Sustainable Careers Project

School: Moray House School of Education and Sport, Careers Service

Team: Mr. Stephen Sowa, Dr. Ramsey Affifi, Dr Sharon Maguire, 

Abstract

In preparing for their future careers young people face a complex web of challenges resulting from rapid changes in the world of work and environmental precarity. Young people entering the job market are now more likely to experience multiple career transitions, as well as novel changes from increased automation of jobs and the task and skill requirements within occupations. Concurrently, the occupations and industries young people choose to enter can both affect and be affected by climate change and sustainability initiatives. 

To support young people in understanding and engaging with this interconnected web of challenges, this project aims to develop a pioneering sustainable career learning intervention through a collaboration between the Careers Service and the Sustainability in Education Research Group. The learning intervention will be co-developed using a participatory design approach. Focus groups will be conducted with 18 students from different Schools to inform a career needs assessment. Subsequent workshops will be organised to bring 6 Careers Service practitioners together with students to develop, test, and evaluate the learning intervention. Data obtained from interviews and questionnaires will aid the development and evaluation of the intervention. The learning intervention will be designed to integrate within and enhance the Careers Service’s existing career education provisions. By helping students to reimagine their careers through an ecological mode of thinking, this project will support students to prepare for changing job markets, contribute to sustainable development, and gain self-enrichment. This project will thereby contribute to Strategy 2030 and the Sustainability and Social Responsibility Policy.