高中生对职业生涯规划对未来成功重要性的思考（英）

ACT Research | Issue Brief | February 2025 1 High School Students’ Thoughts on the Importance of Career Planning for Future Success Becky L. Bobek and Joyce Z. Schnieders Introduction As high school students plan for their future career paths, many discover that learning about their career options, making career choices, and figuring out how to achieve career goals can be exciting, unnerving, or overwhelming. Some students may think exploring careers is overrated, and others may assume that having a successful and satisfying career will just happen by itself. However, career planning is important in helping students make better-informed career choices and provides a foundation for their future career success. Career planning involves discovering careers that suit the personal characteristics (e.g., interests, skills, values) of individuals, which guide career goals and the actions that should be taken along one’s career path to attain them. Individuals who engage in different aspects of career planning expand their opportunities (Zikic & Klehe, 2006), enhance their perceived employability (Kleine et al., 2021), enhance their readiness to choose a career path (Kleine et al., 2021), make decisions that better fit them (Hirschi, 2011; Tsabari et al., 2005), and experience more positive career outcomes later, such as job performance and job satisfaction (Oh et al., 2014). Clearly, the positive consequences of career planning make it an important part of preparing students for success in the future. The context surrounding careers in recent years has also made planning for careers more important than ever. For example, technological advancement (e.g., generative artificial intelligence) is changing the landscape of work. Overall, it has been estimated that “28 percent of all tasks associated with current jobs will be at risk of automation by 2031” (Strohl et al., 2024, p. 20). Structural shifts in the labor market are also creating an unknown future of job opportunities. According to the World Economic Forum (2023), employers are expecting a “market churn of 23% of jobs in the next five years,” which is a measure of disruption that includes “emerging jobs added and declining jobs eliminated” (p. 6). Further, the majority of jobs that require a middle skill certificate and associate’s degree (52%) or a bachelor’s degree (66%) are expected to be good jobs by 2031 (based on annual earnings of at least $43,000 for workers ages 25–44 and $55,000 for workers ages 45–64 in 2022 dollars), up 21% from 2021 (Strohl et al., 2024). Additionally, there are gaps between U.S. job demands (projected to 2029) and the supply of people interested in those jobs, with higher-education-level jobs experiencing smaller interest gaps (Hoff et al., 2024). This career context shows a labor market that will continue to be in flux, with greater opportunities and interest alignment for those who pursue education or training beyond high school. It will be essential for individ