Understanding careers education

In this step we briefly look at the wider context, thinking about the reasons for linking curriculum learning and STEM careers together. In the video, Professor Sir John Holman outlines the national rationale and the reasons why it’s important for students to have embedded career learning.

We are living through a period of unprecedented change. Consider how technology has developed in our own lifetime; from sophisticated digital and communications devices to advanced healthcare, our lives are now entwined and dependent on the innovations of the last two decades. Technology is rapidly transforming the way that businesses organise themselves and the products and services they offer.

It is partly due to this pace of change that most UK business leaders in STEM industries report that they struggle to recruit staff with appropriate skills. Independent research has shown that over 73% of businesses have struggled to recruit candidates with the appropriate STEM skills. Addressing the STEM skills ‘gap’ is among the most pressing of national priorities, important not just for economic prosperity but also for social mobility of young people.

Discuss

We’ve suggested a few reasons why careers learning is so important, but what is a teacher’s role in supporting career education?

Share your thoughts about your role in supporting your students’ career learning below.