Navigating the Future with P2C Career Explorer
P2C Career Explorer takes a unique approach to career preparation by focusing on the intersection between education and workforce.
With guided resources to help students discover their strengths and create successful career paths, students can envision a future in a career, and find purpose in learning.
By helping more students discover their potential, we see powerful outcomes in their lives.
P2C Career Explorer Features
Career Exploration Curriculum
P2C Career Exploration curriculum is centered on personal discovery, career awareness, career evaluation, and career preparation guiding students with age-appropriate career readiness activities.
- 119 lessons focus on topics that include personal discovery, career evaluation, career preparation, and career awareness.
- The cross-curricular design identifies which core subject area the lesson ties into.
- Career Story Playlist offers authentic career narratives of people represented in all 16 career clusters.
- STEM Playlist delivers career exploration lessons centered on STEM careers.
- Financial Literacy Playlist strengthens student understanding of financial literacy concepts.
- Integration of dual learning objectives with multiple subjects.
Career Exploration Tools
P2C Career Exploration tools guide students through informed decision-making with valuable career tools such as the Interests Matcher, Values Matcher, and Cluster Matcher.
My Career Page
My Career Page is a place for students to manage their career discovery journey with personalized portfolios showcasing growth and real-world opportunities.
Robust career data
Robust career data with occupational details including state-specific labor market data.
The Importance of Career Exploration & CTE
Career exploration does so much more than just letting students see potential jobs that match up with their interests. It helps provide a range of better outcomes.
Student Engagement
Nearly eight in ten elementary students report being engaged in schoolwork. However, by the time students get to high school, engagement levels fall to just 44%. “The drop in student engagement for each year students are in school is our monumental, collective national failure,” wrote Brandon Busteed, then Executive Director of Gallup Education.
Disengaged students are most likely to experience chronic absenteeism. Dropout rates are higher. Academic performance is lower. Career potential wanes.
When students can envision a future in a career that they might enjoy, they are more motivated to learn. By providing purpose in learning and aligning schoolwork with career pursuits, students are more engaged in their lessons.
Lower Drop-Out Rates and Graduation Rates
Research from the Association for Career & Technical Education shows that students with concentrations in CTE graduate high school at higher rates than their peers.
An examination of students who dropped out of high school showed that 80% of students said schools need to improve their curricula to incorporate more real-world and experiential learning. Students failing to see the connection between school and getting a good job are more likely to drop out.
Higher Academic Achievement
More educational programs focus on academic achievement, yet a study by the National Dropout Prevention Center at Clemson University shows that focus on academic support only increases student motivation by 11%. Focusing on career opportunities and development, however, increases motivation by 81%.
Career exploration allows students to uncover careers and career pathways and connect classroom learning to the skills they need in the workplace. Studies show that students engaging in high levels of career exploration and planning show significantly higher levels of motivation and academic self-efficacy.
More Career Success
Students who focused on career and technical education (CTE) courses while in high school had higher median annual earnings than other students, according to a Department of Education study looking at students up to eight years after graduation. A study by ACT® found similar results. As the amount of agreement between students’ career interests and aspirations increased, they achieved higher salaries over time.
Overall, students with greater exposure to CTE are more likely to graduate from high school, attend post-secondary education, be employed, and earn high wages.
