Connecting Learning to Real Careers
Career exploration shouldn’t be a one-time-only event.
P2C Career Explorer has everything you need to connect today’s high-value careers to students’ everyday experiences.
When students see what’s possible, they’re inspired to move forward with purpose.
P2C Career Exploration Curriculum
P2C Career Explorer Curriculum brings the four stages of career exploration (personal discovery, career awareness, career evaluation, and career preparation) to life through a comprehensive library of age-appropriate, classroom-ready lessons designed to complement any curriculum.
Career Explorer includes a breadth of structured, cross-curricular lessons and playlists rarely found in other career exploration tools.
- Career Exploration Lessons: 119 lessons that seamlessly integrate into core subject area classes through intentional cross-curricular design
- Career Story Playlist: Features authentic narratives from professionals across all 14 Career Clusters in the National Career Clusters® Framework, highlighting real-world pathways and experiences
- Employability Skills Playlist: A flexible, modular curriculum that enables educators to build essential employability skills critical for success in today’s workforce
- 27 lessons across three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced
- Covers all 9 employability skills defined by the U.S. Department of Education
- Designed for grades 9–12 and easily adaptable for middle school students
- Financial Literacy Playlist: Flexible curriculum that helps students build foundational financial literacy through career-connected learning
- 49 lessons designed for grades 6–12
- Structured for 40–60 minute class periods and easy integration into existing courses across disciplines
P2C Career Tools
P2C Career Tools help students deepen their self-awareness and explore in-demand careers in their communities—all in one easy-to-access platform.
While career assessment tools are common in education, P2C stands apart by pairing these tools with guided, age-appropriate curriculum that helps educators introduce and use them meaningfully in the classroom.
- Interests Matcher: a 60-question self-assessment that help students reflect on and apply their Holland Code (RIASEC type)
- Values Matcher: An easy, five-minute activity that helps students understand how they prioritize six core workplace values
- Cluster Matcher: Matches students to relevant Career Clusters by aligning their interests, values, and other preferences
- ROI Analyzer: Calculates the time it would take students to recoup their educational investment across hundreds of occupations by aligning their knowledge, skills, and abilities with salary and tuition data
My Career Page
The P2C My Career Page is your students’ one-stop-shop for managing their career discovery journey. They can create personalized portfolios that store career assessment results, explore suggested careers, and organize artifacts to support their post-secondary plans.
Trusted Career Data
P2C takes complex national and state career data and turns it into simple, practical insights that empower students to make informed career decisions. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, National Center for Education Statistics, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Advance CTE, and state workforce agencies ensures accuracy, relevance, and local context.
The sample kit includes:
- The Career Explorer Table of Contents—outlines the full range of lessons and activities
- Math & Science Movers and Shakers—a complete Career Exploration lesson (teacher’s edition)
- Employability Skills Table of Contents—outlines lessons that cover essential skills for workplace readiness
- Strengthening Communication Skills through Active Listening—a sample Employability Skills lesson (teacher’s edition)
“Pathway2Careers has been instrumental in helping us build out career programming that fills in what kids are really looking for. We can finally show how what they’re doing day to day in school directly influences their career. They’re linked; you have to succeed in school if you want to succeed in your future.”
— Erika Hulleman, former Teen Pathways Manager,
Boys & Girls Club of the Twin Cities
The Importance of Career Exploration & CTE
Career exploration should go beyond helping students identify potential jobs. When implemented intentionally, career exploration and Career and Technical Education (CTE) are linked to measurable improvements in student engagement, academic outcomes, and long-term success.
Increased Student Engagement
Recent research shows that students who participate in career exploration and other career-connected learning experiences are 10–15 percentage points more likely to be engaged in school than students who do not.
The effect is especially strong in middle school, where career-connected learning is associated with a 15-point increase in engagement, helping students feel more connected to their learning earlier—before disengagement becomes entrenched.
By connecting classroom learning to real careers and future opportunities, career exploration provides the relevance students say they need to stay engaged, motivated, and invested in school.
Lower Drop-Out Rates and Higher Graduation Rates
Students who complete a concentration in CTE courses graduate at rates around 93%, about 10 percentage points above the national high school graduation average.
Students themselves consistently point to relevance as a key factor in persistence; nearly two-thirds of high school students report wanting greater access to career-connected learning opportunities.
Greater Academic Achievement
Research shows that motivation and academic success increase when students see clear connections between what they are learning and their future goals. Career-connected learning experiences are associated with higher student motivation, stronger academic self-efficacy, and greater confidence in completing school.
Studies of CTE and structured career pathways also find positive academic outcomes, including improved credit accumulation and academic performance, while maintaining rigorous academic expectations.
Sustained Career Success
Career-connected learning experiences are associated with positive post-graduation employment outcomes. Students who take CTE courses are more likely to be employed after high school than similar peers who do not.
Some research further finds that expanded access to high-quality CTE is associated with increased early earnings, a head start that can compound into greater cumulative lifetime earnings.
