TECHNICAL ANNEX

1. S&T EXCELLENCE
1.1. SOUNDNESS OF THE CHALLENGE
1.1.1. DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF THE ART 1
The concept of career draws together work and learning and, in more expansive definitions, also
brings in other elements such as family, community, leisure and citizenship (McCash et al., 2021).
Career is not a single moment of decision when we choose one job over another. It is the ongoing
fabric of our lives. Our careers are conducted continuously, and they develop in social and political
contexts that provide contrasting opportunities and limitations.

In the contemporary world careers are going through a profound series of changes. Longer term
social, and economic trends including globalisation, climate change, shifting gender roles, socio-
economic and ethnic inequalities and migration are combining with short term crises such as the
banking crisis, the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine to create a major rupture in the way that
individuals experience careering. Intertwined with all these changes is the neoliberal context which
both shapes the labour market and remakes individual subjectivity, encouraging people to view
solutions to their problems and their career management in individualistic ways.

Alongside these social, political and economic changes there are also a wide range of technological
trends which are also transforming society and the operation of contemporary careers. The project will
pay particular attention to key technological trends such as automation and artificial intelligence, the
integration of the physical and digital worlds (the internet of things), increasing digitalisation, social
media and virtual reality. We will also attend to related socio-technical trends around digital ownership,
control and enclosure, the way in which automation interacts with existing skills and labour needs and
industrial relations and shifts in the nature of production and scarcity. In direct relation to career and
career guidance such technological shifts have already begun a process of transformation through
forms of e-learning, e-counselling, e-recruitment, and e-human resource management processes. As
these trends continue, they promise to interact with the political, social and economic trends already
highlighted in profound ways, which this project will need to focus on.

Amongst all these changes we are seeing profound shifts in the nature of work and learning which are
felt at the level of the society, the organisation and the individual. Indeed, organisations and employers
play a key role in shaping the nature of careers through the specification of jobs and skills needs and
the management of human capital. Given this, the project will engage closely with the demand side of
the labour market, examining how employers are mediating macro trends and also how they are
interacting with career guidance policies and systems.

The COST Action will seek to explore all of these multi-scalar changes through the lens of career
studies and with a strong interest in public policy interventions that can be described as ‘career
guidance’.

Career studies is an inter-disciplinary field which draws on psychology, sociology, education,

organisation studies, economics and other fields to explore how people move through their lives, relate
to others and to organisations and examine how people balance their efforts, time and agency in
different aspects of their lives and across time. It acknowledges the diversity of experience that
individuals have, recognising that they are often structured by class, gender, ethnicity, geography,
migrant status and other factors, but also highlights the importance of recognising individual

1
We have only included key references in this discussion, which have also been included in the accompanying reference
document. Further references for the points made in this discussion can be provided on request.
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trajectories through social, political and economic structures. It is also a field which is characterised by
the use of diverse methods ranging from econometric analysis of administrative datasets to deep
ethnographic studies. The proposers are drawn from across this methodological tradition and include
researchers working in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods traditions.

Contemporary work in career studies addresses diverse themes such as automation and artificial
intelligence (Akkok, 2020), decent work (Gee, 2022; Young et al., 2021), entrepreneurship, higher
education (Burke & Christie, 2018, Romito, 2022), lifelong learning and the older workforce, migration
(Hughes et al., 2019; Vehviläinen & Souto, 2021; Young et al, 2020), precarity (Lucas Casanova et al,
2019), schools, social inclusion (Young et al., 2019) and transitions between education and work and
other life stages. What unites all this work is an interest in the interface between the individual’s
psychology and lived experience and organisational and social and economic systems. Such work is
particularly critical during periods of social and economic change and transition as the existing ‘career
scripts’ which individuals are used to undergo a transformation, necessitating new career management
strategies (Bergmo-Prvulovic, 2020).

An important area of focus within the field of career studies explores the nature and impact of career
guidance as a public policy intervention within the education and employment system. Career
guidance is an overarching term that is used to describes a wide range of purposeful interventions
which can support individuals and groups to develop their careers and shape their pathway through
life, learning and work (Hooley et al., 2018). Such activities may be variously described in local and
sectoral terminologies (e.g. career counselling, careers education, employability programmes), but all
such activities are designed to help individuals to make learning choices, to find and keep work and
then to manage their working lives as part of their broader lives, balancing work with family life,
citizenship and hobbies and pastimes. Because career guidance supports individuals to manage their
educational, social, and economic engagement it also contributes to a wide range of public policy
goals including supporting the effective functioning of the economy and the labour market and
education system and contributing to social mobility, social equity, health and wellbeing, positive
environmental behaviour and justice and rehabilitation.

Career guidance is an international activity which has been the concern of policy makers across
Europe and beyond. It has a global footprint and can be found in some form in most countries, but is
typically strongest in more developed economies. But, despite its importance to policymakers, and
numerous movements for professionalisation, it remains weakly professionalised with very substantial
variations in paradigm and implementation in different contexts. Where career guidance is delivered
effectively there is good evidence that it can lead to a variety of benefits for individuals including
personal wellbeing, success in the education system, successful transitions to the workplace,
sustained employment and access to decent work and increased lifetime earning potential
(Kashefpakdel & Percy, 2017).

There is evidence that proactively designed interventions can compensate for social inequalities and
support social justice (Mann et al., 2018) and that in a period of labour market turbulence, such as the
aftermath of Covid-19 and during the worldwide impact of the war in Ukraine, effective career services
can minimise inequalities, mitigate negative effects of crises on education and employment and
prepare young people to navigate a challenging transition to work.

