Careers Review

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 115

Careers education:

International literature review

July 2016

Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE, Dr Anthony Mann, Dr Sally-Anne Barnes, Beate Baldauf


and Rachael McKeown
Table of contents
Executive summary ............................................................................................................... 1
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 3
1.1. Aims of the review .................................................................................................... 3
2. Careers education: Impact assessment in context ......................................................... 4
2.1. What young people think about their future careers matters..................................... 6
2.2. Career uncertainty.................................................................................................... 6
2.3. Career misalignment ................................................................................................ 6
2.4. Experience of the world of work ............................................................................... 7
2.5. Independent and impartial career guidance ............................................................. 7
2.6. Terminology ............................................................................................................. 8
3. Methodology ................................................................................................................ 10
3.1. Search strategy ...................................................................................................... 10
3.2. Inclusion/Exclusion criteria ..................................................................................... 10
4. An overview of the literature ......................................................................................... 15
4.1. Characteristics of the studies for the in-depth review ............................................. 15
4.2. Brief overview of the outcome areas ...................................................................... 18
4.3. Brief overview of the types of interventions ............................................................ 20
4.4. Literature relating to part-time teenage employment .............................................. 21
5. What works? education outcomes ................................................................................ 22
5.1. Does careers education improve educational outcomes?....................................... 22
5.2. What difference can it make to educational outcomes? .......................................... 24
5.3. Why does it make an impact? ................................................................................ 27
5.4. Which interventions can be expected to be most effective? ................................... 28
6. What works? economic outcomes ................................................................................ 29
6.1. Does careers education improve economic outcomes? ......................................... 29
6.2. What difference can it make to economic outcomes?............................................. 31
6.3. Why does it make an impact? ................................................................................ 33
6.4. Which interventions can be expected to be most effective? ................................... 35
7. What works? social outcomes ...................................................................................... 37
7.1. Does careers education improve social outcomes?................................................ 37
7.2. What difference can it make to social outcomes? ................................................... 41
7.3. What is the impact?................................................................................................ 42
7.4. Which interventions can be expected to be most effective? ................................... 46
8. Part-time work .............................................................................................................. 48
8.1. Educational outcomes ............................................................................................ 48
8.2. Economic outcomes ............................................................................................... 48
8.3. Social outcomes..................................................................................................... 49
9. Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 50
9.1. About the literature ................................................................................................. 50
9.2. What the literature can tell us about interventions .................................................. 56
9.3. What the literature can tell us about outcomes ....................................................... 56
9.4. Where next?........................................................................................................... 57
References ......................................................................................................................... 59
Education outcomes ........................................................................................................ 59
Economic outcomes......................................................................................................... 62
Social outcomes .............................................................................................................. 63
Part-time work studies ..................................................................................................... 65
Appendix 1: Key Informants from OECD Countries ............................................................. 67
Appendix 2: Keyword search terms ..................................................................................... 68
Appendix 3: Details of 96 studies selected for in-depth review ............................................ 69
Appendix 4: Criteria for levels of evidence ........................................................................ 100
Appendix 5: Definitions of types of interventions emerging from the keyword searches .... 102
List of figures
Figure 1 Flow of literature through searching and screening process .................................. 12
Table 1 Broad outcome measure by level of evidence ........................................................ 14
Table 2 Broad outcome measures by country of study ........................................................ 15
Figure 2 Representation of broad outcome measures by country of study .......................... 16
Table 3 Documents reviewed by population and broad outcome measure .......................... 17
Table 4 Documents reviewed with specialist focus and broad outcome measure................ 17
Table 5 Overview of types of outcomes and outcome combinations ................................... 19
Figure 3 Representation of broad outcome measure and combinations of measures ......... 20
Table 6 Broad outcome measure by intervention ................................................................ 20
Table 7 Broad outcome measures by country of study (Part-time employment) .................. 21
Table 8 Educational outcome assessments by intervention ................................................ 23
Table 9 Illustrative studies on impact on attainment ............................................................ 25
Table 10 Economic outcome studies by intervention ........................................................... 30
Table 11 Illustrative studies on impact on economic outcomes ........................................... 31
Table 12 Social outcome studies by intervention................................................................. 38
Table 13 Illustrative studies on impact on social outcomes ................................................. 43
Table 14 Overview of selected examples by types if intervention……………………………..52
Table 15 Efficacy of interventions by outcome area ............................................................ 56
Acknowledgements
We are particularly grateful to Eleanor Stringer and colleagues at the Education Endowment
Foundation (EEF) for commissioning this literature review, supported by Bank of America
Merrill Lynch. Also, we would like to thank key expert international informants who willingly
supported and contributed to the literature search in their respective countries: Dr Mary
McMahon, Queensland University (Australia); Sareena Hopkins, Lynne Bezansen, Dr
Roberta Neault, Tannis Goddard, David Redekopp and Ruben Ford (Canada); Dr Rie
Thomsen (Denmark); Dr Ji-Yeon, Korean Research Institute for Vocational Education and
Training (South Korea); Professor Mark Watson, Nelson Mandela University (South Africa);
Dr Raimo Vuorinen, University of Jyväskylä (Finland); Professor Dr Frans Meijiers (The
Netherlands); Julie Thomas and Pat Cody, Careers Service New Zealand (New Zealand);
Peter Tatham (Tasmania); Ivan Diego (Spain); Anne Hampshire (Australia); Andrew
Rothstein (USA); and Paul Comyn (International Labor Organisation).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background to the report
This report, commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), supported by
the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is designed to provide an overview of the evidence-base
underpinning careers education and its impact on pupils’ skills and outcomes. We define
careers education as:
‘Careers-focused school- or college-mediated provision designed to improve
students’ education, employment and/or social outcomes.’
The main questions addressed by this report include:
• What intervention research has been carried out since the year 1996 measuring the
impact of careers education on improving young people’s outcomes?
• What is the strength of evidence of this research?
• Where are the research gaps that need to be addressed?

Furthermore, this review aims to identify which interventions might be most appropriate to
implement in the UK context to better support careers education, and in turn improve
educational, economic, or social outcomes for young people.
Methods used in the review
Our literature review highlighted 73 studies focused on careers education as defined above.
All studies included were required to adhere to quasi-experimental or experimental
approaches undertaken within Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) countries since 1996. The findings focus on evidence from studies where outcomes
could be compared with a control group, though the robustness of the methodologies used
inevitably varies. We also identified 23 studies exploring the impact of part-time employment.
The types of interventions included in the examined studies included careers provision,
career guidance, enterprise, ICT and careers, job shadowing, mentoring, transformational
leadership, volunteering, work experience, and work-related learning. These were defined
as:
Careers provision: 1 a process of learning, individually or in groups, designed to help
young people to develop the knowledge, confidence, and skills they need to make

1
This may also include: career dialogue—a conversation in which a professional helps an individual
discover and articulate meaning regarding life or work experiences, and career guidance—a
process, delivered individually or in groups, that helps individuals to gain a clearer understanding of
their career development needs and potential through the successful understanding and application of
their career management skills. It includes the use of techniques and tools that focus on personal
challenge and growth and career information—the provision and use of a range of resources to
enable users to develop a better understanding of occupations, employment types, sectors and
employing/learning organisations, current and future employment, and training and educational
opportunities.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 1


well-informed, relevant choices and plans for their future so they can progress
smoothly into further learning and work.
Enterprise: an activity wherein pupils work together to create an economic
enterprise of either a short or long duration, commonly with support from volunteers
from the world of work. Also known as ‘Entrepreneurial Education’ or ‘Enterprise
Competitions’.
ICT and careers education: a means to offer access to information or to provide an
automated interaction, or to provide a channel for communication.
Job Shadowing: a short period of career exploration (typically no more than three
days) within a workplace wherein a pupil observes a number of staff members at
work, reflecting on their occupational experiences. Also known as ‘Work Shadowing’.
Mentoring: a sustained relationship between a pupil and a largely untrained
volunteer (selected on the basis of their occupational experience) managed by a
school to support and encourage the young person through a period of transition.
Transformative Leadership: a programme of careers-focused activity requiring
substantive changes in staff action and behaviour, commonly requiring some
element of staff training.
Volunteering: volunteering within a workplace while in full-time education.
Work experience: a time-limited placement undertaken by a young person (while
still in full-time education) in a workplace designed to give the young person insights
into the experience of being employed in such a workplace.
Work-related learning: a programme of learning that uses the context of work to
develop knowledge, skills and understanding useful in work, including learning
through the experience of work, learning about work and working practices, and
learning the skills for work.
These were considered in the context of their impact on:
• Educational outcomes such as attainment level, participation in education and/or
training, and sustainable progression.
• Economic and employment outcomes such as earnings, employee retention,
likelihood of finding work and/or congruence with the work environment, transition
from education to work, social mobility, and reductions in those ‘not engaged in
education, employment or training’ (NEET).
• Social outcomes such as cultural capital, community engagement, confidence,
resilience, self-esteem, improved non-cognitive skills and/or mental health well-
being, and not engaging in criminal activity.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 2


Key findings
Context
1. The research literature over the last 20 years on the impact of careers education on
student outcomes is largely considered weak and fragmented, due mainly to the
complexity of differing elements being identified and reported in differing ways.
Overall, there are significant shortages in quasi-experimental and experimental
studies in the career development field.

2. While the experimental literature on careers education is weak, it can be seen in the
context of stronger related literature. Longitudinal studies suggest that the way in
which teenagers think about their futures in education and employment has a
significant impact on what becomes of them as working adults. Teenagers who have
effectively underestimated the education required for their desired profession, for
example, are statistically more likely to end up NEET. In addition, young people from
poorer backgrounds are more likely to have career aspirations that are misaligned
with their educational ambitions.

3. Teenage experience of work—in particular part-time employment—has also been


associated with improved economic outcomes for young adults, and this longitudinal
literature is systematically assessed within this review. Overwhelmingly, studies
identify positive economic outcomes for adults who worked part-time as teenagers
while in full-time education, however there is evidence of a negative impact on
immediate attainment outcomes, though impacts are modest when hours worked are
low. It should be noted that teenage part-time employment is rapidly in decline: the
proportion of British 16- to 17-year-olds combining full-time education with part-time
employment has fallen from 42% in 1997 to 18% in 2014. 2 With such decline, the
requirement grows on schools, colleges, and employers—through the realm of
careers education—to help young people gain insights, exposure, and experiences
that traditionally they would have accessed through direct, paid experience of the
labour market.

4. The literature suggests that careers education is optimally facilitated when


interventions are personalised and targeted to individuals’ needs from an early age.
There is compelling evidence that career learning should begin in primary school 3
and continue through adulthood, however very few high-quality intervention studies
focused on primary pupils were identified.

5. This literature review shows a shortage of impact studies in all areas, particularly
(both in the UK and further afield) on the development of young people’s career
management skills within careers education in schools and colleges. Also, empirical

2
UKCES (2015) The Death of the Saturday Job (London: UK Commission for Employment and
Skills).
3
Watson, M. and McMahon, M. (2005) ‘Children’s Career Development: A research review from a
learning perspective’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 119–132.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 3


studies pertaining to career guidance (sometimes described in the literature as
‘career counselling’ or ‘career development’) and its direct impact on education
outcomes—particularly in relation to online provision and tracking career
trajectories—are largely absent. However, beyond this research there is strong
evidence (from the OECD (2010) among others) that the provision of high quality,
independent and impartial career guidance for young people (and adults) is key to
supporting transitions into education, training and employment. Career guidance is
separate but complementary to the effective planning and delivery of careers
education in schools and colleges.

6. The literature is overwhelmingly US in character: 46 (63%) of the 73 studies


identified as providing reliable insight into careers education related to interventions
undertaken in the US; 18 (25%) of studies were UK specific.

Careers education—What is its impact on educational outcomes?


7. The review identified 45 research studies providing reliable assessments of the
impact of careers education on the educational achievement of young people. Of
these, which looked in total at the impact of 67 different interventions, 60% provided
largely positive findings evidencing improvements in educational outcomes. Only one
study suggested negative impacts. The remainder provided either mixed results or
no clear patterns of achievement. The literature is strongly focused on secondary
education with 44 studies providing comment on careers-focused mediated provision
received by pupils between the ages of 12 and 19. Looking at specific interventions,
four areas have been investigated by five or more studies: leadership, mentoring,
careers provision, and work-related learning.
8. A majority of studies provided evidence of improvements in academic achievement.
However, a review of the studies highlights a considerable variation in how academic
outcomes were measured. Drilling down into the results of five comparable studies
looking at the impact of different careers education interventions on achievement at
GCSE, the literature suggests, on average, relatively modest attainment boosts.
9. The lack of evidence associating career education activities with poorer academic
attainment is a significant finding given the potential for such time-consuming
activities to detract from valuable teaching and learning time.
10. The literature reviewed here has relatively little to say about why interventions related
to careers-focused education have, on average, positive impacts on the attainment of
young people. It does, however, broadly support the hypothesis that careers
education helps young people to better understand the relationship between
educational goals and occupational outcomes, increasing pupil motivation and
application. Studies suggest that higher levels of attainment can be expected when
specific groups of young people engage in interventions, or when interventions are
delivered in specific ways.
Careers education—What is its impact on economic outcomes?
11. The review identified 27 studies which explored the links between school-age
careers education and later economic outcomes for those individuals. A robust
literature does exist—linked mainly to wage premiums using national longitudinal

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 4


databases. Two-thirds of the studies reviewed (67%) provided evidence of positive
economic outcomes; one-third found evidence to be mixed with no distinct patterns in
terms of outcomes. No study found evidence that participation in a careers education
intervention can be linked to poorer adult economic outcomes. The scale of the wage
premiums detected is routinely considerable.
12. The review identified five interventions where five or more robust studies had looked
for evidence of long-term economic outcomes linked to careers education: Job
Shadowing, Work Experience, Careers Provision, Mentoring, and Work-related
Learning. It is notable that more than three-quarters of both the Job Shadowing and
Work Experiences studies (two comparable interventions) were judged to produce
largely positive economic outcomes for participating young people. There were no
UK studies identified focusing on volunteering, transformational leadership, or ICT
within careers education testing for improvements in economic outcomes. The
literature on ICT and careers education is negligible, particularly in relation to young
people or the use by schools and colleges of labour market information or
intelligence (LMI).
13. In seeking to make sense of the positive economic outcomes detected, the literature
often references social capital theory, noting that the lack of both personal and
professional network connections, and of exposure to the world of work, is thought to
hinder the labour market progress of young people from low-income backgrounds in
particular. Young people are commonly understood to make use of their episodes of
careers education, and especially first-hand experiences of the labour market, to gain
improved insights into the operation of the labour market, its breadth and demands.
In turn, it is argued, new insights enable more informed decision-making, smoothing
the transition into sustained employment.
Careers education—What is its impact on social outcomes?
14. The review identified 25 research studies providing evidence of the impact of careers
education on the social outcomes of young people. The evidence base is broadly
positive (62%). However, most literature on careers education and its effectiveness is
focused on influencing students’ knowledge, attitudes, and decision-making skills;
students’ behaviours and actions often remain unexamined.
15. The majority of studies provided some evidence of improvements in self-efficacy,
self-confidence, career maturity, decision-making skills, career competencies, or
career identity.
Efficacy of interventions by outcome area
16. A limitation of the literature is the breadth of activities examined across the different
studies. Activities varied from career talks, which might last less than one hour, to
programmes of study lasting many years. As set out below, classifying activities as
interventions (where five or more studies exist), patterns do emerge suggesting
levels of relative efficacy. It should be borne in mind, however, that often
interventions cover a wide range of activities themselves, including numerous distinct
elements. What unites them is a focus, in differing ways, on careers education and
further research is required to disaggregate the elements of provision to understand
the drivers (and they are likely to be distinct) of educational, economic, and social
outcomes.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 5


Evidence of positive impact on:
Type of Description Educational Economic Social Example intervention, impact, and
intervention outcome outcome outcome strength of evidence
Transformational A programme of careers- 67% of 6 Woolley et al. (2013) examine the US
leadership focused activity requiring assessments Career Start programme wherein teaching
substantive changes in staff (grades 6 to 8) follow an interactive
staff action and behaviour, professional development process to
commonly requiring some revise methods of teaching the core
element of staff training. academic curriculum by using specific
career examples. The study reviews
results across 14 randomly assigned
schools and finds statistically significant
increases in pupil achievement in
mathematics, but not in reading.
Evidence strength: medium
Mentoring A sustained relationship 62% of 13 67% of 6 50% of 6 Miller (1999) examines the impact of
between a pupil and a assessments assessments assessments business and community mentoring in
largely untrained volunteer seven schools in England. A value-added
(selected on the basis of analysis found a small but positive impact
their occupational on GCSE results compared with a similar
experience) managed by a group of non-mentored students.
school to support and
Evidence strength: medium
encourage the young
person through a period of
transition.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 1


Careers provision A process of learning, 60% of 10 67% of 15 62% of 13 Kashefpakdel and Percy (2016) examine
individually or in groups, assessments assessments assessments the impact of school-mediated careers
designed to help young talks with speakers from outside of school
people to develop the at ages 14–16 on earnings (in full-time
knowledge, confidence, employment) at age 26. The study finds
and skills they need to that young adults experience wage
make well-informed, premiums of up to 1.6% per careers talk
relevant choices and plans with premiums greatest when participants
for their future, so they can agreed, as teenagers, that the talks were
progress smoothly into ‘very helpful’.
further learning and work.
Evidence strength: high
Work-related A programme of learning 58% of 24 55% of 11 40% of 5 Kemple and Wilner (2008) examine the
learning that uses the context of assessments assessments assessments impact of teenage participation in a three-
work to develop year (one day a week), occupationally-
knowledge, skills, and focused US study programme rich in
understanding useful in employer engagement. Using randomised
work, including learning assignment, they followed 1,764 young
through the experience of people to age 26 and find the intervention
work, learning about work group to earn, on average, 11% more than
and working practices, and the control group.
learning the skills for work.
Evidence strength: high
Job shadowing A short period of career 80% of 5 Neumark and Rothstein examine the
exploration (typically no assessments impact of teenage participation in US
more than three days) school-mediated job shadowing
within a workplace programmes on education and
wherein a pupil observes a employment outcomes. Using longitudinal
number of staff members data, they find job shadowing boosts post-
at work, reflecting on their secondary education participation rates
and reduces incidence of young adult

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 2


occupational experiences. idleness.
Evidence strength: high
Work experience A time-limited placement 75% of 8 Linnehan (2001) examines the
undertaken by a young assessments experiences of 202 African American high
person (while still in full- school students who engaged in extended
time education) in a periods of work experience (one day a
workplace designed to week) alongside mentoring with employee
give the young person volunteers. Young people whose
insights into the experience lasted more than six months
experience of being achieved higher examination results than
employed in such a control group peers.
workplace.
Evidence strength: medium
Enterprise An activity wherein pupils 60% of 5 Huber et al. (2014) examine the impact of
work together to create an assessments a five-day entrepreneurship education
economic enterprise over programme on primary school age Dutch
either a short or long participants. A total of 2,751 pupils were
duration, commonly with randomly allocated to control and
support from volunteers intervention groups by class. The study
from the world of work. found significant positive impact on the
non-cognitive entrepreneurial skills of
pupils (e.g. risk-taking, creativity, self-
efficacy).
Evidence strength: high

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 3


Features of effective careers education practice
17. Some emerging findings about the features of particularly effective careers education
practice have been identified. Given the relative weakness of the evidence and the variability
of the interventions identified, these findings should not be treated as definitive. However,
we believe that features of effective practice include:
• career reflection—making concrete the thinking about one’s own motivation and
aptitudes, self-regulation, self-determination, and resilience to cope with unforeseen
setbacks;
• career exploration—giving shape to one’s own career path by exploring the options
for study or work;
• career action—opportunities to make sense of, and act upon, the learning gained
from differing types of interventions;
• networking—building and maintaining a network of key contacts;
• learning environment—stimulating real-life experiences with work and a dialogue
about these experiences;
• career dialogue—young people having meaningful conversations with teachers,
parents or carers, employers and employees, alumni, and trained and qualified
career development professionals; and
• career conversations in the workplace—giving students exposure to, and experience
of work in real-life situations.

Gaps in the literature


18. The literature on quasi-experimental and experimental studies is weak. There are
several types of intervention the outcomes of which have not been evaluated at all to any
meaningful extent. Key gaps in the literature include:
• how careers education can support the greatest boosts to academic achievement of
the largest numbers of young people, including understanding how identifiable
groups of young people can be expected to respond to different interventions; this
would require combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to further unlock the
‘black box’ of causality;
• personalised and targeted careers education (and career guidance) for young people
(and parents), particularly those in lower socio-economic groups, young immigrants
and those from other disadvantaged ethic groupings, or for those who are disabled or
have special educational needs;
• careers education and systems for tracking students’ enrolment and progression in
learning and work over time (using data available from learning information and HM
Revenue and Customs) to learn more about career trajectories and thus about ways
of identifying cycles of intergenerational poverty and evidence of what helps to break
cyclical trends;
• the effectiveness of ICT in careers education (and career guidance) online, and the
use of ICT and labour market information and intelligence (LMI) in the classroom;
• understanding the career guidance process and the ‘meaning-making’ this provides
for young people in receipt of learning and labour market information; and
• the importance of social and cultural capital as a resource for schools, for example
opportunities for young people to broaden their networks and expand their horizons.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 1


19. Finally, the authors recognise that the literature in this field is, in the words of one
international contact, as ‘slippery as a fish covered in oil’. It is characterised by no
consistency in terminology, is spread across many different disciplines, is found in academic
as well as public literature, and reviews activities and interventions which are commonly
complex. Consequently, the authors welcome comments from readers in building a public
library of key sources to inform future research, policy, and practice.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 2


1. INTRODUCTION
The University of Warwick’s Institute for Employment Research (IER) in partnership with
Education and Employers Research (EER) has undertaken an in-depth review of research
into the most promising types of careers education and the evidence of its impact on
improved education, economic and social outcomes. The study was undertaken from early
February 2016 to late May 2016. The following definition of careers education was applied:
‘Careers-focused school- and/or college-mediated provision designed to improve
students’ education, employment, and/or social outcomes.’
We carried out an in-depth review of the research literature that reports on intervention
studies on careers education and their impact. The review uses formal and explicit methods
to describe and synthesise evidence from research. The main focus of this review was to
ensure a systematic approach to the selection of relevant studies. We aimed to eliminate, as
much as possible, bias in determining which research is included for overall review, and to
carefully examine the quality of the research that is included in the more detailed in-depth
review. As a codicil to the review, we have additionally briefly reviewed the considerably rich
literature surrounding teenage part-time employment with a view to identifying implications
for educational or economic success linked to workplace exposure.

1.1. AIMS OF THE REVIEW


• To systematically review the evidence-base on how careers education makes a
difference to young people’s outcomes from their schooling, drawing on the most up-
to-date and reliable literature findings relevant to the UK and other OECD countries.
• To examine robust causal evidence on careers education impact assessment from a
wide range of studies using experimental and quasi-experimental designs.

The main questions addressed in the study included:


• What intervention research has been carried out since the year 1996 measuring the
impact of careers education on improving young people’s outcomes?
• What is the strength of evidence of this research?
• Where are the research gaps that need to be addressed?
With respect to the impact of careers education interventions on attainment, participation, or
progression in either learning or work, this literature review was designed to identify: (1)
those interventions that are likely (according to current findings) to have a positive impact
and are therefore worth testing at a large scale, (2) those that need further testing to
determine their likely impact, and (3) those that do not seem to show promise.
The review identifies areas of careers education that have successfully supported young
people’s education, economic, or social outcomes, as well as areas of careers education
that could inform activities in the future if further work were undertaken to translate them into
classroom-based approaches or other interventions.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 3


2. CAREERS EDUCATION: IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN
CONTEXT
Over recent years, governments across the world have devoted new attention to the subject
of careers education enriched by work-related interventions. As the OECD (2010)
observed, 4 such interest responds to change in the operation of the labour market:
‘More complex careers, with more options in both work and learning, are opening up
new opportunities for many people. But they are also making decisions harder as
young people face a sequence of complex choices over a lifetime of learning and
work. Helping young people to make these decisions is the task of career guidance…
[Career professionals] need to be able to call on a wide range of information and
web-based resources. Strong links between schools and local employers are very
important means of introducing young people to the world of work… Individual career
guidance should be part of a comprehensive career guidance framework, including a
systematic career education programme to inform students about the world of work
and career opportunities. This means that schools should encourage an
understanding of the world of work from the earliest years, backed by visits to
workplaces and workplace experience.’
In the UK, the last decade has seen significant policy reforms—in careers education,
information, advice and guidance (CEIAG), in employer engagement, and in curriculum
reform enriched by work-related learning—all aimed at helping young people to better
prepare for their working lives. Since 2004, in England alone, schools and colleges have
responded to:
• curriculum reform—Diplomas, Young Apprenticeships, the statutory requirement to
work-related learning at Key Stage 4 (the Wolf Report);
• infrastructural change—the replacement of Connexions and nationally-funded
Education Business Partnerships with new school responsibilities to provide careers
education and employer engagement, the creation of the National Careers Service
(including the government’s inspirational agenda), the Careers and Enterprise
Company with Enterprise Co-ordinators, and volunteer Enterprise Advisers working
with schools); and
• new statutory requirements—to provide independent and impartial guidance to pupils
in Years 8 to 13 combined with extensive employer engagement.

Regarding this latter point, the Department for Education has recently introduced important
changes in post-16 education to coincide with the raising of the participation age to 17 and
18 in England. Work experience now forms an integral part of 16–19 study programmes and
as such schools and colleges are expected to offer their students high quality and
meaningful work experience as part of each study programme. The intention is for students
to gain valuable experience of the work environment and to develop career adaptability and

4
OECD (2010). Learning for Jobs. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 4


resilience on a lifelong basis (sometimes referred to in the literature as ‘career management
skills’). 5

Careers education, as consistently described within policy statements, aims to enable


students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will allow them to understand
and succeed within and beyond their schooling and so underpin individual as well as
national economic performance. Effective careers education programmes in schools and
colleges rely heavily on a range of collaborative and partnership activities. The research
literature over the last 20 years on the impact of careers education on student outcomes is
often considered weak and fragmented, due mainly to the complexity of differing elements
being identified and reported in differing ways. Whiston and Brecheisen (2002) 6 described
the lack of outcome studies as ‘disturbing’ (p.141). Concerns about a lack of outcome
studies for career intervention effectiveness was also raised by Creager (2011). 7 The 2008
review of the impact of business engagement on pupils commissioned by the (then)
Department for Children, Schools and Families stated:
‘There is no shortage of literature on employers and/or business involvement in
education. Much of this literature, however, was excluded from the scope of this
review, mainly because it is largely anecdotal, […] or not evaluated to even modest
scientific standards. There is a particular shortage of studies of employers’ links with
education that have used robust research designs […] that can provide robust
evidence of an impact. Many studies are descriptive and/or are based on single
group before and after designs without a true comparator. […] Another weakness of
the studies in this area is that they have small sample sizes with low statistical
power. This can lead to either inconclusive findings or to erroneous conclusions.’
As will be seen in this review, while significant additions to the literature have been made
since 2008, the research remains both relatively diffuse and weak. Literature is found across
a wide range of disciplines: career guidance, education policy, sociology, economics,
vocational guidance, human resource management, and many other academic fields.
Studies of merit have also been commissioned, and published, by many government bodies,
creating a literature which is unusually fragmented. It is for the determined reader to identify
and make sense of the connections across all the areas of study.

5
European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (2010) define this as ‘a range of competences which
provide structured ways for individuals (and groups) to gather, analyse, synthesise and organise self,
educational and occupational information, as well as the skills to make and implement decisions and
transitions;. See: http://www.elgpn.eu/publications/browse-by-
language/english/Gravina_and_Lovsin_cms_concept_note_web.pdf/.
6
Whiston, S. C. and Brecheisen, B. K. (2002) ‘Practice and Research in Career Counseling and
Development – 2001’, The Career Development Quarterly, 51, 98–154.
7
Creager, M. (2011) ‘Practice and research in career counseling and development-2010’, The Career
Development Quarterly, 59, 482–527.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 5


2.1. WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THEIR FUTURE CAREERS
MATTERS
While outside the scope of this review of the impact of careers education, one significant
advance in the literature since 2008 provides a frame for the discussion which follows.
Over recent years, a series of US and UK studies have used longitudinal data to explore the
significance of teenage thinking about careers to their later educational, economic, or social
outcomes. While the studies do not focus on the impact of careers-focused education, they
do make a compelling point: after controlling for social background and academic
achievement, it is clear that the way that teenagers think about their futures in education and
employment has a significant impact on what actually becomes of them as working adults.
In the UK, Schoon and Polk (2011) have used two longitudinal databases—the National
Child Development Study 1958 and British Cohort Study (BCS) 1970—to explore the long-
term impacts of teenage career aspirations, finding that the character of teenage aspirations
can be directly linked to adult social status (using a variable combining occupational status
and net weekly income) at age 33/34. Longitudinal studies following the experiences of
young people are rare. One ongoing study which demands close attention is the ESRC
Aspires2 project led by Professor Louise Archer at King’s College, London. 8

2.2. CAREER UNCERTAINTY


Further analysis of the BCS by Yates and colleagues (2010) has shown that teenagers who
were uncertain in their career aspirations at age 16 were—after controlling for academic
achievement, social background’ and family circumstances—three times more likely to
experience a significant period of being NEET by the age of 19 than comparable peers.
Such detrimental outcomes were also found by Morrison and colleagues (2014) for the BCS
group who were all born in 1970. Morrison and colleagues, however, find no such long-term
negative consequences for young people born in 1990 and who were uncertain at age 14.
Staff and colleagues (2010) look, moreover, at the implications of career uncertainty at age
16, finding it related to significantly lower levels of educational attainment than comparable
peers with professional aspirations. From a US perspective, using data from the National
Educational Longitudinal Study, Staff and colleagues (2010) have found significantly lower
earnings accruing to young adults at age 26 linked to teenage uncertainty in career
aspirations.

2.3. CAREER MISALIGNMENT


Yates and colleagues (2010) also examine the question of ambition misalignment. They
identify a large group of teenagers who, at age 16, professed career aspirations requiring
higher levels of qualification than they expected to achieve, or put another way, young
people who had effectively underestimated the education required for their desired
profession. These misaligned are statistically more likely to become NEET by the age of 19

8
ASPIRES2 is the second phase of a ten-year long longitudinal research project exploring the
science and careers aspirations of young people.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 6


than comparable peers: with a 3 times greater risk for males and 1.7 times for females. Such
detrimental outcomes are also found by Morrison and colleagues (2014) for the 1970 BCS
group, but they find no such long-term negative consequences for young people born in
1990 and who were misaligned at age 14.
Still using the BCS, Sabates and colleagues (2011) have tracked individuals through to the
age of 34 and found statically significant higher levels of unemployment experienced and
lower levels of earnings (approximately 7% of wage variations identified) linked to teenage
misalignment. These insights are especially relevant to the work of the Education
Endowment Foundation because it is disproportionately young people from poorer
backgrounds who are significantly more likely to be uncertain or misaligned (Yates et al.,
2010).

