Chapter 6. Theme 3: Equity in career readiness: Ensuring equitable access to career development activities in Virginia

Abstract

This chapter assesses the equity dimension of the career readiness system in Virginia (the United States). It presents Virginia’s strengths and explores challenges, concluding with a set of policy recommendations to enhance equitable access to career development activities for young people with different backgrounds and characteristics. The chapter integrates and builds upon data analysis from Chapter 3, which presents the results of the OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults (aged 19-26) and Teenagers (aged 15-16). It focuses on disparities between different groups of students that experience varying access to, and benefit from, career development activities in Virginia and provides examples of practices from other jurisdictions that can help address those disparities.

Key recommendations for equity in career readiness: Ensuring equitable access to career development activities in Virginia

One of the goals of a career readiness system and strategy is to provide young people from all backgrounds with relevant information and experiences to broaden and raise aspirations to make appropriate educational, training and occupational choices, and to support their transitions into fulfilling employment. This is accomplished through building the human, social and cultural capital that enables employment regardless of the student’s existing challenges or characteristics, school or community of residence. By consequence, equitable guidance systems will not be based on one size fitting all. Participation in career development activities (CDA) can assist in breaking negative intergenerational cycles of disadvantages and gender and racial/ethnic disparities by recognising and addressing structural barriers.

In this regard, Virginia offers multiple pathways and programmes for diverse segments of its population, for example through well-integrated CTE, co-operative education and dual enrolment. In particular, integration of vocationally focused provision within general high schooling keeps options open for all students and reduces reputational risks. School divisions have autonomy to make customised selections of programmes and introduce specialised institutional approaches, such as the Career Academies programmes. While this autonomy can make it difficult to set state-level standards and work toward balanced implementation, it can act positively and swiftly to adjust provision and options based on student needs and local labour market demand. Overall, Virginia is putting significant effort into reducing existing gaps and this study shows is performing well in several equity indicators, but there remains a case for strong minimum standards for all (as articulated within a revised framework and standards) and targeted interventions to support students who face additional barriers in converting their human capital into successful employment.

Reducing gender, race/ethnicity and socio-economic disparities

Recommendation 6: Virginia should consider providing greater support to students facing additional barriers within career development and labour market participation to create more equitable outcomes for youth.

The variation in career exploration, experiences and thinking of students who share comparable levels of academic achievement and social characteristics helps to explain similar variation in their work and study status as young adults. The two OECD Career Readiness Surveys show that disparities among different groups remains an issue in Virginia, although positive cases were highlighted, such as better access to CDA for historically marginalised populations compared to the majority population.

Personalisation in career guidance is a challenge in all countries. In Ireland and Canada, guidance systems explicitly articulate aspects of provision which should be available to all students, while other initiatives are reasonably targeted at some or just a few students. In this way, personalisation is increasingly built into the provision of guidance, enabling students to explore and experience a wider range of occupations and addressing known barriers preventing confident transitions. Here, as discussed below, digital technologies are of considerable importance.

Making the issue of equity more explicit in the career readiness policy agenda can help close further gaps in the transition process and expand the careers that are being considered by all students beyond limiting boundaries, with a goal of narrowing labour market outcome disparities. Virginia can build upon other country examples and research that shows how to help raise and broaden the career aspirations of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, both to make them more informed and better aligned with future opportunities, and to overcome structural inequalities. A striking finding of the Career Readiness Survey of young adults was the high percentage of respondents who expressed the wish that their school had done more to help them understand jobs which people of their gender or background do not normally do (44% wished that they had had a lot more help). There is appetite among young Virginians to broaden the range of what is thought possible within career progression and opportunity exists to better respond to these desires within the education system while addressing skills shortages across the state. Models for consideration include programmes of job shadowing (Girls’ Days and Boys’ Days originating in Germany) that allow students to spend a day exploring what it would be like to work in a field where their gender is underrepresented.

Reviewing equity-related data highlighted particularly strong patterns of concern in relation to the socio-economic status and geographic location of students. With relation to the second issue, significant scope exists to enhance the availability of online resources (discussed below). With regard to the former, options exist and are discussed in the report for targeted interventions. Perhaps most striking in international practice is the example of Ireland which in recognition of greater needs, provides more than double the level of standard funding for career guidance provision in schools serving the lowest-income populations.

Increasing provision through the use of digital technologies to overcome regional disparities and enhance personalisation in career development

Recommendation 7: Virginia should consider ways in which it can take greater advantage of digital technologies, notably to address geographic variations in access to career development.

Both access to CDA and the quality of them vary across schools and districts. Students are often bounded by what schools or school districts can offer and the availability of local employment and employers. Transportation is also a significant issue not only because of the cost but also of the lost instruction time. It is striking that in Virginia that the career aspirations of young people are particularly strongly influenced by parental occupation. In Virginia, 20% of students say that their parents’ opinions are very important in their career planning, compared to an OECD average of 13.5%.

Virginia can broaden the aspirations of young people and address the barriers presented by geography through greater use of digital resources, building on such notable innovations as CTETrailblazers. These new tools also underpin innovative models of guidance that explicitly recognise that equitable guidance will not be characterised by a one size fits all approach.

Virginia can benefit from increasing the use of digital technologies and the innovative approaches they enable. Virginia is already heading in this direction, for example by delivering Career Investigation Courses online. Virginia can build upon examples from other countries as well drawing on examples from the OECD Observatory on Digital Technologies in Career Guidance for Youth (ODiCY). This is particularly relevant with regard to guidance activities such as online career talks, workplace visits, job shadowing and work placements that are increasingly being developed online. However, as evaluation of such digital tools in guidance is currently severely limited, attention is required to ensure positive outcomes are ensured across student cohorts.

Introduction – Closing existing disparities

This chapter focuses on questions related to inequalities among students. Recent analysis of data from multiple countries drawn from the OECD Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) has shown that similarly educated young people with different shared characteristics face additional obstacles when they enter the labour market. In varying, but comparable ways, young people from low socio-economic backgrounds, women and of migrant status (and minority ethnic origins) can all be seen to face greater hurdles in transforming the human capital that they developed in secondary education into paid employment. They are more likely to be NEET, earn less, have a less secure work contract, and to a lesser extent be dissatisfied with their job (Jeon et al., 2023 forthcoming[1]). Those young adults from such disadvantaged positions are often overrepresented in low-paying and low-skilled jobs although a higher level of education moderates this tendency (Jeon et al., 2023 forthcoming[1]).

This chapter explores data from surveys of young Virginian adults and Grade 10 and 11 students to explore the impact of such inequalities within the Commonwealth. In addition, it considers disadvantages that may relate to geographic location – notably, rural residency.

Many governments expect career guidance systems to play a role in challenging such inequalities and enabling fairer processes of human capital activation (Stanley, 2014[2]). In so doing, governments give voice to a desire for greater social equity within communities, but also recognise that more equitable systems can be expected to be more efficient in enabling the integration of young people into the labour market. For example, professions which overwhelmingly recruit from just a proportion of the population can expect greater challenges in meeting recruitment needs than counterparts which recruit only from one gender (Bryant, 2011[3]). Equally, enabling easier access to a wider range of professions provides young people with greater opportunity to secure employment which they find personally more fulfilling. While it is clear that guidance systems can do much to respond to social inequalities, it cannot be expected that they will resolve what are societal issues. Multiple studies over different times and in different countries which use experimental measures to explore recruitment practices have shown that discrimination related to applicant ethnicity is significant and widespread in hiring decisions in the United States and elsewhere (Quillian, 2019[4]). However, by recognising such barriers, guidance systems can still provide support to young people.

In considering the role of inequalities within career development, it is helpful to recognise the means by which employers actually recruit and the value that they ascribe to the human, social and cultural capital accumulations of potential employees. Education systems have it in their power to enhance these human resources (Jones, Mann and Morris, 2015[5]) (Stanley and Mann, 2014[6]). They have scope to ensure that the accumulation of individual qualifications, credentials and experience is undertaken in light of considered and informed career reflection. As (Holland, 2016, pp. 261-278[7]) and (Deming, 2012[8]) among others demonstrate, it is easy for young people without access to appropriate guidance to be caught out by marketized post-secondary systems, investing limited personal finance in post-secondary vocational programmes of learning that do not ultimately lead to desired employment. Secondary schools can also enhance the social capital of young people, providing access to employers and people in work well placed to provide reliable information and offer advice, support, recommendations, temporary, part-time or permanent employment. And through these means, young people can develop a confident sense of personal agency as they navigate decisions related to education and training and develop a sense of vocational identity and behaviour which makes them attractive to potential employers (Tomlinson, 2013[9]; Jones, Mann and Morris, 2015[5]). However, access to these resources is not limited to the school. They are also found to an uneven extent within families and communities. For example, the children of managers who regularly hire people are better positioned than the children of parents without this experience, to advise on how to prepare well to succeed in a recruitment process. In the United States, where PISA 2018 shows that 76% of teenage girls and 57% of teenage boys plan on working in one of the professions (ISCO major category 2), but just 26% of women and 20% of men do so. Where students are the children of such professionals, opportunities are greater to gain first-hand insider advice about the nature of the occupation and how it can be secured. Students are also at a significant advantage in gaining access to job shadowing and work placement opportunities. Schools consequently have the capacity to act as institutions that democratise access to important opportunities and resources which address factors related to the inequitable development of human, social and cultural capital (Mann, Kashefpakdel and Percy, 2018[10]).

Evidence on equity from the OECD Career Readiness Surveys

Understanding how backgrounds shape how young people think about themselves and their futures is essential to the effective design of career readiness activities and strategies. It is also crucial to the identification of those young people in need of more support from their schools in developing their career readiness and combatting the effects of discrimination in the labour market and hiring norms (Covacevich et al., 2021[11]). The variation in career exploration, experiences and thinking of students who share comparable levels of academic achievement and social characteristics can explain variation in their work and study status as young adults (Mann, Denis and Percy, 2020[12]) (Brown, 2020[13]) (Jeon et al., 2023 forthcoming[1]).

This section presents results of the two OECD Career Readiness Surveys focusing on equity. The results are based on the analysis presented in Chapter 3 and focuses on gender, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status (SES), and school region and type of residency (urban/suburban/rural). Each section draws together results from the survey of Grade 10 and 11 students and that of young adults in Virginia.

Evidence on equity from the OECD Career Readiness Survey of Teenagers

Gender

Among a representative sample of 9 353 teenage students in Virginia, about 47% gave their gender as male and 49% as female. The rest of respondents answered ‘other’ or ‘prefer not to say’.

In terms of their CTE interest, girls are relatively more interested in Health science (26% of girls), STEM (13%), and Arts, AV, Tech & Communication (11%) while boys are more interested in STEM (26%), Business Mgmt. & Admin (8%) and Architecture and construction (8%) (Figure 6.1 Panel A). Hospitality and tourism, Health science and Human services were over-represented among girls while Manufacturing, Energy, Transportation, distribution and logistics, and Information technology were over-represented among boys.

Figure 6.1. Health Science was the most popular cluster among girls and STEM among boys

In terms of highest education attainment, more girls tend to expect to complete higher education than boys. 86% of girls expect to complete an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree or above while 71% of boys do so. 21% of boys and 10% of girls expect to complete only high school. 7% of boys expect to complete vocational or technical certificate compared to 4% of girls.

Figure 6.2. More girls tend to expect to complete higher education than boys

The survey also asked students about what they would be doing in 5 years’ time. 61% of girls answered that they would pursue a diploma or university degree required for the occupation they want, compared to 44% of boys. Boys tend to plan to work because they need to be financially independent (17%) or the occupation they want does not require a college degree (15%).

Figure 6.3. More girls than boys in Virginia expect to pursue a degree required for occupation they want when they are at early 20s

The majority of surveyed students are keen to make a career decision based on labour market needs, conditions and options rather than due to the influence of their parents, society or friends. Girls tend to consider most elements (including grades, subjects and parents’ expectation) important more than boys, although boys tend to consider their own talents and hobbies and their friends’ plans important more than girls.

Figure 6.4. Girls in Virginia consider labour market options and conditions important in their career decision making more than boys

Perception of how well schools are preparing students to be career ready

The majority of Virginian girls in the sample agreed that trying hard at school will help them get a good job, more than boys, but less so in terms of giving them confidence to make decisions. More boys were more likely to agree that school has been a waste of time (32%) than girls (25%).

Figure 6.5. Compared to boys, more girls agreed that trying hard at school will help them get into a good next step in their careers

Students’ perception of how well their high school was helping them prepare for their future careers was generally positive. However, slight fewer girls than boys agree that schools help them to get the experience of working or meet people doing jobs that are relevant to their career ambition.

In terms of specific career guidance at school, the perception of girls and boys is generally similar. However, slightly more boys tend to agree that they have access to career guidance. In particular, more boys (60%) agree that they have information on how to complete a work-based learning experience related to their career interest, compared to girls (55%).

Figure 6.6. Slightly more boys tend to agree that school helps them prepare for their future careers and that they have access to support related to career preparation in Virginia

Participation in CDA

All boys and girls in Virginia from the sample participated in a career exploration activity, including learning skills necessary to career preparation and exploration. The most common activity was learning how to find information on jobs they are interested in (87% among boys and 88% among girls). Among girls, career information (86%) and talking someone about the job they would like to do when they finish their education (84%) were common, more than boys (75% and 80% respectively). Job shadowing was more common among boys (26%) than girls (22%) while career questionnaires and higher education programme information were much more commonly reported among girls than boys.

