Blended Career Guidance for Kenyan Youth- A Scalable Four Pathways Model
Keywords:
Blended career guidance, digital equity, career readiness, youth employment, employabilityAbstract
There are acute, pervasive gaps in career guidance to underserved groups in Kenya. This paper aims to explore the impact of blended career guidance initiatives in rural Kenya. This research paper integrates empirical findings, field implementation, and theoretical grounding from the Decent Work initiative, dubbed Ajira Poa! This research study focused on rural Kenyan youth across Nyandarua, Nakuru, and West Pokot. The paper examines how blended, context-sensitive career guidance can significantly impact youth career readiness and employability as well as programming. Using a four-step developmental model: self-awareness, exploration, planning, and decision-Making, the program tailored support across four key pathways: apprenticeship, entrepreneurship, college readiness, and workplace readiness. This study was rooted in Super’s lifespan theory and the systems theory framework. This paper illustrates what it takes to scale youth empowerment in low-resource settings. It also offers practical recommendations to address digital exclusion, localization, and systemic gaps.
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