2.4. EXPERIENCE OF THE WORLD OF WORK


Recent research has also provided considerable insight into the impacts of young people
combining their full-time studies with experience of work (or lack of it), specifically paid part-
time employment. A brief review of that literature is included within this review. This literature
builds on many studies of high quality, and commonly reports on long-term economic
benefits to young people. As the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES)
unambiguously stated, the ‘benefits of “earning and learning” for young people are clear and
well documented’. The literature provides evidence that something meaningful often
happens to young people, for good (and at times for ill) as a result of their teenage, school-
age part-time employment. This matters because it allows us to add fresh insight to a
literature which, while strengthening, will be found still to be weak, and because, as the
UKCES has shown, teenage experience of work, in particular part-time employment, is
rapidly in decline. The proportion of 16- to 17-year-olds combining full-time education with
part-time employment has fallen from 42% in 1997 to 18% in 2014. 9 With such decline, the
requirement grows on schools, through the realm of careers education, to help young people
gain the types of insights, exposure, and experiences which they might traditionally have
accessed through direct paid experience of the labour market.

2.5. INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL CAREER GUIDANCE


There is evidence that the provision of high quality, independent and impartial career
guidance for young people (and adults) is key to supporting transitions into education,
training and employment. For example, Bimrose, Barnes and Hughes (2008), 10 Hearne
(2005), 11 Hooley and colleagues (2012), 12 and Perdrix and colleagues (2012) 13 highlight key

9
UKCES (2015) The Death of the Saturday Job, London: UK Commission for Employment and
Skills.
10
Bimrose, J., Barnes, S-A. and Hughes, D. (2008) ‘Adult career progression and advancement: A
five year study of the effectiveness of guidance’, Coventry: Institute for Employment Research,
University of Warwick.
11
Hearne, L. (2005) ‘Opening a Door', Evaluating the Benefits of Guidance for the Adult Client: A
Report’, Waterford: REGSA, WIT.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 7


findings in this regard. These studies are outside the scope of this literature review, mainly
because of their focus on adults or guidance in the workplace, nonetheless, they are highly
relevant in the context of individuals’ prior experience of schooling. There are a number of
important educational, economic or social outcomes likely to be generated by high quality
careers education. This may involve a cost-benefit analysis approach. For example, in the
context of career guidance, Mayston (2002) 14 identifies wider benefits such as increased tax
yields to the Exchequer, reductions in unemployment and other social security costs to the
Exchequer, reductions in health care costs on the National Health Service, reductions in the
frequency and costs of crime, and macro-economic benefits.
Career guidance can play a central role in learning systems by increasing individuals’
engagement with learning, making clear the pathways through learning and work, and by
supporting the acquisition of career management skills for managing life, learning, and work
(ELGPN, 2014). 15 This literature review shows a shortage of quasi-experimental and
experimental studies in the UK and further afield on the development of career management
skills within careers education.

2.6. TERMINOLOGY
A note on terminology is warranted. Terms such as ‘careers education’, ‘career guidance’,
‘career counselling’ and ‘career development’ are often used interchangeably in the
literature. Phrases like ‘mentoring’ and ‘enterprise education’ are also commonly used to
describe some very different educational experiences. Terms such as ‘experience of work’
or ‘work experiences’ are sometimes used interchangeably. In an effort to standardise the
career education language, our focus is primarily on curriculum-based interventions, pastoral
interventions, and those activities designed to provide direction and support to improve
individual outcomes, including episodes of employer engagement. Definitions of key terms
are outlined below in section 3.
Careers education varies depending on the individual’s circumstances, but the literature
shows that career development is optimally facilitated when interventions begin in primary
school 16 and continue through adulthood. Research shows children begin to eliminate their
least favoured career options between the ages of 9 and 13. By this time, it is argued, they

12
Hooley, T., Devins, D., Watts, A.G., Hutchinson, J., Marriott, J. and Walton, F. (2012) ‘Tackling
unemployment, supporting business and developing careers’, London: UK Commission for
Employment and Skills.
13
Perdrix, S., Stauffer, S., Masdonati, J., Massoudi, K. and Rossier, J. (2012) ‘Effectiveness of career
counseling: A one-year follow-up’, Journal of Vocational Behavior 80(2), 565–578.
14
Mayston, D. (2002) ‘Assessing the Benefits of Careers Guidance’ (CeGS Occasional Paper),
Derby: Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby.
15
See http://www.elgpn.eu/publications/browse-by-language/english/elgpn-tools-no-3.-the-evidence-
base-on-lifelong-guidance/
16
Watson, M. and McMahon, M. (2005) ‘Children’s Career Development: A research review from a
learning perspective’, Journal of Vocational Behavior 67 (2005) 119–132.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 8


will have abandoned the ‘fantasy’ careers associated with the very young and have started
to become more aware of potential constraints on their occupational choice. 17
In many studies, there is a dominant focus in the literature on US-centric findings on careers
and technical education courses.

17
Gottfredson, L. S. (2002) ‘Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription, compromise, and self creation’ in
D. Brown (ed.), Career Choice and Development (4th edn., pp. 85–148), San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 9


3. METHODOLOGY

3.1. SEARCH STRATEGY


We applied a systematic review methodology to source literature from relevant studies. This
included:
• setting review parameters—refining the review question, defining keywords, and
developing the search strategy;
• searching—the systematic identification of potentially relevant evidence using a
keyword strategy;
• screening—the application of pre-determined criteria to report titles, abstracts, and
full texts derived from the review question and related sub-questions;
• data-extraction—an in-depth examination, quality assessment, and extraction of
evidence; and
• synthesis and reporting—the analysis and identification of key findings.

In order to optimise chances of identifying relevant and reliable research within a literature
characterised by the use of varying terminology and diffused across a very wide range of
disciplines and academic and public reports, the research team used wide-ranging evidence
databases via the University of Warwick Library (such as EBSCO and Scopus which allow
sophisticated searching across a wide range of thematic databases) plus rare personal
resource libraries. In addition, key informants were contacted across OECD countries (see
Appendix 1) to invite submission of copies of studies considered as robust causal evidence
on careers education impact assessment. Finally, the review team considered literature
previously identified by the Department for Education and in works commissioned by the
EEF and the Careers and Enterprise Company in England.
Appendix 2 identifies the keyword search terms that were used as a result of this search
strategy. Note that each row represents an ‘OR’ function where, for example, the terms
‘young people’ OR ‘adolescent’ OR ‘pupil’ OR ‘education’ OR ‘school’ were used in
conjunction with the other terms. We also used the ‘NOT’ facility in searching databases to
exclude the terms ‘opinion studies’ OR ‘no counterfactuals’ OR ‘weak counterfactuals’.

3.2. INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA


Once the initial search strategy had been carried out, we identified from abstracts (and, for
some papers, from reading the full articles) the studies to be included in the keyword map,
according to the following criteria:
• research that has been published in the English language since 1996;
• only studies from OECD countries; 18

18
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico,

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 10


• adheres to an experimental or quasi-experimental design;
• research that examines some aspect(s) of careers education directly linked to school
and college provision (that is, all types of schools and colleges ranging from primary
education to upper secondary education or equivalent); and
• research that focuses on young people of all types and ages—Key Stage 2 (7–11-
year-olds), KS 3 (11–14), KS 4 (14–16), and KS 5 (16–19).

Studies were excluded if they:


• focused on higher education, training, apprenticeships, or the UK Department for
Work and Pensions ‘Work Programme’;
• focused on opinion studies with no (or weak) counterfactuals;
• did not adhere to either an experimental or quasi-experimental design;
• did not include a control or comparison group;
• did not include outcome measures linked directly to careers education interventions
in schools or colleges;
• did not focus on children aged 7 or above; and
• were doctoral or post-graduate student studies.

We only included studies from the year 1996 because it was felt that 20 years’ worth of
research would uncover the main themes in terms of which interventions have been
developed and implemented across the member states of the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD). We were also mindful of an extensive body of
evidence highlighting rapid changes within the youth labour market and in the educational
expectations of young people. 19 Technological change and the forces of globalisation have
changed the nature of jobs available and the skills required by employers. The numbers of
people working part-time or for themselves has increased rapidly since the 1980s. 20 The era
of the job for life for many people is well and truly gone—the typical twenty-first century
Briton can expect to work in a dozen or more different jobs across a number of different
career areas. 21 Twelve years ago, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn did not exist. Seventeen
years before that, we did not have the worldwide-web. Technology, moreover, has
irreversibly changed the way that young people are schooled both within and outside of the
classroom. The last generation has seen, moreover, a clear shift in expectations in that
young people are overwhelmingly expected to stay in education after the age of 16 with high
proportions going on to higher education.

Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
19
Mann, A. and Huddleston, P. eds. (2015) ‘How should our schools respond to the demands of the
twenty first century labour market. Eight perspectives’, London: Education and Employers.
20
International Labour Organisation (2010) ‘KILM Part-Time Workers’, Paris: ILO. Retrieved from:
http://kilm.ilo.org/manuscript/kilm06.asp.
21
Today, the average person changes jobs ten to fifteen times (with an average of 11 job changes)
during his or her career, which means a good amount of time is spent changing employment.
Retrieved from: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/employmentinformation/f/change-jobs.htm.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 11


Applying the above-mentioned criteria yielded 147 studies for inclusion in the keyword map
(Figure 1). This was then reduced after further in-depth review and analysis to 96 studies.

Figure 1: Flow of literature through searching and screening process

As illustrated in Figure 1 above, many of the original 359 studies identified from our search
were excluded once the abstracts (or titles) were cross-referenced against the inclusion and

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 12


exclusion criteria. Specifically, the significant majority (n = 118) were eliminated due to the
lack of appropriate control or comparison group. Some studies (n = 15) were excluded
because they were not targeted at school or college students. These studies predominantly
had active labour market policies (ALMPs), apprenticeships, training programmes or higher
education students as their focus, and while these are important and interesting topics, this
type of provision is not the focus of this review. Other studies (n = 12) were not exclusively
targeted on an aspect of careers education, as defined within this review, and ten studies
were focused exclusively on opinion studies with no, or weak, counterfactuals (that is, they
had some form of evidence which may be perceived as important but not the focus of this
review). Finally, five studies were excluded because the outcome measures did not include
English language, ten were duplicates, and 13 were unobtainable.
Applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria in this way left 147 studies which, based on
their abstracts, appeared to be appropriate for the review. We then accessed the full text of
each article to carry out a more detailed application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
This process led us to exclude further papers. The majority of these (n = 39) were excluded
because they were judged to be insufficiently reliable and transparent in use of appropriate
research methodologies or not peer reviewed; a further six were excluded because they
were targeted on adults, and another six were excluded due to a more general focus on
education. Applying this screening process yielded a final 96 studies in the systematic
keyword map (the process of applying the keywords presented in Appendix 2 to the
databases and hand searching). Appendix 3 presents the details of each of these 96
studies. It should be noted that the 96 studies included 23 exploring the impact of part-time
employment on the educational, economic, and social outcomes of young people in full-time
education, leaving 73 studies focused primarily on careers education.
A four-level impact assessment model was used to describe impact studies in terms of the
robustness of the research design and the reliability of the causal evidence provided
(Hughes, 2004, see Appendix 4). From this, we agreed with the EEF to focus, and include in
the review, level 3 ‘outcome measurement studies with control by calculation’ (typically
longitudinal studies) and level 4 ‘outcome measurement studies with a control group’
(typically randomised control studies). Some further data was captured on level 1 and level 2
studies, often qualitative pieces providing insights of genuine value to researchers, however
these are not presented in this report.
Table 1, below, provides an overview of the level of evidence found by broad outcome
measure. The majority of studies were assessed to have level 3 impact (55%, n = 40) and
the remainder to have level 4 impact (45%, n = 33).

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 13


Table 1: Broad outcome measure by level of evidence

Broad Level of evidence 3 Level of evidence 4


outcome
measure No. % No. %

Education 9 12% 14 19%


Economic 12 16% 2 3%
Social 3 4% 9 12%
Combination of
16 22% 8 11%
outcomes
Total 40 55% 33 45%

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 14


4. An overview of the literature
This section describes the basic characteristics of the 96 in-depth review studies. There is a
marked contrast between the number of studies carried out in the US and other English-
speaking nations.

4.1. Characteristics of the studies for the in-depth review


This section describes the basic characteristics of the 73 in-depth review studies, after
separating out those that consider part-time employment. Forty-six of the 73 studies were
carried out within the US as illustrated in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Broad outcome measures by country of study
Documents reviewed Broad outcome measure
Country Combination
No. % Education Economic Social
of measures

Australia 1 1% 1
Canada 5 7% 3 1 1
England 8 11% 2 1 4 1

Finland 1 1% 1
Netherlands 3 4% 1 1 1
UK 10 14% 3 4 1 2

USA 46 63% 14 9 4 19

Note: The total number of documents reviewed is 73, but this table totals to 74. This reflects that one
study was undertaken in both the UK and USA.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 15


Figure 2: Representation of broad outcome measures by country of study

Country Studies

Australia Canada England Finland Netherlands UK USA

The studies in the in-depth review reflect research on different age groups (and
consequently levels of education). Table 3, below, illustrates that the majority of studies (n =
59) were carried out in secondary schools, with only three studies specifically related to
research into special education needs (SEN) within mainstream schooling. 22 Only two
studies solely considered primary education. A few studies focused on interventions in
primary and secondary school education, typically relating to US Middle School provision (n
= 9).

22
Upon completion of the literature review, the researchers identified two additional references highly
relevant in this regard. These are not included in the overall analysis but have potential to be
included: Phelps. I. A. and Hanley-Maxwell, C. (1997) ‘School-to-work transitions for youth with
disabilities: a review of outcomes and practices’, Review of Educational Research 67(2), 197–222,
and Wagner, M. W. and Blackorby, J. (1996) ‘Transitions from High School to Work or College: How
Special Education Students Fare’, The Future of Children 6(1), 103–120.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 16


Table 3: Documents reviewed by population and broad outcome measure
Documents reviewed Broad outcome measures
Combination
No. % Education Economic Social
of measures
Primary 2 3% 1 1
Secondary 59 81% 17 13 10 19
Primary /
9 12% 4 5
Secondary
SEN /
3 4% 1 1 1
Secondary
Total 73 24 14 12 24

Table 4: Documents reviewed with specialist focus and broad outcome measure
Broad outcome measure
Specialist Number of
focus documents Combination
Education Economic Social
of measures
Gender 15 4 3 3 4
Class 26 9 6 6 5
Ethnicity 14 3 4 3 5
SEN
3 1 1 1
(disability)

Table 4, above, illustrates the number of studies in the in-depth review pertaining specifically
to:
• gender (n = 15);
• disability/special educational needs (SEN) (n = 3);
• ethnicity (n = 14); and
• class/disadvantage/poverty (n = 26).

Within each of the educational, economic and social outcomes, relevant studies are
considered from the above-mentioned keyword searches. The dominant research discourse
in this field of careers education study focuses on class/disadvantage/poverty. Studies that
focus on gender tend to highlight the disparity between male and female participation in
education and, in particular, actual and perceived wage earnings and employment
opportunities linked to economic outcomes. Much of the literature reflects on ethnicity from a
US perspective. In the UK literature, emphasis is placed on enterprise activities for young
people from ethnic minority backgrounds. As mentioned above, the literature on careers
education for those with disabilities or SEN is underdeveloped in the identified literature.
Given the opaque quality of this literature, it is recommended that a further narrowly focused
review is undertaken.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 17


4.2. Brief overview of the outcome areas
Having identified the studies for the in-depth review, we then assessed the quality of the
evidence of these interventions to help identify whether there may be particular insights or
applications from this research relevant to the UK context. Appendix 5 provides definitions of
types of interventions emerging from the analysis. These cover the following dimensions:
careers provision, enterprise, ICT and careers, job shadowing, mentoring, transformational
leadership, volunteering, work experience, and work-related learning. We defined these as
follows:
Careers provision 23 is a process of learning—individually or in groups—designed to
help young people to develop the knowledge, confidence and skills they need to
make well-informed, relevant choices and plans for their future so they can progress
smoothly into further learning and work.
Enterprise is an activity wherein pupils work together to create an economic
enterprise of either a short or long duration, commonly with support from volunteers
from the world of work. Also known as ‘Entrepreneurial Education’ or ‘Enterprise
Competitions’.
ICT and careers education is a means to offer access to information, to provide an
automated interaction, or to provide a channel for communication.
Job Shadowing: a short period of career exploration (typically no more than three
days) within a workplace wherein a pupil observes a number of staff members at
work, reflecting on their occupational experiences. Also known as Work Shadowing.
Mentoring: a sustained relationship between a pupil and a largely untrained
volunteer (selected on the basis of their occupational experience) managed by a
school to support and encourage the young person through a period of transition.
Transformative Leadership: a programme of careers-focused activity requiring
substantive changes in staff action and behaviour, commonly requiring some
element of staff training.
Volunteering: volunteering within a workplace whilst in full-time education
Work experience: a time-limited placement undertaken by a young person (whilst
still in full-time education) in a workplace designed to give the young person insights
into the experience of being employed in such a workplace.
Work-related learning is a programme of learning that uses the context of work to
develop knowledge, skills, and understanding useful in work, including learning
through the experience of work, learning about work and working practices, and
learning the skills for work.
We then organised the interventions according to:

23
See note 1, page 1.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 18


• educational outcomes—attainment level, participation in education and/or training,
and sustainable progression;
• economic and employment outcomes—earnings, employee retention, likelihood of
finding work and/or congruence with the work environment, transition from education
to work, and social mobility; and
• social outcomes—cultural capital, community engagement, confidence, resilience,
self-esteem, improved non-cognitive skills and/or mental health well-being,
reductions in those not engaged in education, employment or training (NEET), and
reduction in engagement in criminal activity.

These outcomes were considered to determine whether there were any specific discernible
patterns corresponding to the aspects of careers education investigated. It was also noted
that some studies would not simply fall into a single category—that overlapping findings
were likely to emerge—as discussed in each section.
Table 5: Overview of types of outcomes and outcome combinations
Total number of Percentage of
Overview
documents documents

Broad outcome measure


Education outcomes 23 32%
Economic outcomes 14 19%
Social outcomes 12 16%
Total 49 67%
Combinations of outcomes
Education and economic outcomes 11 15%
Education and social outcomes 11 15%
Economic and social outcomes 2 3%
Total 24 33%

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 19


Figure 3: Representation of broad outcome measure and combinations of measures

It became apparent in the in-depth review of 96 studies that that some research findings
offered particularly content-rich and strong insight as to which interventions and approaches
have an impact on young people’s outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged young people.
As a result, not all studies are discussed in-depth but they all feature in the main references
section (see Appendix 3).

4.3. Brief overview of the types of interventions


Table 6: Broad outcome measure by intervention
Broad outcome measure
No. of
Intervention Combination
documents Education Economic Social
of measures
Work-related
28 13 3 12
learning
Work
10 1 5 1 3
experience
Volunteering 0
Leadership 6 4 2
Mentoring 18 6 4 1 7
Job
6 3 3
shadowing
ICT in
careers 5 3 2
education
Enterprise 10 1 3 4 2

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 20


Careers
29 3 10 7 9
provision

4.4. Literature relating to part-time teenage employment


Twenty-three studies were identified as relevant to the review. As set out in the tables below,
literature is predominantly US in origin and split in analyses of outcome areas between
educational and economic impacts.
Table 7: Broad outcome measures by country of study (part-time employment)
Broad outcome measure
Country of
study Combination of
Education Economic Social
measures
Australia 1 1 3
England* 1 2
Northern Ireland 1
UK 2 1
USA 4 4 3
Wales* 1

The weaknesses in the literature are discussed more fully later on in the report.
Note: The total number of documents reviewed is 23, but this table totals to 24. This reflects
that one study was undertaken in England and Wales.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 21


5. What works? Education outcomes
• Does careers education improve educational outcomes?
• What difference can it make to educational outcomes?
• Why does it make a difference?
• Which interventions can be expected to be most effective?

5.1. Does careers education improve educational outcomes?

On educational outcomes related to careers education, a literature using level 3 and 4


methodologies does exist but it is limited. Our initial review identified 58 pieces of research
literature. Having set aside the literature related to part-time employment, 45 studies on
careers-focused education provision meeting the review criteria were identified.

The literature is overwhelmingly American. Of the 45 studies identified, 33 (75%) relate to


the United States; seven (16%) relate to the UK, including England; four (9%) to Canada;
and one (2%) to the Netherlands.

Of the UK research studies, it is notable that five of the seven studies were the direct result
of government-funded activity—either by the precursors to the Department for Education or
the National Audit Office—and the remainder represents evaluations of programmes funded
by third sector organisations. The reviewers of this study have found no evidence of UK
academia engaging in a serious fashion without such funded encouragement in the question
of whether young people’s educational outcomes can be related to school-mediated careers-
focused education.

The literature is strongly focused on secondary education with 44 of the 45 studies providing
comment on careers education received by pupils between the ages of 12 and 19. Ten
studies (22%) did have something meaningful to say about the impact of provision received
by pupils between the ages of 5 and 11. Such studies mainly related to US Middle School
provision.

Studies often describe either programmes of activity which involve more than one
intervention or, on occasion, look systematically at the impacts of different interventions in
isolation. Within the 45 studies, it is possible to identify 67 discrete de facto studies providing
assessments of the impact of different interventions on the educational outcomes of pupils.
Of the research studies, 27 (60%) provided largely positive findings, evidencing
improvements in educational outcomes linked to pupil participation in careers education; 17
(38%) presented mixed findings, whereby outcomes were either both positive and negative
in broadly even distribution, depending on variables such as pupil demographic, or wherein
no meaningful changes in educational outcomes could be detected, whether positive or
negative. Just one of the research studies (2%) showed that pupil participation in careers
education could be unambiguously linked to negative educational outcomes for pupils.
As set out in Table 8, such studies focused specifically on educational interventions
categorised as work-related learning (n = 24), mentoring (n = 13), careers provision (n = 10),

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 22


leadership (n = 6), work experience (n = 4), ICT in careers education (n = 4), enterprise (n =
3), and job shadowing (n = 3).

It is worth noting that some studies assessed multiple interventions separately and so the
number of interventions (n = 67) is greater than the number of studies (n = 45) reported
here. Of the 67 individual assessments of interventions within the literature relating to
education outcomes, 41 (61%) were found to have generally positive outcomes.

Table 8: Educational outcome assessments by intervention

All studies (education


outcomes only and Generally Generally
No. of
combination of positive Mixed results negative
studies
outcomes with outcome outcome
education)

Work-related learning 24 14 (58%) 9 (38%) 1 (4%)

Work experience 4 4 (100%)

Leadership 6 4 (67%) 2 (33%)

Mentoring 13 8 (62%) 5 (39%)

Job shadowing 3 1 (33%) 2 (67%)

ICT in careers education 4 4 (100%)

Enterprise 3 3 (100%)

Careers provision 10 6 (60%) 4 (40%)

Note: Some studies in the above table have more than one intervention.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 23


UK studies (education
outcomes only and Generally Generally
No. of
combination of positive Mixed results negative
studies
outcomes with outcome outcome
education)

Work-related learning 5 (63%) 3 (60%) 2 (40%)

Work experience

Volunteering

Leadership 1 (13%) 1 (100%)

Mentoring 1 (13%) 1 (100%)

Job shadowing

ICT in careers education

Enterprise

Careers provision 1 (13%) 1 (100%)

Negative educational outcomes


While some studies classified as ‘mixed’ (considering a number of different educational
outcomes) found no evidence of impact, we found little evidence of negative outcomes—that
pupils undertaking an intervention consistently performed worse than peers in academic
assessments. It is Tran and Nathan (2010) who unambiguously find negative educational
outcomes linked to a problem-solving-focused, project-based programme of study ‘aimed at
showing students how engineering skills, including those from maths, science and
technology, are used to solve everyday problems’. The programme, Project Lead the Way,
is delivered over five nine-week courses between grades 6 and 8 in the US. It is unknown to
what extent, if any, real-world learning resources are used within the curriculum or whether it
was delivered within the context of careers provision. Compared to a matched group of
students (controlled for prior achievement) who did not enrol in the programme, participating
students made significantly smaller gains in maths assessments and no measurable
advantages in science assessment. This was the only study to find evidence of pedagogic
disadvantage or that an opportunity cost applied related to participation in an episode of
careers education.
The lack of evidence associating career education activities with poorer academic
attainment is a significant finding given the potential opportunity costs involved in what is a
time-consuming activity for young people that often takes place during the school day,
displacing valuable teaching and learning time.

5.2. What difference can it make to educational outcomes?


Positive educational outcomes
In this review of educational outcomes, a majority of studies provided evidence of
improvements in academic achievement. However, a review of the studies highlights a very
considerable variation in how academic outcomes were measured.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 24


Measurements of educational outcomes vary significantly across the literature and include:
• examination results, academic course-taking behaviour (the selection of more
advanced courses) (Dalton et al., 2013);
• progression to, and completion of, higher education and institution-based courses
successfully undertaken (Bragg et al., 2002; Neild; Fletcher and Zirkle, 2009;
MacAllum et al., 2002, p. 9);
• GCSE or equivalent qualifications results—eight highest grades achieved;
• staying-on rates (UK) at 16 (Golden et al., 2005);
• high school graduation rates (US) (Kemple, 2001; Nield et al., 2015; Bishop, 2004)
• Grade Point Average (US) (MacAllum et al., 2002); and
• credit accumulation (Nield et al., 2015).

By consequence, a simple table will do no justice to what is a complex set of indicators that
offer little by way of easy comparison. To this end, reviewers focused on data related to
educational outcomes in one jurisdiction, at one pupil age, related to one set of
qualifications—the GCSE results of 16-year-old pupils in English schools. As set out in Table
9, below, in three of five of the studies adjudged to find evidence of positive educational
outcomes, the average impact on attainment is modest. It should be recognised, of course,
that averages will disguise outcomes that may well be very different by pupil characteristic or
by delivery mode.

Table 9: Illustrative studies investigating impact on attainment

Study Method Impact size


Golden Multi-level model analysis. IFP was a programme of learning designed to ‘create
et al., Data collected from those enhanced vocational and work-related learning
2005 participating in the Increased opportunities for 14- to 16-year-olds of all abilities who
Flexibility for 14- to 16-year- can benefit most’.
olds Programme (IFP). 16,654
Students who participated in IFP attained slightly higher
total students participated in
total points overall at KS 4 than students who were
IFP in first cohort (from 2002–
similar in terms of their prior attainment and other
2004).
background characteristics who had not participated in
Data matched to the NFER’s
the programme. 90.9% of known IFP students achieved
Register of Schools and
A*–G at GCSE, compared to 90.2% of non-IFP students
DfES’s National Pupil
at IFP schools, and 90.5% of all students nationally.
Database (NPD). Creates a
(A*–C was 36.1%, compared to 33.1% and 34.6%.)
comparison group of 453,699
Year 10 students in the UK (in Female students gained 6 points more than male
2003/2004). students in attainment through IFP.

Harrison Statistical analysis of National CoPE is a nationally recognised qualification that


et al., Pupil Database records for involves modules on: communication, citizenship and
2012 cohort completing KS4 in community, sport and leisure, independent living, the
2010. Quasi-experimental environment, vocational preparation, health and fitness,
analysis of a randomised work related learning and enterprise, science and
paired sample of 200 young technology, international links, expressive arts, and
people taking Certificate of beliefs and values (ASDAN website).
Personal Effectiveness

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 25


(CoPE) and 200 young people Taking CoPE in a ‘wide usage school’ (where CoPE is
who did not. taken by 25% or more of the cohort), after controlling for
background there is an overall 10% increased likelihood
of achieving GCSE English at A*–C, compared with
similar students not taking CoPE.
CoPE is associated with:
• an average of an extra one-fifth of a grade in
GCSE English; and
• 5% increased likelihood of achieving 5 GCSEs
at A*–C (including English and Maths) (‘wide
usage’ compared to no CoPE).

Hooley et DfE data, student The study considers the performance of 820 schools
al., 2014 performance—schools with that have successfully validated the quality of their
Quality Award for careers vs careers provision with an external party leading to a
comparable schools (matched Quality Award. Compared to matched schools,
by pupil/teacher ratio, SEN, possession of an Award is associated with a statistically
FSM, EAL proportion, prior significant 1.83% increase in the number of students
pupil performance, attaining at least five good GCSEs and a 1.80%
neighbourhood deprivation); increase in the number of students achieving Maths and
proportion of students English GCSEs.
completing five good GCSEs
(defined as 5 A*–C grades
including English and Maths).
Miller, 176 students split between Miller examines a mentoring programme designed to
1999 mentored control group) from support Year 11 pupils identified as being on the
seven schools took the Year borderline of achieving 5 GCSEs A*–C. 46 mentored
Eleven Learning Information girls scored an average 2.26 GCSE points above
System (YELLIS) test devised YELLIS prediction compared to 1.87 GCSE points for
by the University of Durham. the 43 control group girls. The difference between these
GCSE results were matched scores gives a measure of the value added by
against the YELLIS mentoring of 0.39.
predictions using the standard
The 44 mentored boys had an average score of –1.72
scoring system (i.e. A* = 8
GCSE points below YELLIS compared to –2.13 for the
points to G = 1 point) (1996/7
49 control group boys (mentoring value added = 0.41).
school year).
NAO, Surveys of 1,274 pupils The NAO report reviews a range of different initiatives
2010 (2008). aimed at increasing pupil participation, and
Analysis with the National achievement, in science and mathematical subjects.
Pupil Database and ONS Interventions include STEM Ambassadors—a
population estimates (linear programme that recruits volunteers with working
regressions). experience of STEM subjects to act as positive role
models to young people and so improve their perception
of science. Pupil engagement with STEM Ambassadors
is associated with statistically significant increase of
0.525 in the number of pupils achieving grades A*–C in
GCSE sciences.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 26


5.3. Why does it make an impact?
In attempting to understand evidence of improved academic attainment, Hughes and
colleagues (2004) 24 and Hooley and colleagues (2014) drew on the earlier work of Killeen
and colleagues (1999) 25 who theorised ‘that the relationship of career guidance to attainment
is due to its capacity to help young people to:
• understand the relationship between educational goals and access to occupational
goals;
• clarify valued outcomes;
• set attainable educational goals; and
• understand the relationship between current educational effort and performance to
the achievement of educational and career goals’.

