National Report on the Austrian Career Guidance System
OVERVIEW on NATIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM
A general overview on the Austrian guidance system is given under
http://www.mevoc.net/DE/htm/fs.htm.
TRENDS
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In the last years career guidance is seen as a part of lifelong guidance (LLG) in a broad
sense of the terme. This means that counsellors should ideally support people of all ages in
their decisions about changes in their lives, above all regarding jobs, career, education and
participation in social life. And counsellors should empower people to implement these
changes.
There are more and more private contractors and associations the field of career
counselling in the last years.
As the European economic area and also the European education area are advancing and
developing, orientation about international education and career possibilities is of
increasing importance. Also on a global scale the need for competent career guidance in an
international context is rising.
TRAINING OFFERS for CAREER COUNCELLORS in AUSTRIA
In Austria there are currently several institutions (universities, further education centers....) which
offer training courses and education for career guidance counsellors:
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Ausbildung zum bzw. zur Berufs- und BildungsberaterIn (WIFI Wien)
Website: http://www.wifiwien.at/
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Ausbildung zum bzw. zur BerufsorientierungstrainerIn und BildungsberaterIn (WIFI
Burgenland)
Website: http://www.bgld.wifi.at/
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Universitätslehrgang Career Management – Laufbahnberatung MAS an der
Universität Klagenfurt
Website: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/cml
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NEW: Master of Lifelong Learning
Starting 2008 the Donau-Universität Krems offers a Master programme for Lifelong
Learning. Prerequisites are a study admission qualification and a diploma of the academy for
further education, competencies,learn- and work experiences made at the academy for
further education will be taken into account during the application procedure.
Website: http://www.donau-uni.ac.at//de/department/wbbm/news/id/09670/index.php
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Lehrgang universitären Charakters für Bildungs- und Berufsberatung des Bundesinstituts für
Erwachsenenbildung (BIFEB)
Website: http://www.bifeb.at
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Diplomlehrgang zum/zur BerufsorientierungstrainerIn des bfi Wien
Website: http://www.bfiwien.or.at
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Ausbildung zum/zur Perfect TrainerIn: TrainerInnenausbildung zur Beratung und
Begleitung von Menschen in Bildungsprozessen (bfi Steiermark)
Website: http://www.bfi-stmk.at/
Most of these training possibilities for career guidance counsellors are listed and described more
detailed under http://www.mevoc.net/DE/htm/fs.htm.
(LEGAL) REGULATIONS
There have been no new legal regulations for guidance counsellors but reference to career
guidance has been made on a national level in the work programme of the new gouvernement.
A national steering group has been established, which includes representatives from the ministries
for education, science and social affairs, from the social partners, the labour agency, and last but not
least ibw's managing director Mag. Thomas Mayr. So far a national strategy for LLG (lifelong
guidance) has been developed, which forms the heart of the new Austrian guidance strategy.
Among others, the professionalisation of counsellors is one of the main targets in this strategy, as
they will need a variety of competencies to carry out guidance in a broader understanding of the
term, which aims at a long term support, especially during decisions about educational and career
relevant matters.
2006 the steering group identified the following main targets of lifelong guidance in Austria:
(1) Implementation of basic competencies in every curriculum
(2) Focus on process orientation and guidance in order to ensure a high quality of decisions
(3) Professionalisation of counsellors and trainers
(4) Quality safeguarding and evaluation of offers, processes and structures
(5) Broadening of access – development of new offers for new target groups
The AMS, the Austrian public employment service and therefore one of the big players in the
Austrian career guidance sector, has developed an internal regulation scheme for counsellors
within projects and measures that are funded by the public employment service: In a scheme from
zero to ten, ten points at the most can be achieved for guidance relevant education and trainings.
But this new evaluation scheme is not at all undisputed among Austrian counsellors because of its
rigidity. For example it has been criticised that almost only academics with a degree in psychology
are able to reach the ten points. -And they even reach them easily, no matter if they have any
experience in career counselling, while someone who may have had practical experience for years
and taken part in further education courses, will never reach a high amount of points in this scheme.
Again, this regulation is in effect only for counsellors who want to work within the public
employment service or one of its projects, it is not a national regulation.
NETWORKS and PROJECTS in the Austrian career guidance sector
„Projektverbund Bildungsberatung“:
The project network ""Netzwerk für BildungsberaterInnen - BildungsberaterInnen im Netz short:
bib-innovation-network 2007 - 2010" of "Projektverbund Bildungsberatung" has the aim to
prolongate and enlarge networking and exchange and to facilitate learning from one another within
the sector of education and career guidance in Austria. It is funded by the ESF the European Social
Fonds.
