, member of the and of the , is the recipient of the ESVDC 2023 Distinguished Scholar Award. Conferred annually by the European Society for Vocational Design and Career Counselling, the Award acknowledges senior researchers who have made a significant contribution to the study of career guidance and life transitions to work. Past recipients hail from the Universities of Canterbury, Queensland, Lausanne, and Heidelberg, among others.
In announcing this year’s recipient, The ESVDC president, Prof. Jonas Masdonati (University of Lausanne), noted that “The award recognises Prof. Sultana as being among the first in our field to point out the issues of social justice and equity, to which the ESVDC is increasingly sensitive. He also brought valuable and rare sociological insights to contemporary career guidance issues, grounding his analyses in comparative studies.”
The Award procedure entailed a unanimous nomination by members of the ESVDC Executive Committee, who then sought the views of other scholars in the field. The following evaluations were read out at the Award announcement on 19th October during an international webinar on the topic of Advocacy:
“Ronald is without question the premier intellectual working in the field of career guidance at the moment. His engagement with an enormous range of critical theory and new ideas is secondary only to his burning passion for social justice. We are extremely lucky to have someone like Ronald working in our field. Every new paper that he brings out is a challenge to all of us to think more critically and reflect more deeply about what we believe and do within the field of career guidance.” (Prof. Tristram Hooley, University of Derby)
“Ronald’s long and outstanding career in career guidance, educational sociology, teacher training, innovative policy consultation and the pursuit of equity and social justice, makes him the first among equals in terms of his distinguished contributions to the sector […] For me and many other academics across Europe, Ronald’s focus, derived from his scholarship based in sociology, led to a much-needed critique of approaches based solely in the discipline of psychology. For my own work, he has always been inspirational.” (Emeritus Prof. Hazel Reid, Canterbury Christchurch University).
Prof. Sultana’s address for the occasion was titled “Troubling Advocacy in Career Guidance: The Indignity of Speaking for Others”.
