Educators and parents often tell their students to “dream big” when it comes to their future careers. But how can students “dream big” if they don’t know what they can dream about?
That's where career exploration comes in.
Career exploration in education is the process of researching and evaluating modern work opportunities and how students can pursue careers that interest them. As a course offered in middle school and high school, career exploration is a valuable tool for students to begin discovering opportunities and planning for their futures.
In this article, you'll discover why career exploration is such an important topic for students to learn.
Connecting the Dots
America’s Promise Alliance (APA) is an organization composed of nonprofits, businesses, government and communities focused on improving the lives and futures of America’s youth.
According to the APA, career exploration is one of the best ways to increase students' career success. It accomplishes this by helping students connect the dots between skills learned in school and how they apply in the real world.
From a student’s perspective, it can be difficult to make a purposeful career plan without looking at the big picture of all they’ve done academically and personally. Career exploration helps students bridge the gap between education and the workforce by showing students how their interests, academic career and skill set can translate into the job market, and what steps they can take to reach their goals.
By helping students connect the dots between their education and the workforce, teachers show them the relevance in their education and how it applies to the real world.
Exposure
Exposing students to diverse careers and industries adds immense value to a student’s educational experience. It accomplishes this by allowing students to better understand the scope of opportunities available to them.
For instance, when enrolled in a career exploration course, students assess their skill sets and interests as well as research a variety of professions to better understand how their interests connect to possible careers.
Core and CTE courses enhance career readiness through developing academic, technical and employment skills necessary to join the workforce. Career exploration, on the other hand, enhances career literacy or one’s capacity to make informed decisions when choosing a career.
Exposure to diverse careers and industries is extremely valuable to today’s students as it improves students’ knowledge of career options and eases the process of finding the perfect career path to follow.
With a better understanding of the working world, students can envision how they fit successfully into the workforce. Knowing the academic and skill-based preparation they will need for specific careers; students can set realistic goals for themselves and pursue them.
Motivation
Career exploration courses are also valuable in that they motivate students to set goals, persevere through challenges and more intentionally engage in their education.
Students involved in career exploration learn what the workforce looks like, and with that better understanding of what is to come, they become more motivated when confronted with big life decisions. In addition, they're also more likely to have higher grades as their education becomes more meaningful and they begin to understand its long-term effects.
In other words, career exploration courses are valuable motivators for students as it gives them perspective and a better sense of their future.
Need Resources to Showcase Careers to Your Students?
In this article, you've learned how career exploration enables students to gain valuable insight into potential careers, what skills are necessary and what routes they can take to reach their goals. With this information, students can imagine themselves in the workforce and make informed decisions both during and after their academic careers.
So what's next? How do you broach this essential subject with your students?
If you need resources to showcase some of the most important career options out there, check out the Career Clusters Poster Series from iCEV!
These free posters are a great way to introduce your students to the 16 Career Clusters and start them on their career journey. With these posters, students will gain a better perspective on the career options available to them in the subjects they love:
