Online Tools to Support Career Planning on the Pathway to Vocational Education and Training (VET) or General Education

Context: Career planning is crucial for young people transitioning from school to vocational education and training (VET) or general education. Self-reflection and career-related decision-making are essential for balancing societal, cultural, and personal factors. Career education in schools plays a vital role in preparing students for these transitions; however, challenges arise in providing personalised career support within the school environment. Digital tools offer a promising method to encourage career-related reflection and transformative learning, allowing students to explore their interests, competencies, and career pathways in a structured and self-directed manner. 
Approach: This study investigates the implementation and impact of www.digibe.ch, an online career reflection tool. The tool offers structured reflection tasks covering various career-related themes, encouraging students to engage in self-reflection. Using a longitudinal study design, we collected data from students in lower secondary education over three years, monitoring their interaction with the tool, their self-reflection practices, and their career-related decision-making. We also examined the role of teachers in facilitating career guidance and their perspectives on integrating digital tools into career education. 
Findings: The results indicate that career reflection is highly individualised, with students engaging in self-reflection at varying paces. Some students reported notable benefits from using the tool, gaining deeper insights into their career interests and aspirations. Others responded negatively to the reflection tasks, perceiving little relevance in exploring broader career perspectives. Teachers played a significant role in granting students access to the online tool, and their involvement and views on it varied. Some teachers recognised digital career reflection as an essential element of career education, whereas others regarded it as secondary to traditional career guidance methods. The study also highlighted that career planning is rarely linear; students frequently revisit and revise their choices, underscoring the necessity for flexible and adaptive career education models. 
Conclusions: The findings emphasise the importance of fostering career-related self-reflection and transformative learning in school-based career education. Digital tools like www.digibe.ch can effectively support this process; however, their success depends on students’ readiness to reflect and the teachers' role in facilitating career exploration. Career planning should be recognised as a dynamic and ongoing process, requiring career education and adaptable guidance instead of rigid, linear methods that aim to place students in a suitable follow-up solution. Future research should explore how to better integrate career education within school curricula and how digital tools can be optimised to meet diverse student needs.