Why Don't Youth Develop Career Navigation Skills?

The primary reason most youth don't develop Career Navigation Skills is that too view of them experience Career-connected Learning in Middle and High School

A preponderance of survey research among youth and young adults indicates that students are not participating in programs or activities that help them meaningfully explore potential career paths or a class that helps them explore careers.

In one survey of Gen Z youth and young adults, just 40% of all students participated in a program that helped them explore potential career paths. This means that 60% of students did not participate in such programs. “Underserved students” (those from economically disadvantaged families or those that do not have college experience) fared worse, with 65% of students not participating in such programs.

In the same survey, 62% of all students and a similar number of underserved students did NOT participate in a career exploration class; 67% of all students (and 72% of underserved students) did not even take a questionnaire or test that would help them uncover their career interests.

Findings from another youth survey tell a similar story: fewer than half of teens say they received help in thinking about how to match personal abilities and interests to careers, or learning what steps to take to pursue a career interest. And data gathered from YouScience indicates that 65% of recent graduates report having five or fewer conversations with a teacher or a counselor about post-high school opportunities.

Survey research, of course, is limited by the perceptions and memories of the individuals responding to the survey. It may be that students participated in more career exploration activities than they recall. But the fact that over half of young people say they didn’t receive (or can’t recall participating in) career exploration activities strongly suggests that the activities themselves did not leave a lasting impact.