Kobus Maree is a full Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. His main research interests are career construction and life design (counselling), emotional-social intelligence and social responsibility, as well as learning facilitation in mathematics. He links research results to appropriate career choices and to life designing. We invited Professor Maree to discuss with us his search of career counselling for all and especially his experiences of indigenising career (construction) counselling in the contexts of Global South countries …
What have brought you to the field of career guidance and counselling?
My mother’s unfailingly kindness to people (especially the ‘marginalised’). I always wanted to become a missionary but eventually gravitated towards our field because of my profound admiration for the magic work of Mark Savickas especially.
What is your hope for the IAEVG conference in Bratislava?
Gently innovating and updating the theory of, research on, and practice of career psychology to ‘improve’ the career-lives of people with vulnerability and disadvantage especially.
Could you share with us an (un)usual tradition in your country that you enjoy?
The large number of people that sell or purchase merchandise at traffic lights (mostly referred to as “robots” over here) and on street corners.
What is your favourite motto or saying?
How you deal with talents, events, and challenges defines you.