serve as the foundational framework for our exploration of DEI, offering an adaptable approach for integrating reflective and actionable practices at both individual and organizational levels. We will unpack the four interconnected domains of the CICC model, which guide practitioners to:

1. Engage in ongoing self-reflection to critically examine their personal worldviews and biases.
2. Cultivate a genuine stance of curiosity and care in exploring the diverse worldviews and lived experiences of clients.
3. Build strong and effective working alliances that honor and leverage diversity.
4. Champion inclusive and socially just practices aimed at dismantling systemic barriers and fostering equitable opportunities.

Reflection will be emphasized as a crucial starting point and a continuous process for advancing beyond theoretical discussions of DEI. This approach enables practitioners to identify barriers, design actionable strategies, and effect meaningful change. Career development professionals operate within complex organizational contexts, making it essential to address structural issues, policies, and resource allocation through a DEI lens.

During this webinar, participants will learn practical strategies for positioning DEI initiatives alongside career development practices within organizational settings. The webinar is aimed at building momentum by enhancing current approaches and sparking innovative ideas that empower individuals and teams alike. Whether you are working directly with clients or aiming to influence broader organisational change, this webinar is intended to help you identify some strategies and steps that you can take towards creating inclusive, equitable, and empowering futures.

Presenter: Professor Nancy Arthur

Nancy Arthur is a Professor and Dean Research in UniSA Business, University of South Australia and Professor Emerita, University of Calgary, Canada, where she was awarded a Canada Research Chair in professional education for diversity and social justice. Nancy’s recent program of research in the field of career development focuses on culture-infused career counselling and the transition experiences of international students and migrants. Nancy is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association, an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Career Development Association of Alberta and a former Vice-President of the International Association of Educational and Vocational Guidance. Nancy’s edited books include Counseling in Context: Identities and Social Justice (Springer), Contemporary Theories of Career Development: International Perspectives (Routledge), and two projects, Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice (CERIC) and Practice Principles: Career Theories and Models at Work (CERIC), aimed at strengthening theory-practice connections.

Website: https://people.unisa.edu.au/nancy.arthur