Career guidance that complements careers education programmes can therefore help
individuals to set achievable goals and identify the practical steps that can be taken towards
these goals. This in turn provides ‘meaning making’ and motivation, leading to greater
academic engagement and attainment. Empirical studies of career guidance (career
counselling) and its direct impact on education outcomes, particularly in relation to online
provision and tracking career trajectories, are largely absent from the literature. In many
OECD countries this topic has been identified by researchers and impact-assessment
specialists as an area that requires greater attention by both policymakers and the research
community.
The literature reviewed here has little to say about why interventions related to careers
education have, on average, positive impacts on the attainment of young people. However,
what it does have to say is in broad support of the hypothesis offered by Killeen and
colleagues (1999).
A review of the assessments given in Table 9 above is illustrative. Miller (1999), for example,
draws on interviews with teaching staff to make sense of the improvements in attainment
observed, suggesting perhaps an indirect causal link between improved GCSE performance
and heightened pupil senses of self-worth and motivation while noting mentor support for
pupils in the management and completion of course work and development of study skills
(pp. 75–76).
Harrison and colleagues (2012) acknowledge that their study can ‘draw no firm conclusions
about the mechanisms’ by which the qualification they assess may impact upon GCSE
outcomes, but point readers towards reported boosts to pupil ‘confidence, self-esteem,
motivation and attendance’ linked to participation in the evaluated programme of study.
From a firmer basis, using a database of information surrounding the attitudes, behaviour
and achievements of 1,800 pupils, Golden and colleagues (2005) find ‘evidence that
students’ attitudes and behaviour could influence their outcomes at key stage 4’ (p. 30). The
authors, in particular, note correlations between positive pupil perspectives on the value of

24
See http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.543.4468&rep=rep1&type=pdf
25
Killeen, J., Sammons, S. and Watts, A.G. (1999) ‘The effects of careers education and guidance on
attainment and associated behaviour’, Cambridge: NICEC/University of Hertfordshire/ ULIE.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 27


schooling to their futures and improved attendance with participation in a work-related
learning programme. Finally, while drawing on an assumption that improved access to
careers advice and guidance will drive positive change in pupil behaviour, the National Audit
Office’s 2010 review of interventions to increase science take-up and achievement in UK
schools includes no exploration of rationales for improved pupils at programme level.
A clear priority of ongoing work in this field is to combine quantitative with qualitative
methodological approaches to explore the ‘black box’ of causality.

5.4. Which interventions can be expected to be most effective?


Four types of intervention feature in five or more studies from which conclusions can be
drawn and a brief analysis shows that they involve:
1. leadership (67% of 6 assessments indicating largely positive outcomes);
2. mentoring (62% of 13 assessments);
3. careers provision (60% of 10 assessments); and
4. work-related learning (58% of 24 assessments).

However, caution must be applied—the literature is simply too sparse to provide a reliable
response to the question of which intervention can be expected to be most effective.
A number of studies do, however, include internal comparisons that provide insight into
patterns of more effective delivery. Bayer’s (2015) analysis of mentoring relationships in the
US finds that closeness of the match, as defined by students, drives better academic
performance rather than the duration of the relationship. In contrast, Linehan (2001), within
this review, finds that duration (in excess of half an academic year) of mentoring relationship
has a significant, greater positive effect on academic outcomes. Elsewhere, however, he has
identified mentor ‘credibility’ as the key factor in pupil perceptions on the utility of such a
relationship.
Literature does provide some evidence to support the view that careers-focused education
can act, in some complex ways, to compensate for preceding lack of resource suggesting
that it will be more effective when targeted. Schwartz and colleagues (2011) show that
young people with very strong relationships, or with very weak relationships with adults prior
to entering a mentoring relationship, benefit much less in academic terms than young people
enjoying moderately strong relationships at base line. The literature within the scope of this
review often fails, however, to explore in any significant depth how outcomes relate, by way
of direct comparison, to pupils from differing social backgrounds.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 28


6. What works? Economic outcomes
• Does careers education improve economic outcomes?
• What difference can it make to economic outcomes?
• Why does it make a difference?
• Which interventions can be expected to be most effective?

More so than educational outcomes, careers-focused mediated provision has been primarily
concerned with the individual and ‘meaning making’ in the context of economic (and social)
outcomes. It is these benefits that justify public investment in the careers education field,
most importantly, for investments made by individuals themselves. We examined literature
on economic outcomes to understand the range and depth of evidence currently available.

6.1. Does careers education improve economic outcomes?


On economic outcomes related to careers education, a literature using level 3 and 4
methodologies does exist, linked mainly to wage premiums using national longitudinal
databases. Our initial review identified 40 pieces of research literature. Having set aside
literature studies related to part-time employment, 27 research studies on careers education
meeting the review criteria were identified. They are reported below.
The literature relates overwhelmingly to the United States. Of the 27 studies identified, 19
relate to the States, six relate to the UK, one to Canada, one to the Netherlands, and one to
Finland.
Studies either describe one or more programmes of activity—such as mentoring, learning, or
the use of financial incentives—that involve more than one intervention or, on occasion, look
systematically at the impacts of different interventions in isolation, for example, job
shadowing, work experience or career talks. Within the 27 articles of research literature, it is
possible to identify other more generalised studies providing assessments of the impact of
different interventions on the economic outcomes of pupils.
As set out in Table 8 below, literature identified 49 discrete studies focused specifically on
economic interventions categorised as careers provision (n = 15), work-related learning (n =
11), work experience (n = 8), mentoring (n = 6), job shadowing (n = 5), and enterprise (n =
4).

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 29


Table 10: Economic outcome studies by intervention
All studies (economic
outcomes only and Generally Generally
No. of
combination of positive Mixed results negative
studies
outcomes with outcome outcome
economic)

Work-related learning 11 6 (54.5%) 5 (45.5%) 0

Work experience 8 6 (75%) 2 (25%) 0

Volunteering 0 0 0 0

Leadership 0 0 0 0

Mentoring 6 4 (66.7%) 2 (33.3%) 0

Job shadowing 5 4 (80%) 1 (20%) 0

ICT in careers ed. 0 0 0 0

Enterprise 4 3 (75%) 1 (25%) 0

Careers provision 15 10 (66.7%) 5 (33.3%) 0

Total 49 33 (67.3%) 16 (32.7%) 0

UK studies (economic
outcomes only and Generally Generally
No. of
combination of positive Mixed results negative
studies
outcomes with outcome outcome
economic)

Work-related learning 0 0 0 0

Work experience 3 2 (66.7%) 1 (33.3%) 0

Volunteering 0 0 0 0

Leadership 0 0 0 0

Mentoring 2 2 (100%) 0 0

Job shadowing 2 2 (100% 0 0

ICT in careers ed. 0 0 0 0

Enterprise 2 2 (100%) 0 0

Careers provision 5 4 (80%) 1 (20%) 0

Total 14 12 (85.7%) 2 (14.3%) 0

Table 10 illustrates the limited character of modern research literature. There were no UK
studies identified focusing on volunteering, leadership, and ICT within careers education
testing for improvements in economic outcomes. The literature on ICT and careers
education is negligible, particularly in relation to young people as well as schools and
colleges’ use of labour market information or intelligence (LMI). Research findings on how

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 30


young people use the internet for career support to improve their economic outcomes
concludes that their information search and retrieval strategies were limited, that few were
concerned about the reliability and validity of the information they found, paying little
attention to the provider and provenance of the information (Bimrose et al., 2010; 26
Howieson and Semple (2013). 27

6.2. What difference can it make to economic outcomes?


While the literature is limited, a clear pattern does emerge from consideration of the studies.
No piece was found to evidence negative economic outcomes for young people; 37% were
judged to offer mixed results, and 63% are associated with positive economic outcomes.
The literature investigating economic outcomes related to the engagement of young people
in careers education focuses primarily on measuring variations in employment levels (or
NEET), occupational status, and earnings. A number of studies provide clear statements of
wage premiums related to school-mediated activity and these provide insight into the extent
of employment boosts detected. To provide a clear insight into the potential extent of impact,
we have isolated studies which detect variation in earnings between young adults. Variation
in wages represents a transparent indicator of the value applied by employers to the
outcome of careers education as witnessed in some distinctive element of attitude,
behaviour, skill, or knowledge possessed by a young adult. It also reminds us that the
subject of careers education is relevant to both education and labour market policy arenas.
Where wage premiums are detected it will be argued that employers are likely to be
recognising higher levels of productivity—an implication of very considerable interest.
Table 11: Illustrative studies investigating impact on economic outcomes

Study Method Impact size


Arum and Analysis of longitudinal The study examines the early labour market
Way, 2004 survey data (US)—High experiences of young people and finds that women
School and Beyond survey, who received their first job after education through
following 14,825 students the use of a high school-based assisted job
from sophomore year (1980) placement programme earned 21% more than
through to post-secondary comparable peers. Such school-assisted job
and labour market placement does not significantly affect male
experiences (1986). earnings.
Bishop and Analysis of NELS88 (US) The study finds that young people who devoted one-
Mane, 2004 longitudinal database. sixth of their time in high school between ages of 15
and 19 to occupation-specific vocational (Career
Technical Education, CTE) courses earned at least
12% extra one year after graduating high school and
8% extra seven years later than peers who did not
take CTE courses. The results apply to both young

26
Bimrose J., Barnes S. A., Atwell G. (2010) An investigation into the skills needed by Connexions
Personal Advisers to develop internet-based guidance. Reading: CfBT Education Trust.
27
Howieson, C. and Semple, S. (2013) The Impact of Career Websites: what the evidence, British
Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 41(3), 287–301.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 31


people who progressed to higher education and
those who did not. Minimal impact on overall
academic attainment detected.
Fletcher and Analysis of US National The study explores links between the course
Zirkle, 2009 Longitudinal Survey of Youth selection of US high school students and their later
1997 dataset. degree attainment and occupational earnings (age
22–26). Specifically, it compares curriculum young
people undertaking 3+ credits in CTE occupational
courses with peers on exclusively academic
pathways. The study finds that the alumni of the CTE
pathway earn between $1,386 and $3,279 more than
peers.
Jobs for the Study follows post-high The study explores the impact of a programme of
Future, 1998 school outcomes of 124 US school-mediated work-related learning (combining
high school graduates in-school and work-based experiences) on economic
(graduating in 1993, 1994, outcomes one and four years after graduation in
and 1995). comparison to a control group matched by academic
achievement, attendance, and ethnicity, The mean
hourly wage of intervention graduates was $8.92
compared to $8.10 for the control group. For
programme alumni who did not enrol in higher
education, the mean wage was $9.68 ($8.56 for the
comparison group).
Kashefpakdel Analysis of British Cohort The study tests for relationships between teenage
and Percy, Study (1970) longitudinal participation in school-mediated career talks ‘with
2016 dataset using data from 1986 speakers from outside of the school’ undertaken at
and 1996. ages 14–16 and full-time earnings at age 26.
Extensive controls include family and social
background, learning environment, and prior
attainment. The study finds that at age 14–15
participation in each career talk is associated with an
earning premium, at age 26, of 0.8% (rising to 1.6%
where the teenager reported their career talks to
have been ‘very helpful’).
Kemple and A longitudinal, randomised The study examines the impact of a three-year (one
Wilner, 2008 controlled trial of 1,764 day a week) occupationally-focused US study
teenagers applying to programme rich in employer engagement. At age 26,
undertake US work-related alumni of the programme earned, on average, 11%
learning programme ($175) a month more than comparable peers from
randomly allocated to the control group. Results strongest for young men,
intervention and control averaging a 16% age premium. Female results not
group and followed 8 years statistically significant. The intervention and control
after high school graduation. groups achieved and were employed to comparable
extents.
Page, 2012 Analysis of MDRC dataset Young men who compete Career Academies earn
used by Kemple and Wilner (at age 26) $588 a month more, on average, than
(2008) focusing on a subset peers who had not been not selected to take part in
of students who both enrolled the programme within the initial process of
and completed the three year randomised selection.
Career Academies

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 32


programme. 1,306
individuals.
MacAllum US five-year longitudinal The study examines the impact of the year-long US
and Bozick, study following 48 young LAMP programme including significant work
2001 people who undertook a experience. Sixteen months after graduation, alumni
programme of work-related of the intervention earn an average of $11.27
learning compared to a compared to a control group average of $8.49.
control group of 46 Employment rates are similar.
individuals matched by
gender, ethnicity, and
academic achievement.

The scale of the wage premiums detected is considerable. As Kemple and Wilner note:
‘the magnitude of the impact of Career Academies on annual earnings during the
eighth year after high school for young men—a 16 percent increase over the non-
Academy group’s earnings—is larger than the earnings premium that other
researchers have calculated for two full-time-equivalent years of enrolment in a
community college’ (p. 20).
Mann and Percy (2013) find wage premiums of up to 18% for young adults related to their
participation in school-mediated employer engagement activities and speculate that wage
boosts may be still higher for activities other than the four specifically explored in their study.
Jobs for the Future, MacAllum and Bozick (2001), and Arum and Way (2004) find evidence
of wage premiums of between 10% and 33% related to careers-focused interventions.
Perhaps most striking is the analysis of Kashefpakdel and Percy (2016), which finds adult
premiums at age 26 of up to 1.6% related to each occasion an individual participated as a
teenager in a careers talk with someone from outside of the school. The identification of
such premiums related to interventions that vary considerably by character (intensity or
extensiveness) has challenged scholars to make sense of findings.

6.3. Why does it make an impact?


Considering the operation of school-assisted job placement programmes whereby US
students were referred either informally through a recommendation from a teacher or career
guidance counsellor or formally through a High School placement service, Arum and Way
(2004) see impact, witnessed through higher initial wages, mediated through institutional
social capital.
‘School assisted job placement is a clear manifestation of closer school-industry
links. School assisted job placement can be the result of either formal or informal
relationships […] In different ways […] school job placement resources rely on
relationships with employers that are dependent on both institutional and network
connections.
Employers will develop and utilize these types of institutional ties with schools more
frequently when such relationships provide solutions to specific problems faced by
firms. Organizational research indicates that while organizational behaviour is not
solely motivated by rational economizing, firms will seek to lower costs and reduce
risks of uncertainty when making hiring decisions. Network relationships, such as

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 33


those implicit in most school assisted job placements, ‘are particularly apt for
circumstances in which there is a need for efficient reliable information.’ 28 Research
in job finding largely confirms employer use of formal and informal network
relationships to fill vacancies in this manner. Granovetter’s study of professional,
managerial and technical job changers, for example, demonstrates the usefulness of
informal, weak interpersonal ties in locating a job. 29 Employers can rely on both
informal relations between individuals or more formal relationships with schools to
lower risks of hiring unreliable or incompetent workers […] schools can provide a
valuable connection to businesses that otherwise would not be established [by young
people]. Many teachers, vocational teachers in particular, are adeptly situated to
broker employment opportunities for disadvantaged youth’ (pp. 260–262).
Mann and Percy (2013) draw a distinction between evaluations of US work-related learning
programmes (Kemple and Wilner, 2008; MacAllum et al., 2001) wherein employer
engagement is typically experienced within a coherent learning programme which is both
intensive (absorbing a day or more of weekly curriculum time) and extensive (operating over
a whole academic year or longer) and the commonplace British experience which over the
decade prior to analysis had been of short duration, episodic, and unintegrated into any
programme of study with defined learning outcomes. To Mann and Percy, the comparison
helps provide an answer to a key question:
‘can wage premiums be best explained by the comparative skills development of
programme participants (and so heightened human capital accumulation prior to
labour market entry) or by enhanced ability to understand and navigate the transition
from education into work through greater relative social and cultural capital
accumulation?’ (p. 14).
Finding limited evidence of human capital accumulation, Mann and Percy also draw on
Granovetter’s conception of the ‘strength of weak ties’ as developed by Raffo (and other
sociologists) to make use of employer contacts to gain ‘non-redundant trusted information’
about the operation of the labour market—information which transcends the socially
constructed constraints of family networks (p. 17).
Kashefpakdel and Percy (2016), in their effort to account for wage premiums linked to still
more incidental interventions—career talks with people from outside of school—also look to
Granovetter to explain their findings. Noting the wage boosts associated with teenage
perceptions of career talks being ‘very helpful’, they argue, after Granovetter, that teenagers
gained benefit from exposures to the labour market which provided them with ‘new and
useful’ information.
‘Such an understanding would be consistent with the finding that teenagers
experiencing higher volumes of careers talks were more likely to agree they had
found sessions to be relevant (and so helpful) to themselves. As they moved through
their teenage years, the participants in this study can be imagined responding in
different ways to external presenters and what they had to say about their

28
Powell, W. (1990) ‘Neither market nor hierarchy: network forms of organization’, Research in
Organizational Behavior, 12, 304.
29
Granovetter, M. (1973) ‘The strength of weak ties’, American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1,360–80.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 34


occupations, with those young people experiencing the greatest volume of career
talks more likely to encounter presentations which provide insights judged to be of
practical relevance to aspirations shaped by preceding experiences and interactions’
(p.14).
Kemple and Wilner (2008) do venture into discussion on the nature of causality in the
significant earnings boosts which they evidence at age 26, eight years after their subjects
graduated from high school participation in the US Career Academies programme.
‘The analyses focus on the relationship between Career Academy impacts on high
school experiences and subsequent impacts on postsecondary earnings. This
comparison provides suggestive evidence that substantial increases in students’
exposure to career awareness and development activities were associated with more
substantial labor market impacts. Such career awareness and development activities
included job-shadowing, work-based learning activities, career fairs, guest speakers,
and career-related guidance. 30
It is important to note, however, that these findings are only suggestive and do not
account for other high school experiences that may be affected by the Career
Academies which may, in turn, have an impact on postsecondary earnings. For
example, longer term earnings were also associated with measures of personalised
support that students reported during high school and with their completion of a
curriculum consisting of both academic core courses and a sequence of career-
related courses’ (p.40).
In explaining causality, MacAllum and colleagues (2001) also draw out participation of young
people in ‘career-enhancing opportunities’ within the complex LAMP programme of learning
described as ‘an academically rigorous business/labour-driven curriculum, [with] an
emphasis on project-based learning, a team teaching structure, and extensive opportunities
for staff and students to maintain close, ongoing interaction with workplace employees’ (p.
5). Citing survey evidence, the authors argue that graduates of the programme enter the
labour market twice as likely to pursue ‘career enhancing opportunities’ than peers. 31 With
broadly similar qualifications, the group studied by MacAllum and Bozik (2001), like those
considered by Kemple and Wilner and by Page, are able to generate considerably higher
returns for their human capital.

6.4. Which interventions can be expected to be most effective?


Five types of intervention from five or more studies in which conclusions can be drawn may
be identified:

30
Orr and colleagues also use statistical testing to identify distinctive elements within the US
Careers Academies experience finding graduates of the programme to have experienced significantly
greater levels of employer engagement and careers provision. See: Orr, M. T., Bailey, T., Hughes, K.
L., Kienzl, G. S. and Karp, M. M. (2007) ‘The National Academy Foundation’s Career Academies:
Shaping Secondary Transitions’, in Neumark D. (ed.) Improving School-to-Work Transitions, New
York: Russell Sage Foundation (pp. 169–209).
31
For example: researching career goals, obtaining work experience, exploring further training or
higher education, or preparation for entrance exams.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 35


• job shadowing (80% of 5 assessments indicating largely positive outcomes);
• work experience (75% of 8 assessments);
• careers provision (67% of 10 assessments);
• mentoring (67% of 6 assessments); and
• work-related learning (55% of 11 assessments).

A theme of the wider literature is the extent to which careers education can be best situated
within a broader conception of the lived experience of a young person. Where providing a
young person with access to trusted useful information and experiences relevant to ultimate
career progression, experiences will build on and interact with preceding family-based
access to such resource. 32 The analysis suggests both that young people at greatest
distance from the labour market of their aspirations within their home lives can be expected
to gain greatest value from careers education and that schools can use careers education as
a strategic resource to democratise access to resources of significant value in career
progression. As articulated by Erickson and colleagues (2009), such interventions can serve
to compensate for lack of resource, but also can serve to attenuate inequalities. 33

32
Stanley, J. and Mann, A. (2014) ‘A Theoretical Framework for Employer Engagement’, in Mann, A.,
Stanley, J. and Archer, L. (eds.) Understanding Employer Engagement in Education: Theories and
Evidence, London: Routledge ; Jones, S., Mann, A. and Morris, K. (2015) ‘The “Employer
Engagement Cycle” in Secondary Education: examining the testimonies of young British Adults’,
Journal of Education and Work. DOI: 10.1080/13639080.2015.1074665.
33
Erickson, D., McDonald, S. and Elder, G.H. (2009) ‘Informal Mentors and Education:
Complementary or Compensatory Resources?’, Sociology of Education, 82, 344–67.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 36


7. What works? Social outcomes
• Does careers education improve social outcomes?
• What difference can it make to social outcomes?
• Why does it make a difference?
• Which interventions can be expected to be most effective?

7.1. Does careers education improve social outcomes?


Careers are to a large extent unpredictable (Rodrigues and Guest, 2010) 34 and young
people are increasingly expected to demonstrate self-directedness and resilience based on
a well-developed identity, both in the labour market and in society as a whole (Giddens,
1991). 35 Yates and colleagues (2011) have shown that young people who were uncertain or
unrealistic about career ambitions at 16 went on to be three times more likely to spend
significant periods of time being NEET as an older teenager than comparable peers. In this
study, the ambitions of two in five young people were unrealistic, with young people from
disadvantaged backgrounds being nearly twice as likely to suffer from such confusion as
their more prosperous counterparts. According to Raffo (2000) 36 different types of careers-
focused mediated provision can increase social relations and can be ‘enriched by outside
yet authentic culturally appropriate, significant others’. He argues this can yield positive
impacts for young people, particularly in relation to their social capital accumulation both
within and beyond their schooling.
On social outcomes related to careers education, a literature using level 3 and 4
methodologies does exist. A total of 28 studies were identified including part-time work
studies. Of these, 25 studies were identified as specifically relevant to careers-focused
education. There is strong overlap between social outcomes and education and economic
outcomes, for example, refer to Golden and colleagues (2010), Gutman and colleagues
(2014), Kemple and Willner (2008), and Staff and colleagues (2010). Enhancing social
mobility is a common thread featured in the literature linked to ensuring fairness for
individuals, prosperity for the economy, and cohesion for society as a whole (Currie et al.,
2007; Neumark and Rothstein, 2003; Hooley et al., 2014, for example).

The individual should be the direct beneficiary of careers-focused mediated provision.


Indirect beneficiaries also include: family, peers and other networks, schools, colleges and
other training providers, employers, local communities, and the economy as a whole.
Generally, it is argued that by providing careers-focused education it should be possible to
enhance an individuals’ capacity to navigate education and employment systems more
effectively, particularly those most disadvantaged. Ultimately, the goals are to demystify

34
Rodrigues, R.A. and Guest, D. (2010) ‘Have careers become boundaryless?’, Human Relations,
63(8), 1,157–75.
35
Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self Identity: self and society in late modernity, Stanford
University Press.
36
Raffo, C. (2000) ‘Youth Transitions and Social Exclusion: Developments in Social Capital Theory’,
Journal of Youth Studies, V3 (2).

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 37


learning and labour market pathways, to facilitate access to networks beyond those that
individuals normally have access to, and to provide information, guidance and support that
nurtures decision-making, career adaptability, resilience and employability.

Of those studies focusing on ‘social outcomes only’, 13 studies related to the US, eight were
from the UK, two from The Netherlands, one from Australia, and one from Canada.
As set out in Table 12 below, literature identified focused on all social outcome studies by
interventions categorised as careers provision (n = 13), work-related learning (n = 5),
mentoring (n = 6), enterprise (n = 5), ICT in careers (n = 3), leadership (n = 1), work
experience (n = 1), and job shadowing (n = 1).

Table 12: Social outcome studies by intervention


All studies
(social
outcomes only Generally Generally
and No. of studies positive Mixed results negative
combination of outcome outcome
outcomes with
social)
Work-related
5 2 (40%) 3 (60%)
learning

Work experience 1 1 (100%)


Volunteering

Leadership 2 2 (100%)
Mentoring 6 3 (50%) 3 (50%)
Job shadowing 1 1 (100%)
ICT in careers
education 3 2 (66.7%) 1 (33.3%)

Enterprise 5 3 (60%) 2 (40%)


Careers provision 13 8 (62%) 4 (31%) 1 (8%)

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 38


UK studies
(social
outcomes only Generally Generally
and No. of studies positive Mixed results negative
combination of outcome outcome
outcomes with
social)
Work-related
1 1 (100%)
learning
Work experience 1 1 (100%)
Volunteering

Leadership

Mentoring

Job shadowing

ICT in careers
education 1 1 (100%)

Enterprise 2 2 (100%)

Careers provision 4 1 (25%) 3 (75%)

Beyond this, there is a substantial body of literature on ‘career adaptability’ (Savickas et al.,
2009; Savickas, 2011) 37 part of which features career resilience (Lyons, Schweitzer, and Ng,
2015). 38 In the context of our literature review, resilience is defined as ‘the process of
bending and rebounding to overcome adversity’ (Hunter, 2001, p. 172) 39 as noted by
Lengelle and colleagues (2016). 40 This is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that varies
according to contexts, internal variables, and external changes (Chiaburu, Baker, and
Pitariu, 2006). Resilience is often viewed as a positive outcome ‘which is defined by the
presence of positive mental health (such as positive self-concept and self-esteem, academic
achievement, success at age-appropriate developmental tasks, etc.) and the absence of
psychopathology, despite exposure to risk’ (Metzl and Morrell, 2008). 41 This concept is also
interpreted as a dynamic learning process dependent upon interactions between individual
and contextual variables that evolve over time. In this sense, resilience refers to the
capability to ‘bounce back’ from negative emotional experiences associated with adversity,

37
Savickas, M. L., Nota, L., Rossier, J., Dauwalder, J. P., Duarte, M. E., Guichard, J. and Van Vianen,
A. E. (2009) ‘Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the 21st century’, Journal of
vocational behavior, 75(3), 239–250; and Savickas, M. L. (2011) ‘Career Counseling’, Washington
DC: American Psychological Association.
38
Lyons, S. T., Schweitzer, L. and Ng, E. S. W. (2015) ‘Resilience in the modern career’, Career
Development International, 20(4), 363–383.
39
Hunter, A. J. (2001). A cross-cultural comparison of resilience in adolescents. Journal of Pediatric
Nursing, 16, 172-179.
40
Lengelle, R., Van der Heijden, B and Meijers, F. (In Press) The Foundations of Career Resilience,
Springer Books.
41
Metzl, E. S. and Morrell, M. A. (2008). ‘The role of creativity in models of resilience: Theoretical
exploration and practical applications’, Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 3(3), 303–318.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 39


uncertainty, and threat (Tugate and Fredrickson, 2004). 42 It should be noted, quasi-
experimental and experimental studies focusing exclusively on resilience within careers-
focused education are not included in this review but they do merit a more detailed analysis
outside of this literature review.

The literature on careers education highlights a requirement for some form of effective
‘dialogue’ and ‘action’ in which personal meaning is attached to concrete experiences of
learning and work. See for example Buckler and colleagues (2015); Currie and colleagues
(2007); and Morris (2004). Kuijpers and colleagues (2011) strongly argue the learning
environment has to be both practice-based and dialogical. To achieve a dialogue, the
thoughts and feelings of young people with respect to their views and experience of work (or
lack of it) must be given a central place in the schooling conversation. This is highly relevant
in the context of young people being the seekers and recipients of a range of differing types,
and a variation in quality, of careers information and LMI both online and offline. However,
there is scant literature available on ICT and careers education that includes the use of
learning and labour market information and intelligence (LMI). The use of technologies
(UKCES, 2014), 43 combined with other factors such as changes in consumer behaviours and
the availability of more ‘open source’ data, has resulted in profound shifts in how individuals
utilise services in a rapidly changing world. Alongside this, centralised versus localised
policy shifts also raise new questions concerning the adaptation of available careers
education for young people, particularly amongst the most vulnerable groups.
Positive outcomes
The majority of studies provided evidence of improvements in self-efficacy, self-confidence,
career maturity, decision-making skills, career competencies, or career identity. As
discussed in the education and economic outcomes sections, leadership in careers
education is crucial to the achievement of positive outcomes for young people.
Measurements of social outcomes vary considerably across the literature and include:
• the use of measurement or inventory tools—such as the Crites Career Maturity
Inventory (measuring attitude and competency levels); the Coopersmith Self-Esteem
Inventory and grades (Legum and Hoare, 2004); the Career Decision Self-Efficacy
Scale (McComb-Beverage, 2012); Career Identity and Learning Motivation tools
(Kuijpers and Meijers, 2009); Enterprise Potential (Athayde, 2009, 2012); ‘Explore
Your Horizons’ and ‘Learning Accounts’ within the Future to Discover (FTD)
Canadian approach (Currie et al., 2007); 44 and the Inventory of Parent and Peer
Attachment (IPPA)—a 23-item scale containing questions related to a child’s or
adolescent's relationship with his or her primary care-giver linked to Big Brothers Big
Sisters programmes in the US (Rhodes et al., 2000);

42
Tugate, M. M., and Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). Resilient individuals use positive emotions to bounce
back from negative emotional experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 320–
333.
43
UKCES (2014). The Future of Work, Jobs and Skills in 2030, Evidence Report 84. Sheffield, Wath-
Upon-Dearne.
44
See also, a more recent Canadian quasi-experimental study ‘Career Motions’ –
http://www.srdc.org/media/8355/careermotion_final_report_en.pdf.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 40


• the degree of exposure to work experience (Hillage et al., 2011);
• school-based mentoring programmes including surveys to describe various
characteristics of programme delivery—including training and support for mentors,
characteristics of mentors, matching of students to employers (Bernstein et al., 2009;
Schwartz et al., 2012), longer-term impacts of mentoring, educational services, and
learning incentives (Rhodes and Resch, 2000; Rodriguez-Planas, 2012); and
• entrepreneurship programmes such as BizWorld—an entrepreneurship education
programme for primary schools (Huber et al., 2012; Peterman and Kennedy, 2003).

7.2. What difference can it make to social outcomes?


Family and neighbourhood factors—such as having a lower number of employed family
members or living in a high unemployment area—can degrade the job network of poor and
minority youth because fewer people are able to pass along information about employers or
job openings (Hossain and Dan Bloom, 2015). 45 The latest sociological research suggests
that ‘racial minorities, particularly low-income minorities, have access to job contacts, but
may be unable to effectively make use of their contacts’ social capital for a job search’
(MacDonald et al., 2009). 46 It is not common among low-income minorities to switch off a
career pathway because of barriers associated with poverty (limited transportation or
unstable housing, for example), or a lack of awareness of opportunity structures (such as
higher education, apprenticeships, STEM options, for example). Gender role expectations
are highly prevalent throughout schooling. Moreover, while gender relates to a single social
variable, in reality it is often associated with multidimensional disadvantage. Other biological,
social and cultural categories, like ethnicity, socio-economic status, age and other axes of
social identity interact, often simultaneously and at different levels, contributing to systematic
injustice and social inequality. Bimrose, McMahon and Watson (2015) 47 highlight the term
‘intersectionality’ as useful to understanding of the complexity of the layers of disadvantage
that are often evident in this context. We may conclude that effective careers-focused
education should raise young people’s aspirations, improve social mobility, highlight and
address inequalities and, most importantly, provide hope for a better future.

