the authors would like to thank andreas schleicher dirk van damme deborah roseveare viktoria kis benedicte bergseng francesco avvisati and deirdre hughes for their valuable feedback on drafts of this report gender ethnicity and socioeconomic factors all strongly affect these choices career guidance is both an individual and a social good it helps individuals to progress in their learning and work but it also helps the effective functioning of the labour and learning markets and contributes to a range of social policy goals including social mobility and equity this justifies the public investment in career guidance activities