Parental involvement in career education and guidance in secondary education

Abstract

A European political focus on involving parents  in education seeks to reduce the dropout rate, in order to improve the efficiency of the educational system. This is a valuable drive because the research literature suggests that parents are important influencers and advisers. Internationally, interventions have been designed to involve parents more in adolescents’ career development since the 1960s. These interventions can be arranged in three models: (a) career information-centred; (b) family learning; and (c) family therapy. Moving forwards, it is important to develop stronger models for parental engagement in career guidance, alongside an accompanying research agenda.