1 Careers guidance, identity and development Jenny Bimrose Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick January 2009 Introduction Equipping individuals with the skills and understanding required to make appropriate career transitions, as well as supporting them on their journeys throughout life, are critical not only for an effectively functioning economy, but also for individual well-being. If children are properly supported in making their early career decisions, it is more likely that they will recognise the value of continuous learning, make progress towards realising their full potential and lead more fulfilling lives. By facilitating successful transitions into paid employment, high quality careers guidance can also help ameliorate social deprivation and poverty: Mounting evidence suggests that an individual’s level of consumption, self- esteem, social-status, and even happiness depend to a large extent on not just income, but also social status, associated with occupational attainment. (Brown, Sessions and Taylor, 2004, p20) Indeed, whilst the funding of careers guidance is commonly justified in terms of its contribution to creating and maintaining an efficiently functioning economy, it could equally be argued that it is justifiable in terms of contributing to the health and well- being of the nation. This paper will reflect on current careers provision in the UK, consider likely directions for its development and speculate on what could, and should, be. In so doing, the focus of the paper will incorporate discussions of models of careers development that would be necessary to support the more speculative scenarios. Keywords: work, careers, employment, society, deprivation, lifelong learning