There has been a growing movement within career studies to adopt critical approaches which address
the study of career and the practice of career guidance though a political lens informed by social
justice (e.g. Arthur et al., 2013; Hooley et al., 2018, 2019; Irving & Malik, 2003). Such approaches
draw on critical psychology (e.g. Prilleltensky & Stead, 2012), critical pedagogy and on a social
representation theory approach (Bergmo-Prvulovic, 2018) as well as other critical and emancipatory
traditions. This strand of thinking argues that neoliberalism provides a key context which shapes
individuals’ careers, often in ways that are detrimental to both the individual and to the social fabric
(Blustein, 2019).

In some cases, career guidance can be co-opted into such governmentality and used to shape careers
in line with the instrumental rationality of the labour market. However, it is also possible to imagine
alternative, critical roles for career guidance which seek to develop critical consciousness and
empower individuals in the face of such neoliberal rationalities. Interceding into such dilemmas about
the appropriate role of career guidance are a range of new technologies and the capacity to access
and analyse data in ways that promise to improve performance and efficiencies and guarantee
positive outcomes. However, such technocratic promises are not politically neutral and beg the
question as to in whose interest such technological reforms are carried out and what is lost, as well as
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what is gained. Critical approaches seek to subject all these assumptions to greater scrutiny and
consider the inherent tensions and implicit agendas that are inscribed into discussions of career and
career guidance.

This COST Action will go beyond the state of the art. It will explore careers and career guidance in the
contemporary world through a critical lens. This focuses attention on the relationship between the
individual’s psychology, technological transformation and the political economy, whilst also
encouraging us to think beyond current social relations and imagine a better future world. The COST
Action will bring scholars and stakeholders working in career studies together to build ideas, develop
new approaches to research and engage with both policy and practice. The aim of this interaction will
be to both enhance the scientific evidence in the field, support the development of new conceptual and
theoretical approaches and engage policy makers and practitioners in new forms of knowledge
transfer and dialogue.

1.1.2. DESCRIPTION OF THE CHALLENGE (MAIN AIM)

The concept of career was very useful to the sociological and philosophical traditions that emerged in
the 1980s and 1990s which emphasised the idea of individualisation. From this perspective career can
be viewed as the expression of Giddens’ reflexive project of the self as it asks individuals to exert their
agency between increasingly boundaryless social institutions. The COST Action seeks to explore
whether this conception of career remains viable in a new political and economic context.

These ideas were also useful to policy initiatives which sought to emphasise the individual and to
place responsibility onto individuals as social actors. The states’ role was no longer to manage the
labour force or to intercede with capital on the behalf of labour, but rather to build the stock of human
capital through education in ways which would support growth. Tony Blair’s ‘education, education,
education’ was one of the pithiest articulations of this human capital theory influenced policy, but there
were many others, notably in European skills and lifelong learning policy discourses. Individuals
needed to be mobile and highly skilled and to make career decisions carefully to make the most of the
educational investments that they made. Career guidance was an important technology which could
be used to underpin this project and support individuals to make good choices, stay in school and
invest their resources carefully. However, critical studies of policymaking highlight a subordination of
careers to market forces (Bergmo-Prvulovic, 2012) and note that many human capital focused
interventions, such as human resource management approaches, are co-opted into becoming a
technology for disciplining and governing the workforce in service of labour flexibility and reducing
workforce costs.

Since 2008 many of the assumptions of third-way neoliberalism have been under pressure from a
variety of directions. Intensifying interest in the climate crisis, rapid technological advancement and
growing migration have combined with economic crises to unsettle neoliberal certainties. Following the
pandemic this critical voice has become louder with subsequent challenges such crises around energy
supply, global supply chains and the cost-of-living leading to further instability. It is very likely that we
are entering a new phase of political economy and that as a result the shape of individual’s careers will
change along with the kinds of support needed. The European Skills Agenda shows how policy
makers are responding to the crisis in ways that emphasise environmental sustainability, social justice
and digital transformation, but which also continue to lean on human capital theory as the fundamental
basis of the approach. Moreover, despite the social affirmation of these priorities, policies on labour
and the labour market have not been able to fully respond to the concerns expressed by the
International Labour Organisation and guarantee decent work.

This has led some in the careers field and elsewhere to borrow Gramsci’s terminology and argue that
we are in an interregnum where old career formations and the public policy approaches that sought to
address them are dying, but that a new paradigm has yet to emerge. This has left many scholars
across Europe and beyond seeking to retheorise career, to ask questions about how career fits into
contemporary narratives about education, work, community and citizenship and develop new accounts
which proceed from different ontological and epistemological bases (e.g, Hooley et al., 2018; 2019).
An important part of this new dialogue has explored the role of national policies in education, skills,
employment and related areas and asked what the role of the state and organisations is in
underpinning individual’s career. This has led scholars to explore what post-crash, post-Covid, post-
neoliberal and even post-human career guidance would and should look like.

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The academic field of career studies, particularly those elements of it which are concerned with policy
interventions such as career guidance have been strongly influenced by the ebb and flow of policy
demands in the countries in which researchers and other key stakeholders are located. This means
that scholarship is often reactive and addressed to immediate policy concerns rather than taking the
longer view. It has also resulted in a fragmented research culture organised around a variety of
diverse national agendas and sectoral concerns (public vs private, education vs employment).
Opportunities for more theoretical and blue skies research have been limited within this field. The
creation of a COST network would bring about a forum for international collaboration, open a
collaborative space and champion a range of forms of research which could support the retheorisation
of career in the contemporary political economy. A key aim of the COST Action will be to increase
alignment across the network around key themes and issues that should form the basis of a future
research agenda in the field.

The COST Action will bring together a wide range of scholars working across Europe and beyond to
explore these important issues. Key to this would be broadening the inter-disciplinary basis of careers
studies by bringing scholars into the COST Action who may not identify with the field but who are
researching similar themes from other perspectives. Meetings and other activities will be designed to
foster inter-disciplinary, multi-method working and creative and collaborative approaches to research
questions will be encouraged.

