What works in careers and enterprise What works in careers and enterprise? 20th March, Careers & Enterprise Research Seminar, Wellcome Trust, London Tristram Hooley

OECD definition Career guidance refers to services and activities intended to assist individuals, of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers… The activities may take place on an individual or group basis, and may be face-to-face or at a distance (including help lines and web-based services). (OECD, 2004) Note: This activity can have many names. At the Company we usually talk about ‘careers and enterprise programmes’, but there are many other names.

Good career guidance (Gatsby) A stable careers programme… Learning from career and labour market information Linking curriculum learning to careers Encounters with employers and employees Experienced of workplaces Encounters with further and higher education Addressing the needs of each pupil Personal guidance

Career guidance is both part of an effectively functioning education and employment system; and a safeguard against ineffective and imperfect systems.

Why care about the evidence? Overview What are we trying to do? Why care about the evidence? What works? What do we still need to know?

Why care about the evidence? Overview What are we trying to do? Why care about the evidence? What works? What do we still need to know?

What we are trying to bring about… Work readiness Employers report improvements in the work-readiness of young people ... Employment … and are more likely to hire them, resulting in reduced youth unemployment / NEETs. Skills alignment Employers report fewer skills gaps and shortages, particularly in relation to STEM … Productivity … which results in improved productivity …. Earnings … and increased earnings for young people. Equity The life chances created by the new system are available to all and lead to increased social mobility.

This requires changes from… Young people Schools Careers providers Employers It also requires changes in the way that they relate to each other

Impacts on young people Personal effectiveness Educational engagement Career readiness Employability Social capital Career outcomes

Why care about the evidence? Overview What are we trying to do? Why care about the evidence? What works? What do we still need to know?

An attempt to create a plausible account of reality. What is research? An attempt to create a plausible account of reality.

Strength of evidence

What can we do…? Find the best research available. Work out what it tells us about policy and practice. Make it into something useable. Keep learning and questioning. Develop policy and practice as you learn.

Lifelong guidance policy cycle

So… The evidence base on career guidance isn’t complete. But it is sufficient to guide policy and practice. As long as we keep evaluating and keep learning.

Why care about the evidence? Overview What are we trying to do? Why care about the evidence? What works? What do we still need to know?

EEF career education review (Hughes and colleagues) Despite reservations about the evidence they conclude that career education should: Be personalised and recognise the needs of different learners Start at an early age Involve employers Provide experiences of work Include professional guidance

Evidence base for lifelong guidance Lifelong and progressive. Connected to wider experience. Recognising the diversity of individuals and their needs. Focus on the individual Involving employers and working people, and providing active experiences of workplaces. Not one intervention, but many. Developing career management skills. Holistic and well-integrated into other services. Support learning and progression Ensuring professionalism. Making use of career information. Assuring quality and evaluating provision. Ensure quality

Good career guidance (Gatsby) A stable careers programme… Learning from career and labour market information Linking curriculum learning to careers Encounters with employers and employees Experienced of workplaces Encounters with further and higher education Addressing the needs of each pupil Personal guidance

4 or more…

Why care about the evidence? Overview What are we trying to do? Why care about the evidence? What works? What do we still need to know?

Where we want to get to… https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/resources/teaching-learning-toolkit

We need… Studies to explore the optimum timing, duration and mode of delivery of career guidance interventions. Development and adoption of more standardised measurements. Increased use of controls and randomisation. Longitudinal work. More use of administrative datasets and (online) big data. More literature reviews and statistical meta-analyses.

Final note: We also need To ensure the evidence base is clear, accessible and easy to use for policy makers and practitioners.

References Gatsby Charitable Foundation. (2014). Good Career Guidance. London: Gatsby Charitable Foundation. Hooley, T. (2014). The Evidence Base on Lifelong Guidance. Jyväskylä, Finland: European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network. Hooley, T. (2017). Moving beyond ‘what works’: Using the evidence base in lifelong guidance to inform policy making. In Schroder, K. and Langer, J. Wirksamkeit der Beratung in Bildung, Beruf und Beschäftigung (The Effectiveness of Counselling in Education and Employment). Bielefeld: WBV. Hooley, T., Neary, S., Morris, M and Mackay, S. (2015) Effective Policy Frameworks for the Organisation of Career Guidance Services A Review of the Literature. London and Derby: SQW and International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby. Hughes, D., Mann, A., Barnes, S-A., Baldauf, B. and McKeown, R. (2016). Careers Education: International Literature Review. London: Education Endowment Fund. Mann, A., and Kashefpakdel, E.T. (2014). The views of young Britons (aged 19—24) on their teenage experiences of school-mediated employer engagement’. In Mann, A., Stanley, J. and Archer, L. Understanding Employer Engagement in Education: Theories and Evidence. London: Routledge, 143-162. Mann, A and Percy. C. (2013). Employer Engagement in British Secondary Education: Wage Earning Outcomes Experienced by Young Adults. Journal of Education and Work. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2004). Career Guidance and Public Policy: Bridging the Gap. Paris: OECD. The Careers & Enterprise Company. (2016). What Works in Careers and Enterprise? London: The Careers & Enterprise Company.

Contact details Tristram Hooley Director of Research, The Careers & Enterprise Company thooley@careersandenterprise.co.uk Also at http://adventuresincareerdevelopment.wordpress.com @pigironjoe