Advancing K-12 Career Exploration: An Assessment of Evidence and Opportunity
Tools and Resources|Data and Evidence
Equitable, high-quality career exploration in middle and high school is essential to positive youth development, from helping them form a sense of who they are to making informed choices about their future and supporting their path to long-term success. To understand how career exploration is delivered today and identify priorities to advance meaningful exploration for young people, Project Evident conducted an evidence and opportunity assessment between December 2025 and May 2026.
Supported by the Walton Family Foundation and Britebound, this assessment synthesizes existing research across youth development, education, and workforce fields with insights from interviews and roundtables with practitioners, researchers, and education leaders.
What should young people gain from career exploration, and how do we know when it is working? This white paper makes the developmental case for career exploration in middle and high school, defines the core components of high-quality practice, and identifies where the field should focus next to improve quality and build stronger evidence.
What conditions need to be in place for career exploration to work well? This brief examines the systems and conditions that shape delivery and identifies priorities for strengthening quality, coordination, and implementation.
What does the evidence tell us about career exploration outcomes for middle and high school students? This brief examines the outcomes that matter for young people, what studies show about different practices and program models, and where important gaps remain.
This framework maps out the core components of effective career exploration — Self-Discovery, Environmental Exploration, Relationships & Social Capital, Durable Skills, and Navigation & Planning — all embedded within the broader networks and institutions that shape a young person’s choices.