The Action will also provide a vehicle for wider public and policy engagement. This is critical as career
studies is a field which is embedded in forms of practice funded by public policy. By increasing
dialogue, the COST Action will both enhance understanding of key issues and increase the impact of
the field on the practices and policies that it addresses. It will seek to explore and develop conceptual
understandings of career and career guidance in response to the current political economy and the
changing policy environment.

The network also includes policymakers, employers and practitioners who will aid in both developing
the analysis of the place of career in contemporary society and considering the wider implications of
the growing critical perspective on career. These are innovative approaches that are, in many ways,
not part of the common policy thinking and which would not be possible in the absence of a cross-
national network that integrates researchers, employers, policymakers and pracitioners.

The COST Action will support a network of researchers to explore the contemporary relevance of the
concept of career and to consider how the careers of individuals, collectives and communities can be
best supported. The Action will explore these through three main research questions, which will in turn
provide the main conceptual framework for the work undertaken through the project.

1. How can the challenges and changes that are happening to careers in the
contemporary world be understood? This includes a range of challenges and changes
such as the aftermath of the 2008 crash, Covid, the war in Ukraine, growing levels of
migration, technological transformation and the climate crisis. This work package will explore
how the shifts in global political economy manifest through individuals’ experience of work and
career, shaping aspirations and shifting the patterns and scripts that careers follow. Such
social, economic, technological and political trends highlight the recursive dialectic that exists
between the public world of politics and economics and the private world of the individual and
their aspirations. This strand will foster and encourage utopian and counter-factual thinking
about how work and career can be reimagined in more fulfilling and emancipatory ways. It will
also critically consider issues of strategy, and reflection on ‘what is to be done’ to bring about
new forms of career. This research question will be used to identify key issues and develop
new guidelines for career guidance which can inform the approach taken in the subsequent
two research questions.
2. How can policymakers respond to contemporary challenges to individuals’ careers?
Career guidance is primarily, although not exclusively, a public policy intervention. It is usually
mobilised through the education and skills system (leading to an important interface with
European lifelong learning policy) and through the public employment system. But, it can also
be found in a wide range of other places such as forms of youth work, work within the justice
system and in initiatives to support mid- and late-career changing. Massive changes and
challenges to the organisation of career ask policymakers to rethink the scale, nature and
deployment of career guidance policies and to rethink the role that career guidance should
pay in responsibilising individuals and disciplining them to market logics This strand will
explore the rationalities that are informing these changes, mapping the key approaches and
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 policies that are being employed, including considering how new technologies are being
integrated into career guidance policies and practice, and provide inspiration and evidence
that can support policymakers to move forwards. The engagement with policymakers will also
be conducted in dialogue with the following research question to address the reciprocal
relationship between policy and practice.
3. Can career guidance practice adopt a more critical stance to allow it to manage the
changing world more effectively? This question will build on the findings to the two previous
questions to explore the implications for career guidance practice. Career guidance draws on
a wide range of theoretical ideas, technologies and practical approaches to support people to
develop their careers. This strand of work will examine how the approaches that it deploys are
changing and develop ideas and innovative approaches that can align it more fully with a shift
towards social justice. This strand will develop and synthesise key concepts, set out a detailed
research and dissemination strategy for the field to enhance its engagement with practice and
forge new relationships with practitioners and practitioner representative bodies.

1.2. PROGRESS BEYOND THE STATE OF THE ART

1.2.1. APPROACH TO THE CHALLENGE AND PROGRESS BEYOND THE STATE OF THE
ART

The COST Action will organise a range of activities designed to foster critical exploration of the three
main research questions and the engagement of key stakeholders. The aim will be to advance
scientific thinking in this area, to build the research capacity of target countries and young researchers
and innovators and to build effective forms of dialogue with key stakeholders including practitioners,
employers and policymakers. To achieve this the following key activities will be undertaken.
 A launch conferences for the whole network (c.70 participants).
 Three scientific meetings focusing on key themes (c.55 participants).
 Career accelerator events for doctoral and post-doctoral researchers, including an annual
doctoral summer school (c.40 participants).
 The development of a blog which will serve as the hub for an online community of scholars and
stakeholders involved in the action. The blog will provide access to cutting edge scientific
thinking in the field for policymakers and practitioners and will open an online space for
dialogue. This will include policymakers, employers and practitioners being invited to contribute
blogs.
 Webinars, the development of online resources and other forms of online collaboration.
 Engagement events for policymakers and practitioners, such as conferences, meetings and
online interactions (c.70 participants).
 The production of briefings and digests for policymakers, employers, practitioners and
researchers.
 Production of a new edited volume exploring the new career paradigm, developing the literature
beyond the state of the art and examining what appropriate responses for policy and practice
might be.
 Production of a journal special issue or edited collection with a focus on young researchers and
innovators.
 Short term scientific missions designed to support young researchers and innovators to develop
their careers by building international networks and identifying opportunities for collaborative
publication and funding bids.
 Production of a future focused research agenda towards the end of the Action, synthesising
what has been learnt and setting out next steps.

1.2.2. OBJECTIVES
1.2.2.1. Research Coordination Objectives

The Action will be focused on three main objectives.

1. It will foster debate and discussion around the three research questions set out in section 1.3.
As part of this it will stimulate a range of publication and dissemination projects and support
the development of relationships between researchers working in different countries, traditions
and sectors and researchers at different career stages.
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 2. It will stimulate new research and funding bids addressed to the three research questions and
other key issues that emerge through the COST Action.
3. It will support the public communication of research insights and findings and create dialogue
between researchers, policy makers and practitioners.

