Career ready? How schools can better prepare young people for working life in the era of COVID-19
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)What is it?
This working paper specificall asks: how can scientific data help education systems and schools to assure themselves that students are on track to optimise labour market outcomes, identifying young people in greatest need of additional support? and investigates the extent to which career-related thinking and experiences help to explain variation in the adult economic performances of students who share comparable levels of academic achievement and social characteristics.
HIGHLIGHTS
By reviewing academic analysis of national longitudinal datasets which follow young people through transitions from
secondary education into adult employment, it is possible to identify indicators of comparative adult success. How young people (i) think about their futures in work and what they do to (ii) explore and (iii) experience workplaces within and outside of schools is consistently associated with better than expected employment outcomes in adulthood. Data-driven career guidance will take such indicators into account within delivery. Analysis of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 illustrates substantial variation in the extent of such career readiness between and within countries. Variation in career readiness is particularly associated with disadvantage. More effective education systems will ensure schools systematically address inequalities among late adolescent in access to information and support in preparing for working life.