Impact can be seen in the context of different strategic intentions that inform and support
careers education in relation to young people’s social outcomes. These can broadly be set
out in a typology of prevention, integration and/or recovery. Prevention measures are aimed
at keeping young people ‘switched on’ to learning, encouraging them not to close down
opportunities too early, broadening horizons and challenging inaccurate assumptions, for
example using alumni (Buckler et al., 2015), enterprise measures (Peter and Kennedy,
2003; Athayde, 2006 and 2012), or self efficacy approaches (McCombe-Beverage, 2012).
This may also include preventing young people from ‘switching off’ or becoming disaffected

45
Hossain and Dan Bloom (2015) ‘Toward a Better Future: Evidence on Improving Employment
Outcomes for Disadvantaged Youth in the United States’, MDRC.
46
MacDonald, S., Lin, N. and Ao, D. (2009) ‘Networks of opportunity: gender, race and job leads’,
Social Problems, 56 (3) 385–402.
47
Bimrose, J., McMahon, M. and Watson, M. (eds.) (2015) Women's career development through the
lifespan: An international perspective, London: Routledge, pp 1–9 (Introduction).

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 41


in the first place—particularly those who are most at risk of ‘dropping out’—and taking action
that engages young people, families and communities as a whole. Integration measures are
aimed at developing curriculum approaches that inform and support young people in their
transitions into learning or work, for example, by focusing on cross-curricular themes
(Henderson, 1995), work experience (Hillage, 2011), career exploration activities (Morris,
2004), or mentoring (Berstein et al., 2009). Recovery measures are aimed at re-energising
or reconnecting young people to learning that meets their individual needs, for example, by
focusing on ‘career maturity’ (Legume and Hoare, 2004) or self determination (Powers et al.,
2012). These three different measures are all addressed to the ultimate destinations of
young people, but schools and colleges will use differing ways of achieving them.
Athayde (2009, 2012) highlights that young people are increasingly becoming the target of
entrepreneurial and enterprise policy initiatives and enterprise education in schools. This
increases the need to clarify the entrepreneurial focus in order to effectively measure the
impact these programme have on young people’s lives. For example, a control-group cross-
sectional design was used to investigate the impact of participation in a Young Enterprise
Company Program—based on the U.S. Junior Achievement model—in six secondary
schools in London. Young black people were more positive about self-employment and
displayed greater enterprise potential than either white or Asian pupils. A family background
of self-employment had a positive influence on pupils' intentions to become self-employed.
The research raises a conceptual issue concerning the multidimensionality of the construct
of enterprise potential linked to the career dialogue that takes places in schools and colleges
with young people and their parents.
Research findings of mentoring programmes have been shown to vary widely with regard to
the amount of time spent on academic versus social activities (Bernstein et al., 2009). The
social outcome studies provide positive insights into the benefits of mentoring within careers-
focused education, but 50% of studies do show mixed results. This is most likely to be due
to the contrasting definitions and approaches used to describe mentoring and their reported
impact (Rhodes and Resch, 2000; Schwartz et al., 2011; Rodriguez-Planas, 2012).

7.3. What is the impact?


Both parental social class and education have been shown to have a major impact on
school-to-work transitions. The fact that children from families with low socio-economic
status perform on average below their middle and upper class peers is well established.
Young people from high socio-economic status backgrounds are more likely to stay on in
full-time education after the end of compulsory schooling than their less privileged peers,
consequently securing good jobs and reducing the risk of substantial unemployment or
teenage motherhood (Schoon, Martin and Ross, 2007). 48 By contrast, while young people
from low socio-economic status families are increasingly staying on in education, they

48
Schoon, I., Martin, P. and Ross, A. (2007) ‘Career transitions in times of social change. His and her
story’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70(1), 78–96.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 42


continue to be over-represented among early labour market entrants (Furlong and Cartmel,
2007) 49 and NEET populations (Crawford et al., 2011). 50
The role of intermediaries involved in some form of career education is a dominant theme in
the literature with positive or mixed results. Brown and colleagues (2011) highlight that ‘the
relationship between the teacher and the student is found to be particularly important […]
students have better academic performance when they perceive that teachers care about
them’. Raffo and Reeves (2000) 51 emphasise that the process of developing social capital
through ‘trustworthy reciprocal relations with individualised networks’ is crucial, along with
‘everyday practical knowledge created through interaction, dialogue, action and reflection on
action within individualised and situated social contexts’.
Whiston and colleagues (1998) 52 undertook a meta-analysis that drew together 47 studies
that utilised controls and involved a total of 4,660 participants. They identified that across all
of the studies which sought to identify a diverse range of impacts, participants who had
received a guidance intervention were more likely than those who had not to display an
identifiable impact. They found impacts across all types of career interventions, but
individual career counselling was much the most effective for the student, whereas
computer-based and classroom/group interventions were more cost-effective in terms of
counsellor time. Table 13 provides some illustrative examples of selected varied impact
studies on social outcomes. These are given to show some differing types of innovative
interventions.
Table 13: Illustrative studies investigating impact on social outcomes

Study Method Impact size

Kuipers and Meijers, 2009 Randomised field experiment Results showed that career
with regression analyses competencies positively
The effects of career education
applied. contributed to learning
and guidance among students
motivation, as well as to quality
(ages 12–19) enrolled in Career identity was measured
of study choice, fit of choice
prevocational and secondary with an instrument, consisting of
with learning tasks, and fit of
vocational education in the 88 items (Cronbach’s a = 0.81),
internship. Career identity
Netherlands. that was based on studies by
positively contributed to career
Meijers (1995) and Meijers and
A total of 3,499 students and outcomes, and career dialogue
Wardekker (2002).
166 teachers from 198 classes contributed more than
in 35 schools participated in the All multi-item scales had an traditional interventions have
study. adequate Cronbach's alpha with respect to career
(i.e., N0.70), with the exception outcomes. The amount of
of the three-item Locus of variance due to differences
Control Scale which only had an between schools and between

49
Furlong, A. and Cartmel, F. (2007), Young People and Social Change: New Perspectives, Series:
Sociology and social change, McGraw-Hill/Open University Press.
50
Op. cit.
51
Raffo, C. and Reeves, M. (2000). Youth transitions and social exclusion: Developments in
social capital theory. Journal of Youth Studies, 3(2), 147-166.
52
Whiston, S.C., Sexton, T.L. and Lasoff, D.L. (1998). Career intervention outcome: a replication and
extension of Oliver and Spokane (1988). Journal of Counseling Psychology, 45(2), 150-165.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 43


alpha equal to 0.62. classes is negligible, although
the class variance is statistically
53
significant.

Peterman and Kennedy, 2003 A pre-test post-test control After completing the enterprise
group research design. programme, participants
Enterprise Education:
reported significantly higher
Influencing Students’ Changes in the perceptions of a
perceptions of both desirability
Perceptions of sample of secondary school
and feasibility. The degree of
Entrepreneurship students enrolled in the Young
change in perceptions is related
Achievement Australia (YAA)
to the positiveness of prior
enterprise programme are
experience and to the
analysed.
positiveness of the experience
This research examines the in the enterprise education
effect of participation in an programme. Self-efficacy theory
enterprise education is used to explain the impact of
programme on perceptions of the programme. Overall, the
the desirability and feasibility of study provides empirical
starting a business. evidence to support including
exposure to entrepreneurship
education as an additional
exposure variable in
entrepreneurial intentions
models.
54
Currie et al., 2007 Surveys with participants who Results from a cost–benefit
were randomly assigned to study, a summary of the
The impact of a guidance
receive one of two career implementation results, and
intervention involving some
education interventions: Explore includes results from the
5,000 students in New
Your Horizons (a programme National Longitudinal Panel (a
Brunswick and Manitoba.
enabling young people to qualitative study of a sub-
Preference given to high
access information about sample of participants’ decision-
schools with a greater share of
academic and careers options making, intended to gain insight
lower-income families in their
delivered online and in person), on the mechanisms underlying
catchment areas.
or Learning Accounts (during the pattern of programme
The demographic and the early years of high school, impacts).
socioeconomic characteristics promises up to $8,000 of non-
The offer of Learning Accounts
of the 5,429 students as repayable financial aid to
raised post-secondary
reported in a baseline survey students from lower-income
enrolment in the Francophone
were those expected for a families should they go on to
sector in New Brunswick by
sample of grade 9 students pursue post-secondary
over ten percentage points. The
from the participating provinces. education). Participants’
increase was highly
sampled both interventions or
concentrated in college
none. The survey data was

53
Note: the additional variance is due to the total effect of all learning environment variables, in
addition to student and school variables (varies from 7% to 11% for career reflection, career forming
and career networking). The corresponding effect sizes are characterized as small to moderate.
54
For more a recent randomised controlled trial see: Career Motions
http://www.srdc.org/media/8355/careermotion_final_report_en.pdf

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 44


linked to administrative data enrolment.
sets, e.g. college enrolment
The impact of Learning
data, to allow real-world impacts
Accounts on post-secondary
to be traced.
enrolment occurred across all
The research team explored the sub-groups in the Francophone
process of linking tax data. sector. In the Anglophone
sector, youth from lower-
income, lower-education
families and boys saw
improvements in enrolment.
Receiving a guidance
intervention enhanced
attainment and made some
groups of students more likely
to enrol in post-secondary
education as well as improved
their social skills.
Legum and Hoare, 2004 A pre-test and post-test design Post-test career maturity-
using a control group. competency scores for the
Career maturity levels,
experimental group (M = 15.26,
academic achievement, and The effects of a 9-week career
SD = 3.058) were higher than at
self-esteem. intervention programme ‘Career
pre-test (M = 14.22, SD =
Targets’ on at-risk middle
27 at-risk middle school 2.636). The control group’s
school students’ career maturity
students in Baltimore County career maturity-competency
levels, self-esteem, and
representing the experimental post-test scores (M = 14.27, SD
academic achievement.
group, and 30 at-risk middle = 3.162) were slightly lower
school students making up the Modes of measurement than pre-test scores (M = 14.93,
control group. consisted of the Crites Career SD = 2.677). Although results
Maturity Inventory (measuring revealed that the sample’s
attitude and competency career maturity attitude and
levels), the Coopersmith Self- competency levels and
Esteem Inventory, and grades. academic achievement
Data for this study was coded improved, such increases were
numerically and analysed using not statistically significant.
inferential t-tests and analysis of
covariance.
Huber et al., 2012 Randomised field experiment. The mean values for the
outcomes variables at t = 0 and
Entrepreneurial knowledge and To estimate the impact of
t = 1 are shown for both the
non-cognitive skills for BizWorld on the development of
treatment and control group. All
enterprise activity. pupils’ knowledge, non-
but one of the non-cognitive
cognitive skills, and intentions.
Sample consists of 85 schools entrepreneurial skills increased
in the Netherlands involving A Difference in Difference (DD) significantly between t = 0 and t
1,188 classes and 2,751 pupils approach is used. = 1 within the treatment group.
typically aged 11 (2010 + 2011). The only exception:
‘persistence’ the difference is
positive but not significant.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 45


7.4. Which interventions can be expected to be most effective?
Social outcomes
Four types of interventions feature in five or more studies whose conclusions show positive
outcomes:
• careers provision (62% of 13 assessments);
• mentoring (50% of 6 assessments);
• enterprise (60% of 5 assessments); and
• work-related learning (40% of 5 assessments).

Most literature on careers education and its effectiveness is focused on influencing students’
knowledge, attitudes, and decision-making skills, while students’ behaviours often are not
examined. Research should focus more on exploring the relationships between career
guidance interventions and positive students’ behavioural outcomes. Within the literature,
studies looking for evidence of positive career behaviour change—such as teaching career
competencies linked to concrete experience (Kuijpers and Meijers, 2009)—offer promising
practice for the UK
The literature highlights the following types of practical activities in schools or colleges as
having a positive impact on social outcomes:
• Career reflection: making concrete the thinking about one’s own motivation and
aptitudes, self-regulation, self-determination, and resilience to cope with unforeseen
setbacks (for example, McComb-Beverage, 2012; Peterman 2003; Legum and
Hoare, 2004; and Kuijpers and Meijers, 2009).
• Career exploration: giving shape to one’s own career path by exploring the options
for study and work (Athayde, 2009 and 2012; Furstenberg and Neumark, 2005; and
Kuijpers and Meijers, 2009).
• Career action: opportunities to make sense of and act upon the learning gained from
differing types of interventions (Orthner, et al., 2013; and Kuijpers and Meijers,
2009).
• Networking: building and maintaining a network of key contacts (Bernstein et al.,
2009; Rhodes and Resch, 2000; and Kuijpers and Meijers, 2009).
• Learning environment: stimulating real-life experiences with work and a dialogue
about these experiences (Morris, 2004; Gutman et al., 2014; and Kuijpers and
Meijers, 2009).
• Career dialogue: young people having meaningful conversations with teachers,
parents/carers, employers/employees, alumni, or trained and qualified career
development professionals (Buckler et al., 2015; Powers et al., 2012; Schwartz et al.,
2011; Hughes et al., 2004; and Hooley et al., 2014).
• Career conversations students have in the workplace: gaining exposure to, and
experience of, work in simulated and real-life situations (Hillage et al., 2011; and
Kuijpers and Meijers, 2009).

Results show that different aspects of the learning environment explain the variance
between career outcome scores, in particular career dialogue at school and in the workplace
(the work placement). Without this dialogue, careers education methods and instruments

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 46


barely contribute to the acquisition of career learning, including career competencies. The
role of ICT and careers education is under-developed and is fairly silent in the literature. We
learned of an innovative randomised controlled study underway in Canada focusing on
whether the labour market competencies of students from colleges and universities can be
improved by using web‐based technologies. 55 There is a clear gap in the literature on young
people’s labour market competences using web-based technologies, as discussed earlier.
Finally, studies on the role of transformational leadership in schools and colleges regarding
careers education are also currently quite sparse.

55
Career Motions, see: http://www.srdc.org/media/8355/careermotion_final_report_en.pdf

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 47


8. Part-time work
While the literature on careers education can best be described as weak, it stands in
contrast to an extensive literature which has used longitudinal databases to make sense of
the influence of teenage participation in the labour market through part-time employment,
alongside full-time education. In our analysis, we have not classified this as ‘an intervention’
but recognise many of the findings are linked to economic outcomes for young people. The
review identified 23 pieces of research literature using level 3 and 4 methodologies that
looked at the impact of school-age part-time working on academic achievement and long-
term employment prospects. Twelve studies relate to the US, eight to the UK (including one
which looks narrowly at Northern Ireland and three focused on England), and five Australia.
The studies present analysis from a range of longitudinal studies, including: National Child
Development Study (UK), British Cohort Study, Longitudinal Study of Young People in
England, Youth Cohort Study (UK), Longitudinal Study of Australian Youth, National
Education Longitudinal Study (US), National Longitudinal Survey 1979 (US), and Youth
Development Study (US). Collectively, the dataset provides significant insight into the effects
of teenage part-time working on young people. This brief review represents the most
comprehensive survey of such literature and reveals a great deal of consistency in results.

8.1. Educational outcomes


Of the 15 studies that tested for evidence of academic attainment, 12 (80%) found a
negative relationship with young part-time workers performing more poorly than could be
reasonably expected in standardised assessments. Studies do tend to find that negative
impacts are modest (such as Anlezark and Lim, 2011; Dustmann and van Soest, 2007;
Ruhm, 1997; and Singh, 1998) particularly when hours worked are low (less than 5 hours a
week). Working greater numbers of hours a week, particularly in excess of 15 hours, is
routinely more detrimental to academic achievement. The fact that simple participation in the
labour market through paid employment cannot be associated with enhanced attainment in
the way that careers education can be suggests that schools have a particularly meaningful
role to play in converting new insight into the labour market’s operation and enhanced
engagement in educational provision.

8.2. Economic outcomes


Fourteen studies looked alternatively at evidence of employment gains and 13 (93%) found
evidence of boosts, compared to peers, in terms of adult earnings and reduced risks of
unemployment/NEET status. The size of impact can be large: Duckworth and colleagues
(2012) report incidence of NEET being at twice the level for young people without
experience of teenage part-time employment with longitudinal controls in place.
The analysis suggests that something of meaning happens to young people as a result of
their teenage exposure to the labour market and further analysis is warranted to improve
both understanding of what it is about the employment experience that drives such change,

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 48


and if connections can be made between the impact of school-mediated employer
engagement activities and part-time working. 56

8.3. Social outcomes


In addition, four studies looked for, and found positive evidence of, positive benefits to young
people in terms of social outcomes.

56
For a survey of some 400 teenagers reflecting on their comparative experiences of part-time
employment and work experience placements - see: Fullarton, S. (1999) Work experience and work
placements in secondary school education. LSAY Research reports. Longitudinal surveys of
Australian youth research report. The survey suggests very similar (self-declared) outcomes for young
people in terms of employability skill development, but that work experience placements serve to
much greater extent to support career planning.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 49


9. Conclusions

9.1. About the literature


Careers-focused mediated provision is a public as well as a private good. Effective careers
education relies heavily on collaborative activities and interventions between a wide range of
‘careers influencers’ including young people themselves, parents and carers, other learning
providers, employers, professional bodies, local community organisations, as well as very
many individual volunteers.
A literature using robust methodologies does exist. It is limited but consistent in its findings
allowing implications to be drawn. The literature largely relates to the US secondary
education though examples of good and interesting approaches are apparent in other OECD
countries such as Australia, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands. 57 The literature identified
in this study primarily relates to programmes of activity: work-related learning programmes
and programmes of careers education which present challenges of disaggregation in order
to understand true impact.
In this review we have focused our attention on studies adopting quasi-experiential and
experimental approaches. The limited literature identified by selection of such criteria is not
broad and it is not deep, but it does provide insights which can be relied upon. It is
recognised that many studies of value (particularly qualitative studies), including many by
leading academics working in the field, have been excluded from this analysis, but that does
not mean that they too do not provide insights of value to researchers, policymakers, and
practitioners.
What does the literature tell us? The outcomes linked to schools’ careers education
provision, including employer engagement, are primarily positive:
• 60% of studies looking at educational outcomes are positive (only 2% negative);
• 67% of studies looking at economic outcomes are positive, none are negative; and
• 62% of studies looking at social outcomes are positive (only 3% negative).

The remainder of studies produced outcomes that were overwhelmingly mixed. It is


extremely difficult, however, to find high quality research studies into aspects of careers
education, as defined in this review, that are detrimental to young people.
Too often the studies reviewed investigate wildly different aspects of the outcome areas,
presenting challenges to reviewers seeking simple and clear statements of impact. In drilling
down into series of related studies, we find:

57
Evidence from South Korea and New Zealand is also worthy of mention. This does not feature in
this report as it does not fully meet the inclusion criteria, but it certainly merits attention. See, for
example, comparative work in schools undertaken by the Korean Research Institute for Vocational
Education and Training (KRIVET).

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 50


• some evidence to suggest that impacts on attainment can be expected to be
relatively modest, recognising that impacts can be expected to vary, perhaps
considerably, by individual circumstance and character of intervention delivery;
• good evidence to show that earnings premiums are commonly sizeable for young
adults especially when they engage with employers within teenage careers-focused
provision; and
• good evidence that careers education also underpins a wide range of beneficial
social outcomes.

In explaining causality, the literature points more towards issues of social and cultural capital
accumulation than human capital accumulation: that higher levels of supported, authentic
exposure to the labour market, in its very different forms, can challenge young people to
think afresh about their aspirations and their engagement with education and pathways
through it. Changing attitudes and assumptions are commonly important within the studies
reviewed. However, US literature does also suggest that occupationally specific skills
developed in high school can be successfully linked to better labour market outcomes.
It is unsurprising that such careers education is associated with positive outcomes for young
people as a range of high quality studies have shown that what young people think about
careers (particularly whether they are uncertain or confused/misaligned) influences later
academic and employment outcomes. Our small-scale systematic review of the high quality
literature relevance to part-time employment alongside full-time secondary education shows
that it too is related to adult outcomes for the better in terms of economic outcomes, but for
the worse in terms of educational outcomes.
The literature shows the extensive use of differing forms of intermediaries for personalised
support to deliver active and experiential learning activities, including career guidance within
and beyond schooling. However, the literature findings suggest more could be done to
understand better the relationship between certain types of interventions delivered by
differing forms of personalised support both online and offline, particularly (though not
exclusively) for disadvantaged young people.
The frequent difficulty identified from the literature lies in verifying the relationship between
quality outcomes and the specific careers education interventions. Often the measures of
such outcomes are crudely measured and the precise interventions are not adequately
isolated or the ‘treatment’ fully described. In many cases, the research considers only one
system of influence at a time in isolation of other impeding factors. Some outcome studies of
careers interventions have shown that the models or theories supposedly guiding the
interventions were not fully implemented (Miller and Brown, 2005). 58

58
Miller, M. J. and Brown, S. D. (2005) ‘Counseling for career choice: Implications for improving
interventions and for working with diverse populations’, in Brown, S. D. and Lent, R. W. (eds.) Career
development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work, New York: Wiley, (pp. 441–465).

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 51


It is important to recognise that attempts to undertake definitive studies, or provide
conclusive evidence of the outcomes of careers education activities, continue to be beset by
a recurring set of issues, as follows:
• There are a wide range of factors which influence individual career choice and
decision-making, or which can impact on outcomes.
• Careers education interventions are sometimes not a discrete input, but instead are
embedded in other contexts such as programmes of distinctive learning provision,
employer/employee relationships, or within multi-strand initiatives.
• Comparing the evidence available in different studies is problematic when the nature
of careers-focused education, the depth of work undertaken, and client groups vary
considerably.
• There is not an agreed set of outcome measures for career education (or career
guidance, career counselling, or career development), neither are there common
methods of collecting output, or outcome data, except in the case of a limited number
of discrete programmes.
• Definitional problems also present themselves when addressing this issue. The first
of these may be in attempting to define what careers-focused education is, and what
it is intended to do. In seeking to identify and measure the outcomes of careers-
focused education a clearly delineated type of intervention is desirable, although not
always achievable.
• Effective career guidance (career counselling or career development) is a process
which, over time, is made up of a number of individual interventions, possibly of
different types.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 52


Table 14: Overview of selected examples by types of interventions

Evidence of positive impact on:


Type of Description Educational Economic Social Example intervention, impact and
intervention outcome outcome outcome strength of evidence
Transformational A programme of careers- 67% of 6 Woolley et al. (2013) examine the US
leadership focused activity requiring assessments Career Start programme wherein teaching
substantive changes in staff (grades 6 to 8) follow an interactive
staff action and behaviour, professional development process to
commonly requiring some revise methods to teach core academic
element of staff training. curriculum through use of specific career
examples. The study reviews results
across 14 randomly assigned schools and
finds statistically significant increases in
pupil achievement in mathematics, but not
in reading.
Evidence strength: medium
Mentoring A sustained relationship 62% of 13 67% of 6 50% of 6 Miller (1999) examines the impact of
between a pupil and a assessments assessments assessments business and community mentoring in
largely untrained volunteer seven schools in England. A value-added
(selected on the basis of analysis found a small but positive impact
their occupational on GCSE results compared with a similar
experience) managed by a group of non-mentored students.
school to support and
Evidence strength: medium
encourage the young
person through a period of
transition.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 53


Careers provision A process of learning, 60% of 10 67% of 15 62% of 13 Kashefpakdel and Percy (2016) examine
individually or in groups, assessments assessments assessments the impact of school-mediated careers
designed to help young talks with speakers from outside of school
people to develop the at ages 14–16 on earnings (in full-time
knowledge, confidence employment) at age 26. The study finds
and skills they need to that young adults experience wage
make well-informed, premiums of up to 1.6% per careers talk
relevant choices and plans with premiums greatest when participants
for their future, so they can agreed, as teenagers, that the talks were
progress smoothly into ‘very helpful’.
further learning or work.
Evidence strength: high
Work-related A programme of learning 58% of 24 55% of 11 40% of 5 Kemple and Wilner (2008) examine the
learning that uses the context of assessments assessments assessments impact of teenage participation in a three-
work to develop year (one day a week) occupationally-
knowledge, skills and focused US study programme rich in
understanding useful in employer engagement. Using randomised
work, including learning assignment, they followed 1,764 young
through the experience of people to age 26 and find the intervention
work, learning about work group to earn, on average, 11% more than
and working practices, and the control group.
learning the skills for work.
Evidence strength: high
Job shadowing A short period of career 80% of 5 Neumark and Rothstein examine the
exploration (typically no assessments impact of teenage participation in US.
more than three days) school-mediated job shadowing
within a workplace programmes on education and
wherein a pupil observes a employment outcomes. Using longitudinal
number of staff members data, they find job shadowing boosts post-
at work, reflecting on their secondary education participation rates
and reduces incidence of young adult

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 54


occupational experiences. idleness.
Evidence strength: high
Work experience A time-limited placement 75% of 8 Linnehan (2001) examines the
undertaken by a young assessments experiences of 202 African American high
person (while still in full- school students who engaged in extended
time education) in a periods of work experience (one day a
workplace, designed to week) alongside mentoring with employee
give the young person volunteers. Young people whose
insights into the experience lasted more than six months
experience of being achieved higher examination results than
employed in such a control group peers.
workplace.
Evidence strength: medium
Enterprise An activity wherein pupils 60% of 5 Huber et al. (2014) examine the impact of
work together to create an assessments a five-day entrepreneurship education
economic enterprise over programme on primary school age Dutch
either a short or long participants. A total of 2,751 pupils were
duration, commonly with randomly allocated to control and
support from volunteers intervention groups by class. The study
from the world of work. found significant positive impact on the
non-cognitive entrepreneurial skills of
pupils (e.g. risk-taking, creativity, self-
efficacy).
Evidence strength: high

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 55


9.2. What the literature can tell us about interventions
Given the limitations of the evidence, conclusions on the efficacy of specific interventions
should be treated with great caution. This review of the literature can only provide an
indication of areas of greater efficacy. As set out in the table below, no simple patterns
emerge from summaries of assessed impact against the outcome areas. It may well be the
case that different interventions are more effective in supporting young people to enhance
performance across different outcome areas.

Table 15: Efficacy of interventions by outcome area

Educational outcomes Economic outcomes Social outcomes

1. Leadership 1. Job Shadowing 1. Careers provision


2. Mentoring 2. Work experience 2. Mentoring
3. Careers provision 3. Mentoring 3. Enterprise
4. Work-related learning 4. Careers provision 4. Work-related learning
5. Work-related learning

This review has identified consistent features of effective careers education:


• Career reflection: making concrete the thinking about one’s own motivation and
aptitudes, self-regulation, self-determination, and resilience to cope with unforeseen
setbacks.
• Career exploration: giving shape to one’s own career path by exploring the options
for study or work.
• Career action: opportunities to make sense of, and act upon, the learning gained
from differing types of interventions.
• Networking: building and maintaining a network of key contacts.
• Learning environment: stimulating real-life experiences with work and a dialogue
about these experiences.
• Career dialogue: young people having meaningful conversations with teachers,
parents/carers, employers/employees, alumni, and trained and qualified career
development professionals.
• Career conversations students have in the workplace: gaining exposure to, and
experience of, work in real-life situations.

9.3. What the literature can tell us about outcomes


There is considerable evidence that suggests a strong relationship between immediate
learning outcomes and longer-term social and economic outcomes. The learning outcomes
could thereafter be regarded not only as of value in their own right, e.g. gaining experience
of work, but also as proxies or indicators for longer-term outcomes such as improved wage
earnings and/or job satisfaction.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 56


Moreover, there is need to review longitudinal datasets to ensure that they are fit for purpose
in addressing the key questions behind this study. In doing so, it is important to disaggregate
the activity or intervention from the programme in order to develop finer understandings of
causality.
The literature is slender, but it is not a blank page. There is a need, in filling in our collective
knowledge, to build iteratively on existing studies and address as a priority the main gaps in
the literature. There is a call for new studies that include a focus on:
• how careers education can support the greatest boosts to the academic achievement
of the largest numbers of young people, including understanding how identifiable
groups of young people can be expected to respond to different interventions—this
would require combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to further unlock the
‘black box’ of causality;
• personalised and targeted careers education (and career guidance) for young people
(and parents), particularly those in lower socio-economic groups, young immigrants
and those from other disadvantaged ethic groupings, and young people who are
disabled or have special educational needs;
• careers education and systems for tracking students’ enrolment and progression in
learning and work over time—using data available from learning information and HM
Revenue and Customs—to learn more about career trajectories and about ways of
identifying cycles of intergenerational poverty and evidence of what helps to break
cyclical trends;
• the effectiveness of ICT in careers education (and career guidance) online, or the
use of ICT and labour market information and intelligence (LMI) in the classroom;
• understanding the career guidance process and the ‘meaning making’ this provides
for young people in receipt of learning and labour market information; and
• the importance of social and cultural capital as a resource for schools, for example,
opportunities for young people to broaden their networks and expand their horizons.