1.2.2.2. Capacity-building Objectives

The Action has three main capacity building objectives.

1. It will support the career development of young researchers and innovators within the field.
Participants will have the opportunity to build international networks, co-publish with more
experienced researchers and participate in funding bids and research projects, through
participating in a wide variety of capacity building activities: conferences; summer schools,
knowledge sharing and transference activities, short term scientific missions for young
researchers and innovators.
2. It will support cross-European collaboration, particularly engaging and supporting researchers
from smaller states who do not have a domestic community of practice.
3. It will help practitioners, employers and policymakers to engage with research and theory in
the area and expand knowledge exchange. This objective will build capacity by creating new
knowledge, engaging policymakers, employers and practitioners in existing scientific
knowledge and critically by forging new reciprocal links and networks between the scientific
community and policy and practice.

2. NETWORKING EXCELLENCE
2.1. ADDED VALUE OF NETWORKING IN S&T EXCELLENCE
2.1.1. ADDED VALUE IN RELATION TO EXISTING EFFORTS AT EUROPEAN AND/OR
INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Career studies is a broad academic field which encompasses people working in the education and
training of careers professionals, human resource professionals, teachers, and a range of other
professional roles with an interest in the career development of individuals. It also encompasses the
work of psychologies, sociologists, economists, educational scientists and organisational researchers
who view career as a primary theme in their research. It is a fundamentally inter- or cross-disciplinary
field and the proposal includes 49% of participants draws from educational sciences, 18% from
psychology, 10% from sociology, 8% from economics and business and 10% from other social
sciences. The proposed network represents a serious attempt to broaden the core disciplinary basis of
the field out beyond education and psychology to support inter-disciplinary collaboration around
complex themes. This kind of inter-disciplinary work leads to creative and innovative research capable
of examining diverse issues and challenging existing paradigms. However, the downside of cross-
sectorial and inter-disciplinary fields is the tendency towards fragmentation. This is evidenced in the
fact that there is no cross-European network devoted to fostering research and critical thinking in
relation to careers and career guidance.

There are several important networks which the COST Action will need to work closely with and build
on. These include the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG),
which is strongly focused on practice, and the European Society for Vocational Designing and Career
Counselling (ESVDC) and the Network for Innovation in Career Guidance and Counselling in Europe
(NICE) which are both established academic networks which respectively focus on psychological
research in the careers and vocational field and on the training of career professionals. All three of
these are relevant partners, but do not take the broad and critical perspective that is outlined in this
proposal. They also do not have the resources or capability to co-ordinate major publication projects or
funding bids. In addition, the COST Action will also need to work closely with the European Doctoral
Programme in Career Guidance and Counselling (ECADOC) which provides a vehicle for pan-
European networking and development of doctoral students in careers studies. ECADOC is strongly
committed to the development of young researchers and innovators and to supporting the participation
of students from diverse countries and who have limited funding for travel. The collaboration with
ECADOC will primarily take the form of the collaborative organisation of a summer school programme
for young researchers and innovators.

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We have already gained in principle support for this project from NICE and ECADOC and will seek to
develop a memorandum of understanding with them and the ESVDC and IAEVG soon after the project
commences. There are also a wide range of national and regional networks that we will be keen to
engage in the action once it is funded. For example, these include the Nordic Research Network on
Transitions, Career and Guidance (NoRNet), the Unitwin International Network for Life Designing
Interventions (counseling, guidance, education) for decent work and sustainable development,
UNESCO Chair on Lifelong Guidance and Counseling (Wrocław, Poland) and the National Institute for
Career Education and Counselling (NICEC) in the UK.

2.2. ADDED VALUE OF NETWORKING IN IMPACT

2.2.1. SECURING THE CRITICAL MASS, EXPERTISE AND GEOGRAPHICAL BALANCE
WITHIN THE COST MEMBERS AND BEYOND

The proposed network brings together 15 eligible COST countries from across Europe. It includes both
large and small states, those with strong traditions of research in career studies and more emergent
countries and is drawn from the north, south, east and west of the continent. Of these 40% are
inclusiveness target countries. In addition, we also have 1 near neighbour country and support from 1
international partner countries. In total this includes 39 proposers.

This kind of broad-based network will be essential to answering our research questions and
completing our objectives as it will ensure that the network has a broad perspective and includes
countries with different political traditions, levels of economic strength and engagement in career
studies and the delivery of career guidance.

2.2.2. INVOLVEMENT OF STAKEHOLDERS

An attempt has been made to involve a wide range of stakeholders as proposers of the network and to
move beyond a sole focus on research in higher education. In total 5% of the proposers are drawn
from NGOs and 3% from business enterprises. These full participants in the project will be augmented
through reaching out to the academic and practitioner networks identified in the previous question and
to a range of other key stakeholders, as follows.

International organisations. Most international organisations with an interest in education, skills and
employment are also interested in career guidance. The publication of Investing in career guidance in
2019 and then its revision in 2021 served as a public statement of support for the area from the
European Commission (EC), European Training Foundation (ETF), European Centre for the
Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Unesco. We would aim to
engage all these influential international bodies in the project. In addition, we would also engage with
the International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP) which is an international
NGO which works with policymakers on the development of career guidance policy and Euroguidance
the cross-European network for lifelong guidance provision.

Local policy makers. In developing this proposal, the partners have already identified a wide range of
local policy makers who participants in the Action have links with. The aim will be to leverage these
local policy connections to engage policy makers in participant countries in the Action.

Employers and employers’ associations. Employers play a critical role in mediating large scale
social trends in ways that shape people’s careers and in providing support for career guidance
policies. The network includes researchers who are strongly focused on employers’ perspectives, but
we will also actively reach out to national and European networks of employers to engage them in the
Action.

