Careers Advice

I was irritated by the recent flurry of headlines announcing that the Government wants to outlaw “bad” careers advice tht results in girls drifting into stereotypically girly professions such as hairdressing and boys into traditionally macho spheres such as engineering.

How predictable. Attacking careers advisers has, like flooding, become something we Brits do at least twice a year: the Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs and Girlguiding UK had a pop at them in 2007; the CBI and Tony Blair had a go in 2006; and the Equal Opportunities Commission was among the bodies that slagged them off in 2005.

Also, how utterly misguided. Such pronouncements demonstrate how little politicians understand about how normal people make career decisions. Which is not surprising, I suppose, given that politicians are not normal. Anyone who could recite, verbatim, the speeches of Michael Foot by the age of 10 is going to struggle with the notion that other people might not be so sure about what they want to do.

Indeed, one of the reasons why careers advisers shouldn’t be blamed for poor career decisions is that, in general, most people don’t actually make career decisions….

Read atTimes Online