When controlling for grades, age, school region, place of birth and residence, SES and race: girls are significantly more likely than boys to talk about future jobs (1.2 times), conduct a career-related questionnaire (1.8 times), search for career information (2 times) and higher education programmes information (1.9 times). However, girls are also slightly less likely than boys to participate in job shadowing (0.8 times), college/university touring (0.9 times) and use career-related software (0.9 times) (see Annex 2.A.).

Figure 6.7. More girls participated in research-oriented career exploration activities than boys, Virginia

Girls engaged in volunteering (57%) or worked occasional informal jobs (53%) more than boys (52% and 43% respectively) but reported lower levels of participation in a family business (15%) or an internship (9%) than boys (19% and 13% respectively). Overall girls are 1.3 times more likely to engage in experiencing activities than boys, mainly due to occasional informal jobs (1.4 times) and volunteering (1.2 times), even when controlling for grades, age, school region, place of birth and residence, SES and race. They are 0.7 times less likely to participate in an internship or a family business than boys (see Annex 2.A.).

Figure 6.8. While volunteering, occasional jobs are more common among girls, family business and internship experience are more common among boys

Career thinking

Similar to the findings across OECD (OECD, 2021[14]) boys in Virginia are more likely to be uncertain about their future occupation (33%), less likely to expect to complete tertiary education (71%) or take up a high-skilled occupation (49%), and more likely to misalign their educational expectations with the typical requirements of their occupational expectation (21%). This is similar to the OECD average: 27% of boys were uncertain about their career expectations.

Figure 6.9. Boys are more likely to be career-uncertain and misaligned and less likely to expect to complete tertiary education and work in a high-skilled occupation

Among those who could name an expected occupation, 73% of boys and 89% of girls are concentrated in high-skilled occupations (ISCO-08 1-3). Unsurprisingly, very few teenagers in Virginia (9% in all) express interest in working in skilled employment typically entered through programmes of CTE/Vocational Education and Training (ISCO-08 major groups 6, 7 and 8). Interest from girls is especially low. Only 2% of girls named an occupation among those skilled trades while 18% of boys did so.

Figure 6.10. Most boys and girls expect to work as professionals (ISCO 2-3)

Among those who named an occupation, which is then coded from a list of 43 occupational areas using ISCO-08 at the two-digit level, 78% of boys and 91% of girls in Virginia chose a professional group which was among the most popular 10 occupational groups of their peers by gender. Such a high level of concentration in career aspirations is common. PISA 2018 codes occupational expectations at a more granular level using a four-digit ISCO-08 classification level and finds an OECD average (48% and 52% respectively for all OECD countries and 47% and 59% for the United States). (Mann, 2020[15]) (Covacevich et al., 2021[11]), meaning a direct comparison requires caution due to different survey methodology.1 In Virginia, 36% of girls named one in Health professional group (ISCO 22) and 17% in Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals (ISCO 22). 15% of boys named on in Science and Engineering Associate Professionals (ISCO 31).

Table 6.1. Ten most popular expected occupations by gender
% of grade 10-11 students (15-17) in Virginia who named an expected occupation at the age of 30, by gender
Rank	Top ten ISCO-08	Boys	Top ten ISCO-08	Girls
1	31 Science and Engineering Associate Professionals	15%	22 Health Professionals	36%
2	22 Health Professionals	9%	26 Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals	17%
3	72 Metal, Machinery and Related Trades Workers	9%	32 Health Associate Professionals	7%
4	25 Information and Communications Technology Professionals	9%	21 Science and Engineering Professionals	6%
5	26 Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals	9%	51 Personal Services Workers	6%
6	21 Science and Engineering Professionals	8%	31 Science and Engineering Associate Professionals	5%
7	34 Legal, Social, Cultural and Related Associate Professionals	7%	23 Teaching Professionals	4%
8	33 Business and Administration Associate Professionals	5%	34 Legal, Social, Cultural and Related Associate Professionals	4%
9	74 Electrical and Electronics Trades Workers	3%	33 Business and Administration Associate Professionals	4%
10	35 Information and Communications Technicians	3%	25 Information and Communications Technology Professionals	3%
Note: The sample includes grade 10-11 students in Virginia who completed the OECD survey and were born in 2006-08; from schools with more than 22 respondents or 14% student participation, which is a total of 9 333 students from 46 schools (9 353 with weight) (see Annex 2.A for details).
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Teenage Students in Virginia 2023 and OECD PISA 2018

Both boys and girls who participated in a career experiencing activity tend to less uncertain about their future occupation, expect more to complete tertiary education and less misaligned between education expectation and career expectation, compared to their non-participant counterparts respectively. However, among boys, non-participants are slightly more likely to expect to have a high-skilled occupation.

Figure 6.11. Participants of career experiencing activities tend to be less certain about their future job, expect more to complete tertiary education and less misaligned, compared to non-participants

In terms of instrumental motivation measured by survey questions like “Trying hard at school will help we get a good job” (see Chapter 3), more girls (91%) tend to agree than boys (83%). The survey data also show that participants of career experiencing activities tend more to have instrumental motivation than non-participants both for boys (84% vs 82%) and girls (92% vs 87%).

Figure 6.12. The majority of students in Virginia agreed that trying hard at school will help them get into a good job

Race/ethnicity

Among a representative sample of 9 353 teenage students in Virginia, 46% were White, 23% Black, and 11% are Asian. Across all races, 20% of respondents had Hispanic background.

In terms of their CTE interest, measured by requiring students to choose one of 17 possible career clusters, STEM and Health Science were the most popular clusters, in particular, among Asian students (43% and 20% respectively). White students showed similar level of interest in these two clusters (17% and 17% respectively).

Figure 6.13. STEM and Health Science were the most popular clusters, in particular among Asian students

In terms of highest education attainment, relatively more Asian students are particularly likely to expect to complete higher education: 91% of Asian students expect to complete bachelor’s degree or above while 68% White and Black students and fewer students from other racial groups do so.

Figure 6.14. Relatively more Asian students tend to expect to complete higher education than other race groups

In line with the expected educational attainment, Asian students are most likely to be studying in five years’ time largely because the occupation they want requires a study degree. Relatively more Black students (21%) and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students (25%) are planning to work as they need to be financially independent. Similarly, more American Indian or Alaska Native students (18%) are planning to work because the occupation they want does not require a college degree.

Figure 6.15. Asian students are more likely to pursue a degree required for occupation they want when they are at early 20s

Relatively more non-White students agree that their parents’ or guardians’ expectation (87%) and the social status (77%) of the occupation they want are important in the decisions they make about their future occupation than White students (82% and 69% respectively).

Figure 6.16. Parents’ expectation and social status of the occupation influence decision among non-White students more than White ones

Perception of school preparing students career ready

Relatively more Asian students tend to have positive perception of school preparing them to be career ready while relatively fewer American Indian or Alaska Native tend to have this positive perception. Averaging positive perception from six statements (i.e., average percentage of students who agree and strongly agree positive statements and disagree and strongly disagree negative statements), 76% of Asian students have positive perception of school, followed by Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (70%), White (69%) and Black (68%).

Figure 6.17. Relatively more Asian students have positive perception of school preparing them to be career ready

Students’ perception of how well their high school is helping them prepare for their future careers was generally positive for both White and non-White students, but more so among non-White students.

Figure 6.18. Perception of how well high school is helping students for their future careers by race in Virginia

Participation in career development activities

Across the racial/ethnic groups, the difference in participation in career development activities was negligible. The average of participation rate in CDA, including career skills acquisition is about 50-56%, although ‘Other’ group was slightly low at 37%.

When controlling for grades, age, school region, place of birth and residence, SES and gender: Black students are significantly more likely than White students to talk with a school advisor (1.3 times) and an advisor outside school (2 times), but slightly less likely to search for higher education programme information (0.9 times) (see Annex 2.A.).

Figure 6.19. Participation in career exploration activities by race, Virginia

On average across racial/ethnic groups, 31-36% of students participated in experiencing activities, although White students showed the highest average participation rate (36%). Asian students stand out in terms of participation in volunteering and internship while their participation in other experiencing activities was relatively low. Overall Black students are 0.8 times less likely than White students to engage in experiencing activities, mainly due to lower participation rates in occasional informal jobs (0.7 times) and volunteering (0.7 times), even when controlling for grades, age, school region, place of birth and residence, SES and gender. However, they are 1.3 times more likely to participate in internship and family business than White students (see Annex 2.A.).

Figure 6.20. White students show the highest average participation in career experiencing activities, but Asian students stand out in volunteering and internship

Career thinking

Non-White students are slightly more likely to be career-uncertain and misaligned, but are more likely to expect to complete tertiary education and work in a high-skilled occupation than White students.

Figure 6.21. Non-White students are slightly more likely to be career-uncertain and misaligned, but more likely to expect to complete tertiary education and work in a high-skilled occupation, than White students

Figure 6.22. Relatively more non-White students expect to work as professionals (ISCO 2-3) while more White students expect to work as skilled workers (ISCO 5-8)

Among those who named one occupation, 84% of non-White students and 80% of White students named one among top ten most popular occupations among their peers. 25% of non-White students named one in Health professional group and 14% in Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals, compared to 21% and 13% of White students respectively.

Table 6.2. Ten most popular expected occupations by race/ethnicity
% of grade 10-11 students (15-17) in Virginia, by race/ethnicity
Rank	Top ten ISCO-08	Non-White	Top ten ISCO-08	White
1	22 Health Professionals	25%	22 Health Professionals	21%
2	26 Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals	14%	26 Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals	13%
3	31 Science and Engineering Associate Professionals	10%	31 Science and Engineering Associate Professionals	9%
4	21 Science and Engineering Professionals	7%	72 Metal, Machinery and Related Trades Workers	7%
5	25 Information and Communications Technology Professionals	7%	21 Science and Engineering Professionals	7%
6	34 Legal, Social, Cultural and Related Associate Professionals	6%	23 Teaching Professionals	5%
7	33 Business and Administration Associate Professionals	5%	32 Health Associate Professionals	5%
8	51 Personal Services Workers	4%	25 Information and Communications Technology Professionals	5%
9	32 Health Associate Professionals	3%	34 Legal, Social, Cultural and Related Associate Professionals	4%
10	72 Metal, Machinery and Related Trades Workers	3%	51 Personal Services Workers	4%
Note: The sample includes grade 10-11 students in Virginia who completed the OECD survey and were born in 2006-08; from schools with more than 22 respondents or 14% student participation, which is a total of 9 333 students from 46 schools (9 353 with weight) (see Annex 2.A for details).
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Teenage Students in Virginia 2023 and OECD PISA 2018

Participants in career experiencing activities from both racial groups tend to be less career-uncertain and misaligned; and expect more to complete tertiary education and work in a high-skilled occupation, compared to non-participants.

Figure 6.23. Participants of career experiencing activities tend to be less certain about their future job, expect more to complete tertiary education and less misaligned, compared to non-participants, for both White and non-White students

In terms of instrumental motivation measured by survey questions like “Trying hard at school will help me get a good job” (see Chapter 3.), participants of career experiencing activities from both racial groups tend to agree that trying hard at school will help them get into a good job than non-participants.

Figure 6.24. Participants of career experiencing activities from all ethnic groups are more likely to agree that trying hard at school will help them get into a good job, than non-participants

Socio-economic status

Among a representative sample of 8 207 teenage students in Virginia, about 45% of students are from high SES (respondents whose parents, at least one, has attained tertiary education, and at least one parent has a high-skilled job).

In terms of their CTE interest, measured by asking directly the career cluster of interest, students from low SES are relatively more interested in Health science (14% of low SES students) and STEM (14%). Students from high SES show similar level of interest in those clusters but at a higher percentage in STEM (25%) followed by Health science (21%) (Figure 6.25 Panel A). Students from low SES were over presented in Manufacturing, Architecture and construction and Agriculture, food and natural resources, while students from high SES were overrepresented in STEM, Health science and IT clusters in terms of their interest (Figure 6.25 Panel B).

Figure 6.25. STEM and Health Science were the most popular clusters among students from both SES but overrepresented among students from high SES

In terms of highest education attainment, more students from high SES tend to expect to complete higher education than those from low SES. 91% of students from high SES expect to complete associate degree, bachelor’s degree or above while only 66% of those from low SES do so.

Figure 6.26. Relatively more students from high SES tend to expect to complete higher education than those from low SES

Students were asked about what they would be doing 5 years from now. 67% of those from high SES answered that they would pursue a diploma or university degree required for the occupation they want, compared to 41% of those from low SES. More students from low SES tend to plan to work because they need to be financially independent (21%) or the occupation they want does not require a college degree (14%), compared to those from high SES (12% and 6% respectively).

Figure 6.27. Students from high SES are more likely to pursue a degree required for occupation they want when they are at early 20s

There was no significant difference by SES in terms of factors that influence their career decision making. However, relatively more students from high SES consider financial support for education or training important than students from low SES (91% vs 86%). Relatively more students from low SES consider school grades important than those from high SES (69% vs 59%).

Figure 6.28. Factors in decisions, by SES

Perception of school preparing students career ready

Relatively more students from high SES tend to have positive perception of school preparing them to be career ready, compared to those from low SES. For example, while 90% of students from high SES agree that trying hard at school will help them get a good job, 84% of students from low SES agreed. Relatively more students from low SES agree that school has done little to prepare them for adult life (62%) and school has been a waste of time (33%), compared to those from high SES (55% and 24% respectively).