9.4. Where next?


In countries such as Austria, Finland, Germany, Scotland, and Switzerland careers
education and guidance feature prominently in education systems (OECD, 2015). Findings
indicate an urgent need for more research on careers-focused education, including career
guidance and work-related learning designed to improve students’ education, employment,
and social outcomes in the UK in particular, and in other geopolitical contexts.
There is a clear need for research that is longitudinal and is therefore capable of identifying
longer-term and possibly more deep-seated effects, not merely in terms of individuals’
pathways and assessment of opportunity structures (such as the take-up of learning or job
opportunities), but also in terms of career behaviours, attitudinal shifts, and perceptions of
career identity—also of great importance.
While qualitative studies often focus on the aspirations, motivation and attitudes to learning
of participants in research, there is a need to identify shifts in the use of ‘softer’ measures
using longitudinal data, randomised controlled trials, and other such approaches.
The EEF is well placed to consider ways of bringing together policymakers, researchers, and
practitioners to address some or all of the issues emerging from this review.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 57


References

Education outcomes
(n = 45)
Bae, S. H., Gray, K., and Yeager, G. (2007) ‘A Retrospective Cohort Comparison of Career
and Technical Education Participants and Non-Participants on a State-Mandated
Proficiency Test’, Career and Technical Education Research, 32 (1), 9–22.
Bayer, A., Grossman, J. B. and DuBois, D. L. (2015) ‘Using volunteer mentors to improve the
academic outcomes of underserved students: the role of relationships’, Journal of
Community Psychology, 43 (4), 408–429.
Bernstein, L., Rappaport, C. D., Olsho, L., Hunt, D. and Levin, M. (2009) ‘Impact Evaluation of
the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program. Final Report (NCEE
2009-4047)’, Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional
Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Bishop, J. H. and Mane, F. (2004) ‘The impacts of career-technical education on high school
labor market success’, Economics of Education Review, 23 (4), 381–402.
Bragg, D. D., Loeb, J. W., Gong, Y., Deng, C.-P., Yoo, J.-s. and Hill, J. L. (2002) ‘Transition
from High School to College and Work for Tech Prep Participants in Eight Selected
Consortia’, St. Paul, Minnesota: National Research Center for Career and Technical
Education, University of Minnesota.
Castellano, M., Sundell, K., Overman, L. T. and Aliaga, O. A. (2012) ‘Do Career and Technical
Education Programs of Study Improve Student Achievement? Preliminary Analyses
from a Rigorous Longitudinal Study’, International Journal of Educational Reform, 21
(2), 98–118.
Dalton, B., Lauff, E., Henke, R., Alt, M. and Li, X. (2013) ‘From Track to Field: Trends in
Career and Technical Education across Three Decades: Prepared for the National
Assessment of Career and Technical Education (NACTE)’, U.S. Department of
Education, Policy and Program Studies Service.
Fletcher, E. C. Jr. and Zirkle, C. (2009) ‘The Relationship of High School Curriculum Tracks to
Degree Attainment and Occupational Earnings’, Career and Technical Education
Research, 34 (2), 81–102.
Ford, R., Frenette, M., Nicholson, C., Kwakye, I., Hui, T. S.-w., Hutchison, J. et al. (2012)
‘Future to Discover: [Post-secondary Impacts Report]’, Ottawa, Ontario: The Social
Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC).
Ford, R., Grekou, D., Kwakye, I. and Nicholson, C. (2014) ‘Future to Discover: Fourth Year
Post-secondary Impacts Report’, Ottawa, Ontario: The Social Research and
Demonstration Corporation (SRDC).
Fruiht, V. M. and Wray-Lake, L. (2013) ‘The Role of Mentor Type and Timing in Predicting
Educational Attainment’, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42 (9), 1,459–1,472.
Furstenberg, F. F. Jr. and Neumark, D. (2005) ‘School-to-Career and Post-Secondary
Education: Evidence from the Philadelphia Educational Longitudinal Study’, St. Louis:
Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
Golden, S., Golden, S., O’Donnell, L., Benton, T. and Rudd, P. (2005) ‘Evaluation of Increased
Flexibility for 14 to 16 Year Olds Programme; Outcomes for the First Cohort (Research
Report No. 668)’, London: Department for Education and Skills.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 58


Golden, S., O'Donnell, L., Benton, T. and Rudd, P. (2006) ‘Evaluation of Increased Flexibility
for 14 to 16 Year Olds Programme: Outcomes for the Second Cohort (Research
Report No. 786)’, London: Department for Education and Skills.
Golden, S., O'Donnell, L., Benton, T. and Rudd, P. (2006) ‘Evaluation of Increased Flexibility
for 14 to 16 Year Olds Programme: Outcomes for the Second Cohort (Research
Report No. 786)’, London: Department for Education and Skills.
Harrison, N., James, D. and Last, K. (2012) ‘The impact of the pursuit of ASDAN’s Certificate
of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) on GCSE attainment’, Bristol: University of West of
England and ASDAN education.
Henderson, R. (1995) ‘Effects of Thematically Integrated Mathematics Instruction on Students
of Mexican Descent’, The Journal of Educational Research, 88 (5), 290–300.
Hooley, T., Matheson, J. and Watts, A. G. (2014) ‘Advancing ambitions: The role of career
guidance in supporting social mobility’, Derby: University of Derby and The Sutton
Trust.
Huber, L. R., Sloof, R. and Van Praag, M. (2014) ‘The effect of early entrepreneurship
education: Evidence from a field experiment’, European Economic Review, 72, 76–97.
Kemple, J. J. (2001) ‘Career Academies: Impacts on Students' Initial Transitions to Post-
Secondary Education and Employment’, New York: Manpower Demonstration
Research Corp.
Kemple, J. J. and Willner, C. J. (2008) Career academies: long-term impacts on labor market
outcomes, educational attainment, and transitions to adulthood (Report), New York:
MDRC publications.
Legum, H. L. and Hoare, C. H. (2004) ‘Impact of a Career Intervention on At-Risk Middle
School Students' Career Maturity Levels, Academic Achievement, and Self-Esteem’,
Professional School Counseling, 8 (2), 148–155.
Linnehan, F. (2001) ‘The Relation of a Work-Based Mentoring Program to the Academic
Performance and Behavior of African American Students’, Journal of Vocational
Behavior, 59 (3), 310–325.
MacAllum, K. and Bozick, R. (2001) ‘What Happens after They Graduate? Results from a
Longitudinal Study of STC Graduates’, 75th Annual Conference of the Association for
Career and Technical Educations, New Orleans.
MacAllum, K., Worgs, D., Bozick, R. and McDonald, D. (2001) ‘Transitioning to College and
Career: Interim Findings of the LAMP Longitudinal Study’, Washington DC: Academy
for Educational Development, National Institute for Work Learning.
Miller, A. (1999) ‘Business mentoring in schools: does it raise attainment?’, Education and
Training, 41 (2), 73–78.
National Audit Office (2010) Educating the next generation of scientists, London: The
Stationery Office.
Neild, R. C., Boccanfuso, C. and Byrnes, V. (2015) ‘Academic Impacts of Career and
Technical Schools’, Career and Technical Education Research, 40 (1), 28–47.
Neumark, D. and Rothstein, D. (2003) ‘School-to-Career Programs and Transitions to
Employment and Higher Education’ (NBER Working Papers: 10060), Cambridge, MA:
National Bureau of Economic Research Inc.
Neumark, D. and Rothstein, D. (2005) ‘Do School-to-Work Programs Help the “Forgotten
Half”?’, St. Louis: Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
Neumark, D. and Rothstein, D. (2006) ‘School-to-career programs and transitions to
employment and higher education’, Economics of education review, 25 (4), 374–393.
Nicholson, C. (2012) ‘Preparing to Access Post-secondary Education: The Influence of Future

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 59


to Discover on High School Academic Choices’, Ottawa, Ontario: The Social Research
and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC).
Pearson, D., Sawyer, J., Park, T., Santamaria, L., van der Mandele, E., Keene, B. et al. (2010)
‘Capitalizing on Context: Curriculum Integration in Career and Technical Education. A
Joint Report of the NRCCTE Curriculum Integration Workgroup’, USA: National
Research Center for Career and Technical Education.
Pierce, K. B. and Hernandez, V. M. (2015) ‘Do Mathematics and Reading Competencies
Integrated into Career and Technical Education Courses Improve High School Student
State Assessment Scores?’, Career and Technical Education Research, 39 (3), 213–
229.
Radcliffe, R. A. and Bos, B. (2013) ‘Strategies to Prepare Middle School and High School
Students for College and Career Readiness’, Clearing House: A Journal of Educational
Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 86 (4), 136–141.
Rhodes, J. E., Grossman, J. B. and Resch, N. L. (2000) ‘Agents of Change: Pathways
Through Which Mentoring Relationships Influence Adolescents' Academic Adjustment’,
Child Development, 71 (6), 1,662–1,671.
Rodriguez-Planas, N. (2012) ‘Longer-Term Impacts of Mentoring, Educational Services, and
Learning Incentives: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in the United States’, American
Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 4 (4), 121–139.
Schwartz, S. E. O., Rhodes, J. E., Chan, C. S. and Herrera, C. (2011) ‘The impact of school-
based mentoring on youths with different relational profiles’, Developmental
Psychology, 47 (2), 450–462.
Schwartz, S. E. O., Rhodes, J. E. and Herrera, C. (2012) ‘The influence of meeting time on
academic outcomes in school-based mentoring’, Children and Youth Services Review,
34 (12), 2,319–2,326.
Stone, J. R. III, Alfeld, C. and Pearson, D. (2008) ‘Rigor “and” Relevance: Enhancing High
School Students’ Math Skills through Career and Technical Education’, American
Educational Research Journal, 45 (3), 767–795.
Stone, J. R. III, Alfeld, C., Pearson, D., Lewis, M. V. and Jensen, S. (2006) ‘Building Academic
Skills in Context: Testing the Value of Enhanced Math Learning in CTE’, St Paul MN:
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education.
Thiessen, V. and Looker, E. D. (1999) ‘Investing in Youth: The Nova Scotia School-to-Work
Transition Project (No. 0-662-27883-6)’, Canada: Human Resource Development
Canada, Ottawa (Ontario) and Nova Scotia Dept. of Education and Culture, Halifax.
Thompson, L. A. and Kelly-Vance, L. (2001) ‘The impact of mentoring on academic
achievement of at-risk youth’, Children and Youth Services Review, 23 (3), 227–242.
Tran, N. A., and Nathan, M. J. (2010) ‘Pre-College Engineering Studies: An Investigation of
the Relationship Between Pre-college Engineering Studies and Student Achievement
in Science and Mathematics’, Journal of Engineering Education, 99 (2), 143–157.
Woolley, M., Woolley, M. E., Rose, R. A., Orthner, D. K., Akos, P. T. and Jones Sanpei, H.
(2013) ‘Advancing Academic Achievement Through Career Relevance in the Middle
Grades: A Longitudinal Evaluation of CareerStart’, American Educational Research
Journal, 50 (6), 1,309–1,335.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 60


Economic outcomes
(n = 27)
Applied Research Unit (2001) ‘Post-secondary employment and college enrolment among
Montgomery County Public School Graduates: the role of career-focused programs’,
Rockville, Maryland: Montgomery County Public Schools.
Arum, R. and Way, S. (2004) ‘School-community relationships and the early labour market
outcomes of sub-baccalaureate students’, in Albright K. and Conley D. (eds.) After the
Bell: Family Background, Public Policy and Educational Success, London and New
York: Routledge (pp. 257–289).
Bishop, J. H. and Mane, F. (2004) ‘The impacts of career-technical education on high school
labor market success’, Economics of Education Review, 23 (4), 381–402.
Bragg, D. D., Loeb, J. W., Gong, Y., Deng, C.-P., Yoo, J.-s. and Hill, J. L. (2002) ‘Transition
from High School to College and Work for Tech Prep Participants in Eight Selected
Consortia’, St. Paul, Minnesota: National Research Center for Career and Technical
Education, University of Minnesota.
Brown, S., Oritiz-Nunez, A. and Taylor, K. (2011) ‘What Will I Be When I Grow Up? An
analysis of childhood expectations and career outcomes’, Economic of Education
Review, 30 (3), 493–506.
Dalton, B., Lauff, E., Henke, R., Alt, M. and Li, X. (2013) ‘From Track to Field: Trends in
Career and Technical Education across Three Decades: Prepared for the National
Assessment of Career and Technical Education (NACTE)’, U.S. Department of
Education, Policy and Program Studies Service.
Fletcher, E. C. Jr. and Zirkle, C. (2009) ‘The Relationship of High School Curriculum Tracks to
Degree Attainment and Occupational Earnings’, Career and Technical Education
Research, 34 (2), 81–102.
Gutman, L. M., Sabates, R. and Schoon, I. (2014) ‘Uncertainty in educational and career
aspirations: gender differences in young people’, in Schoon I. and Eccles J. S. (eds.)
Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment: A Life Course Perspective
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (pp. 161–181).
Hossain, F. and Bloom, D. (2015) ‘Toward a better future: evidence on improving employment
outcomes for disadvantaged youth in the United States’, New York City: MDRC.
Jobs for the Future (1998) ‘School-to-career initiative demonstrates significant impact on
young people’, Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future.
Kashefpakdel, E. T. and Percy, C. (2016, forthcoming) ‘Career education that works: An
economic analysis using the British Cohort Study’, Journal of Education and Work.
Kemple, J. J. (2001) ‘Career Academies: Impacts on Students' Initial Transitions to Post-
Secondary Education and Employment’, New York: Manpower Demonstration
Research Corp.
Kemple, J. J. and Willner, C. J. (2008) ‘Career academies: long-term impacts on labor market
outcomes, educational attainment, and transitions to adulthood (Report)’, New York:
MDRC publications.
Koivisto, P., Vuori, J. and Vinokur, A. D. (2010) ‘Transition to work: Effects of preparedness
and goal construction on employment and depressive symptoms’, Journal of Research
on Adolescence, 20 (4), 869–892.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 61


Kuijpers, M. and Meijers, F. (2009) ‘Learning environment for career learning: A study of the
relations between the learning environment and career competencies in students in
pre-vocational and secondary vocational education’, Pedagogische Studien, 83 (3),
93–109.
MacAllum, K. and Bozick, R. (2001) ‘What Happens after They Graduate? Results from a
Longitudinal Study of STC Graduates’, 75th Annual Conference of the Association for
Career and Technical Educations, New Orleans.
MacAllum, K., Worgs, D., Bozick, R. and McDonald, D. (2001) ‘Transitioning to College and
Career: Interim Findings of the LAMP Longitudinal Study’, Washington DC: Academy
for Educational Development, National Institute for Work Learning.
Mann, A. and Percy, C. (2013) ‘Employer engagement in British secondary education: wage
earning outcomes experienced by young adults’, Journal of Education and Work, 27
(5), 496–523.
Maxwell, N. L. and Rubin, V. (1997) ‘The Relative Impact of a Career Academy on Post-
Secondary Work and Education Skills in Urban, Public High Schools. HIRE (Discussion
Paper Number 97-2)’, Hayward, CA: The Human Investment Research and Education
Center.
Maxwell, N. L. and Rubin, V. (2000) ‘High School Career Academies: A Pathway to
Educational Reform in Urban School Districts?’, Kalamazoo, MI: Upjohn Institute for
Employment Research.
Neumark, D. (2004) ‘The Effects of School-to-Career Programs on Postsecondary Enrollment
and Employment’, San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
Neumark, D. and Rothstein, D. (2005) ‘Do School-to-Work Programs Help the "Forgotten
Half"?’, St. Louis: Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
Neumark, D. and Rothstein, D. (2006) ‘School-to-career programs and transitions to
employment and higher education’, Economics of education review, 25 (4), 374–393.
Page, L. C. (2012) ‘Understanding the impact of career academy attendance: An application of
the Principal Stratification Framework for Causal Effects Accounting for partial
compliance’, Evaluation Review, 36 (2), 99–132.
Percy, C. and Mann, A. (2014) ‘School-mediated employer engagement and labour market
outcomes for young adults: Wage premia, NEET outcomes and career confidence’, in
Understanding Employer Engagement in Education: Theories and Evidence, London:
Education and Employers Taskforce (pp. 205–220).
Shandra, C. L. and Hogan, D. P. (2008) ‘School-to-work program participation and the post-
high school employment of young adults with disabilities’, Journal of Vocational
Rehabilitation, 29 (2), 117–130.
Thiessen, V. and Looker, E. D. (1999) ‘Investing in Youth: The Nova Scotia School-to-Work
Transition Project’ (No. 0-662-27883-6), Canada: Human Resource Development
Canada, Ottawa (Ontario) and Nova Scotia Dept. of Education and Culture, Halifax.

Social outcomes
(n = 25)
Athayde, R. (2009) ‘Measuring Enterprise Potential in Young People’, Entrepreneurship
Theory and Practice, 33 (2), 481–500.
Athayde, R. (2012) ‘The impact of enterprise education on attitudes to enterprise in young

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 62


people: an evaluation study’, Education + Training, 54 (8/9), 709–726.
Bernstein, L., Rappaport, C. D., Olsho, L., Hunt, D. and Levin, M. (2009) ‘Impact Evaluation of
the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program. Final Report (NCEE
2009-4047)’, Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional
Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Buckler, N., Coles-Jordan, D., Crisp, P. and Silvera, S. (2015) ‘Future First's alumni
programme: Evaluation report’, Coventry: Centre for the Use of Research and
Evidence in Education (CUREE).
Currie, S., Hutchinson, J., Ford, R., Kurakye, I. and Tattrie, D. (2007) ‘Future to Discover Pilot
Project: [Early Implementation Report]’, Ottawa, Ontario: The Social Research and
Demonstration Corporation.
Furstenberg, F. F. Jr. and Neumark, D. (2005) ‘School-to-Career and Post-Secondary
Education: Evidence from the Philadelphia Educational Longitudinal Study’, St. Louis:
Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
Golden, S., O'Donnell, L., Benton, T. and Rudd, P. (2006) ‘Evaluation of Increased Flexibility
for 14 to 16 Year Olds Programme: Outcomes for the Second Cohort (Research
Report No. 786)’, London: Department for Education and Skills.
Gutman, L. M., Sabates, R. and Schoon, I. (2014) ‘Uncertainty in educational and career
aspirations: gender differences in young people’, in Schoon I. and Eccles J. S. (eds.)
Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment: A Life Course Perspective,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (pp. 161–181).
Hillage, J., Kodz, J. and Pike, G. (2011) ‘Pre-16 work experience practice in England: an
evaluation’, London: Department for Education and Employment.
Henderson, R. (1995) ‘Effects of Thematically Integrated Mathematics Instruction on Students
of Mexican Descent’, The Journal of Educational Research, 88 (5), 290–300.
Hooley, T., Matheson, J. and Watts, A. G. (2014) ‘Advancing ambitions: The role of career
guidance in supporting social mobility’, Derby: University of Derby and The Sutton
Trust.
Huber, L., Sloof, R. and Van Praag, M. (2012) ‘The effect of early entrepreneurship education:
Evidence from a randomized field experiment’, European Economic Review, 72, 76–
97.
Kuijpers, M. and Meijers, F. (2009) ‘Learning environment for career learning: A study of the
relations between the learning environment and career competencies in students in
pre-vocational and secondary vocational education’, Pedagogische Studien, 83 (3),
93–109. Youth: Patterns, Predictors, and Correlates. Youth and Society, 45 (2), 243–
264.
Legum, H. L. and Hoare, C. H. (2004) ‘Impact of a Career Intervention on At-Risk Middle
School Students' Career Maturity Levels, Academic Achievement, and Self-Esteem’,
Professional School Counseling, 8 (2), 148–155.
McComb-Beverage, S. K. (2012) ‘An Experimental Design: Examining the Effectiveness of the
Virginia Career View Program on Creating 7th Grade Student Career Self-Efficacy’,
Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA.
Morris, M. (2004) ‘The Case for Careers Education and Guidance for 14-19 year olds’, Slough:
National Foundation for Educational Research.
Neumark, D. and Rothstein, D. (2003) ‘School-to-Career Programs and Transitions to
Employment and Higher Education (NBER Working Papers: 10060)’, Cambridge, MA:
National Bureau of Economic Research Inc.
Orthner, D. K., Jones-Sanpei, H., Akos, P. and Rose, R. A. (2013) ‘Improving Middle School

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 63


Student Engagement Through Career-Relevant Instruction in the Core Curriculum’,
Journal of Educational Research, 106 (1), 27–38.
Peterman, N. E. and Kennedy, J. (2003) ‘Enterprise Education: Influencing Students’
Perceptions of Entrepreneurship’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28 (2), 129–
144.
Powers, L. E., Geenen, S., Powers, J., Pommier-Satya, S., Turner, A., Dalton, L. D. et al.
(2012) ‘My Life: Effects of a longitudinal, randomized study of self-determination
enhancement on the transition outcomes of youth in foster care and special education’,
Children and Youth Services Review, 34 (11), 2,179–2,187.
Radcliffe, R. A. and Bos, B. (2013) ‘Strategies to Prepare Middle School and High School
Students for College and Career Readiness’, Clearing House: A Journal of Educational
Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 86 (4), 136–141.
Rhodes, J. E., Grossman, J. B. and Resch, N. L. (2000) ‘Agents of Change: Pathways
Through Which Mentoring Relationships Influence Adolescents' Academic Adjustment’,
Child Development, 71 (6), 1,662–1,671.
Rodriguez-Planas, N. (2012) ‘Longer-Term Impacts of Mentoring, Educational Services, and
Learning Incentives: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in the United States’, American
Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 4 (4), 121–139.
Schwartz, S. E. O., Rhodes, J. E., Chan, C. S. and Herrera, C. (2011) ‘The impact of school-
based mentoring on youths with different relational profiles’, Developmental
Psychology, 47 (2), 450–462.
Staff, J., Harris, A., Sabates, R. and Briddle, L. (2010) ‘Uncertainty in Early Occupational
Aspirations: Role Exploration or Aimlessness?’, Social Forces, 89 (2), 659–683.

Part-time work studies


(n = 23)
Anlezark, A. and Lim, P. (2011) ‘Does Combining School and Work Affect School and Post-
School Outcomes? Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth’ (No. 978-1-9219-5518-
1), Australia: National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).
Buscha, F., Maurel, A., Page, L. and Speckesser, S. (2012) ‘The Effect of Employment while
in High School on Educational Attainment: A Conditional Difference-in-Differences
Approach’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 74 (3), 380–396.
Crawford, C., Duckworth, K., Vignoles, A. and Wyness, G. (2011) ‘Young people's education
and labour market choices aged 16/17 to 18/19’ (Research Report DFE-RR182),
London: Department for Education.
Duckworth, K. and Schoon, I. (2012) ‘Beating the odds: exploring the impact of social risk on
young people's school-to-work transitions during recession in the UK’, National
Institute Economic Review, 222 (1), R38–R51.
Dustmann, C. and Van Soest, A. (2007) ‘Part-time work, school success and school leaving’,
Empirical Economics, 32, 277–299.
Gong, X., Cassells, R. and Duncan, A. (2012) ‘Does Part-Time Work at School Impact on
Going to University?’ (No. 978-1-9220-5629-0), Victoria, Australia: National Centre
for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 64


Hotz, V. J. (2002) ‘Are There Returns to the Wages of Young Men from Working While in
School?’, Review of Economics and Statistics, 84 (2), 221–236.
Light, A. (2001) ‘In‐school work experience and the returns to schooling’, Journal of Labor
Economics, 19 (1), 65–93.
Marks, G. (2008) ‘The occupations and earnings of young Australians: the role of education
and training’ (LSAY Research Reports No 55), Victoria, Australia: Australian Council
for Educational Research.
McVicar, D. and B. McKee (2002). "Part–Time Work During Post–Compulsory Education And
Examination Performance: Help Or Hindrance?" Scottish journal of political economy
49(4): 393-406.

Nagengast, B., et al. (2014). "Character Building or Subversive Consequences of Employment


during High School: Causal Effects Based on Propensity Score Models for Categorical
Treatments." Journal of Educational Psychology 106(2): 584-603.

Payne, J. (2003). "The Impact of Part-Time Jobs in Years 12 and 13 on Qualification


Achievement." British Educational Research Journal 29(4): 599-611.

Percy, C. (2010). The impact of formal work experience and term-time paid employment using
longitudinal data from England (2003-2007). London, Education and Employers
Taskforce.

Percy, C. (2010). NEET status during sixth form years vs. part-time paid work in years 9, 10
and 11 - an initial statistical analysis using the LSYPE. UK Education and Employers
Taskforce Research Conference.

Purtell, K. M. and V. C. McLoyd (2013). "A Longitudinal Investigation of Employment among


Low-Income Youth: Patterns, Predictors, and Correlates." Youth & Society 45(2): 243-
264.

Robinson, L. (1999). The Effects of Part-Time Work on School Students. Longitudinal Surveys
of Australian Youth (LSAY Research Report). Victoria, Australia, Australian Council for
Educational Research.

Ruhm, C. J. (1997). "Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment?" Journal of


Labor Economics 15(4): 735-776.

Scott, M. A. and A. Bernhardt (1999). Pathways to Educational Attainment and Their Effect on
Early Career Development. Berkeley, CA., National Center for Research in Vocational
Education.

Singh, K. (1998). "Part-time employment in high school and its effect on academic
achievement." Journal of Educational Research 91: 131-139.

Singh, K. and M. Ozturk (2000). "Effect of part-time work on high school mathematics and
science course taking." Journal of Educational Research 94(2): 67-74.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 65


Stern, D., et al. (1997). "What Difference Does It Make If School and Work Are Connected?
Evidence on Cooperative Education in the United States." Economics of Education
Review 16(3): 213-229.

Vickers, M., et al. (2003). Student Workers in High School and Beyond: The Effects of Part-
Time Employment on Participation in Education, Training and Work. Victoria, Australia,
Australian Council for Educational Research.

Vuolo, M., et al. (2014). "Adolescent Precursors of Pathways From School to Work." Journal
of Research on Adolescence 24(1): 145-162.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 66


Appendix 1: Key informants from OECD countries
1a. DfE draft report (2011) - The research evidence on Careers Services (Draft evidence
note – not to be circulated) Education Standards Research Team, Education Standards
Analysis and Research Division, DfE and FE Skills Research and Analysis, BIS. May 2011.
2a. EEF paper 1, Neuroscience and Education:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/NSED_LitReview_Final.pdf.
2b. EEF paper 2, Digital Technology: six-page Executive Summary:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/The_Impact_of_Digital_Technolo
gy_on_Learning_-_Executive_Summary_(2012).pdf.
2c. EEF paper 3, Digital Technology, full report:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/The_Impact_of_Digital_Technolo
gies_on_Learning_FULL_REPORT_(2012).pdf.
3. PEF Impetus—Axford, N., Heilmann, S. and Sonthalia, S. Dartington (2015) Ready
for Work II: The Effectiveness of Work Readiness Programmes for Young People, Social
Research Unit REPORT for Impetus PEF, 14 August 2015.
Key expert international informants who willingly supported and contributed to the literature
search in their respective countries: Dr Mary McMahon, Queensland University (Australia);
Sareena Hopkins, Lynne Bezansen, Dr Roberta Neault, Tannis Goddard, David Redekopp
and Ruben Ford (Canada); Dr Rie Thomsen (Denmark); Dr Ji-Yeon, Korean Research
Institute for Vocational Education and Training (South Korea); Professor Mark Watson,
Nelson Mandela University (South Africa); Dr Raimo Vuorinen, University of Jyväskylä
(Finland); Prof. Dr Frans Meijiers (The Netherlands); Julie Thomas and Pat Cody, Careers
Service New Zealand (New Zealand); Peter Tatham (Tasmania); Ivan Diego (Spain); Anne
Hampshire (Australia); Andrew Rothstein (USA); and Paul Comyn (International Labor
Organisation).

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 67


Appendix 2: Keyword search terms
The sample Input Outcome Methodology
Children AND Career* AND Attainment AND Randomised
trials
OR OR OR OR
Young Employer* Achievement Longitudinal
people
OR OR OR OR
Adolescent Enterprise* Qualification Cohort
OR OR OR OR
Pupil Entrepreneur Employment Counterfactual
OR OR OR OR
Education Experiential Occupation Causal
learning
OR OR OR OR
School Job shadowing Wage Control group
OR OR
Mentoring Earning
OR OR
Volunteering Labour
OR OR
Work based Transition
learning
OR OR
Work related Progression
learning
OR OR
Work Social mobility
experience
OR OR
Workplace School-to-
work
OR OR
Work School-to-
placement career
OR
Vocational
OR
(Part time
work)

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 68


Appendix 3: Details of 96 studies selected for in-depth
review
Anlezark, A., and Lim, P. (2011). Does Combining School and Work Affect School and Post-
School Outcomes? Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (No. 978-1-9219-5518-1).
Australia: National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).
Abstract: In this report the authors seek to answer the question of whether combining
school and work is detrimental or beneficial to a student's school educational
performance and labour market outcomes. They find that young people who combine
school and work are distributed right across the school population. Results show that
individuals can combine school and work with minimal impact on their study if the
hours are modest and those working longer hours show a stronger orientation towards
work than study. The authors used data from the 2003 cohort (Y03) of the Longitudinal
Surveys of Australian Youth.

Applied Research Unit. (2001). Post-secondary employment and college enrolment among
Montgomery County Public School Graduates: the role of career-focused programs.
Rockville, Maryland: Montgomery County Public Schools.
Abstract: Over the years, many have speculated about the post-secondary school and
employment activities of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) graduates.
Knowledge of what our graduates do after high school graduation, in particular, how
well they perform in college and in the workplace, is unarguably of paramount
importance. Knowing which aspects of students’ high school education are associated
with successful transitions to college and to the workplace has implications for
maintaining, redesigning, expanding, or developing programs to better meet the needs
of our graduates in tomorrow’s workplace. Despite the clear demand for this knowledge
and its undeniable importance to understanding and preparing our youth for their
futures, there have been few, if any, systematic, large-scale studies examining
graduates’ post-secondary school and employment activities. Consequently, recurrent
questions about our graduates remain unanswered; questions, such as:
• To what extent do graduates follow through with their post-secondary school and
career plans? What do MCPS graduates do after high school graduation?
• How well do MCPS graduates perform in college? What are their first-year grade
point averages? How many complete their degrees? How long do graduates take
to complete college degrees?
• How well do MCPS graduates perform in the workplace? How many graduates are
employed? In what industries are they employed? What are graduates’ earnings?
• What effect does high school career and technology education have on graduates’
post-secondary school and employment activities?

Arum, R., and Way, S. (2004). School-community relationships and the early labour market
outcomes of sub-baccalaureate students. In K. Albright and D. Conley (Eds.), After the
Bell: Family Background, Public Policy and Educational Success (pp. 257-289).
London and New York: Routledge.
Abstract: This book chapter examines how a U.S. school-assisted job placement,
via a non-curricula mechanism, can boost occupational outcomes for young people,
specifically those most likely to be vulnerable to labour market failure. Data from the
High School and Beyond (HSB) survey, a longitudinal study of 1,222 high schools.
The sample of individuals selected for analysis is 3,571 young people who possess
a high school diploma or less and who report no post-secondary schooling in the
four years after high school. Findings suggest that when schools foster relationships

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 69


with employers and assist in finding employment opportunities, then there are likely
to be benefits within the labour market, especially for women. School-assisted job
placements deliver higher wages and reduced unemployment for women in
comparison to women who did not participate in such placements.

Athayde, R. (2009). Measuring Enterprise Potential in Young People. Entrepreneurship Theory


and Practice, 33(2), 481-500.
Abstract: As young people increasingly become the target of entrepreneurial and
enterprise policy initiatives and enterprise education in schools increases, so does the
need to effectively measure the impact these programs have. A research instrument
was designed to measure “enterprise potential” in young people using attitudes toward
characteristics associated with entrepreneurship. A control-group cross-sectional
design was used to investigate the impact of participation in a Young Enterprise
Company Program, which is based on the U.S. Junior Achievement model, in six
secondary schools in London, United Kingdom. The study found that participation in a
Company Program can foster positive attitudes toward self-employment and that
participants displayed greater enterprise potential than nonparticipants. Demographic
differences also emerged in enterprise potential between ethnic groups. Young Black
people were more positive about self-employment and displayed greater enterprise
potential than either White or Asian pupils. A family background of self-employment
had a positive influence on pupils' intentions to become self-employed. Finally, the
research raises a conceptual issue concerning the multidimensionality of the construct
of “enterprise potential.”

Athayde, R. (2012). The impact of enterprise education on attitudes to enterprise in young


people: an evaluation study. Education + Training, 54(8/9), 709-726.
Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to present evidence on the impact of
enterprise education on young people still at school in London, UK. The study was
designed to measure the effect of participation in a Young Enterprise (YE) Company
Program on young people's attitudes toward starting a business, and on their
enterprise potential. Design/methodology/approach - A longitudinal pre and post test
design was used, with a sample of 276 young people. A control group provided a
method of isolating the impact of the programme and was used as a test for self-
selection bias. An attitudes to enterprise test was administered at the start of the
programme and again at the end, nine months later. Findings - It was found that
participation does have a positive impact on young people's enterprise potential,
however this is moderated by other factors such as gender, ethnicity, socio-economic
background and type of school attended. Research limitations/implications - The paper
demonstrates the added value of a longitudinal design and the use of a control group.
The relatively small sample size limited the extent of multivariate analysis that could be
carried out. Practical implications - The paper provides an example of a robust
evaluation methodology for the evaluation of enterprise education programmes in
schools. Social implications - The paper highlights the importance of context in the
delivery of enterprise education. The impact of enterprise programmes is likely to be
moderated by a number of other factors such as socio-economic background.
Originality/value - The paper cautions against a one-size fits all approach to enterprise
education, and is relevant to policy makers and providers. The research design used
attempted to overcome some of the criticisms often made of evaluations studies.

