Representatives from 26 countries are this week feeding back to their respective governments the principles established at a major conference for careers development policy makers held in Aviemore last week.
The principles, agreed by experts at the 4th International Symposium on Careers Development and Public Policy, have implications for policy-making in government, education and careers guidance that extend far beyond UK or European boundaries.
Many developing nations from around the world were also at the symposium where they discussed the role careers guidance in social and economic development. Other issues, including the role of the citizen in developing careers guidance services and how to measure the impact of advice, were also discussed.
Among the principles agreed were:
ï Career development services need to be more closely linked to community development and to social, economic and environmental sustainability
ï Stronger tools and practices are need to measure service quality, both for improving professional practice and for credibility with policy-makers
ï The preferred route to harnessing ethnic and cultural diversity is to structure universal services in sufficiently flexible forms to take account of the variety of client needs and contexts.
ï Care needs to be taken to ensure that the focus on outcomes does not undermine the responsibility of career development services to respect the values and interests of users,
ï Varied ways of engaging users and potential users should be explored and should be evaluated to influence careers development policies.
Each country team that attended the symposium will produce a national action plan to incorporate, where possible, the agreed principles into their own national careers guidance policies and services. Delegates also agreed to encourage the establishment or development of national forums for career leadership in public policy, which can be used to take forward national plans and link into the new EU Guidance Forum.
Progress on national plans can then be discussed at the next International Symposium on Career Development & Public Policy in Wellington, New Zealand.
Vivienne Brown, Head of Strategy & Policy at Careers Scotland, said: ìThe symposium was a great success and all of the countries that attended recognise the important role career guidance can play in meeting a variety of socio-economic goals.
ìThe symposium enabled delegates to discuss the various challenges facing their countries, and world, when it comes to empowering and developing individualís careers, and to share knowledge and best practice.
ìThe principles agreed will enable Careers Scotland to build on and refine the services we provide to further develop the role careers guidance plays in meeting the challenges facing Scotland.î
It was the first time the symposium had been held in the UK.
Careers Advice Worldwide Influenced by Aviemore Symposium
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