Career guidance in Latin America and the Caribbean: (1722-2006)

Abstract

Introduction: The process of professional guidance has accompanied human beings since ancient times, maintaining a close link with the social transformations that humanity has gone through in its course and responding directly to the function of work and the perception of social actors. about the various professions. In this sense, this research aims to analyze the stages of the process and its impact in Latin America and the Caribbean, which offers a coherent analysis of the background of this activity on the continent. Materials and methods: For a correct study of the process, it is necessary to use methods such as historical-logical methods that allow us to conceive the stages through which it has gone and the aspects that have been ignored by the hegemonic power circles of the sciences that, even ignored the creation in Cuba in 1855, of the General Preparatory School, in addition to the reference to the matter that José Martí makes in this regard, through his interventions in 1887 related to the nascent schools of arts and crafts in several Latin American nations, in addition , of the leading role of the Cuban Emilio Mira López in the institutionalization of the process in Latin America. Results: From the study, it is possible to highlight the philosophical nature of professional guidance that determined its development in the ancient world. In that period it was assumed to be the path used by the philosophers of the time, who, through discipleship, guided their doctrines. The most significant examples are that of Socrates (469-399 BC), of whom Plato and Antisthenes were disciples, and that of Plato himself (428-427-347 BC), to whom numerous disciples are attributed. Discussion: From this perspective, professional guidance is understood as a decision that does not correspond to the social actors, but is perceived as a predestination coming from the divine power of God. Even though the above is questioned by Farfán's research (2023), through criticism in his analysis of vocational choice as a concept. On the other hand, Gottfredson (2021) refers to the process as the construction of tastes conditioned by social nature. Conclusions: The above allowed us to analyze the stages of the professional guidance process and its impact in Latin America and the Caribbean, offering a coherent analysis of the antecedents of this activity on the continent, even before the institutionalization of the term, allowing us to ensure the authenticity of Latin American thought in this sense, although the colonial characteristics through which the continent passed have favored these aspects to be unfairly underestimated in numerous studies that addressed the subject.