With young people staying in education longer than ever and the labour market automating with unprecedented speed, students need help to make sense of the world of work. In 2018, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the world's largest dataset on young people's educational experiences, collected first-of-its kind data on this, making it possible to explore how much the career dreams of young people have changed over the past 20 years, how closely they are related to actual labour demand, and how closely aspirations are shaped by social background and gender. By... [+] Show more
With young people staying in education longer than ever and the labour market automating with unprecedented speed, students need help to make sense of the world of work. In 2018, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the world's largest dataset on young people's educational experiences, collected first-of-its kind data on this, making it possible to explore how much the career dreams of young people have changed over the past 20 years, how closely they are related to actual labour demand, and how closely aspirations are shaped by social background and gender. By comparing results over the PISA cycles, going back to the year 2000, it is possible to trace changes in attitudes and experiences of young people over a generation. This publication focuses on questions related to: (1) Career concentration: the extent to which young people's occupational expectations are concentrated in the 10 most commonly cited jobs, how they have changed over time and how they vary between different types of learner; (2) Labour market relevance: how young people's occupational expectations are related to national projections of labour market demand; (3) Job realism: the risk that the jobs young people expect to be pursuing at age 30 will become automated; (4) Career potential: whether occupational expectations reflect the academic potential of students; (5) Career confusion: the extent to which students are misaligned in their educational and occupational expectations; (6) Providing guidance: whether participation in career development activities can be seen to make a difference to career thinking; (7) Career participation: how participation in career development activities has changed over time and varies between different types of learner. The publication raises concerns over the extent to which children are being prepared for the jobs of the future. Governments, schools and international organisations are waking up to the challenge.
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