Figure 6.29. Compared to students form low SES, relatively more students from high SES agreed that trying hard at school will help them get into a good next step in their careers

Students’ perception of how well their high school is helping them prepare for their future careers was generally positive for both groups of students. By 4 percentage points more students from high SES agreed that they have access to ACP and industry-recognised credentials, than those from low SES. However, relatively more students from low SES tend to agree that school helps them.

Figure 6.30. Specific career guidance at school by SES in Virginia

Participation in career development activities

High SES students are consistently more likely than low SES students to report that they had taken part in career exploration activities across all those investigated. Low SES students are also more dependent on their schools for the development of career competencies than their high SES peers, being more likely to report that they had learn skills about job searching, resume development, interview skills and financial aid in school rather than outside of school.

Figure 6.31. More students from high SES participated in career exploration activities than those from low SES, Virginia

Relatively more students from high SES tend to participate in volunteering (68%) and work occasional informal jobs (52%) than those from low SES (42% and 44% respectively). They are almost 2 times more likely to participate in an internship (15%) than those from low SES (8%). Relatively more those from low SES backgrounds however worked in a family business (20%) than those from high SES (12%). For comparison, PISA 2018 shows that the US average for volunteering is higher than the Virginia average for both groups (57% among low SES and 86% among high SES).

Figure 6.32. Relatively more students from high SES tend to participate in volunteering, internship or work occasional informal jobs, than those from low SES

The results remain the same even when controlling for grades, age, school region, place of birth and residence, race and gender. Students from high SES are significantly more likely than those from low SES to participate in exploring activities as well as experiencing activities, except family business. The difference in working outside school is statistically insignificant (see Annex 2.A.).

Table 6.3. Students from high SES are more likely to participate in career development activities
Relative likelihood (odds ratio) of students from high SES to participate in following activities, in reference to low SES
	High SES in reference to low SES	Standard error
experiencing	2.048***	-0.203
familybusiness	0.688***	-0.0591
occasionaljobs	1.442***	-0.124
volunteering	2.292***	-0.157
internship	1.562***	-0.196

talkjob	1.521***	-0.0841
jobshadowing	1.311***	-0.0882
jobfair	1.216**	-0.0975
schooladvisor	1.162***	-0.0574
outsideadvisor	1.189**	-0.0982
questionnaire	1.500***	-0.116
careerinfo	1.456***	-0.0972
touring	1.879***	-0.103
programinfo	1.763***	-0.0943
software	1.465***	-0.077
Note: The number of unweighted observations is 8 129 (weighted 8 207). Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for grades, age, school region, place of birth and residence, race and gender.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Teenage Students in Virginia 2023

Career thinking

Similar to the findings across the OECD, students from low SES in Virginia are more likely to be career-uncertain (31%) and misaligned (22%), and less likely to expect to complete tertiary education (66%) and work in a high-skilled occupation (52%) than their peers from high SES backgrounds.

Figure 6.33. Students from low SES are more likely to be career-uncertain and misaligned, and less likely to expect to complete tertiary education and work in a high-skilled occupation

Figure 6.34. Relatively more students from high SES expect to work as professionals (ISCO 2-3) while those from low SES expect to work as skilled workers (ISCO 5-8)

Among those who named an expected occupation, 80% of students from low SES and 85% of students from high SES backgrounds named one that was among the top ten occupations named by each group of students. 26% of students from high SES named a profession in Health professional group and 13% among Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals, compared to 22% and 13% of students from low SES respectively.

Table 6.4. Ten most popular expected occupations by SES
% of grade 10-11 students (15-17) in Virginia, by SES
Rank	Top ten ISCO-08	Low SES	Top ten ISCO-08	High SES
1	22 Health Professionals	22%	22 Health Professionals	26%
2	26 Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals	13%	26 Legal, Social and Cultural Professionals	13%
3	31 Science and Engineering Associate Professionals	7%	31 Science and Engineering Associate Professionals	12%
4	72 Metal, Machinery and Related Trades Workers	7%	21 Science and Engineering Professionals	9%
5	34 Legal, Social, Cultural and Related Associate Professionals	6%	25 Information and Communications Technology Professionals	7%
6	51 Personal Services Workers	6%	32 Health Associate Professionals	4%
7	21 Science and Engineering Professionals	5%	34 Legal, Social, Cultural and Related Associate Professionals	4%
8	33 Business and Administration Associate Professionals	5%	23 Teaching Professionals	4%
9	32 Health Associate Professionals	4%	72 Metal, Machinery and Related Trades Workers	3%
10	25 Information and Communications Technology Professionals	4%	33 Business and Administration Associate Professionals	3%
Note: The sample includes grade 10-11 students in Virginia who completed the OECD survey and were born in 2006-08; from schools with more than 22 respondents or 14% student participation, which is a total of 9 333 students from 46 schools (9 353 with weight) (see Annex 2.A for details).
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Teenage Students in Virginia 2023

Participants of career experiencing activities from both low and high SES tend to be less uncertain about their future job, expect more to complete tertiary education and less misaligned, compared to non-participants. This was more pronounced among low SES than high SES. For example, while participants and non-participants from high SES backgrounds were similar in terms of career uncertainty and misalignment, participants from low SES backgrounds were 7 percentage points less likely to be career-uncertain and misaligned than non-participants from similar SES.

Figure 6.35. Participants of career experiencing activities tend to be less certain about their future job, expect more to complete tertiary education and less misaligned, compared to non-participants – more so among low SES

In terms of instrumental motivation measured by survey questions like “Trying hard at school will help we get a good job” (see Chapter 3.), relatively more students from high SES backgrounds in Virginia agreed that trying hard at school will help them get into a good job (90%), than those from low SES backgrounds (84%). The survey data also show that participants of career experiencing activities tend more to have instrumental motivation than non-participants both for low SES (85% vs 82%) and high SES (91% vs 88%).

Figure 6.36. Relatively more students from high SES in Virginia agreed that trying hard at school will help them get into a good job, than those from low SES

School region

The Virginian teenage survey sample includes students from all eight school regions in the Commonwealth with the sample size ranging from 21% of the sample drawn from Northern Virginia (Region 4) and 16% from Central Virginia (Region 1) to 7% from Southside (Region 8) and 6% from Southwest (Region 7).

In terms of CTE interest, measured by asking directly students’ career cluster of interest, STEM and Health Science were the most popular clusters. In Northern Virginia (Region 4), more than half of students were interested in these two clusters (35% in STEM and 15% in Health Science) while about a third of students in other regions were.

Figure 6.37. STEM and Health Science were the most popular clusters, in particular in Northern Virginia

In terms of highest education attainment, relatively more students from the Northern Virginia school region tend to expect to complete higher education than those in other regions. 83% of students from Northern Virginia expect to complete bachelor’s degree or above, while 51%-71% of students in other regions do so.

Figure 6.38. Relatively more students in Northern Virginia (Region 4) tend to expect to complete higher education than those in other regions

In line with the expected educational attainment, students from the Northern Virginia school region are most likely to be studying in five years’ time largely because the occupation they want requires a study degree (64% versus 40-53% in other regions). Relatively more students from Southside (Region 8) are planning to work as they need to be financially independent (24%) or because the occupation they want does not require a college degree (17%).

Figure 6.39. Students from Northern Virginia school region are more likely to pursue a degree required for occupation they want when they are at early 20s

Relatively more students from Northern Virginia school region agree that their parents’ or guardians’ expectation (88%) and the social status (77%) of the occupation they want are important in the decisions they make about their future occupation than students in other regions.

Figure 6.40. Parents’ expectation and social status of the occupation influence decision among students from Northern Virginia more than those in other regions

Perception of school preparing students career ready

While students’ perceptions of how well school was preparing them to be career ready were generally similar across school regions, the variation was pronounced in agreeing ‘school has been a waste of time’, ranging from 23% of students agree in Northern Virginia (Region) 4 to 40% in Southside (Region 8) (17 percentage point difference).

Figure 6.41. Students’ perception of school preparing them to be career ready were generally similar across school regions

Students’ perception of how well their high school is helping them to prepare for their future careers is generally positive for all the school regions, with a slight variation. For example, relatively fewer students from Western Virginia school region (Region 6) agree that they have ACP (70%) and career counselling (49%) compared to Southside region (77% and 61% respectively). Relatively more students from Northern Virginia agree that school helps them decide on the right qualification (66%), get the experiment of working (54%) and visualise and plan future careers (59%) than other regions.

Figure 6.42. Perception of how well their high school is helping them prepare for their future careers is generally positive but with a variation across school regions, Virginia

Participation in career development activities

The results illustrate widespread variations in the extent to which students are participating in career development activities. The gap in participation rates is greatest with regard to student engagement in job fairs where students in parts of the state are nearly twice as likely as some peers elsewhere to participate in a guidance activities which is commonly found to be linked with better long-term employment outcomes (Covacevich et al., 2021[16]): a 24 ppt difference between students in the Northern Neck (Region 3) at 26% and those in Northern Virginia (Region 4). Notable variations between highest and lowest participation levels are also found with regard to speaking with a career advisor in school (11 ppt), completing a career questionnaire (10 ppt), speaking with someone about jobs of interest (9 ppt), researching the internet for information on educational programmes (9 ppt), using a career planning software programme (9 ppt), job shadowing/workplace visits (6 ppt), researching careers on the internet (6 ppt) and speaking with career advisor outside of school (5 ppt).

Important variations are also apparent in terms of where important career competencies were developed. In terms of learning how to complete a resume, students in Region 7 are 20 ppt more likely to have learned the skill in school, compared to students in region 1. With regards to learning how to prepare for an interview, students in Region 1 are 20 ppt more likely to have learned the skill in school compared to students in Regions 1, 3 and 5. The development of such recruitment skills in school are associated in longitudinal studies with better employment outcomes (Covacevich et al., 2021[16]). Access to information about financial aid for post-secondary education is also an important aspect of career readiness and here variations were particularly large: students in Region 7 are 25 ppt more likely than studies in Region 4 to have undertaken such provision within school.

Figure 6.43. Participation in exploring activities varies across school regions, particularly in job fair and college/university touring, Virginia

Among experiencing activities and across school regions, the difference in working outside school was the highest. While 51% of students in Southside (region 8) worked outside school, only 25% of students in Northern Virginia (region 4) did so. Even for the other activities, the difference between the region with high participation and that with low participation is over 10 percentage points.

When controlling for grades, age, SES, place of birth and residence, race and gender, in reference to students in Northern Virginia, those in all other school regions were significantly more likely to work outside school hours.

Figure 6.44. Participation in experiencing activities varies across school regions, Virginia

Career thinking

Relatively more students from Northern Virginia tend to be ambitious and less misaligned, compared to other school regions especially Southwest and Southside regions. Also, relatively more students in Northern Virginia expect to work as professionals (ISCO 2-3) while more students in Southwest and Southside expect to work as skilled workers (ISCO 5-8). Variation in plans to attend tertiary education is especially high with a 23 ppt difference in expectation between regions 4 and 8. Variation in student misalignment is striking. Across the Commonwealth, large proportions of students expect to work in the professions (ISCO major category 2). However, while ambitions are relatively similar across the state, intentions to pursue the education levels usually required for entry vary. Whereas only 9% of students in region 4 expect to work in an occupation that typically requires tertiary qualifications but do not expect to proceed to post-secondary education, this figure is above 20% in regions 7 and 8, an indication of confusion about how education can enable progression towards career ambitions.

Figure 6.45. Relatively more students from Northern Virginia tend to be ambitious and less misaligned, compared to other school regions especially Southwest and Southside regions

Figure 6.46. Relatively more students in Northern Virginia expect to work as professionals (ISCO 2-3) while more students in Southwest and Southside expect to work as skilled workers (ISCO 5-8)

Participants of career experiencing activities across regions tend to be less career-uncertain and misaligned; and expect more to complete tertiary education and work in a high-skilled occupation, compared to non-participants.

Figure 6.47. Participants of career experiencing activities tend to be less certain about their future job, expect more to complete tertiary education and less misaligned, compared to non-participants

In terms of instrumental motivation measured by survey questions like ‘Trying hard at school will help we get a good job’ (see Chapter 3.), relatively more participants of career experiencing activities from most school regions tend to agree that trying hard at school will help them get into a good job than non-participants. The difference is particularly pronounced in regions 4, 5, 6 and 8.

Figure 6.48. Participants of career experiencing activities from different school regions tend to agree that trying hard at school will help them get into a good job, than non-participants

Evidence on equity from the OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults

Gender

Among a representative sample of 977 young adults who had attended a high school in Virginia (including distance learning and home-schooling), about 46% gave their gender as male and 43% as female. The rest of respondents answered ‘other’ or ‘prefer not to say’.

In terms of their highest education attainment, more young women tend to attend college without degree yet than young men. Compared to young women, more young men tend to have not completed high school yet but also more attained master’s and doctor’s degree as well as more attended trade/technical programme such as apprenticeship or a CTE programme.

Figure 6.49. Highest educational attainment by gender

More young women are not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Virginia. 18% of young women and 13% of young men were NEET. While 87% of young men were in work or study at the time of the survey (45% were working full-time), 82% of young women were so (35% were working full-time).

Figure 6.50. More young women were not in employment, education or training in Virginia

Among those in work, a large share of both young women (89%) and men (90%) reported that their job is secure. Among those who reported their gross pay, 57% of young women were earning less than USD 32 500 and 13% greater than USD 57 500. However, 43% of young men were earning less than USD 32 500 and 28% greater than USD 57 500.

