Learning for careers
What kinds of career guidance and career education services do young people want in Europe and Central Asia?
Knowing about the preferences, needs, and wishes of young people is an important precondition to successful career guidance policies and services. The European Training Foundation (ETF) and the UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO), in collaboration with young people, conducted polls and held focus groups to understand the needs of young people aged 14-34 regarding career guidance. The study covered Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Kosovo*, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Young people want to learn for life, and career education and guidance that integrates life skills and career learning enables them to do this. Fit-for-purpose career guidance should ideally be: a systematic combination of structured career education programs (as part of curricula throughout formal education, to be able to reach whole generations), quality online self-learning and self-help opportunities; and person-centered career guidance service offered outside of school, both face-to-face and online.
Current career guidance offers fall short of what youth need
Instead, young respondents painted a picture of a shockingly high level of limited to no access to guidance. Current services are focused on a traditional approach, consisting of interest, personality trait, and aptitude testing, providing information that aims to match learning and job opportunities. However, these services occur at specific transition points, typically during the last grades of primary or secondary education.
Considering the changes in the labor markets and societies, those one-off interventions contradict the need for empowering all individuals through career management skills development. These skills are required in order to develop durable human or life skills that help manage lifelong transitions. Moreover, only about one-in-five respondents said they “Learn about self-employment and support to create their own business” (22.1 per cent) or “Understand my rights at work and how to find a quality job” (21.7 per cent). Hence, services currently even fall short on information provision.
‘What I do not know, I cannot like’: Young people are seeking practical experience
Young people participating in polls and focus groups overwhelmingly showed a preference for practical experience, out-of-the classroom opportunities, and skills generated outside the traditional school curriculum. Such experiential learning increases the relevance of academic learning for their lives and their future, enabling them to better understand and appreciate how school can link to their future career goals. This enhances academic achievement and attainment, helps reduce dropouts and mismatch, and contributes to gender equality. For societies as a whole, career guidance is an investment, not a cost.
Traditional methods of career guidance are outpaced by preference for online tools
When asked where they get their information and support when choosing a future profession, more than half of the respondents chose “Internet searches, websites” (56.7 per cent), followed by “Social media, chat rooms/message boards, online tutorials” (38.7 per cent), and “Parents” (32.5 per cent) and “Friends” (32.0 per cent), with limited importance given to “Youth NGOs, youth centers” (11.6 per cent), “School career counselors” (8.6 per cent), and “Public employment offices” (8.7 per cent). The dominance of unstructured self-help provides insights on the quality and adequateness of existing services. As the role of parents remains dominant, this underscores the need for them to be supported as a reliable source of help.
Young people want a profession that matches their skills and interests
Overwhelmingly, young people wish for a profession that matches their skills and interests; however, they are very concerned about skills mismatch and working conditions that do not allow for such alignment. Respondents stressed the importance of life and career management skills to support their emotional development and personal growth; they consider these to be foundational to their professional development. Consequently, there is a strong call for structured career education which follows a holistic human empowerment approach throughout formal education and during the school-to-work transition period.
Career aspirations of young people remain limited to traditional careers
In line with other research, respondents showed a limited scope of career aspirations, with traditional careers such as teachers, doctors, or nurses being predominant. This finding is deeply concerning, as it highlights how the current state of career guidance does little to broaden the scope of career aspirations and how it has failed to showcase the opportunities presented by the green and digital transitions. A broader scope of potential career options could also contribute to overcoming gender stereotypes. Undoubtedly, the role of formal education must play a stronger role in becoming a place for career learning and discovery of more extensive career options.
Educational aspirations of young people mirror parental and societal expectations
Over eight-in-ten respondents said that they intend to complete some level of tertiary education (81.9 per cent), showing extremely high expectations that may not necessarily align with either labor market or skill needs. Moreover, a preference for tertiary education tends to ignore the opportunities provided by vocational education and training (VET) in terms of wages, careers, and job satisfaction. Instead, VET often has a negative reputation as a place for low achievers. A preference for higher education as the best choice increases the risk of being mismatched and even becoming a young person not in employment, education, or training (NEET) in economies that still require an upper secondary educated workforce. Career guidance can play a crucial role in guiding both young people and parents/ guardians to prevent such biased education aspirations.
Many young Ukrainians lack access to career guidance services
Career guidance systems require a special focus on young Ukrainians. There are many young Ukrainians, both in Ukraine (including displaced persons) and abroad, that lack access to guidance services. More active outreach is needed, both face-to-face and online, as well as more holistic online services for self-help and self-learning. Personal guidance is also required to meet the needs of this particularly vulnerable group of young people in a difficult context.
Conclusion
In conclusion, in a context of a changing jobs market, a more diversified education and training provision, and increasingly complex learning and career pathways, people need relevant, timely, and easily accessible guidance to make informed decisions. By understanding the needs, wishes, and preferences of young people, more effective and efficient policies and services may be formulated. Building career guidance systems across education, employment, youth, and social inclusion sectors that respond to the needs of individuals and groups of population must lie at the heart of efforts to build lifelong learning systems.
The strong interlinkages between career development support, lifelong learning, and the requirement of all countries to ensure quality education, economic, and social outcomes highlights the relevance of career guidance and makes the case for its prioritisation. Lifelong career guidance is a catalyst for policies aiming at economic growth, social equity, and innovation closely aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Union’s renewed employment, skills, and social inclusion focus reflected in the European Pillar of Social Rights, reinforced Youth Guarantee, and the recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness, and resilience.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
Highlights
Knowing about the preferences, needs, and wishes of young people is an important precondition to successful career guidance policies and services. The European Training Foundation (ETF) and the UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO), in collaboration with young people, conducted polls and held focus groups to understand the needs of young people aged 14-34 regarding career guidance.
