Career Guidance Mentoring for Disengaged Young People. NICEC ICG Briefing

The introduction of mentoring approaches into local career guidance strategies could represent an important method of helping disengaged young people achieve a new sense of direction. The aim of Britain's Mentoring Action Project (MAP) initiative has been to create the opportunity to explore the potential for one-to-one mentoring in career guidance for disengaged young people. Pivotal to an understanding of the role of mentoring in career guidance is an acknowledgment that significant numbers of disengaged young people may not be able to take advantage of the opportunities available to them without skilled support in effecting the necessary attitudinal and behavioral changes. MAP has highlighted conditions necessary for career guidance mentoring to succeed: agape, holism, advocacy and feedback, graded steps, opportunities for mentors to facilitate and support young people's development and progression, partnerships with other local agencies, integration into existing provision, and beneficiary finance. Styles of mentoring adopted by career guidance mentors include the following: good parent, learning facilitator, career guidance provider, and social worker. Mentors should have the abilities to act as positive role models, influence client behavior and attitudes positively, and enhance self-image. The six key stages of the mentoring process are as follows: mentoring for survival, to improve life and social skills, to improve self-awareness, to improve self-image, for career exploration, and for career management. (YLB)