Bae, S. H., Gray, K., and Yeager, G. (2007). A Retrospective Cohort Comparison of Career
and Technical Education Participants and Non-Participants on a State-Mandated
Proficiency Test. Career and Technical Education Research, 32(1), 9-22.
Abstract: The sometimes poor performance of Career and Technical Education (CTE)

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 70


concentrators on a state-mandated proficiency test is a major concern of CTE
educators. This study examined whether (a) there are performance differences on
state-mandated 11th -grade math and reading tests between CTE and non-CTE
students with similar proficiency scores in the 8th -grade; and (b) 11th -grade math test
scores are related to 8th -grade math proficiency and high school math course-taking
paerns. This exploratory study was conducted using two different cohorts of students
from the high school classes of 2004 and 2005, from two CTE schools and their
sending schools in Pennsylvania. The study found no statistically significant differences
in reading proficiency on the state-mandated 11th -grade math test. In one of the two
cohort groups, a statistically significant difference was found in math performance
between CTE students and their counterparts, with the CTE students scoring lower.
CTE students as a group had taken fewer college-prep math courses than their non-
CTE peers. Such differences were associated with CTE students' lower achievement
on a state-mandated math test. When math course-taking was controlled, CTE
participation was found not to be associated with math test scores.

Bayer, A., Grossman, J. B., and DuBois, D. L. (2015). Using volunteer mentors to improve the
academic outcomes of underserved students: the role of relationships. Journal of
Community Psychology, 43(4), 408-429.
Abstract: Schools can benefit from understanding how to use community volunteers to
achieve academic goals. A randomized control evaluation, involving 1,139 students
from 71 schools, of the school-based mentoring program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of
America found modest but statistically significant improvements in the teacher-rated
academic performance and self-reported scholastic efficacy of mentored students. The
present study explores the causal mechanism behind these effects. We find that a
close relationship between mentor and protégé appears key to better academic
outcomes. Because relationship closeness is not randomly assigned, we use two-stage
least squares and other methods to control for potential selection bias. The role of
emotional closeness as a mediator of program effects is evident across mentoring
relationships of various lengths and statuses. Students were more likely to feel close to
their mentors in programs that included weekly meetings and opportunities for mentor–
protégé pairs to interact outside of a large-group setting.

Bernstein, L., Rappaport, C. D., Olsho, L., Hunt, D., and Levin, M. (2009). Impact Evaluation of
the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program. Final Report (NCEE
2009-4047). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional
Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Abstract: This report summarizes the findings from a national evaluation of mentoring
programs funded under the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Student Mentoring
Program. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requested that the Institute of
Education Sciences (IES) within ED oversee an independent evaluation of the Student
Mentoring Program. In 2005, ED contracted with Abt Associates and its team of
subcontractors, Branch Associates, Moore and Associates, and the Center for
Resource Management, to conduct the Impact Evaluation of Student Mentoring
Programs. The impact evaluation used an experimental design in which students were
randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Thirty-two purposively selected
School Mentoring Programs and 2,573 students took part in the evaluation, which
estimated the impact of the programs over one school year on a range of student
outcomes. The evaluation also describes the characteristics of the program and the
mentors, and provides information about program delivery.

Bishop, J. H., and Mane, F. (2004). The impacts of career-technical education on high school
labor market success. Economics of Education Review, 23(4), 381-402.
Abstract: The paper assesses the effects of offering upper-secondary students the
opportunity to pursue vocational education in high school on completion rates and

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 71


subsequent earnings. Analysis of international cross-section data found that nations
enrolling a large proportion of upper-secondary students in vocational programs have
significantly higher school attendance rates and higher upper-secondary completion
rates. Test scores at age 15 and college attendance rates for people over age 20 were
not reduced.Analysis of 12 years of longitudinal data found that those who devoted
about one-sixth of their time in high school to occupation-specific vocational courses
earned at least 12% extra one year after graduating and about 8% extra seven years
later (holding attitudes and ability in 8th grade, family background and college
attendance constant). This was true both for students who did and did not pursue post-
secondary education. Computer courses had particularly large effects on earnings
eight years after graduating.

Bragg, D. D., Loeb, J. W., Gong, Y., Deng, C.-P., Yoo, J.-s., and Hill, J. L. (2002). Transition
from High School to College and Work for Tech Prep Participants in Eight Selected
Consortia. St. Paul, Minnesota National Research Center for Career and Technical
Education, University of Minnesota.
Abstract: The transition from high school to college and work for tech prep participants
was examined in a 4-year longitudinal study of local tech prep consortia in eight
regions of the United States. The study methodology drew heavily on transcript
analysis and two surveys with tech prep participants and nonparticipants. The tech
prep participants and nonparticipants did not differ substantially in race/ethnicity,
income, and parental education. The wide variations in secondary education and tech
prep participation from consortium to consortium made it difficult to formulate definitive
conclusions about particular models or approaches. The study findings did, however,
support the notion that school and consortium requirements influence student
participation in core academic courses relative to tech prep programs of study. The
findings also suggested that it is incumbent upon school personnel to link tech prep
core curricula to high school graduation requirements that go beyond the basic
minimum requirements and prepare students for college entrance.

Brown, S., Oritiz-Nunez, A., and Taylor, K. (2011). What Will I Be When I Grow Up? An
analysis of childhood expectations and career outcomes. Economic of Education
Review, 30(3), 493-506.
Abstract: In this paper, we utilise the British National Child Development Study to
explore the determinants of career expectations formed at the age of 16. We analyse
the influence of careers advice and resources at school on career expectations as well
as the influence of education. In addition, we explore the accuracy of occupational
expectations as compared to the occupation that the respondents subsequently
become employed in. Throughout our findings, human capital and gender play a pivotal
role in explaining career expectations as well as explaining the accuracy of the
occupational forecast. Interestingly, the level of school resources available for careers
guidance in terms of the number of teachers who are qualified to give careers advice
and the amount of specific careers guidance training received by these teachers both
have relatively small effects upon career expectations.

Buckler, N., Coles-Jordan, D., Crisp, P., and Silvera, S. (2015). Future First's alumni
programme: Evaluation report Coventry: Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence
in Education (CUREE).
Abstract: During the academic year 2013-14, Future First partnered with J.P. Morgan
to run an alumni programme for a target group of 25 schools in the areas of greatest
need (based on the proportion of students eligible for free school meals). An alumni
programme involves bringing former students back to their schools to talk to learners
about careers. This particular programme included Future First running six alumni
events in each of the schools. These sessions were largely targeted at the students
who were currently studying for their GCSEs. Session foci ranged from reflecting on

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 72


the importance of getting a C grade in English and maths and discussing revision
strategies to post-16 career routes. The programme as a whole aimed to increase
students’: career confidence; motivation to work harder for their exams; GCSE
attainment; employability skills; aspirations; and access to work experience. CUREE
were commissioned to undertake an evaluation of the programme to establish how far
it met these aims, and to put forward recommendations for how Future First could
continue to build on the work they are doing with schools. In order to evaluate the
impact of the programme, the evaluation team performed an analysis of a range of
evidence, including observations of sessions; student and staff perception data
gathered through an electronic survey, phone and face-to-face interviews and focus
groups carried out during case study visits; and documentary evidence. In order to
build on and extend Future First’s own evidence base about the impact of the
programme, an analysis of student assessment data was carried out to test the
hypothesis of whether students’ improved study skills and learning behaviours, paired
with the increased commitment to do well in their studies result in better grades. More
information about evidence for this report and evaluation methods can be found in the
main report.

Buscha, F., Maurel, A., Page, L., and Speckesser, S. (2012). The Effect of Employment while
in High School on Educational Attainment: A Conditional Difference-in-Differences
Approach*. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 74(3), 380-396.
Abstract: Using American panel data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of
1988, this article investigates the effect of working during grade 12 on attainment. We
employ, for the first time in the related literature, a semiparametric propensity score
matching approach combined with difference-in-differences. We address selection on
both observables and unobservables associated with part-time work decisions, without
the need for instrumental variable. Once such factors are controlled for, little to no
effects on reading and math scores are found. Overall, our results therefore suggest a
negligible academic cost from part-time working by the end of high school.

Castellano, M., Sundell, K., Overman, L. T., and Aliaga, O. A. (2012). Do Career and
Technical Education Programs of Study Improve Student Achievement? Preliminary
Analyses from a Rigorous Longitudinal Study. International Journal of Educational
Reform, 21(2), 98-118.
Abstract: This longitudinal study examines the impact of programs of study on high
school academic and technical achievement. Two districts are participating in
experimental and quasi-experimental strands of the study. This article describes the
sample selection, baseline characteristics, study design, career and technical
education and academic achievement results of 9th and 10th graders, and qualitative
findings from site visits. Few differences existed across groups in 9th grade, but by the
end of 10th grade, students' test scores, academic grade point averages, and progress
to graduation tended to be better for the students in programs of study (i.e., treatment
students) than for control/comparison students. Qualitative results suggest that
treatment schools have created school cultures around programs of study that appear
to explain improved engagement and achievement. (Contains 9 tables and 2 notes.)

Crawford, C., Duckworth, K., Vignoles, A., and Wyness, G. (2011). Young people's education
and labour market choices aged 16/17 to 18/19 (Research Report DFE-RR182).
London: Department for Education.
Abstract: In the context of a difficult 2011 labour market, this report examines the early
educational and labour market transitions made by young people, age 16 to 17 through
to age 18 to 19. The the research looked to obtain empirical evidence on the transitions
made by young people which can then inform policies to improve transitions into the
labour market for young people. The primary focus is on comparing the outcomes of
those who initially take jobs without training with those who initially take jobs with

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 73


training. The research analyses the average effect from initially taking a job with or
without training, regardless of whether the training actually led to a qualification or not.

Currie, S., Hutchinson, J., Ford, R., Kurakye, I., and Tattrie, D. (2007). Future to Discover Pilot
Project: [Early Implementation Report]. Ottawa, Ontario: The Social Research and
Demonstration Corporation.
Abstract: The Future to Discover (FTD) Pilot Project was established to determine what
approaches work best to increase participation in post-secondary education. Although
the pilot project is intended to help high school students in general, it also includes a
focus on those students who are commonly identified as under-represented in
postsecondary education: students from lower-income families whose parents have
little or no post-secondary experience. Future to Discover is testing two interventions,
which are called Explore Your Horizons and Learning Accounts. The pilot project is
designed to determine the impact of these two interventions on access to post-
secondary education, measured as participants’ completion of the first year of their
chosen post-secondary program.

Dalton, B., Lauff, E., Henke, R., Alt, M., and Li, X. (2013). From Track to Field: Trends in
Career and Technical Education across Three Decades: Prepared for the National
Assessment of Career and Technical Education (NACTE). U.S.A: U.S. Department of
Education, Policy and Program Studies Service.
Abstract: This report examines change and stability across two decades in the
sociodemographic characteristics, educational experiences, and postsecondary
outcomes of high school graduates with different occupational coursetaking patterns.
Occupational coursetaking is part of the broader field of career and technical education
(CTE), which also includes general labor market preparation and family and consumer
sciences education courses. Historically, CTE and occupational studies provided low-
achieving or academically disengaged students with courses that prepared them for
immediate entry into the labor market. However, the expansion of new types of career
education within magnet schools, career academies, and traditional high schools, and
the increasingly accepted perspective that all students can benefit from training that
improves their workplace skills, suggests that the older dichotomies between college-
bound academic education and work-oriented occupational preparation are less
salient. To examine whether this is the case, this report analyzes three high school
cohorts—the graduating classes of 1982, 1992, and 2004—and compares their
involvement in CTE and occupational courses, their academic coursetaking and
achievement outcomes, and their initial postsecondary school and work experiences.
We find that CTE, as measured by occupational coursetaking, has moved from being a
clearly delineated vocational track for graduates headed to jobs immediately after high
school to an exploratory program for an increasing proportion of both academic and
general curriculum graduates. This shift from “track to field” involves smaller groups of
graduates intensively studying an occupational area and larger groups of graduates
earning a few occupational credits. It also coincides with shifts toward more academic
coursetaking, improved academic achievement in math, and more involvement in
postsecondary education for those with more involvement in occupational preparation.
Before describing these findings further, the definitions and methodology for the report
are explained.

Duckworth, K., and Schoon, I. (2012). Beating the odds: exploring the impact of social risk on
young people's school-to-work transitions during recession in the UK. National Institute
Economic Review, 222(1), R38-R51.
Abstract: Drawing on nationally representative data collected for two age cohorts in the
UK, this paper a) assesses the effect of multiple independent socioeconomic risk
factors in shaping the transition from school to work; and b) identifies potential
protective factors enabling young people to beat the odds. By comparing experiences

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 74


and findings across two cohorts we assess the generalisability of findings across
contexts, i.e. the 2008 and 1980s recessions. The results show that some young
people exposed to even severe socioeconomic risks avoid being NEET (not in
education, employment or training). Factors that appear to reduce the cumulative risk
effect in both cohorts include prior attainment, educational aspirations and school
engagement, as well as the social mix of the school environment.

Dustmann, C., and Van Soest, A. (2007). Part-time work, school success and school leaving.
Empirical Economics, 32, 277-299.
Abstract: In this paper, we analyse part-time employment of teenagers still in full-time
education, their academic performance, and their school leaving decisions. Our
estimation strategy takes account of the possible interdependencies of these events
and distinguishes between two alternative states to full time education: entering the
labour force full time and going on to further training. We model this decision in a
flexible way. Our analysis is based on data from the UK National Child Development
Study, which has an unusually rich set of variables on school and parental
characteristics. Our main finding is that working part time while in full-time education
has only small adverse effects on exam performance for females, and no effects for
males. The effect of part-time work on the decision to stay on at school is also
negative, but small, and marginally significant for males, but not for females. Other
important determinants of exam success as well as the continuation decision are
parental ambitions about the child’s future academic career.

Fletcher, E. C., Jr., and Zirkle, C. (2009). The Relationship of High School Curriculum Tracks
to Degree Attainment and Occupational Earnings. Career and Technical Education
Research, 34(2), 81-102.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between high
school curriculum tracks and student achievement outcomes through the consideration
of degree attainment and occupational earnings. Data pertaining to graduates were
analyzed through the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 1997 dataset. This
study investigated the linkage between participation in high school curriculum tracks,
degree attainment, and occupational earnings. Findings of this research study
indicated that the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of
1990 may not be meeting its objectives in terms of CTE students earning
postsecondary degrees. However, this study found that CTE students were
outperforming the general, dual, and college preparatory tracks in terms of
occupational earnings. In addition, the dual track was more likely to earn associates'
degrees than their general track counterparts. The college preparatory track
outperformed all tracks in terms of degree attainment, particularly in earning bachelors'
degrees.

Ford, R., Frenette, M., Nicholson, C., Kwakye, I., Hui, T. S.-w., Hutchison, J., et al. (2012).
Future to Discover: [Post-secondary Impacts Report]. Ottawa, Ontario: Social
Research and Demonstration Corporation.
Abstract: Future to Discover (FTD) is a pilot project testing the effectiveness of two
interventions designed to help students overcome certain barriers to post-secondary
education, namely lack of career clarity, misinformation about post-secondary
education, and lack of financial resources. This report presents post-secondary
impacts of the project, which has involved 5,429 students at 51 high schools in
Manitoba and New Brunswick since 2004.

Ford, R., Grekou, D., Kwakye, I., and Nicholson, C. (2014). Future to Discover: Fourth Year
Post-secondary Impacts Report. Ottawa, Ontario: The Social Research and
Demonstration Corporation (SRDC).
Abstract: This report presents the latest results from the Future to Discover project. It is

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 75


the first in a new series that will be produced for New Brunswick, evaluating new ways
to tackle a key challenge provinces face in meeting their future needs for skilled
workers: engaging enough young people in post-secondary education. Promotion of
high school students’ access to post-secondary education is a major goal of Canadian
governments, in part because of its increasingly important role in helping individuals
attain social and economic success. Yet uncertainty remains as to the best policy
interventions to encourage students to make the transition.

Fruiht, V. M., and Wray-Lake, L. (2013). The Role of Mentor Type and Timing in Predicting
Educational Attainment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(9), 1459-1472.
Abstract: Having an adult mentor during adolescence has been found to predict
academic success. Building on previous work, the present study examined interactions
between the type of mentor (i.e., kin, teacher, friend, or community), the time that
mentor became important (i.e., before, during, or after high school), and the ethnicity of
the protégé in predicting educational attainment in young adulthood. Analyses used
Waves III and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 2,409).
Participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 27 (M = 21.75, SD = 1.79). The sample was 56.7
% female and nationally representative of ethnic diversity. Analyses showed that
having a teacher-mentor was more predictive of educational attainment than having
other types of mentors and that overall, having a mentor after high school predicts the
most educational attainment. Kin- and community-mentors appeared to be more
important to educational attainment during and before high school, respectively.
Findings were consistent across ethnic groups. Overall, results highlight the value of
teacher-mentors throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood and our
study further suggests that different types of mentors may be particularly useful at
specific points in development.

Furstenberg, F. F., Jr., and Neumark, D. (2005). School-to-Career and Post-Secondary


Education: Evidence from the Philadelphia Educational Longitudinal Study. St. Louis:
Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
Abstract: We study a set of programs implemented in Philadelphia high schools that
focus on boosting post-secondary enrollment. These programs are less career oriented
than traditional school-to-work programs, but are consistent with the broadening of the
goals of school-to-work to emphasize post-secondary education. The Philadelphia
Longitudinal Educational Study (PELS) data set that we examine contains an unusually
large amount of information on individuals prior to placement in STC programs. We use
the detailed information in the PELS to study the process of selection into these
programs and to examine their impact on a set of mainly schooling-related outcomes
during and after high school, although we also consider their impact on non-academic
outcomes. The data point to positive effects of these programs on high school
graduation and on both academic and non-academic awards in high school, and
similar negative effects on dropping out of high school. The results also suggest
positive effects on aspirations for higher education and on college attendance. In
addition, there is some evidence that these programs are more effective in increasing
college attendance and aspirations among at-risk youths.

Golden, S., Golden, S., O’Donnell, L., Benton, T., and Rudd, P. (2005). Evaluation of
Increased Flexibility for 14 to 16 Year Olds Programme : Outcomes for the First Cohort
(Research Report No. 668). London: Department for Education and Skills.
Abstract: The Increased Flexibility for 14-16 year olds Programme (IFP) was
introduced in 2002 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to provide
vocational learning opportunities at key stage 4 for those young people who would
benefit most. The programme, which entailed FE colleges and training providers
working in partnership with schools to offer GCSEs in vocational subjects, NVQs, other
vocational qualifications and GNVQs to students, was subsequently extended to three

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 76


further cohorts of young people. The DfES commissioned NFER to undertake an
evaluation of the first cohort of participants. This summary presents selected key
findings relating to the attainment, progression, attendance and attitudes of the first
cohort of IFP students (2002-2004).

Golden, S., O'Donnell, L., Benton, T., and Rudd, P. (2006). Evaluation of Increased Flexibility
for 14 to 16 Year Olds Programme : Outcomes for the Second Cohort (Research
Report No. 786). London: Department for Education and Skills.
Abstract: The Increased Flexibility Programme for 14 to 16 year olds (IFP) was
introduced in 2002. The aim of the programme was to 'create enhanced vocational and
work-related learning opportunities for 14 to 16 year olds of all abilities who can benefit
most' - this included supporting provision of the GCSEs in vocational subjects. The first
cohort of Year 10 students embarked on their programme in 2002 and this was
followed by a second cohort in 2003 and subsequent cohorts in the following years.
This summary focuses on the outcomes for participants who participated in the
programme between 2003 and 2005 (cohort 2) during a time of change in 14 to 19
policy. It should be stressed that this summary reflects the outcomes for only the
second cohort of young people to participate in this new and developing approach to
delivering a more flexible and vocational curriculum through institutions working in
partnership.

Gong, X., Cassells, R., and Duncan, A. (2012). Does Part-Time Work at School Impact on
Going to University? (No. 978-1-9220-5629-0). Victoria, Australia: National Centre for
Vocational Education Research (NCVER).
Abstract: Combining school study with part-time or casual work is an increasing trend
for Australian high school students. For some, it is a way of earning some extra cash
and having a bit of freedom from their parents, or it is an opportunity to get some
experience in an occupation they are interested in. This paper looks at the impact that
working while studying has on students' intentions to go to university as well as their
actual enrolments. The authors use data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian
Youth (LSAY) 1998 cohort to observe the work and study patterns of young people
over a period of time. The paper confirms the findings of other research: that students
are more likely to combine study and work as they progress through their school years,
with over half of students working in Year 12. The study also found that girls are more
inclined to combine study and work, but boys tend to work more intensively than girls.
Combining some work with study does not change the likelihood of enrolling in
university, but working intensively--more than 15 hours per week--does reduce the
chances of going to university, especially for girls. This paper adds new detail to what
is emerging quite clearly: that some part-time work for full-time students is fine, but
long hours do impact on academic progress.

Gutman, L. M., Sabates, R., and Schoon, I. (2014). Uncertainty in educational and career
aspirations: gender differences in young people. In I. Schoon and J. S. Eccles (Eds.),
Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment: A Life Course Perspective (pp. 161-
181). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Abstract: Drawing upon data from two British age cohorts born in 1970 and 1990,
this chapter examines gender and socio-historical differences regarding uncertainty
in the educational and career aspirations of young people. Despite differences in
the age of assessment and measurement, findings suggest that similar background
characteristics are associated with uncertain aspirations in the two age cohorts.
Males were more uncertain of their educational aspirations than were females.
Uncertainty was also associated with growing up in a relatively disadvantaged
family, with parents who did not expect their children to continue in education, as

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 77


well as with low academic attainment, low levels of school motivation, and lack of
belief in one’s own ability. However, findings indicated differences in the associated
outcomes of uncertain aspirations between the two age cohorts. In the earlier-born
cohort, young people with uncertain aspirations were more likely to be not in
education, employment, or training (NEET), while there were no differences in
NEET due to uncertain aspirations in the later-born cohort. The findings point
toward a female advantage regarding certainty in aspirations as well as a prolonged
period of career exploration in the later born cohort.

Harrison, N., James, D., and Last, K. (2012). The impact of the pursuit of ASDAN’s Certificate
of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) on GCSE attainment. Bristol: University of West of
England and ASDAN education.
Abstract: Analysis is based upon the National Pupil Database (NPD) data, of 500,000
pupils who completed Key Stage 4 (KS4) in 2010, alongside qualitative data from
four schools offering ASDAN’s Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) in the
UK. Results find that students undertaking CoPE within ‘wide usage’ schools
(between 25-100% of the cohort) have a 10% increased likelihood of obtaining GCSE
English graded A* to C and a 5% increased likelihood of obtaining five GCSEs at A*
to C including English and Maths, compared to similar individuals. The impact is
specifically pronounced for young people with low KS3 attainment in English, special
educational needs (SEN), those eligible for free school meals, and those from black
and minority ethnic (BME) communities. Academic attainment for young people in
‘thin usage’ schools (lower than 25% of the cohort) is lower than similar individuals
who are not taking the CoPE qualification.

Henderson, R. (1995). Effects of Thematically Integrated Mathematics Instruction on Students


of Mexican Descent. The Journal of Educational Research, 88(5), 290-300.
Abstract: The effects of thematically integrated in struction in mathematics on
achievement, attitudes, and motivation in mathematics among middle school students
of Mexican descent were investigated. A school-university collaborative effort led to the
development and testing of a thematic approach undertaken as a means of
contextualizing instruction for students considered to be at risk for school failure.
Instruction relied heavily on small, collaborative learning groups and hands on activities
designed to help students make real-world sense of mathematical concepts. As
hypothesized, experimental and control students made equivalent gains in
computational skills, but experimental students (thematic treatment) surpassed controls
in achievement on mathematical concepts and applications. The two programs did not
have a differential effect on attitudes toward mathematics or self-perceptions of
motivation in mathematics, but motivational variables did predict achievement
outcomes for both groups. Issues of "opportunity to learn" the full range of mathematics
content of the curriculum within a thematic approach are examined.

Hillage, J., Kodz, J., and Pike, G. (2011). Pre-16 work experience practice in England: an
evaluation. London: Department for Education and Employment.
Abstract: Commissioned by the Department for Education and Employment, this study
assesses current work experience policy and practice in England. In particular, it
evaluates the impacts of policy changes implemented since the last major evaluation in
1996, and informs the development of policies to further enhance the quality of work
experience. This report is based on national surveys of school and area work
experience co-ordinators, and qualitative interviews and surveys of students, school
staff, employers and intermediaries in five case study areas.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 78


Hooley, T., Matheson, J., and Watts, A. G. (2014). Advancing ambitions: The role of career
guidance in supporting social mobility. Derby: University of Derby and The Sutton
Trust.
Abstract: Career guidance describes activities which support individuals to learn about
education and employment and plan for their future lives, learning and work. These
activities contribute to social mobility, helping people to discover and access
opportunities that might exist outside of their immediate networks. They also
encourage individuals to challenge their pre-existing assumptions about what they are
capable of and to develop practical strategies to operationalise their aspirations.
Career guidance has a long history in England going back to the start of the twentieth
century. From 1948 a Youth Employment Service with a national footprint was created
to work with schools. When this service became the Careers Service in the 1970s, a
model of partnership working was developed between the service and schools. In 2000
Connexions replaced the Careers Service, resulting in a considerable weakening of
provision. Then, in 2011, the coalition government cut Connexions and transferred
responsibility for career guidance to schools. The new responsibility was imposed on
schools with weak statutory guidance and little help or support. None of the funding
that had previously supported Connexions was transferred to schools, which had to
deliver this new responsibility out of existing school budgets. This has resulted in a
decline in the quality and quantity of the career guidance available to young people in
England and the emergence of a ‘postcode lottery’ where some young people have
access to much better career guidance than others.
These changes have resulted in a major reorganisation of the delivery of career
guidance in schools. Unfortunately this has not been monitored in any systematic way,
and only limited attempts been made to measure the impacts of the changes. This
report aims to fill some of this gap by drawing together existing research and
undertaking new empirical work. It investigates how career guidance has changed as a
result of recent policy, what its impacts are, what effective practice looks like, and what
the effects of such effective practice are likely to be.

Hossain, F., and Bloom, D. (2015). Toward a better future: evidence on improving employment
outcomes for disadvantaged youth in the United States. New York City: MDRC.
Abstract: In the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2007-2009, youth unemployment
in the United States reached its highest level since the Second World War. Only about
half of young people ages 16 to 24 held jobs in 2013, and recent estimates suggest
that about one in five people in this age range — 6.7 million people — were neither
working nor in school. The recession has taken an unprecedented toll on the economic
prospects of young people, and recovery for them has been the slowest. According to
one estimate, persistent high unemployment among young people has resulted in up to
$25 billion a year in uncollected taxes and, to a lesser extent, higher expenses on
safety net pro-grams. Increased investment in strategies to improve the employment
prospects of youth, especially those who are economically disadvantaged, is
necessary to confront this growing problem and to ensure a better future for the next
generation.
To date, most efforts to improve labor market outcomes for young people have focused
on supply-side strategies to build human capital and have included some combination
of education, training, work experience, and developmental activities to produce a
better supply of skilled, employable youth. But relatively little attention has been paid to
the demand side of the labor market equation — the private employers who account for
the lion’s share of jobs in the US economy. Many programs that prepare youth for work
by providing education, training and employment services are often not backed by an
appropriate demand for particular skills in the local labor market. These programs have
also historically lacked strong employer partnerships to create job opportunities for the

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 79


youth they serve. Thus, while these programs increase the supply of new workers in
the labor market, these workers are not necessarily placed in new jobs created for
them and often displace existing workers. A demand-driven approach to workforce
development with strong employer participation should be a vital component of any
policy response to youth unemployment, since the private sector is a direct source of
jobs and can also provide training to improve career mobility for youth in the long run.
This paper draws from an MDRC review of literature (funded by The Rockefeller
Foundation) on labor market trends and employment-related programs for youth over
the past 30 years. It aims to inform the search for demand-side solutions by providing a
better understanding of: (1) factors that potentially drive high rates of unemployment
among young adults; (2) the current state of evidence on employment-related
interventions for youth, especially economically disadvantaged youth; and (3) future
directions for change that involve stronger employer involvement.

Hotz, V. J. (2002). Are There Returns to the Wages of Young Men from Working While in
School. Review of Economics and Statistics, 84(2), 221-236.
Abstract: This paper examines the effects of work experience acquired while youth
were in high school (and college) on young men's wage rates. Previous studies have
found sizeable and persistent rates of return to working while enrolled in school,
especially high school, on subsequent wage growth. We evaluate the extent to which
these estimates represent causal effects by assessing the robustness of prior findings
to controls for unobserved heterogeneity and sample selectivity. We explore more-
general econometric methods for dealing with the dynamic of selection and apply them
to data on young men from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79).
We find that the estimated returns to working while in high school or college are
dramatically diminished in magnitude and are not statistically significant when one
applies dynamic selection methods.

Huber, L., Sloof, R., and Van Praag, M. (2012). The effect of early entrepreneurship education:
Evidence from a randomized field experiment. European Economic Review, 72, 76-97.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of early entrepreneurship
education. To this end, we conduct a randomized field experiment to evaluate a
leading entrepreneurship education program that is taught worldwide in the final grade
of primary school. We focus on pupils' development of relevant skill sets for
entrepreneurial activity, both cognitive and non-cognitive. The results indicate that
cognitive entrepreneurial skills are unaffected by the program. However, the program
has a robust positive effect on non-cognitive entrepreneurial skills. This is surprising
since previous evaluations found zero or negative effects. Because these earlier
studies all pertain to education for adolescents, our result tentatively suggests that non-
cognitive entrepreneurial skills are best developed at an early age.

Huber, L.R., Sloof, R., and Van Praag, M. (2014). The effect of early entrepreneurship
education: Evidence from a field experiment. European Economic Review, 72, 76-97.
The aim of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of early entrepreneurship
education. To this end, we conduct a randomized field experiment to evaluate a
leading entrepreneurship education program that is taught worldwide in the final
grade of primary school. We focus on pupils' development of entrepreneurship
knowledge and a set of non-cognitive skills relevant for entrepreneurial activity. The
results indicate that knowledge is unaffected by the program. However, the program
has a robust positive effect on non-cognitive entrepreneurial skills. This is surprising
since previous evaluations found zero or negative effects. Because these earlier
studies all pertain to entrepreneurship education for adolescents, our result
tentatively suggests that non-cognitive entrepreneurial skills are best developed at an
early age. As the entrepreneurship program has various features besides its
entrepreneurship content, we must leave it to future research to determine which

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 80


specific element has the greatest impact on the development of non-cognitive
entrepreneurial skills.

