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For decades, career development leaders have pointed out that students thrive when career learning is woven into their daily lives – not bolted on. The OECD (2020) confirms that even small, early engagements in career conversations predict higher levels of career readiness and eventual employment outcomes. CERIC (2020) emphasizes the same point: career development is not only about employability, but about student well-being and agency.
What we’ve learned from the field
Across K-12 schools, hybrid and online learning models, and through non-profit organizations that work with students, one pattern emerges: career conversations are the lever that moves young people from passive awareness to action.
Findings from our partner networks show that when students participate in structured career conversations:
- They take action. Conversations reliably increase the likelihood that students report “knowing their next steps.” Even small touchpoints – like talking with a peer, teacher or mentor – multiply the chances that students will engage in exploration activities such as job shadowing, career fairs or informational interviews.
- They experience greater well-being. Knowing their interests, values and strengths is associated with higher levels of positive well-being. For some, this engagement can also bring new pressures – reminding us that career conversations should be paired with supports that help students manage the stress of taking ownership of their futures.
- They build identity and agency. Competencies such as reflection, shaping, exploring and networking consistently predict stronger career identity and more agency in decision-making. After completing a career literacy activity in a high school class, one student put it: “It makes me feel like school is actually about me, not just the subjects.”
These are not costly interventions. They don’t require new facilities or massive budgets. They rely on two simple, proven principles: dialogue leads to action. Identity leads to agency.
Why the dialogic method matters
The key is not just having more conversations – it’s having better ones. A dialogic (or conversation-based) approach, grounded in thoughtful, open-ended questions, ensures that any adult – teacher, mentor, parent or classmate – can create meaningful space for career dialogue. Transitional frameworks keep these conversations simple and accessible, making it easier for more people to participate. This is the “big tent” of career development: anyone can step inside and contribute.
Big tent, big impact
Many schools and districts have invested heavily in programs, clubs, and partnerships to improve career readiness. By including career conversations for all students regularly, more students connect their various life experiences to what is happening in the classroom. Whether it was a guest speaker, an after-school job or an internship, students explore how what they are learning connects to their future possibilities. Additionally, ongoing career conversations activate career curiosity, which helps students seek out new opportunities, explore clubs and tap into the programs schools have to offer.
Experiences from our field work include a range of different ways to include career conversations as part of ongoing practice:
- A traditional brick-and-mortar school that uses career conversations as a learning and engagement strategy in all content areas.
- An online school that provides relational anchors where students might otherwise feel disconnected though an advisory model as well as course integration.
- A non-profit community group that extends career learning beyond the school day, broadening reach and equity by adding career conversations to after school programs.
“Ongoing career conversations activate career curiosity, which helps students seek out new opportunities …”
Emerging evidence from longitudinal studies in U.S. school districts reinforces these patterns: when career conversations are embedded across grades, students demonstrate measurable gains in clarity, identity and agency.¹ Many systems invest in work-based learning experiences, but foundational work with career identity maximizes the ability of students to engage with those programs. In other words, career conversations help students identify interests, then move to action and explore those interests through programs, clubs, internships, etc. These results echo what Canadian career researchers (Redekopp, Magnusson, Huston, et al.) have long argued – career dialogue is not an add-on, but a foundation for readiness and well-being.
The impact is consistent: career conversations work because they’re low-cost, low-drag and high-impact. They maximize existing systems, extend the reach of work-based learning and directly connect to student well-being.
For school leaders: Putting career conversations into practice
To move from principle to practice, three starting actions stand out:
- Integrate into PD – Dedicate one professional development session to introducing the dialogic method, equipping teachers with simple, open-ended questions.
- Embed in advisory/Social Emotional Learning – Use existing structures (homerooms, advisory blocks, SEL time) to hold career conversations at scale.
- Leverage community partners – Invite non-profits, employers and mentors to extend conversations beyond the school day.
To measure progress, districts can begin with three simple indicators:
- % of students who report, “I know my next step.”
- % of students who can name at least one career of interest.
- Increase in participation in work-based learning (e.g. guest speakers, virtual field trips, career fairs, job shadows, internships) after conversations are introduced.
Together, these actions and indicators ensure that investments in pathways and work-based learning are reinforced by the daily dialogue that motivates students to act.
Moving forward
As Phil Jarvis, Sareena Hopkins and Kris Magnusson have argued in their work on Canadian career development, our task is to make career learning a whole-community responsibility. Anyone can hold a career conversation. With a common framework, they’re easier to start and more effective to sustain.
The evidence is now clear: career conversations are not just talk. They are action. Dialogue leads to action. Identity leads to agency. These simple truths remind us that investing in conversation is investing in both well-being and readiness for the future.
Footnote
¹Emerging findings are drawn from ongoing longitudinal research in Quakertown Community School District (PA), where more than 1,600 students across grades 4-12 participated in structured career conversations.