Figure 6.51. Young women tend to have lower earning than young men in Virginia

Perception of career progress and satisfaction and how helpful high school was for career readiness

There was little gender difference in perception of career progress and satisfaction. The majority of the surveyed young women and men who attended high school in Virginia felt satisfied with how career was going and agreed that it had been easy for them to make progress in their education or work since leaving high school. 75% and 74% of young men and women respectively reported ‘satisfied’ with the way career is going (27% and 24% respectively reported very satisfied). In term of making progress in education or work since leaving high school, 67% of young women and 70% young men agreed that it had been easy or very easy while 33% and 30% respectively said difficult or very difficult.

Perception of how well high schools in Virginia had helped them prepare for career transition was generally positive for both genders, however the positive shares were consistently lower for young women (Figure 6.52). The difference was pronounced in the high school helpfulness in getting the work experience and meeting people in work. For example, 59% of young men and 51% young women agreed that high school helped them get the experience of working in an area linked to my career ambition (e.g., through volunteering or a placement). 59% and 50% respectively agreed that school helped them to meet people doing jobs that are relevant to my career ambition.

Statistical analysis of the survey shows that young men were more likely to report a positive perception on high school career support than their comparable female peers, even when controlling for educational attainment, high school grades, race/ethnicity, SES, migrant status, age and school region. Young men were 1.5 times more likely to agree that high school helped them get the work experience and meet people in work. They were 1.3 times less likely to agree that high school prepared them well for working life.

Figure 6.52. Perception of high school helpfulness in career transition was generally positive for both genders except getting the work experience and meeting people in work

Participation in career development activities while in high school

The survey asked young adults if they recalled taking part in a range of career development activities while in high school (see Chapter 3. for the categories of these activities). The majority of the surveyed young women and men who attended high school in Virginia participated in at least one type of career development activities while in high school. Almost all (99%) participated in at least one career exploring activity such as learning how to search for job or write a resume. 73% of young men and 72% young men regularly participated in at least one career exploring activity. 93% of young men and 88% of young women participated in at least one career experiencing activity while in high school (see details in Chapter 3. Participation in career experiencing activities of teenage students). 89% of young men and 91% of young women had access to career coaches or counsellors.

Relatively fewer young adults said that they participated in an employer-involving exploring activity. 37% of young men and 34% of young women reported that their high school never arranged for them to take part in any career guidance activities which involved them meeting with employers or local business people. More young women reported that they had access to career coaches or counsellors and that they were helpful, compared to male peers (Figure 6.53).

Figure 6.53. Relatively more young women tend to have access to career counsellors or coaches and employer-involving career development activities

While there is no strong evidence of gender difference in access to CDA, surveyed young men were more likely to participate in experiencing activities (1.8), vocational programme (1.3) and worksite visits (1.6) while in high school, compared to the surveyed young women. They were less likely than young women to participate in employer-involving exploring activities and research higher education programme information.

Table 6.5. Young men were more likely to participate in some CDA than young women while in high school
Likelihood (odds ratio) of young men to participate in CDA while in high school in reference to young women
	Experiencing	guidanceactivities	programinfo	Vocational program	worksitevisits
Regular participation	1.783**	0.787*	0.728**
	(0.491)	(0.0981)	(0.101)
Regular or occasional participation			0.551***	1.315**	1.556**
			(0.0913)	(0.163)	(0.319)
Note: Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for high school grades, age, migrant status, SES, race/ethnicity, school region and type of residency.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults in Virginia 2023

Race/ethnicity

In terms of race/ethnicity, 54% of surveyed young adults were White, 22% Black, 13% Hispanic and 5% are Asian. While the majority of the sample were White respondents who had graduated a public school, White respondents were overrepresented in non-public high schools: 3% of the sample were private school graduates and 63% of them were White; 0.4% of the sample were distance learners and 58% of them were White; 1.1% of the sample were home-schoolers and 85% of them were White.

About 7% of the sample were foreign-born. While this was included in the statistical analysis presented in this report, no significant result was found in any of analysis.

In terms of their highest education attainment, more Hispanic and multi-racial young adults reported that they have not completed high school. Relatively more multiracial young adults reported that they attended trade/technical school/programme such as such as apprenticeship or a CTE programme. Asian young adults reported relatively more that they attained a tertiary degree.

Figure 6.54. Highest educational attainment by race/ethnicity

Relatively more Black respondents were not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Virginia. 21% of Black and 25% of other race/ethnic groups were NEET compared to 18% of White, 11% of Hispanic and 8% of Asian. Relatively fewer Black young adults were working full time (18%), compared to Hispanic (25%), White (24%), Asian (40%) and Multiracial (31%).

Figure 6.55. Relatively more Black young adults were not in employment, education or training in Virginia

Among those in work, the level of job security did not differ significantly by race/ethnicity. Among those who reported their gross pay, income distribution by race/ethnicity did not differ significantly when considering gender and other effect.

Perception of career progress and satisfaction and how helpful high school was for career readiness

Regarding career progress and satisfaction and how helpful high school was for career readiness, relatively fewer Hispanic and multi-racial respondents expressed a positive perception compared to Black, White and Asian peers. For example, fewer multi-racial (51%) and Hispanic (61%) respondents agreed than others (Black 71%; Asian 68%) that their career progress had been easy.

Statistical analysis of the survey shows that Black young adults were more likely than their comparable White peers to report a positive perception, controlling for educational attainment, high school grades, gender, SES, migrant status, age and school region. They were 1.4 to 1.6 times more likely than their comparable White peers to agree that high school helped them decide on the right qualifications for careers; meet people in work; trying hard in high school helped them to get a good job.

Figure 6.56. Relatively fewer Hispanic and multiracial groups had positive perception than Black, White and Asian

Table 6.6. Black young adults were more likely to appreciate the helpfulness of high school, compared to White young adults
Relative likelihood (odds ratio) of Black young adults to agree the following statement, in reference to White respondents
	High school helped me decide on the right qualifications to follow the career I am interested in.	High school helped me meet people doing jobs that are relevant to career ambition.	Trying hard in high school helped me to get a good job.
Black	1.461*	1.554**	1.406**
	(0.312)	(0.293)	(0.174)
Note: The number of unweighted observations is 872 (weighted 853). Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for educational attainment, high school grades, gender, migrant status, SES, age and school region.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults in Virginia 2023.

Participation of career development activities while in high school

Compared to White respondents, Black, Hispanic and multi-racial respondents were more likely to have participated in CDA while in high school.

Table 6.7. Black and Hispanic respondents were more likely to regularly participate in CDA, compared to White respondents
Likelihood (odds ratio) of young adults to regularly participate in CDA, in reference to White respondents
VARIABLES	Hispanic		Black		Asian		Multi-racial		Others (2%)
speakingtoteachers			1.691**	(0.421)					2.531*	(1.226)
guestspeakers					0.259*	(0.187)
howtoapply									2.488**	(1.071)
volunteering									3.410**	(1.890)
worksitevisits			1.555*	(0.377)
jobfair			1.705**	(0.360)
schooladvisor			1.487*	(0.331)
outsideadvisor	2.014**	(0.534)							2.228*	(1.002)
careerinfo					0.475**	(0.138)
programinfo					0.504*	(0.193)
occasionaljobs	3.425***	(1.258)
howtofindinfo			1.820**	(0.478)			3.877*	(3.051)
howtowriteresume			1.683*	(0.496)
prepareforinterview			1.895*	(0.618)			4.448**	(2.416)
findaidinfo	1.979*	(0.673)
coaches			1.808**	(0.444)
re_experiencing	4.572*	(3.517)
re_exploring					0.376**	(0.157)
Note: Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for high school grades, gender, migrant status, SES, age, school region and type of residency.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults in Virginia 2023

Table 6.8. Black respondents were more likely to regularly or occasionally participate in CDA, compared to White respondents
Likelihood (odds ratio) of young adults to regularly or occasionally participate in CDA, in reference to White respondents
	Black		Multiracial		Other
hear guest speakers	1.755***	(0.335)	4.045**	(2.372)
learn how to apply	1.694**	(0.326)
attend vocational programme	1.491*	(0.338)
internship	1.644*	(0.415)
Job shadowing	1.438*	(0.297)
Worksite visits	1.458*	(0.301)			2.685*	(1.410)
Job fair	1.529**	(0.304)
speak to schooladvisor					4.077*	(3.232)
speak to outside of school advisor					2.628*	(1.421)
Research career info					5.506*	(5.185)
Touring	1.397*	(0.272)
Employer-involving exploring activities	1.596***	(0.248)
Note: Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for high school grades, gender, migrant status, SES, age, school region and type of residency.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults in Virginia

Regarding the guidance activities involving employers, the frequency of participation varies across race/ethnicity.

Figure 6.57. Frequency of participation in guidance activities involving employers varies across race/ethnicity

SES

Socio-economic status (SES) is defined by the occupation and educational attainment of respondents’ parents. Respondents were categorised as high SES; if at least one of their parents had attained tertiary education, and at least one parent was employed in a high-skilled job (manager, professional or associate professional). The rest of respondents were categorised as low SES. Among a representative sample of 951 young adults who had attended a high school in Virginia (including distance learning and home-schooling) and have SES information, a third of young adults (33%) were from high SES. Private school graduates tended to have parents with a high-skilled occupation more so than public school graduates.

Young adults from low SES backgrounds are underrepresented in higher education. About 40% of respondents from high SES attained an associate degree or above while 14% of those from low SES did so (Figure 6.58).

Figure 6.58. Highest educational attainment by SES

Relatively more young adults from low SES backgrounds are not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Virginia. 22% of disadvantaged young adults were in NEET while only 7% of advantaged young adults were in NEET.

Figure 6.59. Relatively more young adults from low SES were not in employment, education or training in Virginia

Among those in work, a large share of both groups (88%) reported that their job is secure. Among those who reported their gross pay, 57% of low SES were earning less than USD 32 500 and 17% greater than USD 57 500 while 38% of high SES were earning less than USD 32 500 and 27% greater than USD 57 500.

Figure 6.60. Low SES tend to have lower earning than high SES in Virginia

Perception of career progress and satisfaction and how helpful high school was for career readiness

While relatively fewer respondents from low SES had positive perception of career progress and satisfaction than those from high SES, more of them had positive perception of how helpful high school was for career readiness. Respondents from low SES experienced more difficulty in making career progression and felt less satisfied with how career was going; at the same time, they appreciated high schools more than those from high SES in supporting them in career preparation.

Statistical analysis of the survey confirms that those from low SES were more likely to appreciate helpfulness of high school, compared to those from high SES.

Figure 6.61. Perception of high school helpfulness in career transition was generally positive for both genders except getting the work experience and meeting people in work

Table 6.9. Young adults from high SES were less likely to appreciate helpfulness of high school, compared to those from low SES
Likelihood (odds ratio) of young adults from low SES to agree the following statement, in reference to high SES
	High school helped me decide on the right qualifications to follow the career I am interested in.	High school helped me meet people doing jobs that are relevant to career ambition.	High school helped me visualise and plan how to reach career ambition.	High school helped me check whether career ambition would be realistic.
Low SES compared to high SES	1.766**	1.494*	1.607**	1.561**
	(0.438)	(0.320)	(0.311)	(0.310)
Note: The number of unweighted observations is 872 (weighted 853). Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for educational attainment, high school grades, gender, migrant status, race/ethnicity, age and school region.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults in Virginia 2023.

Participation in career development activities while in high school

Compared to low SES, high SES were less likely to participate in CDA such as speaking to teachers, advisors outside of school, hearing from guest speakers, learning how to apply or how to search for job, attending vocational programme, job shadowing, worksite visits. They were more likely to engage in volunteering, work in occasional jobs and employer-involving exploring activities. They were also more likely to complete a questionnaire related to career interests and to tour a high education institution.

Table 6.10. Young adults from high SES tend to engage more than those from low SES in experiencing activities such as volunteering or occasional jobs
Likelihood (odds ratio) of young adults from high SES to regularly or occasionally participate in CDA, in reference to respondents from low SES
VARIABLES	Regularly		Regularly or occasionally
Speaking to teachers	0.560*	(0.171)
Guest speakers	0.527***	(0.0956)
How to apply	0.585**	(0.144)	0.720*	(0.119)
volunteering	1.419*	(0.289)	1.714**	(0.371)
Job shadowing	0.574*	(0.157)
Vocational program			0.624**	(0.105)
Worksite visits			0.648**	(0.119)
Outside advisor	0.467**	(0.127)	0.639**	(0.131)
Occasional jobs	1.855***	(0.374)
How to search for job	0.574**	(0.118)
questionnaire			1.537*	(0.377)
touring			1.540*	(0.361)
Employer-involving exploring activities			1.451**	(0.199)
Coaches			1.887*	(0.618)
Note: Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for high school grades, gender, migrant status, race/ethnicity, age, school region and type of residency.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults in Virginia 2023

In addition, participating in a career exploring activity more on a regular basis was relatively more common for those who graduated a private high school (82%) than those who graduated a public high school (72%). However, public schools appear to offer more consistently across activities than private schools and other learning types, including activities that involve employers, such as vocational programmes, internships, job shadowing, worksite visits and job fairs. Private school graduates tend to say career coaches or school counsellors in school were helpful (69%) more than public school graduates (62%). A higher share of public school graduates (10%) reported that they had no such activity than private school graduates (5%), however a higher share of public-school graduates say that they regularly participated in such activity (74%) more than their peers (71%).

Regarding the guidance activities involving employers, young adults from high SES tend to have participated more in guidance activities involving employers, while in high school, more frequently than those from low SES.