Jobs for the Future. (1998). School-to-career initiative demonstrates significant impact on
young people. Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future.
Abstract: Research on Boston Public School graduates provides evidence that linking
high schools with employers and other community allies can have a strong, lasting
influence on students. The study was among the first to collect information on college
enrollment and postsecondary employment and earnings over several years.

Kashefpakdel, E. T., and Percy, C. (2016, forthcoming). Career education that works: An
economic analysis using the British Cohort Study. Journal of Education and Work.
Abstract: There is significant policy interest in the issue of young people’s fractured
transitions into the labour market. Many scholars and policy-makers believe that
changes in the education system and labour market over recent decades have created
a complex world for young people; and that this can partly be addressed by enhanced
career education while individuals are at school. However, the literature lacks in-depth
quantitative analysis making use of longitudinal data. This paper draws on the British
Cohort Study 1970 to investigate the link between career talks by external speakers
and employment outcomes, and finds some evidence that young people who
participated in more career talks at age 14-16 enjoyed a wage premium 10 years later
at age 26. The correlation is statistically significant on average across all students who
receive talks at age 14-15; but remains the case for 15-16-year-olds only if they also
described the talks as very helpful.

Kemple, J. J. (2001). Career Academies: Impacts on Students' Initial Transitions to Post-


Secondary Education and Employment. New York: Manpower Demonstration
Research Corp.
Abstract: Career academies are characterized by these three basic features: a school-
within-a-school organizational structure, curricula that combine academic and career or
technical courses based on a career theme, and partnerships with local employers. In
a 10-year longitudinal study of the academy model, begun in 1993 in 9 schools around
the country, some 1,700 academy applicants in the 8th or 9th grade were randomly
assigned to their high schools' academy or any other high school program. The
evaluation found, as of the year after scheduled high school graduation, that although
the career academies enhanced the high school experiences of their students in ways
that were consistent with the reform's short-term goals, these positive effects did not
translate into changes in high school graduation rates or initial transitions to
postsecondary education and jobs. Other key findings included: (1) the academies had
little influence on course content, classroom instructional practices, and standardized
test scores; (2) for students at high risk of dropping out, the academies increased the
likelihood of staying in school through 12th grade, improved attendance, and increased
number of credits earned; and (3) relative to similar students nationally, both studied
groups had high rates of high school graduation, college enrollment, and employment.
The results suggest that career academies should consider expanding their efforts to
recruit students who may not be motivated to enroll in academies on their own, to
provide college counseling, and to increase teacher professional development activities
in order to improve curriculum and instruction.

Kemple, J. J., and Willner, C. J. (2008). Career academies: long-term impacts on labor market
outcomes, educational attainment, and transitions to adulthood (Report). New York:
MDRC publications.
Abstract: Established more than 30 years ago, Career Academies have become a
widely used high school reform initiative that aims to keep students engaged in school
and prepare them for successful transitions to postsecondary education and

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 81


employment. Typically serving between 150 and 200 students from grades 9 or 10
through grade 12, Career Academies are organized as small learning communities,
combine academic and technical curricula around a career theme, and establish
partnerships with local employers to provide work-based learning opportunities. There
are estimated to be more than 2,500 Career Academies operating around the country.
Since 1993, MDRC has been conducting a uniquely rigorous evaluation of the Career
Academy approach that uses a random assignment research design in a diverse group
of nine high schools across the United States. Located in medium- and large-sized
school districts, the schools confront many of the educational challenges found in low-
income urban settings. The participating Career Academies were able to implement
and sustain the core features of the approach, and they served a cross-section of the
student populations in their host schools. This report describes how Career Academies
influenced students’ labor market prospects and postsecondary educational attainment
in the eight years following their expected graduation. The results are based on the
experiences of more than 1,400 young people, approximately 85 percent of whom are
Hispanic or African-American.

Koivisto, P., Vuori, J., and Vinokur, A. D. (2010). Transition to work: Effects of preparedness
and goal construction on employment and depressive symptoms. Journal of Research
on Adolescence, 20(4), 869-892.
Abstract: This study examines the mediating role of employment preparedness in
improving employment, mental health, and construction of work-life goals among
young vocational school graduates who participated in the School-to-Work
effectiveness trial. The trial included a 1-week intervention program that focused on
enhancing employment preparedness. In this trial, 416 graduates of secondary
vocational institutes were randomized into a control and experimental group. All the
study participants were assessed at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and
10 months later. The results showed that the School-to-Work intervention increased
employment preparedness, which in turn increased employment at the 10-month
follow-up. Furthermore, employment predicted work-life-related personal goals and
lower financial strain, which in turn was associated with lower depressive symptoms.
The implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Kuijpers, M., and Meijers, F. (2009). Learning environment for career learning: A study of the
relations between the learning environment and career competencies in students in
pre-vocational and secondary vocational education. Pedagogische Studien, 83(3), 93-
109.
Abstract: This article focuses on which aspects of the learning environment, aimed at
fostering career learning, correspond with the development of career competencies
among students (aged 12–19 years) enrolled in prevocational and secondary
vocational education in The Netherlands. Aspects of the learning environment that are
taken into account here are the following: career orientation and guidance methods
used, instruments implemented, and the degree to which the curriculum is practice-
based and dialogical. In the study, three career competencies are identified: career
reflection (reflective behaviour), career forming (proactive behaviour), and networking
(interactive behaviour). To research the relationship between the learning environment
and the presence of career competencies, a study was done among 3499 students and
166 teachers in 226 classes in 34 schools. The results show that career guidance in
school, in which a dialogue takes place with the student about concrete experiences
and which is focused on the future, contributes most to the presence of career
competencies among students. Without this dialogue, career guidance methods and
instruments barely contribute to the acquisition of career competencies.

Legum, H. L., and Hoare, C. H. (2004). Impact of a Career Intervention on At-Risk Middle
School Students' Career Maturity Levels, Academic Achievement, and Self-Esteem.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 82


Professional School Counseling, 8(2), 148-155.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a 9-week career
intervention program on at-risk middle school students' career maturity levels, self-
esteem, and academic achievement. This study was based on a pretest and posttest
design using a control group. Data were collected from 27 at-risk middle school
students representing the experimental group and 30 at-risk middle school students
making up the control group. Modes of measurement consisted of the Crites Career
Maturity Inventory (measuring attitude and competency levels), the Coopersmith Self-
Esteem Inventory, and grades. Data for this study were coded numerically and
analyzed using inferential tests and analysis of covariance. Qualitative interviews were
conducted with teachers of 5 randomly selected participants from the experimental
group to compare self-esteem and academic achievement prior and subsequent to the
treatment. Although results revealed that the sample's career maturity attitude and
competency levels and academic achievement improved, such increases were not
statistically significant. Recommendations for future research and implications for
school counselors are discussed.

Light, A. (2001). In‐school work experience and the returns to schooling. Journal of Labor
Economics, 19(1), 65-93.
Abstract: Students often accumulate substantial work experience before leaving
school. Because conventional earnings functions do not control for in-school work
experience, their estimates of the return to schooling include the benefit of work
experience gained along the way. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of
Youth, I estimate wage models with and without controls for in-school work experience.
The estimated schooling coefficients are 25%–44% higher (depending on how I control
for ability bias) when in-school work experience is omitted than when it is included.
These findings indicate that conventional models significantly overstate the wage
effects of “school only.”

Linnehan, F. (2001). The Relation of a Work-Based Mentoring Program to the Academic


Performance and Behavior of African American Students. Journal of Vocational
Behavior, 59(3), 310-325.
Abstract: Using a sample of 202 African American students from four urban high
schools, this study examined participation in a work-based mentoring program in
relation to academic performance and behavior. Based on the program's academic
goals, the unique characteristics of mentoring programs, and social learning theory, it
was anticipated that participating in the program would be related positively to grades
and attendance. Results indicated that participating in the program for more than half
the academic year had a significant, positive relation with students' grade point
averages and attendance rates after controlling for their previous-year GPA and
attendance. This relation was not significant for those who participated in the program
over a shorter period of time. Implications of the results for the career development of
African Americans are discussed and areas for future research are identified.

MacAllum, K., and Bozick, R. (2001). What Happens after They Graduate? Results from a
Longitudinal Study of STC Graduates, 75th Annual Conference of the Association for
Career and Technical Educations New Orleans.
Abstract: The Lansing Area Manufacturing Partnership (LAMP) is an academically
rigorous, business/labor-driven school-to-career (STC) program in Lansing, Michigan,
that includes business, union, school, and parent partners. The effects of participation
in LAMP on transitions from school to higher education and work were examined in a
longitudinal study of 48 LAMP participants and 46 students who did not participate in
LAMP. Both groups were similar from the standpoints of gender, race, age, grade-point
average (GPA), and school attended. Data were collected from both groups 6, 12, and

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 83


18 months after graduation. The following were among the key findings: (1)
postsecondary enrollment was higher among the LAMP participants (96% versus 79%)
in March 2000, whereas both groups had nearly identical postsecondary enrollment
rates (about 79%) in winter 2001; (2) the average GPA of the non-LAMP students
remained marginally higher than that of the LAMP graduates throughout the study; (3)
little difference in the two groups' employment rates was found; (4) 16 months after
graduation, LAMP graduates hourly wage averaged $11.27 versus $8.49 for the non-
LAMP participants; (5) LAMP appeared to better prepare students for the challenges
and responsibilities of work; and (6) LAMP graduates pursued career-enhancing
opportunities at higher rates than non-LAMP graduates did.

MacAllum, K., Worgs, D., Bozick, R., and McDonald, D. (2001). Transitioning to College and
Career: Interim Findings of the LAMP Longitudinal Study. Washington D.C.: Academy
for Educational Development, National Institute for Work Learning.
Abstract: The Lansing Area Manufacturing Partnership (LAMP) is an academically
rigorous, business/labor-driven school-to-career program in Lansing, Michigan, that
includes business, union, school, and parent partners. The effects of participation in
LAMP on transitions from school to higher education and work were examined in a
longitudinal study that compared the progress of LAMP students and non-LAMP
participants from the classes of 1998, 1999, and 2000 at more than 20 high schools.
Changes in educational and employment status were tracked through mailed surveys
administered every June and December. The LAMP students pursued postsecondary
education at higher rates than the comparison groups did. As a group, the LAMP
students were maintaining good grades and a significant majority were working and
attending school at the same time. Compared to the non-LAMP participants, the LAMP
students participated in more career development activities during their senior year in
high school and appeared to have been better prepared for the transition from high
school to college and employment. Many LAMP graduates were initially dissatisfied
with their jobs, particularly with their opportunities for training and advancement, and
they have changed jobs at higher rates than the comparison group. However, many
LAMP graduates considered their job changes positive steps toward their career goals.

Mann, A., and Percy, C. (2013). Employer engagement in British secondary education: wage
earning outcomes experienced by young adults. Journal of Education and Work, 27(5),
496-523.
Abstract: Since 2004, the devolved education systems of England, Scotland and Wales
have introduced initiatives to increase contact between employers and young people,
particularly aged 14-19, as a supplementary, co-curricular activity within mainstream
education. The initiatives are motivated partly to increase wage-earning potential but
studies to date have not explicitly tested this hypothesis. Robust evaluations from the
US suggest a potential wage uplift of 6.5%-25% but these evaluations do not directly
comment on the UK approach, as they focus on highly-specialised forms of education
with closely integrated employer involvement. A new 2011 survey associates wage
returns and school-mediated employer contacts for 169 full-time 19-24 year old
workers on annual salaries within the UK environment – and suggests a link of 4.5%
between each additional school-mediated employer contact, such that four employer
contacts would produce results in line with the US studies. Contrasting the US and UK
studies suggests that any causal link from school-mediated employer contact to wage
outcomes is likely to be driven more by increased social capital as witnessed in
improved access to non-redundant, trustworthy information and social network
development than by the development of either technical or ’employability’ skills.

Marks, G. (2008). The occupations and earnings of young Australians: the role of education
and training (LSAY Research Reports No 55). Victoria, Australia: Australian Council for
Educational Research.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 84


Abstract: This report investigates the effect of post-secondary education and training
on the occupation and earnings of young people. The majority of young Australians
undertake further education and training after leaving school, and it is important to
better understand the pathways that they follow, and the impact of different types of
experience on the early career. Such analyses can help young people in choosing
appropriate programs as well as assist policy makers in identifying resource priorities.
They can also contribute to debates about the role of education in promoting social
mobility and economic development. The data analysed are from a sample of young
people who were first interviewed when they were in Year 9 in 1995 and subsequently
interviewed annually. This report analyses annual data collected up until 2005 when
they were, on average, 24 years of age. Longitudinal data can provide important
insights into the pathways that young people follow and the influences they experience.
The report examined the occupational status of jobs and weekly earnings by type of
post-school education and training. Occupational status provides a convenient
summary measure of occupations based on job status or prestige, while earnings
measure the financial reward from work.

Maxwell, N. L., and Rubin, V. (1997). The Relative Impact of a Career Academy on Post-
Secondary Work and Education Skills in Urban, Public High Schools. HIRE (Discussion
Paper Number 97-2). Hayward, CA: The Human Investment Research and Education
Center.
Abstract: The relative impact of career academies on postsecondary educational
attainment and knowledge and skills acquired in urban public high schools was
examined through an analysis of single-district and national databases. The national
data were obtained from the first and third follow-up surveys of the National Education
Longitudinal Study. Compared with the students in the national sample, students in the
single-district sample were less likely to be white (less than 10% versus 44.7%), more
likely to receive free lunches (40% versus 28%), and more likely to have limited English
proficiency (more than 25% versus 14%). Of the 10,102 students in the single-district
sample, 1,257 attended career academies. The data analyses established that,
although career academies have the potential for increasing aggregate educational
attainment with an impact equal to that of the academic track, career academies may
not be equally effective for all students. It was therefore recommended that an array of
high school programs be offered to meet the needs of diverse student bodies.

Maxwell, N. L., and Rubin, V. (2000). High School Career Academies: A Pathway to
Educational Reform in Urban School Districts? Kalamazoo, MI: Upjohn Institute for
Employment Research.
Abstract: This book examines the capacity of the career academy--one of the initiatives
spawned by the school-to-work movement--to address academic reform in terms of
increased education and workplace skills. Qualitative data collected as part of a 7-year
local evaluation of career academies and a data set that contains transcript data on a
population of three cohorts of public high school students with a survey of the students'
plans for after high school were used to conduct the analysis. Chapter 1 discusses the
historical trends and social conditions that led to the emergence of school-to-work
educational reforms. Chapter 2 outlines the methods used to answer the questions
about the ability of career academies to meet educational reform needs. Chapter 3
shows how the economic and education-related problems in one city led to adopting
the career academy model as the primary focus of high school reform. The next two
chapters present multivariate findings from the quantitative analysis, including (Chapter
4) the overall impact of career academies on postsecondary education and labor
market outcomes and (Chapter 5) the impact of the career academy as it unfolds in
various school environments. Chapter 6 contains a summary and policy implications of
the research, concluding that career academies can be quite effective at facilitating
postsecondary educational success for their students, with two cautions: (1) the career

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 85


academy must build academic knowledge and skills in high schools; and (2) the career
academy strategy may not be appropriate in all high schools or for all students.

McComb-Beverage, S. K. (2012). An Experimental Design: Examining the Effectiveness of the


Virginia Career View Program on Creating 7th Grade Student Career Self-Efficacy.
Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA.
Abstract: Across the country students are graduating from high school without the
career knowledge and skills they need to be successful in today’s global economy. In
response, school officials are considering career development as an essential
component for adolescent education. In the state of Virginia, the Virginia Career View
program has been designed to assist school personnel with the career education of
middle school students. This quantitative research study measured the effectiveness of
the Virginia Career View program on 7th grade students’ career pathway identification
and career self-efficacy. Upon completion of the program, students in the experimental
group and control group completed the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale – Short
Form. This study included 148 randomly assigned 7th grade students from Alpha
Middle School. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the
association between the dependent variable, career self-efficacy, based on the
independent variable, Virginia Career View. A Pearson’s chi-square analysis was used
to analyze the relationship between the experimental group’s and the control group’s
ability to identify a career pathway that matched their career interests and skills.
Results showed statistically significant differences between groups, and the null
hypotheses for both research questions were rejected.

McVicar, D., and McKee, B. (2002). Part–Time Work During Post–Compulsory Education And
Examination Performance: Help Or Hindrance? Scottish journal of political economy,
49(4), 393-406.
Abstract: This paper examines the effects on examination performance of having a
part-time job whilst in full-time post-sixteen education, using new data on young people
in Northern Ireland. Around 35% engaged in part time employment during their
education spell, compared to over 60% found by recent GB studies. This may be
related to Northern Ireland’s comparatively slack youth labour market and might reflect
part-time employment levels in other peripheral regions. Our estimations suggest
working part-time per se is not detrimental to examination performance, although
working long hours is. Policy makers might improve educational performance by
reducing incentives to work long hours.

Miller, A. (1999). Business mentoring in schools: does it raise attainment? Education and
Training, 41(2), 73-78.
Abstract: The article describes research into the impact of business and community
mentoring in schools on students’ attainment. The research, which was conducted in
seven schools during the 1996/97 academic year, was funded by the Department for
Education and Employment and three Training and Enterprise Councils. An overview
of mentoring schemes and models is followed by analysis of objectives for mentoring
from various perspectives. Value ‐added anal
mentoring on a sample of mentored students, compared with a similar group of non ‐
mentored students acting as a control group. The research found a mixed picture in the
seven schools involved with girls out ‐perform ing
but positive, impact on the attainment of mentored students. Finally, the researchers
offer some recommendations to schools and scheme organisers on how to increase
the impact of mentoring upon GCSE attainment.

Morris, M. (2004). The Case for Careers Education and Guidance for 14-19 year olds. Slough:
National Foundation for Educational Research.
Abstract: The recent interim report by the Working Group on 14-19 Reform (DfES,

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 86


2004) brought into sharp focus the need for a coherent, integrated and well planned
careers education and guidance programme in schools and colleges. In order for
young people to make the most of the opportunities in the proposed 14-19 curriculum,
Tomlinson argued that young people ‘must be prepared with the skills and self-
awareness to exercise their choices effectively’. What are these skills? How compelling
is the evidence that such skills can support young people in making effective choices
about their future? How well prepared are schools and colleges to support their
students’ career development? This briefing paper explores some of the summarised
findings from a number of large-scale research studies conducted at NFER (mostly on
behalf of the DfES and its predecessor Departments, but also on behalf of a number of
different careers services) over the last decade. It argues that it is possible to identify
the skills that promote successful transition and traces some of the links between
successful transition and programmes of careers education and guidance. It also
suggests that, in the light of the Tomlinson Report (2004), the recent National Audit
Office report (2004) and the findings from current research on transition from schools
engaged in Excellence in Cities and Aimhigher (Morris and Rutt, 2003); the
conclusions from this earlier research are equally pertinent today.

Nagengast, B., Marsh, H. W., Chiorri, C., and Hau, K.-T. (2014). Character Building or
Subversive Consequences of Employment during High School: Causal Effects Based
on Propensity Score Models for Categorical Treatments. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 106(2), 584-603.
Abstract: The present study revisited the unresolved issue of the long-term effects of
part-time working intensity during high school on students' achievement, participation in
postsecondary education, time allocation, and work-related values and expectations.
Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (N = 14,654), the effects of
part-time working in Year 12 on outcomes assessed at graduation from high school
and 2 years later were studied with propensity score methods for categorical
treatments. Three theoretical perspectives on the effects of part-time working intensity
(subversion of academic goals, character building, threshold model) were contrasted.
Substantively, there were negative linear effects of working intensity on achievement
outcomes. Results for higher education participation partly supported a threshold
model. Heterogeneous effects for self-reported time use and work-related values
suggested that the negative effects on achievement outcomes were not due to a
simple zero-sum game. Ironically, working with high intensity led students to value
having a good job more strongly but might undermine their chances of achieving this
goal. However, these effects were only recognized 2 years after high school
graduation, when occupational expectations were negatively affected by working
intensity in Year 12.

National Audit Office. (2010). Educating the next generation of scientists. London: The
Stationery Office.
Abstract: This report aims to evaluate the factors that implicate the uptake of maths
and science before the age of 18. Analysis is drawn from a mixed-method approach
combining, surveys of 1,274 pupils in the ‘STEM pipeline’ in the UK, focus groups and
interviews, literature review, analysis of the National Pupil Database, ONS population
estimates and examination data. Findings reveal the following factors to be critical in
determining the amount of young people taking maths and science: careers information
and guidance, quality and quantity of school and science facilities, quality and quantity
of science teachers, image and interest, and the availability of separate GCSE
sciences (‘triple science’). Based upon such factors, the report explores the
effectiveness of a selected number of programmes aiming to improve up-take. The
authors recommend all factors need to be combined to effectively increase the number
of students engaging with maths and science, perhaps through an overarching
programme based upon the evidence provided.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 87


Neild, R. C., Boccanfuso, C., and Byrnes, V. (2015). Academic Impacts of Career and
Technical Schools. Career and Technical Education Research, 40(1), 28-47.
Abstract: This study presents findings from three cohorts of students - the classes of
2003, 2004, and 2005, in the School District of Philadelphia - that were admitted to the
district's career and technical education (CTE) schools through a randomized lottery
process. This study takes advantage of this so-called 'natural experiment' to compare
high school academic outcomes for lottery applicants who were admitted with those for
students who did not receive an acceptance. Results find that CTE students had
significantly better outcomes in terms of graduation rates, credit accumulation, and the
successful completion of the college preparatory mathematics sequence algebra 1,
algebra 2, and geometry. Results for other outcomes such as the completion of
science and foreign language course sequences, overall grade point average, and
mathematics and reading comprehension achievement, were inconsistent across
cohorts and statistical tests, neither favoring nor against students accepted to CTE
schools.

Neumark, D. (2004). The Effects of School-to-Career Programs on Postsecondary Enrollment


and Employment. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
Abstract: This report uses national data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of
Youth (NLSY97) to evaluate the effectiveness of the types of school-to-career (STC)
programs that were encouraged and supported in California by the grants received by
the state from the federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (STWOA). In
particular, the empirical analysis focuses on whether participation in these STC
programs increases postsecondary college enrollment or employment. STWOA
provided more than $1.5 billion over a five-year period to support increased school-to-
work activities in the nation?s public schools. This money was made available to states
to create STC systems entailing cooperation among schools, private business, and
government bodies (Office of Technology Assessment, 1995). STWOA set out to
increase (1) school-based initiatives such as career links to academic curriculum and
career awareness activities, (2) workbased activities such as job shadowing,
internships, and apprenticeships, and (3) connecting activities, such as the
development of partnerships with employers and postsecondary institutions. STWOA
was not reauthorized after its initial five years. And although certain other school-to-
career programs still exist, mainly Tech Prep and Career Academies, this loss of
funding appears to have left a gaping hole in efforts to prepare low-skilled youth for
higher-paying jobs?the principal goal behind the original legislation. This is particularly
problematical for California because, as research in other studies has shown, income
inequality is higher in California than in the rest of the nation, and the difference
between the incomes of the "haves" and "have nots" is largely attributable to
education. Given the loss of federal STWOA funding, it is important to determine just
how effective the activities supported by this program were and whether it might be in
California's best interest to restore some of the funding for these activities. p their
careerve on to work, further education, or a combination of the two.

Neumark, D., and Rothstein, D. (2003). School-to-Career Programs and Transitions to


Employment and Higher Education (NBER Working Papers: 10060). Cambridge, MA:
National Bureau of Economic Research Inc.
Abstract: The 1994 Federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA) provided more
than $1.5 billion over five years to support increased career preparation activities in the
country's public schools. However, the STWOA was not re-authorized, so state
governments face decisions about levels of funding support for school-to-career (STC)
programs. Coupled with the availability of a new longitudinal data source with rich
information on STC programs the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
(NLSY97) it is therefore an opportune time to study the effectiveness of STC programs.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 88


This paper uses the NLSY97 to assess the effects of STC programs on transitions to
employment and higher education among youths leaving high school, with a focus on
estimating the causal effects of this participation given possible non-random selection
of youths into STC programs.

Neumark, D., and Rothstein, D. (2005). Do School-to-Work Programs Help the "Forgotten
Half"? St. Louis: Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
Abstract: This paper tests whether school-to-work (STW) programs are particularly
beneficial for those less likely to go to college in their absence - often termed the
"forgotten half" in the STW literature. The empirical analysis is based on the NLSY97,
which allows us to study six types of STW programs, including job shadowing,
mentoring, coop, school enterprises, tech prep, and internships/apprenticeships. For
men there is quite a bit of evidence that STW program participation is particularly
advantageous for those in the forgotten half. For these men, specifically, mentoring
and coop programs increase post-secondary education, and coop, school enterprise,
and internship/apprenticeship programs boost employment and decrease idleness after
leaving high school. There is less evidence that STW programs are particularly
beneficial for women in the forgotten half, although internship/apprenticeship programs
do lead to positive earnings effects concentrated among these women.
Neumark, D., and Rothstein, D. (2006). School-to-career programs and transitions to
employment and higher education. Economics of education review, 25(4), 374-393.
Abstract: The 1994 federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA) provided more
than $1.5 billion over 5 years to support increased career preparation activities in the
country's public schools. A new longitudinal data source with rich information on
school-to-career (STC) programs—the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
(NLSY97)—provides previously unparalleled opportunities to study the effectiveness of
STC programs. This paper uses the NLSY97 to assess the effects of STC programs on
transitions to employment and higher education among youths leaving high school,
with a focus on attempting to estimate the causal effects of this participation given
possible non-random selection of youths into STC programs.

Nicholson, C. (2012). Preparing to Access Post-secondary Education: The Influence of Future


to Discover on High School Academic Choices. Ottawa, Ontario The Social Research
and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC)
Abstract: Future to Discover (FTD) is a pilot project established by the Canadian
Millennium Scholarship Foundation in collaboration with the governments of New
Brunswick and Manitoba. The goal of FTD is to test early high school interventions that
may increase access to postsecondary education (PSE), particularly for students from
families with lower incomes and or little or no postsecondary education experience.
Two interventions, Explore your Horizons (EYH) and Learning Accounts (LA), are pilot
tested through FTD. This paper presents the impact of Future to Discover on a number
of high school outcomes, using administrative data. It is intended to augment the
analyses presented in Future to Discover: Interim Impacts Report, which were primarily
based on survey data. The goal is to complete the account of FTD’s effects on
participants’ behaviour and experiences up to the end of high school. The paper begins
by presenting a brief description of the FTD project and an overview of the findings. It
then discusses the data and methodology used in calculating the impacts of FTD up to
the end of Grade 12. The remaining sections present the interim impacts of FTD on
some of the outcomes that the original program logic model (SRDC, 2007) anticipated
would be affected while still in high school.

Orthner, D. K., Jones-Sanpei, H., Akos, P., and Rose, R. A. (2013). Improving Middle School
Student Engagement Through Career-Relevant Instruction in the Core Curriculum.
Journal of Educational Research, 106(1), 27-38.
Abstract: The authors assessed the effect of career-relevant instruction on school

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 89


valuing and engagement of middle school students in a southern US school district.
Previous research and theory indicate students learn best when new knowledge is
provided within the context of information students consider to be of value. The data
come from a school-based randomized trial of the CareerStart intervention that was
introduced in 7 of 14 middle schools, and include the initial 3 years of data for 3,493
students. The authors examined the effect of the CareerStart intervention and student-
reported career-relevant instruction on psychosocial measures of school engagement
and school valuing. After controlling for previous school engagement, demographic,
socioeconomic, and academic factors, the analysis confirms that students in the
treatment schools reported significantly higher levels of school valuing than students in
the control schools, and students reporting greater career-relevant instruction indicated
significantly higher levels of school engagement and valuing.

Page, L. C. (2012). Understanding the impact of career academy attendance: An application of


the Principal Stratification Framework for Causal Effects Accounting for partial
compliance. Evaluation Review, 36(2), 99-132.
Abstract: Background: Results from MDRC's longitudinal, random-assignment
evaluation of career-academy high schools reveal that several years after high-school
completion, those randomized to receive the academy opportunity realized a $175
(11%) increase in monthly earnings, on average. Objectives: In this paper, I investigate
the impact of duration of actual academy enrollment, as nearly half of treatment group
students either never enrolled or participated for only a portion of high school.
Research Design: I capitalize on data from this experimental evaluation and utilize a
principal stratification framework and Bayesian inference to investigate the causal
impact of academy participation. Subjects: This analysis focuses on a sample of 1,306
students across seven sites in the MDRC evaluation. Measures: Participation is
measured by number of years of academy enrollment, and the outcome of interest is
average monthly earnings in the period of four to eight years after high school
graduation. Results: I estimate an average causal effect of treatment assignment on
subsequent monthly earnings of approximately $588 among males who remained
enrolled in an academy throughout high school and more modest impacts among those
who participated only partially. Conclusions: Different from an instrumental variables
approach to treatment non-compliance, which allows for the estimation of linear returns
to treatment take-up, the more general framework of principal stratification allows for
the consideration of non-linear returns, although at the expense of additional model-
based assumptions.

Payne, J. (2003). The Impact of Part-Time Jobs in Years 12 and 13 on Qualification


Achievement. British Educational Research Journal, 29(4), 599-611.
Abstract: Presents data from nationally representative sample of the England/Wales
Youth Cohort Study, describing patterns of paid work among full-time students in Years
12/13 working for qualifications. Shows paid work of a few hours has negligible impact
on "A" level grades, but long working hours significantly reduce grades. (BT)

Pearson, D., Sawyer, J., Park, T., Santamaria, L., van der Mandele, E., Keene, B., et al.
(2010). Capitalizing on Context: Curriculum Integration in Career and Technical
Education. A Joint Report of the NRCCTE Curriculum Integration Workgroup. U.S.A:
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education.
Abstract: The National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
(NRCCTE) has undertaken three scientifically based research studies in an effort to
determine whether the integration of career and technical education (CTE) courses
with academic content can increase student achievement. These include the Math-in-
CTE study, completed in 2005 (also known as "Building Academic Skills in Context";
Stone, Alfeld, Pearson, Lewis, and Jensen, 2006); the Authentic Literacy Applications
in CTE pilot study, completed in 2009, with a full-year study launched in 2010; and the

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 90


Science-in-CTE pilot study, launched in 2010. Each of these three studies was
designed as a group-randomized trial in which teachers and their classes were
randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Each also employed a mixed-
methods approach intended to capture qualitative data in order to ensure fidelity of the
treatment. This report contains a summary of findings from the Math-in-CTE study, with
emphasis on the five core principles that emerged from the study. Evaluation data
collected from Math-in-CTE technical assistance sites further illustrate these principles.
This report also contains findings from the Authentic Literacy in CTE pilot study and
evidence from that study supporting the five core principles.

