Career

1. CAREER READINESS IN THE PANDEMIC:
INSIGHTS FROM OECD PISA DATA FOR HONG
KONG
Anthony Mann
Senior Policy Adviser, Education and Skills,
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development
Twitter: @AnthonyMannOECD
Anthony.Mann@oecd.org

2. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation in
which governments work together to come up with solutions to common problems, develop global standards,
share experiences and identify best practices to promote better policies for better lives.
2
About the OECD
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica*
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
South Korea
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
European Union
Brazil
China
India
Indonesia
South Africa
KEY PARTNERS
OECD 38 member countries and 5 key partners represent about 80% of world trade and investment MEMBERS
@AnthonyMannOECD

3. A new project from OECD which asks:
How can schools best prepare all young people to compete for available jobs during a period
of high unemployment?
Methodology: Review of national longitudinal datasets to identify indicators of career readiness:
where young people do better in work than would be expected given their academic qualifications and
social backgrounds.
OECD PISA data allows us to observe variations in indicators of career readiness between and within
countries and economic areas, including in China: Hong Kong and Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and
Zhejiang (B-S-J-Z).
3
Career Readiness in the Pandemic

4. Provisional indicators at 15:
Thinking about the future
1. Teenage uncertainty
2. Career ambition
3. Career misalignment
Exploring the future
1. Career conversations with adults
2. Occupational exploration
3. Career development activities
Experiencing the future
1. Teenage employment
2. Student internship
3. Teenage volunteering
4
Review of existing published analyses of career readiness indicators in
national longitudinal datasets
https://www.oecd-
ilibrary.org/education/career
-ready_e1503534-en

5. 5
About the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
@AnthonyMannOECD

6. 6
Thinking about the future: career uncertainty
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
B-S-J-Z (China) Hong Kong (China) OECD average
Teenage career uncertainty, OECD PISA 2000-2018.
2000 2018

7. 7
Thinking about the future: career uncertainty
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
All students Girls Boys Bottom quarter
SES
Top quarter SES Low performers High performers
Teenage career uncertainty by student characteristics. OECD PISA 2018.
B-S-J-Z (China) Hong Kong (China) OECD average

8. 8
Thinking about the future: career misalignment
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
All students Advantaged students Disadvantaged students
Teenage career misalignment. OECD PISA 2018.
B-S-J-Z (China) Hong Kong (China) OECD average

9. 9
Exploring the future: career development activities
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0
I did an internship
I attended a job shadowing or work-site visit
I visited a job fair
I spoke to a career advisor at my school
I spoke to career advisor outside of my school
I completed a questionnaire to find out about my interests
and abilities.
I researched the internet for information about careers
I went to an organised tour in an ISCED 3-5 institution.
I researched the internet for information about ISCED 3-5
programmes.
Teenage participation in career development activities. OECD PISA 2018.
OECD average - 18 Hong Kong (China)

10. 10
Exploring the future: career development activities
[CELLRANGE]
[CELLRANGE]
[CELLRANGE]
[CELLRANGE]
[CELLRANGE]
[CELLRANGE]
[CELLRANGE]
[CELLRANGE]
[CELLRANGE]
0 20 40 60 80 100
I did an internship
I attended a job shadowing or work-site visit
I visited a job fair
I spoke to a career advisor at my school
I spoke to career advisor a outside of my school
I completed a questionnaire to find out about my
interests and abilities.
I researched the internet for information about
careers
I went to an organised tour in an ISCED 3-5
institution.
I researched the internet for information about
ISCED 3-5 programmes.
Disadvantaged student Advantaged student
Difference in percentage-point (Advantaged minus
disadvantaged students)
A

11. 11
Career agency: the capacity to aspire (Apparadui, 2004)

12. 12
Exploring the future: career development activities
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
1.10
1.20
1.30
1.40
1.50
I did an internship I attended a job shadowing
or work-site visit
I visited a job fair I spoke to a career advisor
at my school
OECD average Hong Kong
Odds ratio
Odds ratio of the likelihood of students agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement
"Trying hard at school will help me get a good job"

13. How much is enough?
Which students need more?
How do we go beyond managing outputs to enabling outcomes?
How do we know if provision will work in difficult economic situations?
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Next steps: the development of data-driven tools for career guidance
New OECD 12 month project and forthcoming
working paper:
Career Ready? How schools can better
prepare young people for working life in the
era of COVID-19

14. In December 2020, OECD launched a 12-month project aimed at helping countries and schools to
improve the career readiness of young people.
Opportunity for policy officials and practitioners to get involved (no cost):
(i) receiving findings (regular publications through 2021)
(ii) sharing examples of effective practice
(iii) influencing future work. Email: Anthony.Mann@oecd.org.
Twitter: @AnthonyMannOECD
 Study will draw on further national longitudinal data and PISA datasets to help schools enhance
career readiness, leading to the creation of national and institutional indicators.
 Country analysis of PISA career-related data available for commissioning.
14
Next steps: career readiness in the pandemic

15. Additional slides
15

16.  Starts early (primary) and intensifies around key decision points
 Connects classroom learning with future economic lives
 Provides easy access to trustworthy labour market information and
advice/guidance from well-trained and impartial professionals
 Addresses information asymmetries about specific professions and challenges
stereotyping
 Broadens understanding of the labour market – focusing in particular
occupations which are poorly understood and of strategic importance
 Targets young people from disadvantaged backgrounds for the greatest levels of
intervention
 Is experiential with rich and plentiful engagement from the world of work
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Context: good practice in career guidance
Musset, P. and L. Mytna Kurekova (2018), "Working it out: Career Guidance and Employer
Engagement", OECD Education Working Papers, No. 175, OECD Publishing,
Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/51c9d18d-en.

17. At the end of 2019, the international organisations
(European Commission, Cedefop, European Training
Foundation, International Labor Organisation, OECD,
UNESCO) jointly publish Investing in Career Guidance:
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Context: Never before in human history has career guidance been so
important
• Young people stay in education longer than ever
• More decisions to make & they are more difficult because…
• Education and training is increasing fragmented
• Automation is driving an increasing dynamic labour market –
making investment decisions more difficult
• Growing evidence that career guidance works and what young
people think about their working futures and experience
potential working futures matters to their adult outcomes