Figure 6.62. Young adults from high SES tend to have participated in guidance activities involving employers, more frequently than those from low SES

School region and location of residency

Surveyed young adults were living different areas at the time of the survey and attended high school from different regions before the time of the survey. A third (32%) of surveyed young adults were living in urban areas, 22% in rural areas and the remainder (46%) in suburban areas. Private high school graduates were overrepresented in urban areas (43%) and suburban areas (48%) while home-schoolers were mostly in suburban areas (49%) and rural areas (40%). Across the representative sample of 906 young adults who had information on high school district (i.e., who attended a public school), 29% attended high school in Northern Virginia region. 14% of those who attended high school in Northern Virginia region were living in rural areas at the time of the survey. Among those who attend high school in Southwest region (less than 2% of the sample), 64% were living in rural areas.

Figure 6.63. Residency type of respondents differs across the eight school regions in Virginia

Relatively more respondents who attended high school in Northern Virginia and Valley regions attained an associate degree or higher qualification (29% and 28% respectively). In comparison, relatively more respondents from the Southside (less than 2% of the sample) only graduated high school (52% of those from Southside) or below (18% of those from Southside). The Valley region had the highest share of those who attended trade/technical programme such as apprenticeship or a CTE programme (12%), compared to other regions.

Relatively more respondents who were living in urban or suburban attained an associate degree or higher (26% and 27%). In comparison, relatively more respondents from rural areas only graduated high school (54%) or below (9%).

Figure 6.64. Highest educational attainment by school region and residency

Relatively more young people who were living in rural areas and who attended high school in Southwest (6% of the sample; 64% of Southwest is rural) were not in employment, education or training (NEET). 25% from rural areas (compared to 16% in urban areas; 14% in suburban areas) and 42% from Southwest were NEET (compared to 10% in Northern Virginia).

Among those in work at the time of the survey, fewer in urban areas were full-time employed (56%) than those in suburban (63%) and rural (64%) areas. Those who attended high school in Northern Neck (8% of the sample) were working full time (75% of those from Northern Neck) more than those from other regions.

Figure 6.65. More rural respondents were not in employment, education nor training in Virginia

Among those in work, a large share of young people (88-89%) reported that their job is secure, regardless residency type. Among those who reported their gross pay, almost 70% of young adults who attended high school in Western Virginia (8% of the sample) and Southwest (6% of the sample) were earning less than USD 32 500 and 5-6% were earning greater than USD 57 500. In contrast, a relatively lower share of young adults who attended high school from Northern Neck (37%) and Northern Virginia (43%) were earning less than USD 32 500 and respectively 24% and 33% were earning greater than USD 57 500.

Figure 6.66. Rural young adults have lower earnings than their urban counterparts in Virginia

Perception of career progress and satisfaction and how helpful high school was for career readiness

Relatively more young adults from rural areas feel difficulty in transition. Statistical analysis confirms that young adults from rural areas were 0.7 times less likely to report that making career progress was easy and that high school helped them get the experience of working in an area linked to my career ambition, when controlling for education attainment, high school grades, gender, SES, place of birth, race/ethnicity and age.

In terms of school region, respondents who attended high school in Northern Neck were less likely than those who attended high school in Central Virginia to have positive perception of their transition and helpfulness of school, when controlling for education attainment, high school grades, gender, SES, place of birth, race/ethnicity and age. Those who attended high school in in Tidewater and Valley regions were less likely to have positive perception of helpfulness of school in terms of qualification decision or realistic check. In contrast, those who attended high school in Southwest and Southside had more positive perception of school helpfulness in one element each, compared to those who attended high school in Central Virginia.

Table 6.11. Respondents from more rural and resource-poor school regions tend to have less positive perception of high school in assisting career readiness
A. Likelihood (odds ratio) of young adults who attended high school from the following regions to agree the following statement, in reference to those who attended high school in Central Virginia
	Easy to make progress	High school helped me decide on the right qualifications to follow the career I am interested in.	High school helped me visualise and plan how to reach career ambition.	High school helped me check whether career ambition would be realistic.	Trying hard in high school helped me to get a good job.	High school prepared me well for working life
2. Tidewater (23%)		0.703*
		(0.121)
3. Northern Neck (8%)	0.344**	0.436**		0.485***		0.350***
	(0.176)	(0.131)		(0.109)		(0.0989)
5. Valley (9%)		0.557**		0.559**
		(0.141)		(0.142)
7. Southwest (6%)					1.924*
					(0.723)
8. Southside (2%)			3.113*
			(2.026)

B. Likelihood (odds ratio) of young adults from rural areas to agree the following statement, in reference to those from urban areas

VARIABLES	makeprogress	areastatement
Rural	0.692*	0.660*
	(0.131)	(0.153)
Note: Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for educational attainment, high school grades, gender, migrant status, SES, age and school region.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults in Virginia 2023.

Figure 6.67. While relatively more young adults from rural areas feel difficulty in transition, no statistically significant difference was found

Participation in career development activities while in high school

Compared to those who attended high school in Northern Virginia that is relatively better off, all other school regions tend to see relatively lower, regular student participation in CDA. There were two exceptionally cases where those who attended high school in Valley region were more likely to participate in job fair and find financial aid information compared to those who attended high school in Northern Virginia (Table 6.12, A). The results were similar when looking at regular or occasional participation (Table 6.12, B).

Table 6.12. Compared to those who attended high school in Northern Virginia that is relatively better off, all other school regions tend to see relatively lower student participation in CDA
A. Relative likelihood (odds ratio) of young adults who attended high school from the following regions to participate regularly in the following CDA, in reference to those who attended high school in Northern Virginia
VARIABLES	1. Central Virginia (15%)	2. Tidewater (23%)	3. Northern Neck (8%)	5. Valley (9%)	6. Western Virginia (8%)	7. Southwest (6%)	8. Southside (2%)
speakingtoteachers			0.283*				0.172*
guestspeakers		0.620**	0.327**
howtoapply		0.689*	0.390***		0.557**
volunteering		0.615**		0.571*
vocationalprogram			0.401*
jobfair		0.583**	0.323***	1.666*			0.124**
schooladvisor		0.483***	0.211***		0.517*
outsideadvisor			0.232***		0.217**
questionnaire		0.698*	0.307**
careerinfo		0.631**	0.300***			0.415**
touring		0.618**	0.315***		0.449***
programinfo		0.503***	0.290***	0.493**	0.322**
howtofindinfo			0.437***
howtosearchforjob	0.574**		0.357**
findaidinfo			0.578*	1.664*			7.642*
coaches	0.522**	0.502***	0.392***		0.580***
re_experiencing		0.310***	0.331*	0.459*	0.352**
re_exploring		0.479***	0.217***		0.334***
guidanceactivities	0.547**

B. Likelihood (odds ratio) of young adults who attended high school from the following regions to participate regularly or occasionally in the following CDA, in reference to those who attended high school in Northern Virginia

VARIABLES	1.hs_region8doe	2.hs_region8doe	3.hs_region8doe	5.hs_region8doe	6.hs_region8doe	7.hs_region8doe	8.hs_region8doe
guestspeakers		0.631**	0.573*	0.518**	0.544*	0.407**
howtoapply		1.452*
volunteering		0.552***			0.584*
Vocational program						2.416**
worksitevisits		0.738**					2.290**
jobfair		0.631**	0.472**
outsideadvisor			0.616*
questionnaire		0.660*
touring		0.526**	0.518*
programinfo	0.521***	0.404**	0.387*	0.301**		0.439*
Note: Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for high school grades, gender, migrant status, race/ethnicity SES, age and type of residency.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults in Virginia 2023.

Compared to those who were living in rural areas at the time of the survey, those from urban and suburban respondents were more likely to participate in CDA. Overall, those from urban areas were 2.5 times more likely than those from rural areas to participate in career exploring and experiencing activities.

Table 6.13. Young adults in urban and suburban areas are more likely to participate in CDA compared to those in rural areas
Likelihood (odds ratio) of young adults who were living in urban and suburban areas at the time of the survey to participate in the following CDA, in reference to those who were living in rural areas
	Urban, regularly		Suburban, regularly		Urban, regularly and occasionally		Suburban, regularly and occasionally
speakingtoteachers	3.147***	(1.020)	1.476	(0.425)
guestspeakers	1.598*	(0.406)	1.817**	(0.445)
howtoapply	1.691***	(0.299)	1.199	(0.217)
volunteering	2.484***	(0.499)	1.634**	(0.384)	2.037***	(0.446)	1.881***	(0.367)
vocationalprogram	1.855*	(0.557)	1.469	(0.510)	1.721**	(0.410)	1.618*	(0.429)
internship	2.033**	(0.535)	1.611	(0.492)	1.935***	(0.395)	1.593**	(0.311)
jobshadowing	2.151**	(0.698)	1.244	(0.321)	1.543**	(0.302)	1.184	(0.212)
worksitevisits	1.556*	(0.352)	1.449*	(0.308)	1.737***	(0.257)	1.760***	(0.294)
touring					1.417**	(0.195)	1.087	(0.223)
schooladvisor	1.761**	(0.382)	1.328	(0.269)
careerinfo	1.615**	(0.290)	1.006	(0.183)
Work outside school hours	1.483**	(0.281)	1.586**	(0.323)
howtosearchforjob	1.918**	(0.525)	1.186	(0.411)
findaidinfo	2.235***	(0.532)	1.529	(0.476)
re_experiencing	2.460**	(0.975)	1.357	(0.390)
re_exploring	2.449***	(0.703)	1.289	(0.325)
Note: Only statistically significant results are shown. Statistical significance levels are marked by * p<0.01, p<0.05, * p<0.1. This analysis controls for high school grades, gender, migrant status, race/ethnicity SES, age and school region.
Source: OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults in Virginia 2023.

Strengths of Virginia

A range of possible pathways offer varied opportunities to diverse segments of the population, for example through well-integrated vocationally focused provision and dual enrolment

Within an equitable guidance system, one size will not fit all and Virginia offers a range of pathways that can respond to diverse student interests between Grades 6 and 12. For example, different forms of CTE are universally available in schools, such as through a comprehensive high school model that offers different pathways in the same school or through students being able to commute from their home high school to attend other types of schools that offer other available pathways that may interest them. Other options that offer basic and core academic instruction without needing to change home school (typically half and half time) are provided by Governor’s schools (which often focus opportunities for high-performing students), Magnet schools (public schools that focuses on a particular area of study, such as performing arts or science and technology, but also offer regular school subjects), Technical Centers (which offer technical and vocational opportunities for students that are more suited for hands-on experience and learning), and in the near future, Lab schools.

Magnet school partnership programmes in the United States often support progression to post-secondary education in socio-economically deprived schools by building a network of partnerships with post-secondary providers in the area. Providers can include social work services, community health organisations, and college access programmes, all of which are able to help build college-relevant provision (Duncheon and Relles, 2019[17]).

Equity is also addressed through dual enrolment programmes which provide opportunity for high school students to experience colleges and obtain college credits to accelerate graduation once they enter college. Dual enrolment provides advantages and opportunities that can broaden a young person’s vision of their potential and preferred future and lowers the costs of tertiary education by allowing tertiary credit accumulation in secondary education. A recent study of the outcomes of students enrolled on CTE programmes offering dual enrolment in North Carolina found positive results in terms of progression to tertiary education, contributing to a reduction in disparities between students from low income and high income backgrounds (Edmunds, 2022[18]).

Another example is co-operative education, which allows some participating student to earn both a wage and academic credits while at a work placement that is closely linked to what they are learning and specialising in at school. This is a common form of work-based learning in the United States and Canada, enabling student engagement with professionals and workplaces relevant to emerging career aspirations (Covacevich et al., 2021[16]) (Mann, Denis and Percy, 2020[12]). While students complete their upper secondary education general high school diploma, they have opportunity to pursue vocational interests which allow them to develop skills, social contacts and familiarity with occupational cultures that allow for smoother transitions into employment – without closing off all their options. Such programmes are commonly linked with better employment outcomes than would otherwise be expected (Covacevich et al., 2021[16]) of students with similar levels of academic achievement and comparable backgrounds (Jeon et al., 2023 forthcoming[1]).

Integration of vocational focused provision within general high schooling keeps options open for all students and reduces reputational risks

Historically and across countries, vocational education and training (VET) has suffered from a reputation that it leads to lower wages, manual, blue-collar jobs as opposed to higher wage, white-collar jobs. However, despite often enabling access to attractive employment demanding high levels of technical skills the VET pathways often lead into such professions are commonly considered less attractive by students (OECD, 2018[19]). Due to this reputation, VET programmes often attract disadvantaged young people who do not have high career aspirations or the necessary resources to enter higher education, and this poor reputation is further entrenched in society.

One way out is to allow VET experience within general schooling and programmes instead of dividing the programme orientation. Some states in the United States take this approach, including Virginia. While European countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Denmark orient students in upper secondary schools into VET versus general programmes, these countries also offer more integrated programmes.

At upper secondary levels, CTE programmes in Virginia are integrated within general high schooling. This keeps vocational options open for all students and provides all students with vocational experience. This approach can reduce the risk of vocational pathways being considered a last resort and also encourages the integration of general subjects with vocational experience and opportunities.

School divisions have autonomy to make customised selections of pathways and programmes available

School divisions have autonomy in the provision of education and career readiness activities. They can prepare customised selections of pathways and programmes and make necessary transformations or combine school types and programmes to fit student as well as local labour market needs. For example, the Standards of Quality in the Code of Virginia permits local school boards to prescribe additional diploma requirements (e.g., local credit requirements, allocations of electives including CTE), provided that they are approved by the Board of Education (8VAC20-131-51). A local school division may offer, as an option to students, the opportunity to pursue concentrated courses of study by taking related courses in a specialty area (e.g., CTE), or to choose to take a variety of elective courses. Offering such options does not require Board approval so long as choosing a particular concentration of elective courses is not mandatory for graduation (SOA guidance document).

