Executive Summary

The research presented in this report has sought to investigate a number of issues relating to the 1996 introduction of the Careers Information and Guidance Policy package, with specific reference to:

• the types of career information and guidance provided by schools
• schools' awareness of and access to resources
• schools' assessments of the quality and relevance of resources available to them
• students' assessments of the quality and relevance of resources and programmes provided by schools
• schools' assessments of the extent to which they are meeting the careers information and guidance needs of their students, especially those students at risk of becoming unemployed
• the impact of the CIGS package on schools' provision of career information and guidance.

The research builds upon and incorporates the findings of a baseline study of schools undertaken by the researchers in 1996. Using longitudinal analyses, it identifies changes in schools' policies and practices which have resulted from the introduction of the CIGS package and the impact these changes have had on students.

Research Methods

The research consisted of four main activities:

• Personal interviews with representatives (careers advisors and, in some cases, other staff) of 23 state secondary or area schools where personal interviews were also conducted in the 1996 baseline study.
• Group interviews and surveys using a self-administered questionnaire with students in twelve of the schools which were visited by the researchers.
• A postal survey of careers advisors in the 92 state secondary or area schools which responded to the 1996 baseline study postal survey.
• Examination of written documentation relating to career information and guidance policies and practices obtained from the schools participating in the personal interview and postal surveys.

Careers Information and Guidance Activities

Schools primarily organise their careers information and guidance programmes according to the year/form of the students. The careers information and guidance which is offered to junior students (Years 9 and 10) typically involves all or most students and is general in nature. As students become more senior (and more closely approach the time when they will be leaving school) the career information and guidance they are offered becomes more targeted to their specific needs and the range of activities available to them increases.

The results of the 1998 survey are generally similar to those found in 1996, although some interesting changes in schools' provision of careers information and guidance have occurred over the past two years. As in 1996, in broad terms the careers information and guidance activities offered by schools fall into three types:

1. Activities aimed at increasing students' awareness of the careers options open to them and of the programmes offered by the school to assist them. As well as raising awareness, these activities seek to motivate and focus students on the need to think about their options for the future.
2. Activities aimed at assisting students to gain employment after leaving school. These activities are targeted at students who are unlikely to go on to tertiary education.
3. Activities aimed at providing students with accurate information about their options for tertiary study.

Within the general framework outlined above, the approaches adopted by individual schools vary widely, with each school adopting a mix of practices which aims to suit its unique circumstances.

Year 9/Form3: In Year 9, in 62% of schools all students are reported to have taken part in generic programmes which involved a component of careers information and guidance. These are often modules or units incorporated in Social Studies classes. Furthermore, in 33% of schools all Year 9 students were involved in class discussions with careers advisors and in 31% of schools all Year 9 students were involved in the preparation of individual student profiles.

Year 10/Form 4: By Year 10, students are typically involved in a wider range of careers information and guidance activities - activities which involve all students or activities which, through targeting or self selection, involve only some students. In Year 10, the activities in which all students most commonly participated include generic programmes held in-school, class discussions with careers advisors and preparation of individual student profiles.

The activities which were most commonly undertaken by Year 10 students on a targeted basis include individual interviews with careers advisors and participation in STAR programmes.

Year 11/Form 5: Year 11 students were generally involved in a wider range of career information and guidance activities than Year 9 or Year 10 students. In particular, more Year 11 students were involved in activities which were specifically targeted to their particular needs such as individual interviews with careers advisors, participation in STAR programmes and participation in work experience programmes.

By Year 11, there is a clearer focus by schools on activities aimed at preparing students to enter the workforce or on identifying possible future careers. This is also shown by the increasing proportion of schools at which some or all Year 11 students participated in CV writing programmes and job application/interview skills practice and attended tertiary open days and careers expos.

Year 12/Form 6: Year 12 is the year at which, in many schools, student participation in activities associated with careers information and guidance peaks. This is especially true of students who are not planning to go on to tertiary study. It is in Year 12 that the proportion of students involved in the following activities is highest:

• participation in STAR
• participation in work experience programmes
• job application/interview skills practice
• CV writing programmes/modules

Year 13/Form 7: In contrast to Year 12 where the focus of the careers information and guidance provided by schools is on assisting school leavers to find employment, in Year 13 the focus shifts to assisting students who are planning to move on to tertiary education. It is in Year 13 that the proportion of students involved in the following activities is highest:

• attendance at tertiary open days
• visits by tertiary liaison officers
• individual interviews with careers advisors

Changes in Careers Information and Guidance Activities

In the 1996 and 1998 surveys the same set of schools were asked identical questions about the proportion of their students at each level from Year 9 to Year 13+ who participated in 13 types of careers information and guidance activities.

