Careers work in higher education in Pakistan: current practice and options for the future

ABSTRACT

In this article we examine the development of career guidance in Pakistani higher education. The article is based on a literature review supplemented with new data gathered from a review of higher education institutions' websites and five case study interviews. It considers both local and global influences as relevant contexts for understanding how the development of career guidance in Pakistani higher education is taking place. Concerns about alignment between skills supply and demand provide key drivers both for the development of career guidance and for a wider higher education reform. The practice of career guidance in Pakistani higher education is shown to be lagging behind policy and will need to be strengthened by new policy, resources and indigenous theories.

KEYWORDS:

• Career guidance
• Pakistan
• higher education
• policy
• graduates

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Gulnaz Zahid is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby, UK.

Professor Tristram Hooley is Professor of Career Education, University of Derby, UK.

Dr Siobhan Neary is the Head of the International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby, UK.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.