Career guidance policy: an international review.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank, and the European Commission have conducted reviews of the career guidance policies and practices in 37 countries. The 37 country studies, together with the 3 synthesis reports and a number of other commissioned papers, constitute the largest database on career guidance policies that has ever been collected. The present article, based in large part on the 3 synthesis reports, addresses the finding relative to 5 key policy issues: rationale, evidence, delivery, resources, and leadership.

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Public policy is not of immediate and intrinsic interest to most career guidance practitioners. What draws them to this work and what inspires and motivates them are not policy goals but a concern for helping people. They are interested in people as individuals, not in political agendas. This, arguably, is right and as it should be. But, of course, public policy is crucial to career guidance work. Most career guidance services in most countries are paid for by governments, whether at the national, regional, or local level. A few countries have experimented with the possibility of moving, at least in part, toward more market-based models in which individuals (especially adults) pay, but even this is a policy decision. If career guidance services are to be developed for all, on a lifelong basis, the active and convinced support of policy makers is essential. If the career guidance profession is to achieve this support, it must learn to talk their language and address their concerns.

Internationally, career guidance is now higher on the public policy agenda than ever before. The last 3 years have seen ov...

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