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Through research, three propositions of consequence to the counseling discipline have emerged: (1) schools are captive institutions of a larger and increasingly centralised political economy; (2) more is known now than ever about the determinants of the socioeconomic career; and (3) what is known about the determinants of the socioeconomic career is only equaled or exceeded by what is not known. These three propositions and their consequences for career counseling are discussed in this paper.

The paper begins with a brief historical account of the development of schooling within the US political economy. This is followed by a consideration of the accumulation and refinement of theoretical and empirical knowledge about educational and occupational choice. Special attention is accorded to recent advances in systematic understandings of the determinants of career awareness and of socioeconomic achievement. The final section is informed by the historical context of career guidance and by recent theoretical and empirical advances related to guidance and career patterns. This section assesses the contemporary status of career guidance and offers some recommendations with respect to options that affect the future of that discipline with US secondary schools.

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