Name: What dreams are made of: lessons for effective career development in dangerous times
Start: 2026-12-09T16:00:00+0000
End: 2026-12-09T17:30:00+0000

In periods of economic instability, it is always the youth who pay a heavy price. As youth unemployment and NEET rates grab public concern afresh around the world, this lecture focuses on lessons from international data for policy and practice that can prevent poor employment outcomes for young people. Over fifteen years, Anthony Mann has overseen and reviewed scores of international studies which harness insights from large datasets to better understand the challenges facing young people, how career development works to improve outcomes, and whether young people in secondary education are getting enough of what they need. As the world becomes more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous for students, he argues that career development based on authentic and reflexive engagement with the world of work is severely neglected by most countries.

About the presenter

Dr Anthony Mann

Dr Anthony Mann's work focuses on the career development of young people. In 2017, he joined the OECD to lead its Vocational Education and Training team. In 2019, he launched the OECD Career Readiness project, leading new analysis of large international datasets and working with many countries to improve understanding of the effective, efficient and equitable career development of young people in education. Earlier, he worked for many years in policy development and delivery at the Department for Education (England) and as founding Director of Policy and Research at UK charity Education and Employers. Since 2025, he has worked independently, most recently with UNICEF and the Ministry of Education in Ukraine helping to develop a new approach to career guidance in secondary education. He has published widely on questions related to youth career development.

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