Having access to professional guidance at every stage of the career journey is vital, especially for people from less advantaged backgrounds. Jayne Rowley explains why a lifelong Career Guidance Guarantee is the way forward…
We are proud to be part of the Career Development Policy Group (CDPG) and are fully supportive of their call to government for a Career Guidance Guarantee in England.
Launched at an event yesterday (20 October 2021), this important guarantee would give everyone in England access to lifelong career guidance.
The CDPG brings together a range of organisations who believe that it is essential that citizens have an opportunity to access support in their careers. The group works with the government and other stakeholders to develop policies and initiatives that support career development.
The pandemic cast light on how vitally important careers experts are as youth unemployment is growing and many people are facing challenging times.
The Career Guidance Guarantee is one of several recommendations made by the CDPG to embed enhanced career guidance throughout the education and employment systems. They include a call to government to:
- Publish a national lifelong strategy for career guidance involving employers, education providers and careers professionals.
- Challenge youth unemployment through an entitlement to career guidance for all young people.
- Support lifelong career development through meaningful access to the National Careers Service for everyone over the age of 18.
- Finish the Gatsby revolution in schools with a trained careers leader in every school and college, and fund personal guidance for all students.
- Develop graduates' careers with a clearer and more coherent national system capable of guaranteeing access to career guidance for all graduates.
- Ensure quality and professionalism through an assurance that those who provide career development services within all government programmes are appropriately qualified.
At the heart of Prospects products and services is our duty to help guide all students and graduates to a bright future and professional guidance is absolutely fundamental.
Without it potential is unrealised and unmatched to the needs of the economy, deepening the skills shortage and unemployment. This problem is made worse because existing careers guidance in England is fragmented and unclear, particularly once people have left education.
The pandemic cast light on how vitally important careers experts are as youth unemployment is growing and many people are facing challenging times. Significant numbers of people - young and old - have changed their career plans or are uncertain about what to do.
The content on prospects.ac.uk is written by or in collaboration with AGCAS experts, yet when young people seek in-person advice about their careers they tend to go much closer to home. Not only does this raise questions about the quality of the advice, but also issues around social mobility.
Careers advisers are supposed to act as a leveller, meaning that everybody has equal knowledge because of the level of expertise of the careers professional offers.
Our Prospects Early Careers Survey 2021 looked at the proportions of young people receiving careers advice and the types of advice sessions they had attended.
As expected, the internet loomed large, as did families, but so did proactive research of potential employers (both for jobs and for work experience), online job quizzes and even more traditional print literature.
However, only about a third had engaged with professional careers advisers which, as this report shows, has equity implications for those from less advantaged backgrounds.
Careers advisers are supposed to act as a leveller, meaning that everybody has equal knowledge because of the level of expertise of the careers professional offers.
Careers professionals are particularly helpful to students with few employer links and less familiarity with the jobs market. Yet what we're seeing is that these experts are being cut out of the equation. This means that young people who have a clearer understanding of their career paths, more parental and peer supports, who know the rules of the game and have more entrenched social capital are at a distinct advantage.
Having access to professional career guidance is vital in ensuring that people make the right decisions at every stage of their career journey. This starts with our education system and extends into employment.
A Careers Guidance Guarantee would result in more productive outcomes for everyone, the labour market and the economy.
Written by
Was this page useful?
Thank you for your feedback