What gaps stand between young people and the career exploration experiences that can help them build confidence and direction?
In this follow-up to Looking Back, Moving Forward: Middle Schoolers Turn Curiosity into Career Direction, Britebound™ takes a closer look at how 2,552 young people ages 14-25 experienced career exploration during their middle school years. Their reflections reveal gaps in which opportunities were available, who participated, and how well those experiences aligned with what students considered most helpful.
The findings show that no single career exploration activity reached a majority of students. While classroom-based experiences were the most widely available, young people placed greater value on opportunities that were hands-on, sustained, and connected to real-world careers. Field-based activities were about 1.5 times more likely to be rated as helpful than classroom-based activities, while year-round experiences were nearly twice as likely to be viewed as helpful as one-time or occasional activities.
This report is part of Britebound’s Youth Career Readiness Outlook series, which explores what it means to be ready for life after high school from the perspectives of young people and the adults who support them. The findings point to a clear opportunity: expand equitable access to high-impact experiences, offer them more consistently over time, and create stronger connections between early career awareness and deeper, applied learning.
The full survey methodology and questionnaire can be found here.