Practitioner actions. The partners will also build links with practitioner networks e.g., professional
associations, trade unions and other communities of practice.

3. IMPACT

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3.1. IMPACT TO SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND COMPETITIVENESS, AND POTENTIAL
FOR INNOVATION/BREAKTHROUGHS
3.1.1. SCIENTIFIC, TECHNOLOGICAL, AND/OR SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS (INCLUDING
POTENTIAL INNOVATIONS AND/OR BREAKTHROUGHS)

People’s careers are in a process of substantial transformation. Existing structures of career

development have been shaken repeatedly and may not be fit for purpose in the future. Challenges
posed by artificial intelligence and automation, homeworking, and the climate crisis have come on top
of periods of neoliberal shrinkage of the state and the social and economic crises of 2008 and 2020. In
such a position it is to be expected that concepts like career need to be rethought and reimagined and
that policies and practices which are rooted in this concept also need to be reimagined.

The COST Action will aim to bring about impact in four inter-linked areas: paradigmatic, policy,
evidence and efficacy and practice. These four areas will cut across the research questions outlined in
Section 1.1.2, but with the first research question primarily addressing the shifting paradigm, the
second primarily addressing policy issues and the third primarily addressing practice and evidence.
The project will be managed through a series of Working Groups which will include one Working
Group which is focused on co-ordination and synthesis (see section 4).
 Paradigm shift. Firstly, the project will seek to open a scientific and public discourse about the
nature of career in the twenty-first century. It will scrutinise this concept and reconceptualise it
for likely futures. This theoretical and paradigmatic debate will then underpin the key impacts
that will be delivered across the rest of the project.
 Policy. Secondly, the project will surface the key policy logics that guide policymakers
engagement with career and their attempts to influence it through the use of career guidance
and related approaches. The project will build on this to begin the process of developing new
policy ideas and approaches that engage with social justice and respond better to the current
environmental concerns.
 Practice. Thirdly, the project will explore the nature of contemporary career guidance practice.
Through dialogue between scientists and practitioners, new, critical and innovative approaches
will be developed. The project will inspire more self-reflective interventions and increased
awareness of the socio-political and economic implications of practice.
 Evidence and efficacy. Finally, by gathering the career studies community together through
the COST Action, we anticipated strengthening the articulation of the evidence base in this area
and learning from the evidence of what works, what does not work and what seems promising
across a wide range of different countries.

3.2. MEASURES TO MAXIMISE IMPACT

3.2.1. KNOWLEDGE CREATION, TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE AND CAREER
DEVELOPMENT

The project is focused around the three research aims which address the reconceptualisation of the
concept of career, the policy implications of this and the implications for practice. We anticipate that by
bringing together a large group of innovative thinkers and researchers around these questions can
systemise existing ideas and generate new knowledge.

By assembling the career studies community, we also hope to increase researchers’ connectedness
across countries and disciplines. This will build the collective capacity of the field, generate new
synergies and support researchers to develop new funding bids to both national and European funders
and to create new publication projects.

A key cohort within the COST Action will be young researchers and innovators. Through summer
schools, publication opportunities, networking and the opportunity to become part of the leadership of
this COST Action we will provide early career researchers in the field with a wide range of
opportunities for their career development, enabling them to transfer knowledge to their countries,
organisations, disciplinary areas and practice communities. Given the topic of the Action, this will also
provide us with a key opportunity to be self-exemplifying and demonstrate the power that career
guidance and other forms of career support can offer to the development of young researchers and
innovators careers. This will include running activities designed to support self-reflection, opportunity
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awareness, enhance decision-making and support transitions beyond early career status. This will
include mentoring and guidance, but also technical support in the development of career plans,
funding bids and job applications.
The project is designed in a participatory way to engage practitioners, employers and policymakers. It
will offer a vehicle for increasing practitioners, employers and policymakers engagement in the
evidence and theory around career and career guidance, both by providing them with access to
valuable scientific information and analysis and by engaging them as equal partners in meetings and
events. This will support knowledge transfer as stakeholders will be able to make better use of the
resources provided by the research community. It will also strengthen two-way links and support
ongoing dialogue. This may ultimately stimulate new research ideas and open up opportunities for new
funding.

3.2.2. PLAN FOR DISSEMINATION AND/OR EXPLOITATION AND DIALOGUE WITH THE
GENERAL PUBLIC OR POLICY

The idea of close engagement with both policy, employers and practice is built into the core aims of
the project. We view this as a participatory project in which scientific researchers, policy makers,
employers and practitioners all have a role. This is not just about dissemination in the traditional sense
but rather about building a network in which there is a mutual exchange of knowledge and ideas
between different kinds of stakeholder, facilitating the transferance of knowledge and its exploitation.

We have already begun the process of involving a range of stakeholder groups in this project both as
proposers and as supporters. The organisations that we have engaged with already represent a mix of
industry bodies, campaigning bodies and NGOs and governmental agencies and departments. We
also have good links with some key elected officials and with advisors to education and employment
spokes people for political parties. We have received initial indications of interest from the following
organisations.
 Association of Graduate Careers  EC-Council of Europe youth partnership,
Advisory Services (AGCAS, UK)  eVejledning
 Associação Portuguesa de  Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Desenvolvimento de Carreira (UK)
(Portuguese Association of Career  International Centre for Career
Development) Development and Public Policy
 Barcelona Activa (City Council, (ICCDPP)
Barcelona, ES)  Ministry of Education and Culture,
 Career Development Institute (UK) Finland
 Careers Industry Council of Australia  Polish Educational Research Institute
(CICA)  Portuguese Board of Psychologists
 CERIC, Canada  Portuguese Institute of Employment and
 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Vocational Training
Development (CIPD) (UK)  Precários Inflexíveis
 Danmarks Vejlederforening  Society for Research in Higher
 Department of Education (Republic of Education (SRHE) (UK)
Ireland)  Studievalg Denmark
 Direktoratet for høgare utdanning og  The Youth@Work Partnership on Youth
kompetanse (Norway) Employability and Entrepreneurship

Where stakeholders have already signed up as proposers, they will be engaged with as full
participants of the network and encouraged to get involved in specifying work packages, undertaking
and supporting research and engaging in knowledge transfer. Where they have not been engaged as
proposers we will hold consultation webinars to explain the project and explore possibilities for
engagement at different stages of the project.

