Survey Finds Teens Worldwide Are Lost in the Transition After High School

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Teenagers around the world are adrift as they near high school graduation. They are deeply interested in future careers, but their expectations are outdated, and they have little awareness of their actual professional options.

That’s the message of a new report, The State of Global Teenage Career Preparation, by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The report surveys approximately 690,000 15- and 16-year-old students from more than 80 countries, including the United States. Here are five key insights from the report:

• Roughly 4 out of 10 students are unclear about their career expectations, double the number from about a decade ago.
  
• Almost half (49%) agree (35%) or strongly agree (14%) that school has done little to prepare them for adult life.
  
• There’s a gender gap in students’ aspirations to work in sectors like information technology and health care. For example, around 11% of boys report that they will work in information technology at age 30, compared with 1.5% of girls.
  
• Job preferences focus on a few, well-known professions, such as teaching, psychology and sports. For example, around half of girls and 44% of boys report that they expect to work in one of just 10 jobs, with little change in career preferences since 2000.
  
• The majority of young people don’t get connected to workforce professionals who can help them understand the opportunities available to them. Only 35% report attending a job fair, and just 45% visited a workplace.
  

The report includes a Teenage Career Readiness Dashboard that covers roughly two dozen issues and allows for comparisons among countries, organized by eight topics:   

Career uncertainty: Do students have clear plans? Does it matter? The report suggests that career uncertainty contributes to behaviors including disengagement from school. 

Planning: What are students’ job expectations? Have they changed over time? How do they compare to actual employer demand? Low-income students are particularly lacking in access to career planning resources. 

Alignment or misalignment: Do students understand what they need to do to achieve their job plans? Many teens hold unrealistic or outdated career goals, prioritizing a narrow band of high-status occupations while neglecting in-demand technical careers. 

Aspirations: Are students’ education plans driven more by social background than ability? The report finds that socioeconomics significantly influence aspiration levels. Disparities are particularly stark, with low-income students less likely to envision themselves in professional careers than wealthier peers. 

Guidance: Do students participate in career guidance activities that make a positive impact on their lives? Most report limited access to career counseling, with the quality and consistency varying dramatically. 

Career development: Is the guidance students do receive responding effectively to social inequalities? Career fairs, job shadowing and internships are critical but underutilized. Roughly 1 out of 5 U.S. students report speaking to a career adviser outside of school, the fifth-lowest rate among the countries surveyed.

Fear for the future: How well do students think they are prepared for their future careers? Roughly half (47%) agree that they worry about not being ready for life after they complete school.  

Employer engagement: How are employers involved in school activities and career development? Does this make a difference? The U.S. significantly lags behind other countries surveyed in providing students with career development activities, such as internships and job shadowing.  

This is illustrated by recent polling data from Gallup, the Walton Family Foundation and Jobs for the Future that reflects a growing sense among America’s young people that they are adrift in the transition from high school to the next stage of their lives. This survey included over 1,300 16- to 18-year-old Gen Zers and their parents.

It reports that fewer than 3 out of 10 teens feel “very prepared” to pursue any of eight post-high school pathways, including college, a job, the military or a certification program. Even among students most eager for a particular path, less than half feel ready to take the first step.  

The report also finds that just slightly more than half of parents (53%) frequently discuss life after graduation with their teenagers. One in three parents of seniors who are weeks from commencement have still not had that conversation.

When discussions do happen, they typically stick to familiar territory, such as a four-year college or a paid job. Teens’ knowledge mirrors this narrow horizon, with about one-third reporting they know “a lot” about bachelor’s degrees or full-time work.

Both reports suggest there are at least two career-launch pain points that prevent young people from successfully navigating life after high school. The first is an exposure gap — too few students are aware of available career options or understand the various paths to achieve them. The second is an experience gap — too few young people engage in work-based activities, such as internships or apprenticeships, that help them connect learning to the world of work

If students are neither exposed to nor experience career options, they are unlikely to acquire the knowledge, networks and vocational identity needed for adult success. According to the OECD report, students who recall speaking to career professionals or participating in job shadowing are far more likely to have career goals aligned with labor market needs.

So what can state and district leaders and advocates do?

First, start the formal career conversation sooner. Closing the exposure and experience gaps should begin as early as middle school. The longer the wait, the more likely that young people will become lost in transition from school to their next stage. 

Second, widen the scope of career education. The focus on college should give way to a menu that includes certificates, two-year degrees, skilled trades, military service, and career and technical education.

Third, embed responsibility in career education. Involve young people in undertaking adult-like, consequential tasks, such as community projects, paid work and internships.

Fourth, help parents. Many programs and activities are available that can educate parents and guardians, such as workshops on local labor market careers or the different certificates and credentials that young people can earn.

Both the OECD and Gallup reports serve as reminders of the importance of integrating career exposure and experience into the everyday classroom experiences of young people. A central part of this remedy includes a dose of genuine adulthood — offered earlier, explained better and practiced alongside the grownups teenagers are expected to emulate.

Disclosure: Walton Family Foundation provides financial support to The 74.

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