Careers and labour market information: an international review of the evidence
Rosie Alexander
Graham McCabe
Graham McCabe is a labour market information specialist at Education Development Trust. He has worked in information management for many years and was a leader of the one of the regional teams which managed the development of one of the first publicly accessible computerised databases of course information in the UK (TAP). He holds a BA in Art History and an MA in Human Resource Management.
Mark De Backer
Mark is our IAG (information, advice and guidance) Commercial Manager. He has worked in careers for over 20 years, with half of this time as a careers adviser working with young people and adults. Prior to his role now, Mark managed our National Careers Service contracts from 2012 to 2019 and also managed delivery and service for more than 60 schools in London.
Effective careers advice is impossible without good quality labour market information. Careers professionals and advisers, the people whose job it is to offer and support careers advice in the community or in schools, are key to success. Vital to their work is access and familiarity with a robust and sophisticated body of intelligence about the labour market.
Through the publication of this review we seek to provide clarity and practical insight for two key audience groups – policymakers and practitioners involved in careers services. We draw lessons from the evidence to enable policymakers to create excellent careers services, supported by excellent LMI; and we assist the providers and users of LMI with insight into what constitutes good practice in its creation and use.
We have identified evidence for the following key findings in the literature:
- There is a need for a clear and inclusive view about what is meant by LMI
- Technology can improve access to LMI but can also create problems in terms of quality
- The LMI available to service users is not always sufficiently comprehensive
- For the end-user, the quality of LMI is more important than quantity
- Careers professionals need to be appropriately skilled in the use and mediation of LMI and keep their knowledge up to date
- The use of LMI should be linked to insights derived from the developing 'theory' of careers decision-making
The findings of this review suggest that central, regional and local government action can play an important facilitative and integrating role, creating the conditions for a strong careers service based on good LMI. This report explores steps that could be taken to achieve this.