As project outcomes emerge we will develop a range of dissemination channels utilising both online
approaches (regular webinars, email newsletters, a project website and blog, and associated social
media accounts) and local networks drawing on the embedded relationships of project partners and
supporters.

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4. IMPLEMENTATION
4.1. COHERENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE WORK PLAN
4.1.1. DESCRIPTION OF WORKING GROUPS, TASKS AND ACTIVITIES
There will be four major streams of activity. The first working group is designed to provide coordination
and to identify synergies and inter-dependencies in the other three working groups. The other three
working groups correspond directly to the main research questions. All working groups will be
organised in similar ways and deliver a similar range of outputs. However, each working group will
organise activities to respond to the research questions that they are focused on and work with
different stakeholder groups as appropriate. The working groups will be carefully constructed to ensure
that they are diverse in terms of geographical location, career stage, discipline and methodological
paradigm.

 Working group 1: Overarching research and co-ordination of the COST Action. The first
working group will run the overall project and guide the other three working groups. It will
focus on co-ordination and synthesis and on overseeing the main outputs of the Action. Key
activities will include: launching the programme, publication of an edited volume, creation of a
website and blog, development of an special issue of a journal focused on the work of young
researchers and innovators, and the organisation of a short term scientific mission for a young
researcher and innovator. In addition, this working group will have responsibility for leading the
dissemination strategy and for overall project management including financial management,
risk monitoring and management, quality assurance of activities and deliverables and the
evaluation and impact assessment of the project.
 Working group 2: The challenges and changes in career in contemporary world. This
working group will respond to the research question; How can the challenges and changes
that are happening to careers in contemporary world be understood? It will explore how the
careers of individuals are changing and developing in response to wider shifts in the social,
technological, political and economic context. It will also examine how career trajectories and
aspirations are changing and how these shifts may impact on political economy. The working
group will primarily be focused on the scientific community, seeking to identify and clarify
understanding and evidence in the area. Key activities will include: a webinar, summer school,
scientific meeting, the drafting and publication of a research digest, and the organisation of a
short-term scientific mission for a young researcher and innovator.
 Working group 3: Policy responses to contemporary challenges to individual’s careers.
This working group will respond to the research question; How can policymakers respond to
contemporary challenges to individual’s careers? It will explore policymaker’s engagement in a
range of different initiatives designed to support or shape the careers of individuals. This will
include an examination of career guidance policy but will also look more broadly to examine
how the concept of career is addressed in wider labour market and educational policy. This
working group will work closely with policymaker, linking them up to the key scientific experts
in the field. Key activities will include: a webinar, a summer school, a scientific meeting, a
policy makers meeting, the production of a policy focused publication and the organisation of
an short term scientific mission for a young researcher and innovator.
 Working group 4: Critical practice in career guidance. This working group will respond to
the research question; Can career guidance practice adopt a more critical stance to allow it to
manage the changing world more effectively? It will examine how critical ideas and
perspectives are taken up in the practice of career guidance and related educational and
labour market practices. It will also explore how career guidance practitioners are responding
to the wider changes in political economy and policy described in the first two strands. This
working group will engage directly with practitioners, facilitating mutual exchange between
career guidance practitioners and scientific experts. Activities will include: a webinar, a
summer school, a scientific meeting, a practitioner meeting, the drafting and publication of a
practitioner handbook and a short term scientific mission for a young researcher and
innovator.

These working groups will provide a structure for the COST Action. Each working group will comprise
of a lead and a small organising committee to develop activities and outputs associated with that
strand. There will also be an editorial committee focusing on the development of a new edited volume
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of writing addressing the focus of the COST Action and another editorial committee made up of ECR
which will explore the possibility of developing a journal special issue aimed at ECRs.

The network will be co-ordinated by a committee made up of the lead institution plus the co-ordinators
of each of the three activity streams and a representative of the two editorial groups.

4.1.2. DESCRIPTION OF DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

As described above the Action will have three main working groups which will lead the substantive
work packages. In addition, their will be a fourth work package which will be designed to pull together
all of the different activities, quality assure outputs and deliverables and ensure the overall coherence
of the COST Action.

All activities will be designed as mobilities, with the aim being to hold a series of face-to-face meetings
to connect researchers involved in the COST. However, we will also explore both how to make all
meetings hybrid and how best to capture key content in ways that might be useful to a wider audience
(e.g. through the filming of keynotes).

Working group 1: Overarching work programme

The overarching work programme will be comprised of the following elements.