This diversity of choice in educational provision increases the opportunity for students to broaden and deepen career thinking while within school. It actively encourages and enables a curious interaction with potential futures in work. It can also act positively and swiftly to adjust provision and options based on student needs and local labour market demand. School division autonomy however can make it difficult to set state-level standards and work towards balanced implementation. This helps explain the variation in career development observed across the commonwealth and underpins the importance of clarity in the minimum entitlements that all students should expect of their provision.

Virginia is on its way to reduce existing gaps, including historically marginalised populations having better access to career development activities

Virginia performs relatively well overall in terms of equity based on macro indicators. While the United States (US) has a relatively high Gini index – a measurement of income inequality - among OECD countries, Virginia’s index is below the national level and ranks 24^th among the US states.

Figure 6.68. Virginia ranks 24th among the US states in terms of Gini index

Historically marginalised populations such as Black and Hispanic young adults have better access than White young adults to career development activities while in high school, according to the OECD Career Readiness Survey of Young Adults (ages 19-26). The OECD Career Readiness Survey of Teenage Students (ages 15-17; grade 10-11) reveals that the difference in terms of participation in experiencing activities among Hispanic and Black students from other race and ethnic groups of students is fairly small. While the OECD does not collect data by the ethnicity of students, it does in terms of their migrant status and across participating countries in PISA 2018 similarly, native and foreign-born students can anticipate comparable levels of engagement in guidance activities.

Equity challenges within the Virginia guidance system

The OECD Survey of Young Adults in Virginia reveals that young women and students from low SES, non-white and rural backgrounds commonly face greater hurdles in succeeding in the early labour market than comparable peer groups. They are more likely to be NEET and if in work can expect to earn lower wages than would be expected. Despite some laudable outcomes in Virginia, such as the fact that historically marginalised groups are in an advantageous position in terms of participation in most career development activities (CDA), access to better labour market outcomes for across these disadvantaged groups remains an issue. Students from low SES and rural areas in particular expressed the view that their transitions had been more difficult than high SES and urban counterparts. Reviewing the data highlights specific challenges which are experienced by different groups to varying degrees in relation to their career development.

Career concentration. Where very high proportions of students express the intention of working in a small number of occupations, concerns are raised (Covacevich et al., 2021[16]). In Virginia, in keeping with international evidence, female students are more concentrated in their occupational expectations than their male counterparts, expressing very strong interest in the professions (ISCO major category 2) and little interest in the skilled trades (ISCO major category 7). Certain ethnic groups, notably Asian youth also expressed highly concentrated career plans. In terms of occupational expectations, White Virginian teenagers were twice as likely as young Virginians of colour to anticipate working in the skilled trades (ISCO major category 7).

Career thinking. International data also aligns with the Virginian experience in that male students within the commonwealth commonly demonstrate less mature career thinking than female students. They are more likely to be uncertain, misaligned in their plans and less ambitious than female students. This was also the case for low SES students who, again in keeping with international evidence, expressed much greater confusion in their thinking about the future than high SES peers. For both groups, analysis of data from PISA 2018 shows that greater engagement in CDA is related to career thinking that is linked with career thinking that is more closely associated with better employment outcomes (Covacevich et al., 2021[11]).

Employer engagement within career development activities. Although there was little gender difference in perception of career progress and satisfaction, compared to young women, young men agree that high school helped them get the experience of working in an area linked to their career ambition and helped them to meet people doing jobs that are relevant to their career ambition. While there was no gender difference in career exploration activities, including access to career coaches and counsellors, relatively fewer young women tend to recall participating in experiencing activities in high school. Even when controlling for high school grades, race/ethnicity, SES, migrant status, age, school region and type of residency, surveyed young men were more likely, while in high school, to regularly speak to teachers related to their careers (1.3 times) and participate regularly in career experiencing activities (1.8) and regularly or occasionally in vocational programme (1.3) and worksite visits (1.5), compared to the surveyed young women. The results speak to differences in the effectiveness of the guidance system in enabling the development of human and social capital relevant to career progression and Virginia is not alone in facing this challenge. Across the OECD, female students routinely engage less in opportunities to connect directly with people in work than male students. This represents a particular challenge as such employer engagement is strongly associated with better employment outcomes (Covacevich et al., 2021[16]) (OECD, 2021[14]). Equally, in contrast to international data (Jeon et al., 2023 forthcoming[1]), compared to low SES students, high SES students were less likely to participate in CDA but more likely to engage in high value activities such as volunteering, work in occasional jobs, or participate in employer-involving exploration activities.

An interesting lesson here is that those who needed the most career guidance activities to enhance their human, social and cultural capital appreciate the school support the most. For example, while relatively fewer respondents from low SES had positive perception of career progress and satisfaction than those from high SES, more of them had a positive perception of how helpful high school was for career readiness. They appreciated their high schools more than those from high SES backgrounds in supporting them in career preparation. Statistical analysis of the survey confirms that those from low SES backgrounds were more likely to appreciate the helpfulness of high school, compared to those from high SES. Also compared to White young adults, Black young adults were 1.4-1.6 times more likely to report a positive perception of the usefulness of high school compared to White peers, controlling for educational attainment, high school grades, gender, SES, migrant status, age and school region. From these results, it is clear that disadvantaged students are more dependent on their schools for support and take greater advantage of them within their career development. The findings underpinned the critical importance of schools in addressing inequalities linked to education and labour market outcomes. The next level of equity policy goals for Virginia should go beyond input-oriented policies and attempt to reach outcome-oriented policies, so that Virginia can expand and diversify the workforce.

Key recommendations

Reducing gender, race/ethnicity and socio-economic disparities

The results of the OECD Career Readiness Surveys show however that disparities among different groups remains an issue in Virginia, although there are positive examples to highlight. Making equity more explicit in the policy agenda of the career readiness system, including standards and programmes, can help close gaps further in the transition from education to employment and expand the careers that students consider possible, beyond their limited preconceptions, with a goal of narrowing the labour market outcome disparities.

Challenge: While the student population declines and becomes more diverse, disparities in terms of gender, race/ethnicity and socio-economic status remains an issue in Virginia

Virginia is a state of diversity – the 17^th most diverse state in terms of school student race and ethnicity. In 2021, 45.8% of school students were White in Virginia (down from 54.1% in 2010), close to the US average (45.2%) (NCES, 2022[20]) (Figure 6.69). In 2021, White students made up 48% of upper secondary students (grade 10-12, typically ages 15-18), followed by Black or African American (21%) and Hispanic (17%) students (Figure 6.69). The population of HS graduates in Virginia is expected to become more diverse in terms race and ethnicity in the future (41% estimated White in 2029-30) (Massa, 2021[21]). In the context of the declining number of HS graduates in Virginia, which is expected after 2026 (Massa, 2021[21]), it is particularly more important to better support students from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Such growing diversity has implications for the flow of skills into the labour market. One important finding from the OECD Career Readiness Survey of Teenagers relates to the concentration of occupational expectations by race/ethnicity. For example, White students are more than twice as likely as students of colour (11% v. 5%) to plan on working in a skilled occupation (ISCO-08 Major Category 7). Once in the labour market however, Black and Hispanic students are more likely than White students to have wished that their high school had provided a lot more information about how to get a formal training programme like an apprenticeship.

Figure 6.69. Demographic of school students in Virginia

While the rate of high school (HS) dropouts in Virginia is low at 5% in 2022 and the lowest among the US states in 2015-19, disadvantaged groups drop out at higher rates. Dropout rates in Virginia are higher among migrants 2 (27%), Hispanic (14%) and English learners (25%) (Figure 6.70). Comparing the status dropout for Hispanics (2015-19), Virginia shows a similar rate (8.6%) to the US average (8.5%) and is ranked 17^th highest rate among the US states.

The importance of high-school graduation varies by student, location and school. In places with higher inequality or fewer opportunities, there could be a perception that the cost of dropping out might be perceived to be much lower. The concept of a “high school dropout” might have a heterogeneous meaning in terms of expected income if the student attended either a high-performing or an under-performing high school (Kearney and Levine, 2016[22]). The relative cost of dropping out depends on the student background and expected income. In other words, if a student perception on the relative cost of dropping out is considered to be high given potential future opportunities, they are more likely to complete high school.

Figure 6.70. Disadvantaged groups among have higher dropout rates in Virginia, 2022

While state and national-level data on student participation in career development activities is scarce, other than the OECD Career Readiness Surveys in Virginia, apprenticeship data shows disparities in the participation. For example, a large majority of participants in apprenticeships are White and male, as are participants in CTE programmes.

Figure 6.71. Disparity in apprenticeship participation between ethnicity, race and gender in Virginia (ages 24 and under)

Looking at CTE enrolments which often provide a pathway into apprenticeships and other forms of post--secondary training, the majority of CTE participants are male and White. Male participants are overrepresented in particular, in Transportation, Manufacturing, Architecture and Construction, STEM, and Information Technology. Across all clusters, White are over-represented and particularly in Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Manufacturing, Manufacturing, Architecture and Construction, and STEM (Figure 6.72).

Figure 6.72. The majority of CTE participants are male and White

In addition, a recent study reported that there is intersectionality between school districts, SES and race. Schools with concentrations of student poverty, which strongly overlap with the issue of race and socio-economic status, receive fewer resources for higher needs, on average (Siegel-Hawley et al., 2021[23]). In Virginia, the share of Virginia students eligible for Free or Reduced Priced Lunch (FRL) rose by 126 000 students, from 36% to 44% of the overall enrolment, between 2009 and 2018. In those schools with student poverty, nearly 60% of students qualify for FRL and race distribution of students is skewed (Siegel-Hawley et al., 2021[23]).

Recommendation: Make the issue of equity more explicit in the career readiness policy agenda to close further gaps and expand the thinking of students of possible careers beyond preconceived and limited ideas

While there is a pattern of structural inequality that suggests that children end up in similar types of occupations as their parents (OECD, 2018[24]), country variations demonstrate that there is nothing inevitable about individual characteristics shaping young people’s career thinking and education and labour market outcomes. Even if one acknowledges a clear structural inequality, there are ways to challenge this link, especially through policies and programming. Not all students with disadvantaged characteristics are equally vulnerable with regards to career thinking about their futures in work. Findings from how inequalities influence the career thinking, exploration, and experiencing of young people could be used to design interventions tailored to address each career readiness indicator with a focus on the groups of students that are known to be more misaligned, less ambitious, more uncertain, and to be already overrepresented in certain careers. Career readiness systems and policies are particularly important in bridging the link from education to work where socio-economic backgrounds play a significant role, and therefore have the potential to contribute to social mobility (Jeon et al., 2023 forthcoming[1]).

Given that socio-economic and regional variation is evident in Virginia in terms of high school dropouts and the transition to and graduation from higher education, Virginia could benefit from a more explicit policy agenda for equity in career readiness systems and strengthen the public school policy agenda and programmes for equity in the career readiness system. State efforts in terms of enabling school choices and pathways appear to largely benefit or be aimed at high performing and achieving students in better-off situations – nor sufficient attention to the skilled trades (see Theme 2 Chapter 5). This may be because there is no state-level data on career guidance participation by regions and socio-economic group, which is a recommendation in Chapter 4. Given the decreasing student population and increasing diversity as well as labour market shortages and out migration being key concerns in Virginia, attention could be given to those that could be part of the solution if given the adequate resources and support. This requires a recognition of the unique needs of individual students regarding career development participation and how they can connect and apply their career development experience to real labour market outcomes.

8VAC20-131-140: “experiences that will motivate disadvantaged and minority students to prepare for a career or postsecondary education”

8VAC20-120: defines "Special populations" by (i) individuals with disabilities; (ii) individuals from economically disadvantages families, including foster children; (iii) individuals preparing for non-traditional fields; (iv) single parents, including single pregnant women; (v) displaced homemakers; or (vi) individuals with limited English proficiency.”

8VAC20-120-100 (Access to CTE programs): “CTE programs administered by local education agencies receiving federal or state education funds shall be made equally available and accessible to all persons and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race, colour, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or veteran status, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities.” (in addition: 8VAC20-120-130. Individualized programs for students with disabilities).

To make the issue of equity more explicit in the career readiness policy agenda, Virginia can first define clearly the career readiness standards, framework and intended outcomes. A learning framework for career guidance starting in kindergarten, or even pre-kindergarten, will need to work to remove stereotyping of occupations and existing barriers that reinforce inequality earlier and with more frequency (see also Theme 1, Chapter 4.). There is then ample opportunity for schools to identify students in later grades who require additional supports in career guidance based on evidence of learning and assessment associated with the framework. For example, the evaluation of the Academic Career Plan, if well established, will allow for schools to identify gaps and/or need for additional interventions (e.g., fewer girls are interested in STEM or skilled trades than boys; or students with a disadvantaged background are not interested in going to a college or university despite their interest or potential). Studies that used VLDS are available in Virginia, particularly in the field of engineering (Matusovich et al., 2020[25]). Virginia also has opportunity to work on this right as the state is planning to evaluate high schools through College, Career, and Civic Readiness Index (CCCI) (see Box 1.5).

Virginia can build upon other country examples and research that shows how to help raise the career aspirations of disadvantaged young people, both to make them more realistic and better aligned with future opportunities, and to overcome disparities posed by social background, gender and geography.