There are a number of careers information and guidance activities in which the mean proportion of students participating at each school increased between 1996 and 1998. These include:

• class discussions with careers advisors
• generic programmes held in-school
• individual student profiles
• STAR programmes
• in-school careers forums

Only one activity exhibited a significant decline in mean student participation between 1996 and 1998 - Year 13+ attendance at visits by tertiary liaison officers. This decline could be attributable to changes to eligibility for training allowances creating a higher proportion of Year 13+ students who do not intend to undertake tertiary education (and hence are less likely to participate in visits by tertiary liaison officers).

Resources Used by Schools

The resources used by schools to provide careers guidance include:

Computer based information resources: The main computer based resources used by schools were the Quest database/Careers Quest program produced by The Careers Service and the KiwiCareers internet site.

Most careers advisors said they were familiar with the KiwiCareers web site and almost all of those that were familiar with the site said their school planned to provide students with access to the site. A large majority of careers advisors also believe that they have not yet had sufficient training to use the site effectively.

Careers advisors identified a number of issues relating to the KiwiCareers web site which they were concerned about. The main areas of concern were:

• that written material available from the Careers Service should not be phased out in favour of on-line material.
• that at the time of the survey the KiwiCareers site was not yet fully functional
• that many schools face ongoing problems allocating and funding student access to the internet including access to the KiwiCareers site.
• that students use the site effectively

Video resources

The Pathways video series is the most common video resource used by schools. Two thirds (64%) of those schools which use the current series indicated they would, depending on purchase price, be interested in purchasing a second series if such a series was produced.

Written material

Again, as in 1996, schools receive a vast array of written careers material, most if it promotional material from tertiary providers. Some schools noted the value of written material sourced from The Careers Service and reiterated the importance of retaining resources in written form at the same time as they are increasingly becoming available on-line.

Human resources

Human resources used by schools primarily involved:

• Liaison personnel from tertiary institutions: All schools are visited by liaison personnel from tertiary institutions.
• Parents/past pupils/community role models: A small number of schools involved parents as an important resource in the delivery of careers while others used parents to help with work experience placements. Past pupils and other community members are often used by schools to provide careers advice and act as role models.
• School careers advisors and guidance counsellors: Most careers advisors do not hold any formal qualifications specifically relating to careers advice although most have undertaken some type of in-service training from providers such as The Careers Service. Many advisors also hold diplomas, certificates or degrees in guidance and counselling. There is widespread demand among advisors for further training in careers advice, preferably through short course sessions or using distance learning technology.

Most schools also use The Careers Service in some capacity.

• A large number of schools (84%) said they involve The Careers Service as a provider of professional development such as induction and refresher courses for careers advisors and, increasingly, training in the use of the KiwiCareers internet site.
• Over one third of schools (37%) said The Careers Service was involved in providing guidance services to their students. This typically involved working with at-risk students, programmes for Māori students, seminars/workshops on CV preparation and individual student interviews.
• A similar proportion of schools (39%) said they involve The Careers Service in some other capacity, including assistance with Careers Days/Evenings, assistance with careers strategic planning, helping to establish school-industry partnerships and assisting with work placements.

Two thirds of schools (66%) indicated that they use external providers of careers information and guidance services other than The Careers Service. These external providers range widely and include private practitioners, tertiary liaison officers, work trusts and government agencies such as Workbridge and NZES (now WINZ).

Schools Assessment of Policies and Practices

In the 1996 and 1998 surveys the same set of schools were asked identical questions about the extent to which their careers information and guidance policies and practices were meeting the needs of three different groups of students:

• Students at risk of becoming unemployed
• Māori students
• Pacific Island students

A five point scale was used where a score of "1" means that the school's performance in meeting the needs of a particular group is regarded as "not at all satisfactory' and a score of "5" means that the school's performance is regarded as "highly satisfactory.

Overall, in 1998 careers advisors believe that their policies and practices are better meeting the careers information and guidance needs of students at risk of becoming unemployed and Pacific Island students than was the case in 1996. Careers advisors did not , however, report any significant overall increase between 1996 and 1998 in their assessment of the satisfactoriness of their programmes in meeting the needs of Māori students.

While in 1996 the mean scores for the three types of students assessed (students at risk of becoming unemployed, Māori students and Pacific Island students) all fell within a narrow range (3.10 to 3.17), in 1998 the range had widened, with the mean scores for students at risk of becoming unemployed ranging up to 3.70 and for Pacific Island student ranging up to 3.52 whereas the highest mean score for Māori students was 3.32. This would indicate that careers advisors do not believe they have made as much progress between 1996 and 1998 in meeting the careers needs of Māori students as they have in meeting the needs of students at risk of becoming unemployed and of Pacific Island students.