 COST Action launch. We will begin by holding an event to launch the COST Action with
around 70 people. This will take the form of a scientific conference engaging the project
participants and providing opportunities for them to meet and present work in progress. A key
part of the launch event will be holding meetings to shape the future work of the network.
 Publication of an edited volume. Early in the Action we will identify an editorial group to
create an edited volume drawing on the work of the COST Action. This group will make a
proposal to a major publisher (likely Routledge) and then manage the writing and editing of the
book. The aim is to achieve publication before the end of the COST Action.
 Creation of a project website. As communication with the network and wider stakeholders is
tantamount to the conception of this COST Action, it will be important to have a public face for
the action. A website will be created to provide information and news about the COST Action
and to provide information about events, meeting and outputs of the project. It will also provide
a way to share reports and publications produced by the COST Action.
 Creation of a project blog. The COST Action is designed to stimulate debate and knowledge
transfer. One effective and impactful way to do this will be to create a project blog that can
provide an opportunity for all participants to write about their work for a general audience with
the aim of stimulating debate and engagement beyond the scientific community. The blog can
also be used to raise awareness of activities taking place throughout the COST Action and will
also link to wider project social media such as project Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook
accounts.
 Development of a programme of webinars and online resources. The COST Action will
increase international mobility around research and evidence in the career studies field.
However, we anticipate that there will be a large number of researchers, practitioners,
employers and policymakers who will be interested in the findings of the project and be keen
to hear more. To address this need this Working Group will build a programme of online
webinars and resources (e.g. recordings of keynotes from physical meetings) to ensure the
widespread digital dissemination of activities.
 Young researcher and innovator journal special issue or edited collection. We will recruit
an editorial board of young researchers and innovators and a small number of more
experienced mentors. This group will develop a proposal for a special issue of a high-quality
journal or edited collection which can then be developed and published through the course of
the action. The aims of this special issue will be both scientific (to advance the research aims
of the COST Action) but also capacity building for ECR participants.
 A short term scientific mission. As part of the overarching work programme we will offer a
short term scientific mission for a young researcher or innovator to be placed with the lead
partner. The mobility will be designed to provide an opportunity for research and writing as
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 well as to increase their engagement in the COST Action and support networking. It will focus
on building a cross-European network in the field, with the participant having the opportunity to
work with the working group on the co-ordination of the COST Action.
 Research synthesis. A key output of the project will be to draw together the findings of the
COST Action and to propose a detailed and future focused research agenda. It is anticipated
that this would be one of the final publications of the COST Action and would identify key
themes, methodological approaches and intersections with policy and practice that could
guide future research in the field over the next decade.
 Reviewing impact. This Working Group will also be charged with monitoring and reviewing
the impact of the Action, the research stimulated by it and the dissemination and level of
knowledge transfer. This will take the form of regular reports setting out project metrics and a
detailed final report on the Action’s impact.

Working group 2: The challenges and changes in career in contemporary world programme

The work programme for the first strand of the COST Action will comprise of the following elements.

 Webinar or other form of online collaboration. The work programme will begin with the
organisation of a webinar or other form of online collaboration to facilitate scientific exchange
on the theme.
 Summer school. The work programme will co-ordinate a week long summer school for
around 40 young researchers and innovators. This summer school will provide young
researchers and innovators with opportunities to present work, receive mentoring and
teaching from more experienced colleagues in the COST Action and to form an international
community of practice that will underpin future collaboration and career development. A key
focus of this summer school will be in building capacity and developing the evidence base in
the field, for example through training on putting in funding applications.
 Scientific meeting. The lead partner for this theme will hold a face-to-face scientific meeting
for around 55 people focusing on the theme of the changing nature of career in the 21 st
century. They will invite proposals for papers from the COST Action participants and organise
the meeting.
 Research digest. Informed by the scientific meeting, the sub-committee leading this work
programme will produce a research digest, highlight key issues and research in the field. This
review paper will be designed as a stimulant for the work of the rest of the COST Action,
demonstrating what the state of the art is and highlighting issues and challenges that need to
be taken forward.
 Short term scientific mission. Each theme will also host a short term scientific mission for a
young researcher and innovator to be placed with the lead partner. This mobility will be
designed to provide an opportunity for research and writing as well as to increase their
engagement in the COST Action and support networking. It will focus on the process of
analytical synthesis of the literature and evidence being generated and brought together
through the COST Action.

Working group 3: Policy responses to contemporary challenges to individuals’ careers work

programme

The work programme for the second strand of the COST Action will comprise of the following
elements.

 Webinar or other form of online collaboration. The work programme will begin with the
organisation of a webinar or other form of online collaboration to facilitate scientific exchange
on the theme.
 Summer school. The work programme will co-ordinate a week-long summer school for
around 40 young researchers and innovators. This summer school will provide young
researchers and innovators with opportunities to present work, receive mentoring and
teaching from more experienced colleagues in the COST Action and to form an international
community of practice that will underpin future collaboration and career development. A key
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 area of focus for this summer school will be in thinking about the relationship with policy and
how best to engage with policymakers.
 Scientific meeting. The lead partner for this theme will hold a face-to-face scientific meeting
for around 55 participants focusing on the theme of the policies and politics of career
guidance. They will invite proposals for papers from the COST Action participants and
organise the meeting.
 Policymakers meeting. The lead partner will also organise a meeting of policymakers to
discuss their engagement with the scientific community and their use of evidence and insights
in the policy making process. We anticipate around 70 participants will attend this meeting.
The meeting will explore the new intersections between European policy making and scientific
knowledge, in relation to the current societal changes, and the ways our network can best
respond. The meeting will include invited contributions from policymakers and from
researchers and will be designed to support the development of dialogue between the two.
Based on our experience, we anticipate, that a key area of discussion will be the integration of
an understanding of social justice into career guidance policy making processes.
 Policymakers’ publication. Drawing on the scientific and policymakers’ meetings, the
working group for this theme will recruit a small number of policymakers to collaborate on the
drafting a short publication for policymakers at the national, European and international levels.
This publication will sett out key issues and findings from the research literature and options
for policy makers. The publication will highlight key issues and dilemmas faced by policy
makers in addressing societal crises and explore the feasibility of social justice as an
underpinning principle for future policy making in this area. Following the creation of a draft a
wider group of policymakers and policy engaged scholars will be asked to comment on it and
provide input to its development. The final publication will then be distributed to policymakers
across Europe.
 Short term scientific mission. Each theme will also host a three-month mobility for a young
researcher and innovator to be placed with the lead partner for this working group. This
mobility will be designed to provide an opportunity for research and writing as well as to
increase their engagement in the COST Action and support networking. It will focus on how
researchers can build effective relationships with policymakers and engage in successful
knowledge transfer.