In New Brunswick, Canada, Hopeful Transitions model serves schools to ensure that each learner from grade 6-12 is actively engaged in planning for their postsecondary life, given that the transition planning from K-12 and career decision making have not been equitable in their access or delivery and a variety of barriers and factors prevent a universal approach to transition planning from being accessible to all students. The resources that will be available to help students with transition planning will be built by using a Response to Intervention model (also used in Ireland) adopted from other fields of learning. The model works on the basis that all students should expect a comparable level of entitlement to career development, but that some or a few students will require greater support at particular times in their school careers related to their personal characteristics and/or to the character of their career ambition. In Australia for example, programmes exist to help female students explore whether work in the construction industry would be appropriate for them personally. Given concerns over the poor representation of women in the industry and the risk of the industry representing a hostile atmosphere for female workers, additional support would ensure that girls gain access to authentic insights into the occupational area, notably through first hand experiences and hearing directly from women with relevant work experience. In New Brunswick, the Response to Intervention model is designed to help schools in delivering, assessing, scaffolding, and supporting the individual career development needs of students. An online tool will provide resources, lessons, activities, interventions, checklists to support the facilitation of transition planning for each learner in grades 6-12 (see New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2017[26]) and (Government of New Brunswick, n.d.[27]) for details). Policy and programming should recognise and be tailored to the diverse and specific needs of students. The province of New Brunswick moreover has introduced a new Career Education Framework that explicitly recognises that certain students in certain circumstances will face additional hurdles in achieving their occupational goals (New Brunswick Department for Education, 2023[28]).

In Canada, CMEC Reference Framework for Successful Student Transitions provides benchmarks for student transitions (policies, programs, and implementation strategies) based on international and national evidence-based research.

Services and programming to support transitions are tailored to individual student needs and interests. Student diversity is considered, programs are respectful of cultural perspectives, address attitudinal barriers that implicitly or explicitly limit career choice. Wraparound supports (e.g., supports that are community-based, culturally relevant, individualized, strength-based, and family-centered) are made available to disadvantaged/marginalised groups. Career education programming actively seeks to challenge stereotypes and raise aspirations among disadvantaged and under-represented groups.

An evaluation system for career- and transition support services is established and used to collect data on, and improve outcomes for, all students…A system of post-services/graduation follow-up ensures that youth not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) are actively linked back into supports as needed (CMEC, 2017[29])

During the OECD review team’s visit to Virginia, notably in more rural areas students commonly expressed the desire to follow in the occupational footsteps of their parents. This reflects a structural issue linked to the narrowness of career thinking. Virginia can help students to expand their thinking about possible careers beyond preconceived ideas by making more interventions through school career readiness programmes, starting from elementary school level (e.g., role models for boys for nursing; girls for STEM; engineering careers for students in farming community). Virginia could make targeted investments to help students who are struggling the most (Goren and Kenneth, 2023[30]), starting from for example new initiatives such as Lab schools. A good start can also include small grants to support students from low-income families for costs related to specific testing or credentialing to achieve the graduation requirements.

Young people from different social backgrounds have access to different levels of resources to inform and support their career planning. In Ireland, state funding recognises the social sources of such disparities in providing considerably greater resource to schools located in the most disadvantaged areas to support a greater range of career development activities. In other countries, programmes are in place to engage and support families in the career development of their children. In Australia, the Little Ripples programme encourage career conversations, to begin a process of curious investigation, from a young age. In Scotland, parents can make use of the different online tools in a website dedicated to student career guidance (e.g., a webinar series dedicated to parents). Scotland also developed the Engaging Families programme to increase guidance workers’ capacity to work with families. The Parents Turn intervention in the Netherlands brought parents and their children together in a series of after-school sessions for learning about post-secondary options. In France, a programme of career discussions between parents and school staff was found to reduce dropout and grade repetition by 25-40%. Other programmes such as Speakers for Schools and Inspiring the Future in the UK leverage institutional social capital and make it available to students.

A striking finding of the Career Readiness Survey of young adults was the high percentage expressing interest in occupations which are not traditionally undertaken by people of their gender or background. Of young Virginian adults surveyed, 44% would have welcomed a lot more help in understanding how to get such a job, with an additional 34% wishing that they had has some more help. In this response, young women and Black and Hispanic young adults were more likely than young men and White adults to have wished for a lot more help for their schools. Such data on how young adults feel about potentially working in non-traditional areas is comparatively rare, but does point towards similarly substantial population segments expressing such interest. In the UK for example, 21% of young adults (aged 19-24) and 25% of young women agreed that they wished their school had provided a lot more help in understanding how common it was to do a job that someone of the gender does not normally do (Mann, 2017[31]) and a survey of 15 year old students found that many were interested in non-traditional careers, but rarely had the opportunity to gain experience of them while still in school (Francis, 2005[32]). In order to facilitate progression towards non-traditional careers, there is an onus on schools to help students explore such professions from a young age, broadening the range of what is considered possible and allowing students to see for themselves what such working experiences are actually like.

In Germany and many other countries, annual Girls’ Days and Boys’ Days enable student to spend a day job shadowing in a profession where their gender is underrepresented. This forms an important element in strategies to address skills shortages and allows a student to see for themselves whether they could see themselves flourishing in a profession which many may feel goes against social norms and may offer a hostile environment. A forthcoming OECD work paper also provides useful policy pointers and good examples (Jeon et al., 2023 forthcoming[1]). It highlights the need for students to be supported in critical exploration of how the labour market is segmented by gender. A joint Estonia/Iceland/Lithuania project has developed a handbook for career guidance counsellors to help them to address gender stereotypes (Kinkar, 2019[33]). The BREAK! project was funded by the European Union and focuses on how career guidance counsellors can disrupt gendered career outcomes by building young people’s career management skills and engaging them in discussion about the labour market. The handbook makes use of relevant media e.g., TV shows to provide relatable scenarios that students can discuss and reflect on. It then provides a series of practical ideas, activities and discussions for career guidance counsellors to run with groups of students to help them to reflect on the issues. The BREAK! programme encourages and enables students to reflect critically on how gender shapes labour market participation, providing a theoretical overview of the nature of gender stereotypes as well as practical support to students.

Recent studies also inform ways to promote gender balance. For example, Kessel et al. (2021[34]) find that telling experimental participants about the gender gap in willingness to compete, and advising them about potential earnings implications decreases the gap by increasing women’s willingness to compete. One possibility to apply this insight would be to include a similar informational intervention about math-intensive study programmes into the career counselling of high-ability girls (Buser, Peter and Wolter, 2022[35]). A randomised mentoring intervention that exposes low-SES children to predominantly female role models causally affect girls’ willingness to compete and narrows both the gender gap in competitiveness as well as the gender gap in earnings expectations. Together, the results highlight the importance of the social environment in shaping career aspiration, including willingness to compete and earnings expectations, at a young age (Boneva et al., 2021[36]) (Alan and Ertac, 2018[37]).3

It is also worthwhile to highlight how career development activities can engage learners in social justice. Hearing from those under-represented in their career pathway about the challenges they faced and how they have worked to overcome these can be a powerful tool. A number of studies provide insight on designing and delivering effective and social justice-oriented K-12 career development programmes (Bright, 2022[38]) (Hooley, 2019[39]).

Box 6.1. Shedding light on unequal access to preparation for engineering career aspirations

Using a mixed-method research design, the study examined data from the Virginia Longitudinal Data System (VLDS) to explore high school and college enrolment student records for every Virginia high school student. It also conducted in-depth qualitative interviews of key school stakeholders (e.g., teachers, school counsellors) at select high schools; collecting student survey data at the same select high schools to determine alignment between what interviewees say are influences versus what students say drive them toward or away from engineering; and collected survey data from key stakeholders to complement the qualitative interview data.

Outcome expectations and factors influencing students’ post-secondary educational plans

Using a single-case-study approach and in-depth interviews with teachers, administrators, and counsellors, the study examined similarities and differences in outcome expectations and environmental factors at three high schools within a single school district. Outcome expectations are the ‘‘imagined consequences of performing particular behaviours’’. Environmental factors include “contextual supports and barriers encountered during the pursuit of one’s career choice goals. The study found that: (i) relationships between outcome expectations and environmental factors vary across schools within the same system, (ii) proximity to a postsecondary institution is not just about physical distance, and (ii) messaging regarding career pathways matters.

Source: (Matusovich et al., 2020[25])

Box 6.2. Useful policy pointers and examples to close existing gaps

Beginning young with richer career development activities for disadvantaged students: As young people develop their career identities, aspirations and career thinking early in life and that early aspirations are influenced by socio-economic status, starting institutional career education and guidance early can disrupt the process of social and occupational reproduction that may be locked in by the later years of secondary school. For example, in Australia the Little Ripples scheme help develop the career thinking of children from the first years of primary education through conversation cards, activity sheets, posters and ebooks (Australian Government, n.d.[40]). Similarly, Primary Futures in the UK and New Zealand (Inspiring the Future, n.d.[41]) connects primary schools with employers and working people and talk to children about their working lives. Welcome to the university! in Sweden seeks to break the cycle of education reproduction among primary school grades three to six (age 9-12) (Ahlroos, 2021[42]).
Leveraging institutional social capital: UK programmes such as Inspiring the Future and Speakers for Schools connect public schools with workplace volunteers and with elite public figures in a way that institutional social capital can be leveraged to the advantage of students lacking appropriate networks within their social networks. In Japan school mediated job-search systems (Furuya, 2020[43]) creates a meritocratic mechanism to increase the chances of finding a relatively stable and high prestige job for high school graduates from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Enabling human capital activation: In Finland, the School-to-Work Group Method was introduced to prepare young people to first find and then stay in employment (Mann, Denis and Percy, 2020[12]). The programme was organised as a twenty-hour programme delivered over five days in the final year of secondary education and jointly taught by a vocational school teacher and a representative of the local public employment service (PES). Working to a standardised curriculum, young people are encouraged to reflect on their own experiences of work and desires for employment through individual research, collaborative working with student peers and practical exercises related to the process of finding employment and socialisation into a new organisation. A randomised control trial followed 334 students involved in the programme and demonstrated that significant benefits accruing to participants on the Group Method programme including a greater likelihood of being in employment and in a job that was linked to their educational qualifications and aligned with their career ambitions (Koivisto, 2007[44]). In South Korea, most schools have developed career education programmes to develop the capabilities of students and increase their understanding of the labour market and post-secondary pathways (Lee et al., 2021[45]). Such career education programmes typically include career and vocational classes, the administration of vocational interest tests, career counselling, job shadowing, and club activities focused on career development. Engagement and satisfaction with the career education programmes weakened the link between student’s career development competencies and parental education level.
Providing targeted and intensive support: In Ireland, schools serving more disadvantaged students have access to greater financial resource to deliver career guidance than other schools. Within the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme, eligible secondary schools receive funding to provide for 44 hours of weekly dedicated staff time to support career guidance and counselling activities, compared to more advantaged schools that receive 18-hours-per-week worth funding. Such activities include engagement with employers and tertiary institutions, greater integration of career learning within academic subjects and engagement of families (OECD, 2023[46]). In Canada, recent analysis of a long-term Randomised Control Trial where high school students engaged in a four-year programme of additional support in their career development and planning for higher education provides potentially the strongest evidence yet of long-term benefits linked to a specific programme of intervention. While the analysis has yet to appear in the peer-review literature, building as it does on other public evaluations, the new results have been met with considerable interest. The Explore Your Horizons programme was conducted in 30 New Brunswick high schools and involved over 4 000 students who were randomly assigned to two groups. A first group participated in 20 after-school workshops designed to help them understand the importance of career planning, explore educational and career options, and transition from high school to college. The workshops actively engaged parents, included a focus on resilient life skills and engaged post-secondary students. The high school students also had access to media materials about career planning. A second group simply received additional financial on enrolment in tertiary education. Following the students up to age 29, significant positive results were identified in relation to tertiary enrolment, graduation rates and average earnings of the first group. That group was divided moreover into two halves based on parental income. Linked to the intervention, the enrolment rates of higher income students was seen to drop a little, while that of lower income students rose significantly, leading to a substantial decrease in the gap between the two groups in enrolment in four-year programmes of tertiary education (Renée, 2023[47]). See also: (Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, 2009[48])

Increasing provision through the use of digital technologies to overcome regional disparities and enhance personalisation in career development

Challenge: Access to career development activities and their quality vary across schools and districts, depending on their resources

The evidence presented in the section 3.3.2 in this chapter clearly shows the regional divide in Virginia in terms of transition outcomes and access to career development activities. 25% of young adults in rural areas were NEET compared to 16% in urban areas and 14% in suburban areas. The NEET rate goes up to 42% in Southwest region where 64% of respondents reported living in rural areas, compared to 10% in Northern Virginia. Those who live in rural areas are less likely to attain higher education and earn high wages. Respondents from more rural and resource-poor school regions tend to have less positive perception of high school in assisting career readiness. Compared to those who attended high school in Northern Virginia that is relatively better off, all other school regions tend to see relatively lower student participation in career development activities (CDA), even when controlling for high school grades, gender, migrant status, race/ethnicity SES, age and urbanicity. At the same time, compared to those who were living in rural areas at the time of the survey, those from urban and suburban respondents were more likely to participate in CDA. Overall, those from urban areas were 2.5 times more likely than those from rural areas to participate in career exploring and experiencing activities.