Persistent Gaps

Overall, two thirds of careers advisors (67%) said they had identified persistent gaps in the provision of careers information and guidance services. Gaps which were commonly identified by advisors include:

• Lack of time to do their job to the standard they would like. In particular, advisors would like more time to provide students with individual attention rather than having to deal with students mainly in group settings.
• Lack of computing resources : This problem may be exacerbated in the future as greater emphasis is placed on computer-based careers resources (eg the KiwiCareers web site).
• The need for further development of programmes aimed at junior students (Year 9 and Year 10, and, in composite schools, Year 7 and Year 8 students).
• Lack of space for careers programmes within an increasingly crowded timetable.
• Lack of student motivation : Some schools, particularly those serving students from lower socio-economic communities, noted that they faced the ongoing problem of motivating students to plan for their careers in a climate where many students had low expectations of undertaking tertiary study or even of finding employment when they left school. This problem was compounded by a lack of role models in the local community and among students' peers and a labour market which offered few opportunities for school leavers.

Students' Assessments of Resources

As part of the research process, the views of 130 students in twelve of the schools which were visited by the researchers were obtained using group interviews and a self-administered questionnaire.

Almost all students (97%) said they knew who their careers advisor was although somewhat fewer (80%) indicated that they knew what type of services their school's careers advisor provided.

The resources which students were most likely to be aware of included:

• Careers library/resource room
• Work experience programmes
• Personal interviews with careers advisors
• Quest computer database
• Open days at tertiary institutions
• Careers Exposure

The resources which students were most likely to have used (among those schools known to offer the resource) include:

• Careers library/resource room
• Quest computer database
• Personal interviews with careers advisors
• Careers Expos
• Work experience programmes
• Presentations by tertiary institutions
• Open days at tertiary institutions

The most highly rated resources tended to be those that provide students with opportunities for "hands on" interaction and one to one situations. They included:

• Careers Exposure
• Tertiary open days
• Taster days/STAR courses
• Personal interviews with careers advisors
• Work experience programmes

The lowest scores were given to more "impersonal" resources such as the KiwiCareers web site (which was incomplete at the time of the research), Pathways videos and the Quest database.

Overall, 81% of students thought their school provided them with the information they needed to successfully plan their future careers.

Overall Impact of CIGS Policy

In general, schools reported that the CIGS package has had a positive impact on the delivery of careers information and guidance. The specification of the National Administrative Guideline 1 (vi) has raised the profile of careers advice within schools and the funding delivered to schools as part of the CIGS package had allowed additional resources to be purchased.

Most schools were able to report positive changes in their careers information and guidance activities as a consequence of the CIGS package. None reported negative changes. The positive changes have been grouped into six main themes:

1. Physical resources: A large number of schools reported that they have increased or improved the physical resources associated with careers information and guidance. Common examples included expanding or upgrading careers rooms, computer hardware and software and internet connections. Several schools also indicated that they were using CIGS funds to subsidise students' transportation costs to careers expos and tertiary open days.
2. Human resources: Several schools have increased the level of ancillary support for careers advisors and others have increased the proportion of time available to careers advisors. A few schools have used CIGS money to expand their use of external providers including advisors from The Careers Service.
3. Integration of programmes: A number of schools reported that they have developed careers information and guidance programmes that were integrated from Year 9 to Year 13+ and/or were more closely integrated into other areas of the curriculum.
4. Policy development/planning: Several schools said they have revised their careers policies as a consequence of the CIGS initiatives while others outlined specific programme areas which they have developed (eg, a new programme for all Year 10 students). A small number have adopted a strategic planning approach to identifying their longer term careers objectives and activities.
5. Targeting at risk students: Some schools indicated that they were using the additional CIGS resources to more closely target those students they regarded most at risk of becoming unemployed when they left school.
6. More individualised attention: Several schools indicated that they were now focusing more closely on the individual needs of students through the use of profiles, individualised programmes and one to one interviews with careers advisors.

Planned Future Changes

Most schools plan to make future changes to their careers policies and practices. Examples of areas of future change which were identified by schools included:

• increasing the time allocated to careers advisors
• targeting "at risk" students more closely
• improving internet access for students
• focusing more on Year 9 and Year 10 students
• focusing more on the needs of Māori and Pacific Island students

Consistent with the above findings, on average schools thought that in 1998 their careers programmes were more satisfactorily meeting the needs of "at risk" and Pacific Island students than was the case in 1996. Schools did not, however, record a similar improvement in the way their careers programmes were meeting the needs of Māori students.