In the framework of the period 2007 -2013 of the ESF the project bib-infonet will be continued.
Austrian Association for education and career guidance counsellors, „Österreichische
Vereinigung für Bildungs-, Berufs-, und LaufbahnberaterInnen“:
This association has been founded in December 2007.It is closely linked to the national Institut for
adult education.
Main targets of the association are professionalisation, anchoring and facilitation of education and
career guidance in society, economics,in national and European politics and research.
For further information see:
http://www.eb-Portal/nachrichten/news080118.php
Education Guidance Network Vienna
The Viennese guidance network wants to establish learn- and workshops according to the example
of Berlin's Lernläden, the Slowenien modell and the French „Cité des Metiers“. Main target is to
increase the participation in further education programms of the Viennese population. Planned start
is spring 2008.
EUROGUIDANCE Austria
The Austrian EUROGUIDANCE Centre is a multiplier in the fields of education and training,
career information and guidance. It is a specific institution for European oriented education and
career guidance and was integrated into the Austrian National Agency for lifelong learning in 2007.
It adds an European dimension to the Austrian system for providing educational and vocational
information and guidance. Cooperation at European level promotes innovative approaches to
guidance and counselling and helps in further developing vocational guidance offerings. Through
these activities, the network promotes mobility in Europe and facilitates a more effective exchange
of information and experience.
For more information see:
http://www.leonardodavinci.at/article/articleview/180/1/18
CAREER GUIDANCE POLICY REVIEW by the OECD
The Austrian Career Guidance System has been evaluated by the OECD. The „Career
Guidance Policy Review“ (carried out 2001-2003, published 2004) noted the following results.
Most characteristics persisted since these results where published.
Strengths and weaknesses of the Austrian Career Guidance System according to
the OECD
Austria's strengths:
• positive alignement of the people concerned
• tight cooperation between the actors, above all on a regional level
• social partners play an active role
• three level concept in schools: “occupational orientation education, career guidance, school
psychology“
• Occupational orientation education is obligatory.
• Targets and direction of impact are generally good, but efforts to implement changes could
be stronger.
Austria's weaknesses:
• Many problems related to career decisions arise from the school system which requires
career decisions already very early at a young age.
• The integrative modell of occupational orientation education usually does not work well
due to a lack of teacher training and coordination.
• There is not enough time per pupil, therefore only few pupils can be given individual
advice.
• There is only little room for practical trainings or internships.
• The education of occupational orientation teachers is too unequal and too short. It should
be enlarged and standardised.
• Career counselling for the third sector is done only randomly and basically consists in
passing on information.
• Information material is often focussing the producers instead of the consumers.
• There are no regulations for career guidance counsellors in adult education and there is a
lack of quality criteria for counsellors.
• Generally the quality management and development seems insufficient.
• Networking of the various players and institutions seems to work well only on a regional
level, but on the contrary the networking on the national level seems weak.
REFERENCES:
OECD study (2004)
http://www.schulpsychologie.at/oecd/
EU-Guidance-Resolution (2004)
http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/resolution2004_de.pdf
USEFUL LINKS and WEBSITES:
http:// www.berufsberater.at
VBB-Verband der BildungsberaterInnen, association of career counsellors (chairman Mag. Andreas
Wolf)
http://www.bib-infonet.at
Platform for Career counsellors, homepage of Projektverbund Bildungsberatung,financially
supported by the European Social Fonds
http://www.bib-atlas.at
An atlas of career guidance in Austria
http://www.eb-portal.at/nachrichten/news080118.php
Information on the foundation of an Austrian Association for education and career guidance
Violoncello, „Österreichische Vereinigung für Bildungs-, Berufs-, und LaufbahnberaterInnen“,
there is no proper website yet,but an email address: barbara@oberwasserlechner.at
http://www.ams.at/
Website of AMS, the Austrian public employment service
http://www.erwachsenenbildung.at
www.erwachsenenbildung.at is developed in cooperation by the Austrian ministry of education, art
and culture (bm:ukk), the national institute for adult education (Bundesinstitut für
Erwachsenenbildung,short: bifeb) and the EDUCON institute.
http://www.l3lab.erwachsenenbildung.at
Open Lifelong Learning Lab network of the Bundesinstitut für Erwachsenenbildung St. Wolfgang
(bifeb) and the department for research on further education and career management of the DonauUniversität Krems.
http://www.leonardodavinci.at/article/articleview/180/1/18
Information on the Euroguidance network in Austria
http://www.leonardodavinci.at/article/archive/34//
Overview on guidance services in Austria given by the National agency for lifelong learning