Percy, C. (2010). NEET status during sixth form years vs. part-time paid work in years 9, 10
and 11 - an initial statistical analysis using the LSYPE, UK Education and Employers
Taskforce Research Conference.
Abstract: This paper identifies a compelling and beneficial correlation between part-
time paid employment in years 9, 10 and 11 and being NEET during the sixth form
years. The raw relationship shows, across 10,017 young people in England, that the
average time spent NEET in a 21 month period is around two weeks for those who
worked part-time in each of those three school years, but nearer five weeks for those
who did not work at all. This relationship remains statistically significant, if roughly half
the effect size, after controlling for KS4 attainment. However, the data reveal significant
variations in this relationship across many characteristics of interest, including ethnicity,
social background and local area deprivation. The driver of this change in NEET-status
is individuals entering employment rather than remaining in education. The data do not
allow comment on causality in these relationships, and it seems likely that the attitudes
and behaviours are mutually reinforcing, rather than easily reduced to directional
conclusions.

Percy, C. (2010). The impact of formal work experience and term-time paid employment using
longitudinal data from England (2003-2007). London: Education and Employers
Taskforce.
Abstract: This paper marks an introductory exploration of a pre-existing longitudinal
dataset on the impact of two types of activity: formal work experience placements and
part-time paid employment during term-time. It exploits the Longitudinal Study of
Young People in England (LSYPE), a government-funded survey tracking the opinions,
activities and outcomes of initially around 15,500 of the same young people each year,
all of whom turned 14 during academic year 2003/04. At the time of writing data is
available over five years, until the young people were 18 or 19, providing a rich data
source on their short-term outcomes. The key findings are that young people who work
intensively part-time, over 10 hours per week, are more likely to see the benefit of
education in terms of earning a job in the future. Young people working fewer than 10
hours per week were more likely to be critical of the value of the education they were
receiving. Importantly, working part-time during school years tends to reduce the time
spent not in education, employment or training (NEET) after compulsory education,
even after controlling for prior attainment.

Percy, C., and Mann, A. (2014). School-mediated employer engagement and labour market
outcomes for young adults: Wage premia, NEET outcomes and career confidence. In
Understanding Employer Engagement in Education: Theories and Evidence (pp. 205-
220). London: Education and Employers Taskforce.
Abstract: This book explores employer engagement in education, how it is delivered
and the differentiated impact it has on young people in their progression through
schooling and higher education into the labour market. Rather than narrowly focusing
on vocational or technical education or work-related learning, it investigates how
employer engagement (work experience, internships, careers education, workplace
visits, mentoring, enterprise education etc.) infl uences the experiences and outcomes

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 91


of the broad range of young people across mainstream academic learning
programmes. The chapters explore the different ways in which education can support
or constrain social mobility and, in particular, how employer engagement in education
can have signifi cant impact upon social mobility – both positive and negative.

Peterman, N. E., and Kennedy, J. (2003). Enterprise Education: Influencing Students’


Perceptions of Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(2), 129-
144.
Abstract: This research examines the effect of participation in an enterprise education
program on perceptions of the desirability and feasibility of starting a business.
Changes in the perceptions of a sample of secondary school students enrolled in the
Young Achievement Australia (YAA) enterprise program are analysed using a pre-test
post-test control group research design. After completing the enterprise program,
participants reported significantly higher perceptions of both desirability and feasibility.
The degree of change in perceptions is related to the positiveness of prior experience
and to the positiveness of the experience in the enterprise education program. Self-
efficacy theory is used to explain the impact of the program. Overall, the study provides
empirical evidence to support including exposure to entrepreneurship education as an
additional exposure variable in entrepreneurial intentions models.
Pierce, K. B., and Hernandez, V. M. (2015). Do Mathematics and Reading Competencies
Integrated into Career and Technical Education Courses Improve High School Student
State Assessment Scores? Career and Technical Education Research, 39(3), 213-229.
Abstract: A quasi experimental study tested a contextual teaching and learning model
for integrating reading and mathematics competencies through 13 introductory career
and technical education (CTE) courses. The treatment group consisted of students in
the 13 introductory courses taught by the CTE teachers who designed the units and
the control group consisted of students in all other non-integrated sections of the 13
introductory courses. After a 26-week intervention, 9th and 10th grade student state
reading and mathematics test scores were analyzed to determine if the mean change
in post-test scores was greater in the treatment group than the mean change in scores
in the control group. Quantitative analysis revealed that the integrated CTE courses
were statistically significant in improving reading treatment group scores, but not
statistically significant in improving mathematics treatment group scores.

Powers, L. E., Geenen, S., Powers, J., Pommier-Satya, S., Turner, A., Dalton, L. D., et al.
(2012). My Life: Effects of a longitudinal, randomized study of self-determination
enhancement on the transition outcomes of youth in foster care and special education.
Children and Youth Services Review, 34(11), 2179-2187.
Abstract: Youth in foster care disproportionately receive special education services and
those in foster care and special education are at compounded disadvantage as they
attempt to transition from high school to adult life. Given enhanced self-determination
has been associated with improved transition outcomes for youth in special education,
the purpose of this longitudinal, randomized trial was to evaluate the efficacy of the
TAKE CHARGE self-determination intervention for improving the transition outcomes
of those highly at-risk youth who are in both foster care and special education. The
intervention included coaching for youth in the application of self-determination skills to
achieve youth-identified goals, and youth participation in mentoring workshops with
near peer foster care alumni. Sixty-nine youth, ages 16.5 to 17.5, were randomly
assigned to TAKE CHARGE or to the foster care independent living program.
Assessment at baseline, post-intervention and at one year follow-up revealed
moderate to large effect sizes at post-intervention and one year follow-up for the
differences between groups in self-determination, quality of life, and utilization of
community transition services. Youth in the intervention group also completed high
school, were employed, and carried out independent living activities at notably higher
rates than the comparison group. Self-determination was confirmed as a partial

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 92


mediator of enhanced quality of life. Implications of the findings for supporting youth in
foster care, with and without disabilities, as well as future research directions are
discussed.

Purtell, K. M., and McLoyd, V. C. (2013). A Longitudinal Investigation of Employment among


Low-Income Youth: Patterns, Predictors, and Correlates. Youth and Society, 45(2),
243-264.
Abstract: Drawing on previous research linking patterns of adolescent employment--
defined in terms of duration and intensity--to educational and occupational outcomes
later in life (Staff and Mortimer, 2008), the present study (a) examined positive social
behavior and academic variables as longitudinal predictors of patterns of adolescent
employment during the school year in a low-income, ethnically diverse sample and (b)
assessed patterns of employment as correlates of adolescents' optimism for the future
and perceived efficacy. Results revealed a predictive relationship between youths'
autonomy and steady employment 3 years later. Furthermore, steady employment
during adolescence was related to greater optimism about the future and higher levels
of efficacy.

Radcliffe, R. A., and Bos, B. (2013). Strategies to Prepare Middle School and High School
Students for College and Career Readiness. Clearing House: A Journal of Educational
Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 86(4), 136-141.
Abstract: Trends among adolescents continue to be discouraging in terms of career
and college readiness based on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
achievement reports and high school graduation rate data. In response, this article
presents five goals and eight strategies we have engaged in during a seven-year
research study focused on building college and career readiness among adolescents.
During our final year of helping students build college and career readiness, we found
associated improvements in their academic-related perceptions, beliefs, and strategies;
positive personal achievement and goal orientation; rising perceptions of college;
improving trends in academic performance; and stronger perseverance in high school
when compared to a control group. Because the students in this study have not
completed their high school senior year, we do not have data that predict their college
acceptance or career readiness.

Rhodes, J. E., Grossman, J. B., and Resch, N. L. (2000). Agents of Change: Pathways
Through Which Mentoring Relationships Influence Adolescents' Academic Adjustment.
Child Development, 71(6), 1662-1671.
Abstract: A conceptual model was tested in which the effects of mentoring relationships
on adolescents' academic outcomes were hypothesized to be mediated partially
through improvements in parental relationships. The parameters of the model were
compared with those of an alternative, in which improved parental relationships were
treated as an outcome variable rather than a mediator. The study included 959 young
adolescents (M age = 12.25 years), all of whom applied to Big Brothers Big Sisters
programs. The adolescents were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control
group and administered questions at baseline and 18 months later. The hypothesized
model provided a significantly better explanation of the data than the alternative. In
addition to improvements in parental relationships, mentoring led to reductions in
unexcused absences and improvements in perceived scholastic competence. Direct
effects of mentoring on global self-worth, school value, and grades were not detected
but were instead mediated through improved parental relationships and scholastic
competence. Implications of the findings for theory and research are discussed.

Robinson, L. (1999). The Effects of Part-Time Work on School Students. Longitudinal Surveys
of Australian Youth (LSAY Research Report). Victoria, Australia: Australian Council for
Educational Research.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 93


Abstract: A study examined character and consequences of student part-time work
using data from the 1975 birth cohort of the Youth in Transition project of the
Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth program. Findings indicated that most
students worked because they liked the independence their job gave, enjoyed the
work, and believed the experience would help them gain employment in later life;
employed students were more likely to be happy with many aspects of their lives; and
students did not perceive jobs to have a significant negative impact on school
performance. The hypothesis that a part-time job could adversely affect school
performance was tested by examining the associations between in-school employment
and school completion and year 12 results. Findings showed that employment status
did not have an adverse effect on likelihood of secondary school completion or on
academic performance in year 12; end of school results of year 12 students were a
little lower for those who had been intense workers during years 11 and 12; part-time
work reduced likelihood of post-school unemployment; a part-time job was significant in
reducing amount of time spent unemployed in early post-school years; the highly
gender-segregated jobs of in-school workers and their later occupations were only
slightly related; and hourly earnings at age 19 and having a part-time job in school
were not related.

Rodriguez-Planas, N. (2012). Longer-Term Impacts of Mentoring, Educational Services, and


Learning Incentives: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in the United States. American
Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 4(4), 121-139.
Abstract: This paper reports on a randomized evaluation of a program designed to
improve high school graduation and postsecondary education enrollment among low-
performing high school students. Treated youths were offered mentoring, educational
services, and financial rewards. The program was evaluated when the youths were 19,
21, and 24 years old. Treated youths obtained their high school diplomas earlier and
were more likely than controls to attend postsecondary education. Five years after the
end of the program, we find no significant overall effects of this intervention on
employment outcomes. The program improved outcomes to a greater extent for the
female enrollees than the male ones.

Ruhm, C. J. (1997). Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment? Journal of Labor


Economics, 15(4), 735-776.
Abstract: This study examines how high school employment affects future economic
attainment. There is no indication that light to moderate job commitments ever have a
detrimental effect; instead, hours worked during the senior grade are positively
correlated with future earnings, fringe benefits, and occupational status. These gains
occur even though employed seniors attain slightly less education than their
counterparts. The results are robust across a variety of specifications and suggest that
student employment increases net investments in human capital particularly toward the
end of high school and for females.

Schwartz, S. E. O., Rhodes, J. E., Chan, C. S., and Herrera, C. (2011). The impact of school-
based mentoring on youths with different relational profiles. Developmental
Psychology, 47(2), 450-462.
Abstract: Associations between youths' relationship profiles and mentoring outcomes
were explored in the context of a national, randomized study of 1,139 youths (54%
female) in geographically diverse Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring
programs. The sample included youths in Grades 4–9 from diverse racial and ethnic
backgrounds, the majority of whom were receiving free or reduced-price lunch. Latent
profile analysis, a person-oriented approach, was used to identify 3 distinct relational
profiles. Mentoring was found to have differential effects depending on youths' pre-
intervention approach to relationships. In particular, youths who, at baseline, had
satisfactory, but not particularly strong, relationships benefited more from mentoring

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 94


than did youths with profiles characterized by either strongly positive or negative
relationships. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Schwartz, S. E. O., Rhodes, J. E., and Herrera, C. (2012). The influence of meeting time on
academic outcomes in school-based mentoring. Children and Youth Services Review,
34(12), 2319-2326.
Abstract: This study explores the role of mentor–youth meeting time on academic
performance within school-based mentoring. Participants in the study (N = 1139) were
part of a national evaluation of the Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring
programs, approximately half of whom had been randomly assigned to receive
mentoring at their schools. Within the treatment group, 44% were in programs in which
matches met after school, 25% were in programs in which matches met during the
school day excluding lunch, 6% were in programs in which matches met during lunch,
and 26% were in programs in which matches met at various times during and after
school. Among academically at‐risk youth, the impact of school-based mentoring on
academic outcomes was moderated by the time during which matches met.
Specifically, academically vulnerable youth derived significant academic benefits from
mentoring in programs that met after school or during lunch. In programs that met
during school as a pullout program, there was no evidence of benefits and some
evidence of negative effects on academic outcomes. Implications of the findings for
research and intervention are discussed.

Scott, M. A., and Bernhardt, A. (1999). Pathways to Educational Attainment and Their Effect
on Early Career Development. Berkeley, CA.: National Center for Research in
Vocational Education.
Abstract: A study identified different educational and working paths that workers take,
asked which paid off for long-term wage growth and career development, and tested
whether educational pathways helped explain more of the variability in wage outcomes.
It compared long-term wage growth for two cohorts of young white men: the original
cohort that entered the labor force in the late 1960s at the end of the post-World War II
economic boom and the recent cohort that entered in the early 1980s after the onset of
economic restructuring. Long-term wage growth between the ages 16-36 declined and
became significantly more unequal for the recent cohort. The rising demand for
education and skill in the new labor market apparently benefitted only those with four-
year college degrees. Rising inequality in wage growth was found in all education
groups. Working while enrolled and interrupting and returning to school were the
dominant pathways to educational attainment. A second set of analyses focused on the
recent cohort. Multiple regressions showed educational pathways had a strong effect
on long-term wage growth: working while enrolled had a positive impact and
interrupted schooling had a negative one. Career choices about industry and
occupation mattered. Taking an academic track in high school paid off for workers who
get some college credit or enter occupations requiring cognitive skill. Applied and
practical fields of study offered the most long-term wage growth to college graduates.

Shandra, C. L., and Hogan, D. P. (2008). School-to-work program participation and the post-
high school employment of young adults with disabilities. Journal of Vocational
Rehabilitation, 29(2), 117-130.
Abstract: Previous research on the education-to-employment transition for students
with disabilities has suggested that participation in school-to-work programs is
positively associated with post-high school success. This article utilizes data from the
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to extend these findings in
several ways. First, we assess the efficacy of specific types of school-based and work-
based initiatives, including job shadowing, mentoring, cooperative education, school-
sponsored enterprise, technical preparation, internships, and career major. Next, we

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 95


extend the usual focus on the employment outcomes of work status and financial
compensation to consider job-specific information on the receipt of fringe benefits.
Overall, results from longitudinal multivariate analyses suggest that transition initiatives
are effective in facilitating vocational success for this population; however, different
aspects of school-to-work programs are beneficial for different aspects of employment.
School-based programs are positively associated with stable employment and full-time
work while work-based programs most consistently increase the likelihood that youth
with disabilities will be employed in jobs that provide fringe benefits. Analyses also
indicate that – once individuals with disabilities are stably employed – they can be
employed in "good" jobs that provide employee benefits.

Singh, K. (1998). Part-time employment in high school and its effect on academic
achievement. Journal of Educational Research, 91, 131-139.
Abstract: Part-time employment during high school has grown dramatically. High
school students are twice as likely to be working part-time as they were in 1950.
Despite the fact that many adolescents work between the ages of 12 and 17, little
empirical evidence exists about the impact of part-time employment on academic
performance. In the present research, the nationally representative sample of 10th
graders, the First Follow-Up of the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988
(NELS-88), was used to examine the effects of part-time work during the school year
on academic achievement, as measured by the standardized achievement scores and
high school grades earned in 4 subject areas: English, mathematics, science, and
social studies. The findings of the study point to a small negative effect of employment
on both measures of achievement when socioeconomic status, gender, and previous
achievement were controlled. The study helps to illuminate an important question and
has implications for parents, educators, and counselors.

Singh, K., and Ozturk, M. (2000). Effect of part-time work on high school mathematics and
science course taking. Journal of Educational Research, 94(2), 67-74.
Abstract: The effect of part-time work intensity on high school course work completed
in mathematics and science and its indirect effect on 12th-grade achievement was
explored. Longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample were used to test
the models through path analysis. Socioeconomic status and previous achievement
were included as exogenous variables for control purposes, and part-time work
intensity was hypothesized to negatively affect course work completed in the 2
subjects, as well as 12th-grade achievement through course work during high school.
Results suggest that, controlling for the background variables, there was a significant
negative effect of part-time work intensity on course work and that its indirect effect on
12th-grade achievement through course work was larger than its direct effect.

Staff, J., Harris, A., Sabates, R., and Briddell, L. (2010). Uncertainty in Early Occupational
Aspirations: Role Exploration or Aimlessness? Social Forces, 89(2), 659-683.
Abstract: Many youth in the United States lack clear occupational aspirations. This
uncertainty in achievement ambitions may benefit socio-economic attainment if it
signifies “role exploration,” characterized by career development, continued education
and enduring partnerships. By contrast, uncertainty may diminish attainment if it
instead leads to “aimlessness,” involving prolonged education without the acquisition of
a degree, residential dependence and frequent job changes. We use nationally
representative data from the National Education Longitudinal Study to examine how
uncertainty in occupational aspirations in adolescence (age 16) affects wage
attainments in young adulthood (age 26). Results suggest that youth with undecided
career ambitions earn significantly lower hourly wages in young adulthood than youth
with more certain aspirations, supporting the view that uncertainty heightens the risk of
labor-market problems.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 96


Stern, D., Finkelstein, N., Urquiola, M., and Cagampang, H. (1997). What Difference Does It
Make If School and Work Are Connected? Evidence on Cooperative Education in the
United States. Economics of Education Review, 16(3), 213-229.
Abstract: A new longitudinal study reveals that the negative association between hours
worked and grade point average is weaker for high schoolers in cooperative education
(co-op) than in "outside" jobs. High school co-op leads to higher wages soon after
graduation. However, students who curtail their education to pursue full-time
employment could negatively affect future earnings.

Stone, J. R., III, Alfeld, C., and Pearson, D. (2008). Rigor "and" Relevance: Enhancing High
School Students' Math Skills through Career and Technical Education. American
Educational Research Journal, 45(3), 767-795.
Abstract: Numerous high school students, including many who are enrolled in career
and technical education (CTE) courses, do not have the math skills necessary for
today's high-skill workplace or college entrance requirements. This study tests a model
for enhancing mathematics instruction in five high school CTE programs (agriculture,
auto technology, business and marketing, health, and information technology). The
model includes a pedagogy and intense teacher professional development. Volunteer
CTE teachers were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 59) or control (n = 78)
group. The experimental teachers worked with math teachers to develop CTE
instructional activities that integrated more mathematics into the occupational
curriculum. After 1 year of the math-enhanced CTE lessons, students in the
experimental classrooms performed equally on technical skills and significantly better
than control students on two standardized tests of math ability

Stone, J. R., III, Alfeld, C., Pearson, D., Lewis, M. V., and Jensen, S. (2006). Building
Academic Skills in Context: Testing the Value of Enhanced Math Learning in CTE. St
Paul, M.N.: National Research Center for Career and Technical Education.
Abstract: An experimental study tested a model for enhancing mathematics instruction
in five high school career and technical education (CTE) programs (agriculture, auto
technology, business/marketing, health, and information technology). The model
consisted of a pedagogy and intense teacher professional development. Volunteer
CTE teachers were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 57) or control (n = 74)
group. The experimental teachers worked with math teachers in communities of
practice to develop CTE instructional activities that integrated more mathematics into
the occupational curriculum. After 1 year of the math-enhanced CTE lessons averaging
10% of class time, students in the experimental classrooms performed significantly
better on 2 tests of math ability-the TerraNova and ACCUPLACER[R]-without any
negative impact on measures of occupational/technical knowledge.

Thiessen, V., and Looker, E. D. (1999). Investing in Youth: The Nova Scotia School-to-Work
Transition Project (No. 0-662-27883-6). Canada: Human Resource Development
Canada, Ottawa (Ontario) and Nova Scotia Dept. of Education and Culture, Halifax.
Abstract: Economic, technological, and social changes occurring around the world
have produced incredible challenges for youth, symbolized by persistently high youth
unemployment rates despite increasing educational attainments and a shrinking youth
population. Chapter 1 of this book provides an overview of the initiatives undertaken by
Canada and the province of Nova Scotia to address these challenges, and focuses on
the Nova Scotia School-to-Work Transition (NSSWT) program. This program had a
common set of parameters and objectives, but allowed site-specific variations in
implementation. Chapter 2 highlights successful proposals and the similarities and the
differences among the 6 actual implementations. Generally, the programs included an
in-school component of 20-60 hours per year in grades 11 and 12 devoted to career
exploration, career guidance, and job skills, and a work experience component of 125-
200 hours per year in the 2 grades. Chapter 3 describes the backgrounds,

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 97


characteristics, and aspirations of participants and a comparison group at the start of
the program. Females made up about two-thirds of participants, who otherwise
reflected a range of backgrounds and characteristics. Chapter 4 documents program
effects and assesses the extent to which program objectives were met. Program
completion rates were low; 54 and 37 percent for the two cohorts studied. Student
outcomes yielded a mixed message. Participants who completed the program were
very clear that it had met their expectations. However, there were few differences
between participants and the comparison group in academic achievement, skills
enhancement, higher education outcomes, or employment outcomes. Chapter 5
focuses on the expectations of the employers/supervisors and the schools and how
they contributed, or not, to the program's functioning. Chapter 6 examines program
effectiveness based on an independent assessment of the program. Appendices list
primary data sources and other reports on the NSSWT project.

Thompson, L. A., and Kelly-Vance, L. (2001). The impact of mentoring on academic


achievement of at-risk youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 23(3), 227-242.
Abstract: Planned mentoring programs have flourished as one possible solution to the
problems affecting youth. Unfortunately, little research has been conducted evaluating
mentoring programs in spite of the generally accepted belief that only positive effects
can result from their implementation. The present study examined the impact of
mentoring on the academic achievement of at-risk youth involved in Big Brothers/Big
Sisters. Academic achievement tests were individually administered to 12 boys in the
treatment group (i.e., had a mentor) and 13 boys in a control group (i.e., were on a
waiting list to receive a mentor) pre- and post-test over a nine month period. Results
indicated that boys in the treatment group made significantly higher academic gains
than the control group, even after controlling for ability. Implications of these results are
discussed.

Tran, N. A., and Nathan, M. J. (2010). Pre-College Engineering Studies: An Investigation of


the Relationship Between Pre-college Engineering Studies and Student Achievement
in Science and Mathematics. Journal of Engineering Education, 99(2), 143-157.
Abstract: Background The US has experienced a shift from a manufacturing-based
economy to one that overwhelmingly provides services and information. This shift
demands that technological skills be more fully integrated with one's academic
knowledge of science and mathematics so that the next generation of engineers can
reason adaptively, think critically, and be prepared to learn how to learn. Purpose
(Hypothesis) Project Lead the Way (PLTW) provides a pre-college curriculum that
focuses on the integration of engineering with science and mathematics. We
documented the impact that enrollment in PLTW had on student science and math
achievement. We consider the enriched integration hypothesis, which states that
students taking PLTW courses will show achievement benefits, after controlling for
prior achievement and other student and teacher characteristics. We contrast this with
alternative hypotheses that propose little or no impact of the engineering coursework
on students' math and science achievement (the insufficient integration hypothesis), or
that PLTW enrollment might be negatively associated with student achievement (the
adverse integration hypothesis). Design/Method Using multilevel statistical modeling
with students (N = 140) nested within teachers, we report findings from a quantitative
analysis of the relationship between PLTW enrollment and student achievement on
state standardized tests of math and science. Results While students gained in math
and science achievement overall from eighth to tenth grade, students enrolled in PLTW
foundation courses showed significantly smaller math assessment gains than those in
a matched group that did not enroll, and no measurable advantages on science
assessments, when controlling for prior achievement and teacher experience. The
findings do not support the enriched integration hypothesis. Conclusions Engineering
education programs like PLTW both challenges and opportunities to effectively

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 98


integrate academic content as they strive to prepare students for college engineering
programs and careers.

Vickers, M., Lamb, S., and Hinkley, J. (2003). Student Workers in High School and Beyond:
The Effects of Part-Time Employment on Participation in Education, Training and
Work. Victoria, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Abstract: Data on the Y95 cohort (first interviewed in 1995 when in Year 9) of the
Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth were analyzed to identify the effects of
student employment on participation and attrition in secondary school and tertiary
study and on young people's activities after secondary school. Working between 1 and
5 hours during Year 9 of secondary school had no impact on the likelihood of
completion of Year 12. Participation in more than 5 hours of employment each week
was associated with an increased likelihood of dropping out before the end of Year 12,
especially for males. The more hours per week students worked, the more likely they
were to drop out. Compared with their male counterparts, females who worked part-
time during Year 9 were much more likely than to complete Year 12. Students who
worked part-time during high school were 65% more likely to gain an apprenticeship or
traineeship and 46% more likely to be in full-time employment rather than be
unemployed after high school. Field of study has a major impact on dropping out. An
inverse relationship between contact hours and dropping out was discovered.
Participating in part-time work did not increase the odds of dropping out of tertiary
study.

Vuolo, M., Mortimer, J. T., and Staff, J. (2014). Adolescent Precursors of Pathways From
School to Work. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24(1), 145-162.
Abstract: Longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study are used to examine (1)
how young people establish work with self-identified career potential and how these
patterns are linked to educational attainments; and (2) how adolescent achievement
orientations, experiences in school and work, and sociodemographic background
distinguish youth who establish themselves in careers and those who flounder during
this transition. Multilevel latent class models reveal four school-to-work pathways from
ages 18–31: two groups that attain careers through postsecondary education (via
bachelor's or associate's–vocational degrees) and two groups that do not
(distinguished by attempting college). Multinomial logistic regression models
demonstrate that academic orientations, socioeconomic background, and steady paid
work during high school help adolescents avoid subsequent floundering during the
school-to-work transition.

Woolley, M., Woolley, M. E., Rose, R. A., Orthner, D. K., Akos, P. T., and Jones Sanpei, H.
(2013). Advancing Academic Achievement Through Career Relevance in the Middle
Grades: A Longitudinal Evaluation of CareerStart. American Educational Research
Journal, 50(6), 1309-1335.
Abstract: Research and theory suggest that students learn more effectively when they
perceive course content as relevant to their futures. The current research assessed the
impact of CareerStart, a middle grades instructional strategy designed to advance the
occupational relevance of what students are being taught in the core subjects—math,
science, language arts, and social studies. CareerStart was introduced randomly in 7
of 14 middle schools in a diverse district with 3,295 students followed for 3 years. The
analyses examined impact on end-of-grade test scores on math and reading exams.
Findings confirm a significant treatment effect for math performance but no effect for
reading performance.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 99


Appendix 4: Criteria for levels of evidence
Impact assessment: A four-level model (Hughes, 2004) was used to describe impact
studies in terms of the robustness of the research design and the reliability of the causal
evidence they provide. Generally speaking, the higher the level the more robust the
evidence provided. The literature review did not include level 1 or level 2 studies, as agreed
with EEF.
Level 1 comprises ‘outcome measurement studies with no counterfactuals’. Such studies
measure specified variable(s) representing outcomes following the intervention; for example,
rates of progression to full-time education or to employment. ‘Counterfactuals’ are
indications of what would have happened in the absence of the careers education,
information or guidance intervention. If no evidence on counterfactuals is available, there
may be little basis on which to attribute causality.
Level 2 comprises ‘outcome measurement studies with weak counterfactuals’. These are
more robust than level 1, but still subject to reservations. They may include: comparisons
with measures of the same variables prior to careers education, information or guidance;
though where gains are made, these may have been due to other factors; comparisons with
a population parameter e.g. mean duration of unemployment; though the sample that has
experienced the careers education, information or guidance may differ from this population
in other respects, and any variations between them may be due to these differences;
comparisons between groups of participants and of non-participants in careers education,
information or guidance, typically where the two groups have resulted from self-selection
and where there has been no adequate ‘control by calculation’. In such cases, controls for
possible confounding factors may also be reviewed and assessed.
Level 3 comprises outcome measurement studies with control by calculation. These
comprise ‘outcome measurement studies with control by calculation’. Here multivariate
statistical techniques are used to control retrospectively for those who have and have not
been exposed to careers education, information or guidance. Propensity score matching can
also be used whereby individuals from the two groups are matched on a range of observable
characteristics (such as age, gender, learning/work histories) on the grounds that, having
removed as many personal differences as possible, any differences in outcomes between
the two groups can be more reliably attributed to the intervention. However, there still
remains the possibility that any apparent impact may have been due to additional
unmeasured and unmatched variables; the more relevant variables that can be included in
such analyses, the more this risk is reduced.
Level 4 comprises ‘outcome experimental studies with a control group’. Classically, this
involves random assignment to a careers education, information or guidance group (the
‘experimental’ or ‘treatment’ group) and to a non- careers education, information or guidance
group (the ‘placebo’ or ‘control’ group). Depending on the sample sizes, randomly assigning
individuals should ensure that there are no differences between the groups other than the
careers education, information or guidance intervention to which any differences in
outcomes can be reliably attributed. In reviewing impact research, the volume of evidence is
also important, both in terms of sample size and of numbers of studies, as well as its level of
rigour. More confidence can be placed in evidence emerging from studies with large
samples, or which emerge consistently from different studies. In the case of smaller, but

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 100


comparable studies, where the results can be combined and interrogated as a single data
pool, more reliable conclusions can be reached by a so-called ‘meta-analysis’. But volume of
evidence at lower levels cannot compensate for lack of evidence at higher levels.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 101


Appendix 5: Definitions of types of interventions emerging
from the keyword searches
Careers provision59: is a process of learning, individually or in groups, designed to help
young people to develop the knowledge, confidence and skills they need to make well
informed, relevant choices and plans for their future, so they can progress smoothly into
further learning and work.
Career guidance: is a process, delivered individually or in groups, which helps individuals to
gain a clearer understanding of their career development needs and potential through the
successful understanding and application of their career management skills. This includes
the use of techniques and tools which focus on personal challenge and growth.
Enterprise: an activity wherein pupils work together to create an economic enterprise on
either a short or long duration, commonly with support from volunteers from the world of
work. Also known as Entrepreneurial Education; Enterprise Competitions.
ICT and labour market information/intelligence: a means to offer access to information or
to provide an automated interaction, or to provide a channel for communication.
Job Shadowing: a short period of career exploration (typically no more than three days)
within a workplace wherein a pupil observes a number of staff members at work, reflecting
on their occupational experiences. Also known as Work Shadowing.
Mentoring: a sustained relationship between a pupil and a largely untrained volunteer
(selected on the basis of their occupational experience) managed by a school to support and
encourage the young person through a period of transition.
Part-time working: a period of part-time paid employment coinciding with full-time
enrolment in secondary education.
Transformative Leadership: a programme of careers-focused activity requiring substantive
changes in staff action and behaviour, commonly requiring some element of staff training.
Volunteering: volunteering within a workplace whilst in full-time education
Work experience: a time-limited placement undertaken by a young person (whilst still in full-
time education) in a workplace designed to give the young person insights into the
experience of being employed in such a workplace.
Work-related learning: a programme of learning that uses the context of work to develop
knowledge, skills and understanding useful in work, including learning through the
experience of work, learning about work and working practices, and learning the skills for
work.

59
See note 1, page 1.

Institute for Employment Research / Education and Employers Research 102

You might also like