Working group 4: Critical practice in career guidance work programme

The work programme for the third strand of the COST Action will comprise of the following elements.

 Webinar or other form of online collaboration. The work programme will begin with the
organisation of a webinar or other form of online collaboration to facilitate scientific exchange
on the theme.
 Summer school. The work programme will co-ordinate a week-long summer school for
around 40 young researchers and innovators. This summer school will provide young
researchers and innovators with opportunities to present work, receive mentoring and
teaching from more experienced colleagues in the COST Action and to form an international
community of practice that will underpin future collaboration and career development. A key
focus for this summer school will be thinking about how research can learn from and inform
practice and relate effectively to practitioners.
 Scientific meeting. The lead partner for this theme will hold a face-to-face scientific meeting
for around 55 people focusing on the theme of critical practice in career guidance. They will
invite proposals for papers from the COST Action participants and organise the meeting.
 Practitioner meeting. The lead partner will also organise a meeting of practitioner to discuss
their engagement with the scientific community and their use of evidence and insights in
career guidance practice. This meeting will bring together around 70 participants. Speakers
are expected to be drawn from a mix of practitioners and researchers, with the event designed
to support dialogue and mutual learning.
 Practitioner handbook. The working group for this strand will work with a group of
practitioners to create a handbook for practitioners drawing out key themes from the research
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 and present key ideas for effective practice. The aim of the handbook will be to translate
current cutting edge thinking about career guidance and social justice into a series of
approaches that can be utilised by practitioners in a variety of contexts. A draft version of this
handbook will be sent out to a wide range of practitioners for feedback and input.

Short term scientific mission. Each theme will also host a short term scientific mission for a young
researcher and innovator who will be placed with the lead partner. This mobility will be designed to
provide an opportunity for research and writing as well as to increase their engagement in the COST
Action and support networking. It will focus on how researchers can build effective dialogue with
practice, learn from practitioners and inform how career guidance is actually done.

4.1.3. RISK ANALYSIS AND CONTINGENCY PLANS

Risk Likelihood Impact Contingency
Lead partner drops Low Medium Leads will be identified for each of the thematic
out or loses staff strands and for the main publications. This will
mean that the COST Action has a strong
structure for leadership and that other institutions
could step up if there was a problem with the
lead partner.
Key partners drop out Low Low The project brings together 32 institutions. While
some participants will play a more active role in
the leadership of the COST Action it will not be
dependent on any single institution. This means
that if any institutions drop out there will be an
opportunity for them to be replaced.
Working group loses Low Medium Each of the working groups requires a critical
critical mass mass to function effectively, with a range of
volunteers leading activity. If one working group
proves to be unpopular, or loses a number of
members, it would weaken the project. However,
we have already canvassed participants in the
bid about their interests and developed the
working groups in tune with this. We will also
actively manage the working groups and seek to
transfer members between groups where
necessary.
Working group/s Low Medium Each of the working groups will have lead
make insufficient partners who will be responsible for driving its
progress activities and ensuring engagement. This partner
will be well placed to identify where a lack of
engagement exists and to take appropriate
actions. In addition the overarching working
group will monitor progress of each of the
substantive working groups and other key
structures (such as editorial groups) and address
any challenges or underperformance that
emerges.
Covid or other crisis Medium Medium A key theme of the project is the volatility of the
disrupts plans for political economy. Given this it would be
mobilities unsurprising if a political, economic or public
health event disrupted one or more of the
activities of the COST Action. However, we are
now practiced in contingency planning. Each
event or activity will develop a risk register and
will consider the feasibility of switching the event
online, moving its location or holding it in a hybrid
format as well as setting out other relevant
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 contingencies.
Challenges in Low Medium A key aim of this project is to support
engaging policy engagement with policy and practice and
makers or knowledge transfer. The project has a wide range
practitioners of approaches for doing this including webinars,
physical meetings, websites and publications.
We will monitor engagement from all partners
and stakeholders carefully and adjust the level
and nature of engagement accordingly.
Publisher rejects Medium Low The COST Action contains a large number of
book proposal or the researchers who have extensive publication
special issue focused records and good relationships with publisher
on young researchers and journals. However, rejection is part of the
and innovators publication process. Identifying a range of
alternative publication options (including a strong
plan B) will be part of our publication process. If
we are unsuccessful we will respond to feedback
and look for alternatives and hopefully identify a
new venue for publication.
Technological Low Low The COST Action makes extensive use of a
problems range of web technologies to support
collaboration and information sharing (website,
blogs, webinars etc). When working across so
many institutions it is anticipated that there may
be some issues with compatibility. We will aim to
use freely available public tools where possible
and test all technologies deployed within the
action before they are roled out.

4.1.4. GANTT DIAGRAM

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul
COST action launch
Book proposal
Book publication
Website
Blog
ECR journal special issue
Short term scientific mission
Research agenda

The place of careers

Webinar / online collaboration
Summer school
Scientific meeting
Research digest
Short term scientific mission

Career and policy

Webinar /online collaboration
Summer school
Scientific meeting
Policy makers meet
Policy maker publication
Short term scientific mission

Critical practice
Webinar / online collaboration
Summer school
Scientific meeting
Practitioner conference
Practitioner handbook
Short term scientific mission

Events
Short term scientific missions
Publications and outputs

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