Career guidance from a lifelong learning perspective : issues for Europe and beyond

Abstract

This paper sets out to report the findings of a series of major international reviews of career guidance, focusing in particular on studies that were carried out in the member states of the European Union. After providing a context and background for these reviews, the paper goes on to consider the way career guidance, when seen from a lifelong perspective, can help address a range of public policy goals, in relation to the needs of both young people and adults. It then highlights some of the key challenges that career guidance services are required to face up to. Key among these challenges are the need to improve access; the need to enhance quality by, among others, improving labour market information and providing better training for guidance staff; the need to allocate adequate funding in order to ensure that service supply meets demand; and the need to have more proactive policy steering, so that career guidance services are part of a well thought-through strategy that brings different providers together in order to offer lifelong support in a truly seamless manner. The paper concludes by stressing the need to better integrate lifelong guidance into lifelong learning strategies.