Supporting working adults to navigate career change and progression
Our interest in career guidance is based on the principle that people need good guidance to make the most of opportunities in education and training. Although Gatsby has historically focused on young people, career decisions continue throughout people’s lives. These decisions affect individual prosperity, local communities and the national economy. For adults, good career guidance can help address unemployment, insecure or insufficient work, and mismatches between people’s skills and those needed for available jobs.
Putting the evidence into practice
Our work now focuses on how career guidance can better support adults who are already in work but may have limited opportunities to progress, develop their skills or adapt to changes in the labour market.
We will work with strategic authorities and other partners to explore practical, locally shaped approaches that can help working adults access tailored career guidance, understand local opportunities, find relevant education and training, and make informed decisions about their careers.
Rather than assuming that there is a single model that will work everywhere, we are exploring different ways of reaching people through organisations and places they already know and trust. These include further education colleges, community organisations, workplaces, health-related services and sector and professional bodies.
The aim is both to understand what works for individuals and to generate evidence that can inform the development of local skills and employment systems and national career guidance policy.
Research
To find out what we could learn from other countries’ experiences of adult career guidance, Gatsby commissioned an international research project from SQW and the International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby.
The research sought to:
- Gain a better understanding of what ‘good’ looks like in adult career guidance; and
- Build a firm evidence base to help Gatsby, wider stakeholders and policy makers consider how to build a good adult career guidance system.
The team of researchers worked with people involved in adult career guidance in seven countries: Estonia, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Denmark.
In addition, the team produced a series of in-depth case studies exploring the whole adult career guidance system in four of those countries: Estonia, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands.
The final report summarises the findings from this work and identifies several features of successful adult career guidance systems.
As vital and trusted local hubs for education and training, Further Education (FE) Colleges are well-placed to contribute to an effective, accessible career guidance system. Our research suggests that while co-location is not widespread – fewer than 10% of colleges in England have established relationships with a National Careers Service contractor – there are clear benefits to both colleges and careers service providers.
Colleges engaged in co-location report that collaborating with the National Careers Service builds their capacity to meet adult learners’ career guidance needs, reinforces their role as community anchors and supports local workforce development. A key takeaway is the importance of shared objectives and performance indicators; these are essential to ensuring that resources are used effectively when services are delivered in a co-located setting.
Understanding the diverse needs of the adult population is essential for analysing the supply of career guidance.
To support this, Gatsby commissioned a typology of adult career guidance needed to inform policy making on guidance infrastructure and related services, such as training. The typology identifies eight groups who may benefit from guidance, with representative personas, population estimates and trends over time. The research also includes an overview of central government support currently provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Education (DfE).
To understand what current adult career guidance provision in England looks like, Gatsby commissioned researchers Pye Tait Consulting to gather evidence.
The research examines the strengths and weaknesses of adult career guidance in England and identifies the key stakeholder organisations and the services they provide. It also highlights examples of best practice and explores the role of digital innovation in adult career guidance.
Careers decisions don’t end at 18, they continue throughout our lives, often during times of change or challenge. Our work with adults is rooted in the same belief that has guided our work from the start: that high-quality career guidance can make a meaningful difference whatever someone’s age or stage.
- Beth Jones, Head of Career Programmes
Reports & publications
Career Guidance for Adults: Evidence Gathering
This is a summary of findings from a market research exercise into the adult careers guidance landscape conducted by independent research organization, Pye Tait on behalf of the Gatsby Foundation.
Author(s)
Pye Tait Consulting
The demand for adult career guidance in England: Market sizing against a typology of needs
This is an executive summary of our work by Chris Percy to define the typology for adult career guidance needs in England.
Author(s)
Chris Percy
National Careers Service and Further Education co-location research
Qualitative research report by York Consulting, exploring the extent and nature of NCS and FE college colocation across England, including the delivery models used and key benefits, challenges and enablers.
Author(s)
Martha Julings, Philip Wilson
