Career development research for evidence-based policy

Given that the current issue of the Australian Journal of Career Development is devoted to career development and social inclusion, it is appropriate to consider the contribution that the field of career development can make to national policy agenda and formulations on the basis of research. At the International Symposium for Career Development and Public Policy held in 2009 in Wellington, New Zealand, there was a call for better exploiting the evidence of impact that career development interventions have upon individuals, for the purposes of formulating public policies and programs. Indeed, there is already a quantum of empirical evidence indicative of the capacity of career development interventions to make significant changes in the everyday lives of individuals. Accordingly, it is worth considering how this ever-growing evidence-base can be extended to audiences and applications beyond the career development profession itself, so as to make additional contributions to the macro-level of fundamental areas such as education, employment and social inclusion; and this point is particularly relevant for those targets identified by the Council of Australian Governments. What is presented below is a précis of an evidence-base to illustrate its currency and how it can be used at an institutional level. In this particular case, the précis refers to how career development research can be used to improve students’ educational experiences and outcomes—indeed a matter of national significance given the current world-of-work and international issues of labour supply