The need for quality standards in career counseling and for the articulation of competencies required for practitioners delivering these services, is gaining increased attention in Canada and elsewhere. This digest outlines governmental efforts to develop guidelines for the career counseling of girls and women. Career counseling includes services and programs which facilitate individuals' development and enhances their ability to make optimal choices regarding their roles in occupational, familial, and social structures. Individuals who counsel these populations should adhere to the following guidelines: understand the assumptions underlying various theoretical approaches to the practice of career counseling; ascribe no preconceived limitations on the direction or nature of potential changes or goals in counseling women; recognize that masculine terminology reflects bias against women; be knowledgeable about support services available to women; continually gain knowledge and awareness of social, biological, and psychological influences on female development; understand that client difficulties may rest in cultural factors which limit a women's concept of self; be aware of the counselor's influence on a female client; support the elimination of sex bias within institutions and individuals; and recognize circumstances where clients will prefer a same- or opposite-sex counselor. (RJM)