Career Guidance and Public Policy BRIDGING THE GAP OECD countries are attaching rising importance to lifelong learning and active employment « policies as tools of economic growth and social equity. Effective information and guidance systems are essential to support the implementation of these policies, and all citizens need to develop the skills to self-manage their careers. Yet there are large gaps between these policy goals and the capacity of national career guidance systems. Access to services is limited, particularly for adults. Too often services fail to develop people's career management skills, but focus upon immediate decisions. Training and qualification systems for those who provide services are often inadequate or inappropriate. Co-ordination between key ministries and stakeholders is poor. The evidence base is insufficient to allow proper steering of services by policy makers, with inadequate data being available on costs, benefits, client characteristics or outcomes. And in delivering services insufficient use is made of ICT and other cost-effective ways to meet client needs more flexibly. Based upon a review conducted in 14 OECD countries, the publication explores how the gap Career Guidance between career guidance services and public policy might be narrowed. It advocates improved national co-ordination arrangements and greater attention to research and data collection to inform policy makers. It also promotes the development of improved and more specialised and Public Policy training programmes for practitioners and the creation of more specialised career guidance organisations for the delivery of services. BRIDGING THE GAP OECD’s books, periodicals and statistical databases are now available via our online library. This book is available to subscribers to the following SourceOECD themes: Education and Skills Employment www.SourceOECD.org Ask your librarian for more details of how to access OECD books on line, or write to us at , [email protected] Career Guidance and Public Policy Policy Public and Guidance Career EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSU SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISS EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMEN EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYME EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT BRIDGING THE GAP THE BRIDGING -:HSTCQE=VUZ[YZ: ISBN 92-64-10564-6 91 2004 01 1 P www.oecd.org EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISS EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMEN EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYME EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUE SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISS EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMEN EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION MPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLOYME N SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISS EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION EMPLO ES EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION SOCIAL ISSUES EMPLO LOYMENT SOCIAL ISSUES MENT E Career Guidance and Public Policy Bridging the Gap ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: – to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; – to contribute to sound economic expansion in member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and – to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. The original member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22nd November 1996), Korea (12th December 1996) and the Slovak Republic (14th December 2000). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention). Publié en français sous le titre : Orientation professionnelle et politique publique COMMENT COMBLER L’ÉCART © OECD 2004 Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained through the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC), 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France, tel. (33-1) 44 07 47 70, fax (33-1) 46 34 67 19, for every country except the United States. In the United States permission should be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer Service, (508)750-8400, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA, or CCC Online: www.copyright.com. All other applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this book should be made to OECD Publications, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. FOREWORD – )25(:25' This publication reports the findings of a review that was begun in early 2001 of career guidance policies in 14 OECD countries. It has looked at how the organisation, management and delivery of career guidance can help to advance some key public policy objectives. In particular, the review has looked at how career guidance services can assist countries to advance lifelong learning goals, and at how career guidance can help in the implementation of active labour market policies. The review has coincided with a growing international interest in the relationship between career guidance and public policy. This interest is reflected in the holding – in 1999 and 2001 – of two international symposia on career guidance and public policy (Canadian Career Development Foundation, 2000 and 2002) and in the conduct of parallel reviews by agencies of the European Commission and by the World Bank. The OECD review has been closely involved with both of these related initiatives. The review has adopted a broad perspective. Consistent with its focus upon how career guidance can contribute to national lifelong learning policies, it has focused upon career guidance services throughout the lifespan: for young people; for adults; and for the “third age”. It has examined career guidance services in a wide range of settings: compulsory schooling; upper secondary education; tertiary education; community settings; public employment services; and the workplace. Its perspective on the stakeholders of career guidance services has also been a broad one, encompassing not only governments, but also employers, trade unions, community organisations, educational institutions, parents, students and career guidance practitioners. The findings of the review are organised around four main questions: x Why does career guidance matter for public policy? (Chapters 1 and 2) x How can career guidance be delivered more effectively? (Chapters 3 to 6) x How should career guidance be resourced? (Chapters 7 and 8) x How can strategic leadership be improved? (Chapters 9 and 10) Details of how the review was conducted are given in Annex 1. This comparative report draws heavily upon the national questionnaires and Country Notes developed in the course of the review. These, together with other key documentation from the review, can be found on the review’s web site: ZZZRHFGRUJHGXFDUHHUJXLGDQFH. The national co-ordinators who managed the completion of national questionnaires and the organisation of national visits have been a key to the success of the review. Together with those who have written commissioned papers for the review and the experts who took part in the national visits they have been an important source of much of the thinking that can be found in this report. Details of the national co-ordinators, and of the experts who were involved in the review, are provided in Annex 1. Within the