The situation is similar among those who are currently attending school. Relatively more students from Northern Virginia school region (83%) tend to expect to complete higher education than those in other regions (51-71%). In line with this, relatively more students from Northern Virginia school region are most likely to be studying in five years’ time largely because the occupation they want requires a study degree (64% versus 40-53% in other regions). However, access to CDA among current students appear to be improved compared to previous students. When controlling for grades, age, SES, place of birth and residence, race and gender, in reference to students in Northern Virginia, those in all other school regions were significantly more likely to work outside school hours; and there was no significant difference in other experiencing activities.4 But still, participation in several exploration activities show a large difference across school regions, especially job fair and college/university tour. In addition, relatively more students from Northern Virginia tend to be ambitious and less misaligned, compared to other school regions especially Southwest and Southside regions. Also relatively more students in Northern Virginia expect to work as professionals (ISCO 2-3) while more students in Southwest and Southside expect to work as skilled workers (ISCO 5-8).

When the OECD review team spoke with students in Virginia, they often seemed bounded by what schools or school districts can offer and the availability of local employment and employers. Transportation was a significant issue not only because of the cost but also of the lost instruction time, reducing efficiency in the system.

Recommendation: Increasing provision through the use of digital technologies to overcome regional disparities and increase personalisation in career development

Where the access to a variety of career development and skills learning options is limited, the use of digital technologies can be optimised and not just for youth in rural areas, though impact there can be expected to be particularly strong. While to date, little empirical work has been undertaken to compare the efficacy of digital delivery in comparison to face-to-face provision, there is good reason to believe that the use of digital technologies can make access to guidance more effective, efficient and equitable. The OECD Observatory on the use of Digital technologies in Career guidance for Youth brings together examples of practice from around the world to broaden the scope of what is possible within delivery. It includes a number of models that can considered within Virginia for providing more personalised support to students, notably where distance prevents easy access to face-to-face opportunities.

The use of digital technologies has a potential to make career development activities more accessible for a larger number of students. Most of career development activities can be held remotely: job shadowing, career talks, meeting/speaking to professionals or counsellors, career counselling and mentorship, job fairs. For example, virtual mentorship, online job fairs and alumni/guest speakers, virtual job shadowing and work placements could all be expanded with the use of digital technology. Furthermore, students can access mentors and employers anywhere and not be limited to their region. Moreover, the use of virtual reality, adapting programmes designed to train professionals, can now be used to provide students with a taste of working in fields which may be inaccessible due to distance or legal age restrictions. Career exposure (career talks, meet the experts, professional network and interaction) can be more accessible through digital technologies such as career talks via videoconferencing, and in-person career fairs can be easily replaced by online talks if facing any constraints. Digital technologies can be used to enable schools to connect with potential employers and people in work located far away from the educational institution.

Moreover, digital technologies can enhance access to relevant and timely labour market information for students and counsellors. Digital technologies can easily provide information of the education and skills requirements of specific jobs, so reducing career misalignment. Recognising this benefit, Virginia has implemented various policies and practice taking advantage of digital technologies (Box 6.3) but could expand more. Virginia can expand more actively the use of digital technologies in the provision of career readiness programmes, building on the existing distance/virtual or mobile offerings. Virginia has an advanced IT industry, which career readiness programmes can rely upon and benefit from. Digital technologies can offer not only more effective and efficient opportunities for career exposure, experience, and expertise but also more equitable provision, especially in rural areas or areas where little exposure and experience opportunities exist for certain sectors and occupations. While the scope for digital technologies within career development is substantial, education systems are advised to build evaluation programmes into their design and delivery, working with practitioners, students and their families to ensure that maximum benefits are secured.

Box 6.3. Virginia’s use of digital technologies in delivering career development activities

Delivering Career Investigation Courses online

Virginia’s Middle School Career Investigations (MSCI) content is now available online. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) partnered with WHRO Education and Commonwealth Cascades to enable the partially or fully online delivery of the Career Investigations curriculum. The course delivers interactive resources in a format that are compatible and fully functional on a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, mobile device, or a smartphone. Additionally, the content can be modified to meet the needs of local school divisions and individual students. The Middle School Career Investigation (MSCI) content files and supporting documents are available for download by school divisions (VDOE, 2022[49]).

Given that a wide range of career exposure can allow learning about a more diverse range of careers, online visits to workplaces that are geographically distant from where students are can be promoted. With the rise of remote working and training opportunities, students’ career exploration and experiencing do not need to be confined to professions available in their immediate geographical area. This provides school counsellors with wider options to recommend to their students who may be considering an overly narrow set of career options. Parent engagement can be also enhanced through digital means – not only to inform them but also to engage them into delivery and provision of career development activities both as parents and people in work.

Virginia can broaden the aspirations of young people and address the barriers presented by geography through greater use of digital resources, building on such notable innovations as CTETrailblazers.

Virginia is already heading in this direction and can build upon examples from other countries as well as from the OECD Observatory on Digital Technologies in Career Guidance for Youth (ODiCY) (Box 6.5). For example, Finland’s TET-Tori, France’s Onisep, and Norway’s Utdanning have developed their own online platform to provide opportunities for virtual career exploration and experience, labour market information and skills assessments, allowing students from both urban and rural areas to engage on a more equal basis with a variety of employers and industries (see Box 6.4). Many jurisdictions now provide career portals – see for example, Ireland and Norway – which bring together many resources, such as psychometric questionnaires, in a single online location. Within the United States, career village is an example of an online career advice programme where students can ask people in work for advice on specific questions. In France, e-mentoring systems allow students to engage with professionals in careers of interest through a safe exchange of messages (Box 6.5). Another example is the use of online tools through which young people can engage with volunteers and schools can easily be matched with individuals, organisations, and businesses who can be invited to interact with learners, such as Inspiring the Future, as featured in the above Thematic chapters.

Although very limited research still points to relatively higher impact and effectiveness of in-person career development activities (CDA) over online, more so for younger students (Percy and Amegah, 2021[50]),5 virtual CDA is an important compliment to many schools and students, allowing higher accessibility and diversification, and can be only means to some.

The expansion of internet access, the growing number of teenagers with the widespread use of mobile phones and social media create new opportunities for the design of a broad variety of career counselling services and programmes in schools. For instance, schools can organise more career fairs, or group discussions between employers and students by using video conferencing tools. Moreover, schools can administer online career questionnaires, simulate recruitment activities and personalise and tailor provision based on students’ skills and interests. Support staff can more actively encourage and assist students to use online career portals, career navigation tools or chatbots that provide resources and advice, facilitating informed career and study decisions. More advanced solutions could include the use of real-life data to design virtual games that simulate different career paths or specific occupations. These digital solutions would allow schools to deliver career counselling in a more modern, cost-effective and inclusive manner, by better reaching out to students in remote or isolated areas.

Nonetheless, it is important to stress that for technology enabled career counselling to achieve its maximum impact certain prerequisites must be met, namely, the expansion of internet access in schools in remote and rural areas and the provision of digital equipment required for the service delivery. It is also key to engage in dialogue about the career counselling providers’ needs and to ensure that career guidance practitioners receive recurrent training for their skills and knowledge to be up-to-date with the constantly changing digital landscape (Kettunen, 2017[51]). In addition, educators and practitioners will need skills and understanding how to manage and protect personal data and how to engage students through digital tools.

In order to implement all these plans using digital technologies, Virginia should first increase broadband access to all. Despite recent efforts,6 there are still challenges to achieving universal access, particularly in rural areas. The lack of broadband access in rural areas can limit access to career readiness resources mentioned above. Therefore, the efforts to provide universal broadband needs to be strengthened also from the viewpoint that every young Virginian can have better access to career development activities and tools, including academic and career plan (ACP)-related tools and tools provided by VDOE and the intermediary agencies (Morales, 2023[52]). In this, it is important that all young people are well supported in developing the capacities required to make effective use of digital technologies. As PISA data show, it cannot be taken for granted that all students understand and are experienced in using digital technologies in learning and wider life (Loh, 2023[53]) (OECD, 2019[54]).

Box 6.4. Delivering digital career development activities and resources

Finland: Online platform for careers and work experience (TET-tori programme)

TET (which originates from the Finnish phrase “Getting to know working life” or “Työelämään tutustuminen”) is an online platform designed to assist students in grades 7-9 and upper secondary school, in finding work experience opportunities. It serves as a hub for gathering and sharing educational and labour market information and facilitating direct contacts between companies and students. Secondary school students can access information about local employers and one week work experience placements by geographic regions, simplifying the search for opportunities during the TET periods – all Finnish students can work for 1-3 weeks during this practical work-experience period (Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2023[55]; Kettunen and Vuorinen, 2021[56]; TET-tori, 2023[57]). TET also now enables virtual work placements.

France: Online guidance and information platform (Onisep)

Onisep is a government agency that provides online guidance and information on education, careers, professions and associated career opportunities to students, parents, and the general public. It offers a range of services to support individuals in making informed decisions about their educational and professional futures, including:

Creating guidance and orientation resources such as career guides, brochures, and online resources that provide comprehensive information on academic programmes, vocational training, apprenticeships, requirements and career prospects in various fields of study.
Developing online tools and platforms for exploring different careers and professions including job profiles, required skills, qualifications, salary ranges, and professional development pathways.
Organising regional and national events such as education fairs, career forums, and open days to bring together students, parents, educational institutions, and industry professionals and foster direct interactions and information exchange about education and career opportunities.
Collaborating with schools, colleges, and universities as well as teachers, counsellors, and education professionals to provide support and resources for career guidance, integrate guidance materials into curriculum and offer up-to-date information on career trends and opportunities.
Providing digital platforms and mobile applications that offer personalised career guidance, self-assessment tools, and access to educational and professional resources (Onisep, 2023[58]).

Norway: Online platform for career information (Utdanning)

Utdanning serves as Norway's official online platform for comprehensive career information. It aims to facilitate informed decision making by providing guidance and up-to-date information on different educational pathways, vocational training, and career opportunities in the country, for students, job seekers, parents, and educational institutions. Information includes admission requirements, available courses, career prospects, and further study options within each field. Utdanning offers tools and resources to assist individuals in exploring different career paths and occupation profiles such as job descriptions, required qualifications, salary ranges, and potential career progression. The platform also offers self-assessment tools to evaluate users’ interests, skills, and aptitudes and discover suitable educational and career pathways (Cedefop, 2023[59]; UTDanning, 2023[60]).

Box 6.5. OECD Observatory on Digital Technologies in CareerGguidance for Youth

The Observatory on Digital technologies in Career guidance for Youth (ODiCY) is an open-access repository launched by OECD in 2023 that shows how digital technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, gamification and online video conferencing are helping to make career guidance more accessible to a wider range of students.

ODiCY provides case studies that can be filtered by the Career Readiness Indicators or by technology or age group or country. For example, in France, JobIRL’s E-mentoring programme has been set up to virtually connect students (or mentees) with trained mentors. Mentees can get help in searching for an internship and are linked with mentors in the professional area that they are interested in from any geographical area. In Canada, Virtual Reality Career Modules get new insights into careers where work-visits and work placements are very difficult due to safety considerations. Accessing the same virtual reality tools used by professionals who operate heavy machinery in the skilled trades, students get a taste of work in high-demand careers without leaving their classrooms. CiCi, the careers chatbot in England (the United Kingdom), supports personalised career exploration for young people and links with up-to-date labour market information as well as artificial intelligence to help to guide students to the most useful resources.

ODiCY also shows that video streaming technology is utilised in many systems to link students with employers or other experiences in the labour market. For example, Primary Futures is a programme in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland that links volunteers from the workplace to schools so that those in the world of work “enter” the classroom and provide an opportunity for children to expand their outlooks and explore the world of work over video links in a fun and engaging way (OECD Forum, 2023[61]).

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Notes

← 1. Due to time and resource constraints, it was not possible for the occupational expectations of Virginian teenagers to coded at the four digit ISCO level.

← 2. A flag that identifies persons who are or whose parents or spouses are migratory agricultural workers, including migratory dairy workers or migratory fishers, and who, in the preceding 36 months, in order to obtain or accompany such parents or spouses in order to obtain temporary or seasonal employment in agricultural or fishing work (A) have moved from one LEA to another; (B) in a state that comprises a single LEA, have moved from one administrative area to another within such LEA; or (C) reside in an LEA of more than 15 000 square miles, and migrate a distance of 20 miles or more to a temporary residence to engage in a fishing activity.

← 3. The treatment reduces the gender differences in competitiveness by 0.38 standard deviations. Girls in the treatment group are 0.18 standard deviations more competitive compared to girls in the control group.

← 4. Caution is needed when comparing the results from the young adult survey with the student survey, as the urbanicity or place of residence is not the same for the two surveys. Young adult survey had a question on urbanicity of residence while for the student survey the respondent’s zip code was coded based on RUCA (Rural-Urban Commuting Area) classification.

← 5. A study found that around 32% of primary school teachers reported in-person CDA to be “highly impactful”, while only about 6% found that to be the case for virtual activities (Percy and Amegah, 2021[50]).

← 6. In 2018 when the former Governor Northam took office, 660 000 Virginians did not have access to high-speed internet. Therefore, the Governor set the goal of achieving universal access to broadband within 10 years. Since 2021, Virginia has invested more than USD 846 million to connect more than 429 000 Virginia homes, businesses, and communities to broadband service (source). Department of Housing and Community (DHCD) administers the VATI (Virginia Telecommunication Initiative) programme, which provides targeted financial assistance to extend broadband service to areas that are currently unserved by a provider. However, as of May 2022, an estimated 210 039 locations are classified as unserved and below 100/20 speed, according to the service territory data submitted by internet service providers (source).

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