PACE Research Institute

Our work is to make sure that anyone can access career guidance. People who receive appropriate career guidance stay in education longer. Over the past 3 decades our work has been foundational in establishing South Africa's National Career Advice Service. 

Central to achieving our goals was the South African Career Development Association which I founded in 2011. The association lobby's for career guidance advancement in the region. 

Over the next 10 years we want to introduce career guidance delivery systems into other African countries. We intend to follow the same model we used in South Africa which was to build sufficient services on the ground so it becomes easier for governments to take over the mandate. 

We have identified East Africa as the next region to roll-out career guidance. This region has been identified because there is an existing inter-governmental cooperation agreement in place between the six countries in the region. To help coordinate career guidance delivery in the region I set-up (2018) the East Africa Career Development Association.

If I were to win the prize funding, I will use it to bring education ministries from the six East African countries together to kick-start career guidance delivery in the region.

In 1982 I completed matric with a 40% average, no career vision, and 'regret' letters from more universities than I applied to. At 23, I eventually found my way into a university to study Psychology and graduated Cum Laude. 

That experience shaped my entire life work!

I couldn't help but wonder how many other people never reach their potential because they have no career-vision. My work over the past 30 years has been dedicated to helping people identify and realise their career goals. 

I started PACE Career Centre in 1991 with the idea that everyone should have access to free career guidance. Our work has led to establishing the South African National Career Advice Service which provides all citizens career guidance. 

My vision is to duplicate our model in other countries on the continent. Our work in this regard is underway. I have set-up the East Africa Career Development Association to lobby for career guidance delivery. I have also designed career guidance systems for 14 African countries, and donated career guidance resources to the Rwanda Education Board. My long term vision is to set up the African Career Development Association to coordinate and promote career guidance delivery across the continent.

School dropouts are a debilitating and persistent African problem (OECD, World Bank, ILO). Over 40% of youth in Africa never finish school which leads to them taking vulnerable jobs or not finding work. The relationship between school completion and better job opportunities is well documented as is the relationship between raised education levels and economic development. 

Career guidance has a central role to play in keeping children in school for longer. Not all career guidance is however equal and therein lies the challenge!

The constructs that define good career guidance have historically been difficult to pinpoint because contextual realities very much determine what good (appropriate) career guidance looks like. What constitutes good career guidance in a developed economy looks different to that in an emerging economy. To determine appropriate career guidance across diverse contexts has historically been difficult because sample sizes associated with traditional methodologies have been too small to generalize to a larger population, and longitudinal studies have been impractical.

Over the past 3 years PACE has designed a machine learning (NLP) model to identify the career guidance constructs that result in school retention. This model will help to keep pupils in school longer. The model now needs testing! 

We are known for our innovative problem solving. Since 1993 PACE understood that Post-Apartheid South Africa would require more career guidance delivery points as education and job opportunities would now be open to all citizens.

Over the past 30 years we have introduced many innovations to make career guidance accessible. A few of these are listed below:

• 1993: Made career information available to citizens by writing weekly articles on careers and related issues.
• 1997: Published career guidance resources for schools.
• 1999: Developed the countries first online career guidance system.
• 2001: Developed an offline career guidance system for secondary schools.
• 2005: Developed a career guidance system that worked through a fax machine.
• 2006: Set up a small-business incubator.
• 2008: Introduced Career Dress-Up Day into primary schools.
• 2009: Developed the countries first search engine for post-school education.
• 2011: Founded the South African Career Development Association.
• 2011: Hosted the International Career Guidance Conference. 1st time in Africa.
• 2015: Developed a transnational career guidance system for the 32 small states of the Commonwealth.
• 2017: Developed career guidance systems for 14 African countries.
• 2018: Developed an AI model that integrates machine learning and narrative assessments to identify the career guidance constructs that predict academic success.

The relationship between career guidance, education, and meaningful work is well documented. 

The opportunity to work and earn a living is so intrinsically valuable because it impacts peoples lives in so many ways. The journey to find meaningful and income-earning work begins with career guidance.

Career guidance is not simply a once-off intervention that happens when a person prepares to exit school. On the contrary, career guidance is a process that begins at a very young age and over a number of years, builds the maturity and career-awareness required to make appropriate career decisions. A 'career-image' of oneself that, one can relate to, is internally agreeable (consonant), and is realistically achievable, improves school retention and increases the chances of entering post-school education.

When career guidance is introduced into the education system of a country the benefits are so wide-ranging, which is why, it impacts so many of the Sustainable Development Goals:

SDG 1: No Poverty. 

SDG 4: Quality Education. 

SDG 5: Gender Equality. 

SDG 8: Decent work and Economic Growth. 

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities.

SDG 17: Partnerships for Goals.

Our work in career guidance has benefited millions of people in South Africa and the continent, and will benefit countless more.