Career readiness in Madrid, Spain: Insights from a survey of young adults (19-26)

Abstract

Abstract

Headnote

Abstract

Acknowledgements

This working paper was drafted by Anthony Mann, Jonathan Diaz and Sara Zapata Posada. The authors would like to thank the Community of Madrid for their engagement through the development and confirmation of the paper, Dongwook Choi for providing management and editorial support, Rodolfo Ilizaliturri for his feedback through the drafting process and Andreas Schleicher for his guidance. This working paper was realised by the Career Readiness team at the OECD with the support of JPMorganChase. The views expressed in this report should not be taken to reflect the official position of the OECD member countries, JPMorganChase or any of its affiliates.

This paper reports the results of a survey of young adults aged 19-26 who were educated in the Community of Madrid, Spain. The study asks users of career guidance systems within secondary education to share perspectives on their usefulness from the vantage point of the labour market participation. The study finds that overwhelmingly respondents who participated in career development activities as teenagers found them to be useful to their post-secondary transitions with many stating that they were very useful. They wished however that they had received more support from their schools, especially with regard to practical activities related to integration into the working world. Analysis finds many strong relationships between participation in career development and the quality of transitions. It is less likely for young adults who engaged more deeply in career development as teenagers to report that they were Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) at the time of the survey and they expressed more positive attitudes about their transitions and the value of the support received from their schools.

Career Readiness in Madrid (Spain): a user perspective

This paper presents results from a survey of 1 015 young adults, aged between 19 and 26, who attended secondary education within the Community of Madrid. The survey was completed during the summer of 2024. The survey explores the perspectives of users of career development systems delivered by secondary education institutions within the Community. Such user surveys have been previously been undertaken in the United Kingdom (Jones, Mann and Morris, 2015711; Kashefpakdel and Percy, 20222]; Kashefpakdel et al., 201873); Moote et al., 20244; Mann et al., 20175); Mann and Percy, 201316); Percy and Mann, 201477) and the United States (OECD, 202381). They represent an increasingly common approach to building understanding of how guidance interventions are perceived by their users after they have completed secondary education and have gained new perspectives on the actual value of guidance provision from the vantage point of the labour market. As a quantitative exploration of the utility of guidance interventions, user surveys complement longitudinal randomised control trials and cohort studies which are unfortunately rare globally with regard to teenage career development and unavailable within Spain. An advantage of the user survey approach is that they provide immediate insight into the perceived value of career guidance systems from individuals who are well placed to provide a judgement. They allow analysis of relationships between the character of transitions experienced and forms of recalled engagement in career development activities by young people with different characteristics. This paper presents the findings of the survey and within the narrative that follows below provides a technical description of the survey Annex A. Technical guide. Annex B. Supplementary tables presents the survey's full results.

Insights from the analysis

How easy is it for young adults to recall their engagement in teenage carer development?

Given the importance of recollection within the survey, young adults were asked how easy or difficult it was to remember career development activities undertaken while in secondary school. This is undertaken in two ways. Across the whole sample, two-thirds of respondents said that they found it easy or very easy to remember in general what they had done in terms of career development while in secondary school. Just one in twenty found it very difficult to remember (Table 2). Importantly, there is little variation between the different groups within subsamples that might distort later analyses. Notably, no strong variations are apparent in the ease of recollection stated by students by educational attainment level, social status, gender or by current status within the labour market. The only outlying group with substantially lower levels of confidence in their memories is students who had not completed compulsory secondary education with 53% saying it was quite or very difficult to recall such activities. However, this group represents a small proportion of the whole sample at 1.9%. Looking at 17 specific forms of career development activities, confidence in memory is much greater with typically some 95% of students saying that they remembered whether they had or had not taken part in particular activities (Table 4 - Table 20).

What career development activities do the former students of Madrid secondary schools recall engaging in while in secondary school and how useful did they find them to be?

The survey asks respondents about their recalled participation in a range of career development activities linked to how they had explored, experienced and thought about their potential futures in work while still in secondary school. This model of understanding career development draws on insights from a wide-ranging review of national longitudinal studies undertaken by the OECD. Each form of teenage career development can be strongly associated in longitudinal data with better employment outcomes in the early labour market (Covacevich et al., 2021197).

In the Madrid survey, the field of career exploration is reviewed through questions surrounding speaking with parents and teachers, hearing from guest speakers in schools talking about their jobs, taking part in job shadowing, visits to workplaces and job fairs, using the internet to research careers and tertiary education programmes, touring postsecondary educational institutions, learning how to apply for a job/create a good CV and how to interview well (which adds a skills dimension to career learning); that of career experience through participation in part-time work, internships and volunteering in the community; and, that of career thinking through speaking with career advisors either in or out of school and completing questionnaires about interests and abilities. From their perspectives as young adults within the labour market, respondents are also asked how useful in planning and preparing for working life they found the different forms of career development they had completed within secondary education. Only respondents who had completed a specific activity were asked for their view on how useful it had been. Consequently, the survey provides insights from users of guidance services at a time when they have become well placed to judge whether they have proved to be useful or not within their progression. While it is possible that specific guidance interventions may prove to be valued more (or less) highly at a later date, the survey provides valuable feedback to a guidance system designed to enable smoother transitions than would be possible in its absence.

Young adults educated in the Madrid community clearly valued the career development which they received in secondary school. Substantial majorities of respondents state that they found such activities to have been either somewhat or very useful to them. Across 17 activities, consistently more than eight out of ten young adults found them to be useful in some way. Very few found them to be not at all useful (Table 29 - Table 45). As illustrated in Figure 1, many young adults found the activities they engaged in to be very useful, an important endorsement of provision received.

Around half of young adults who had learnt how to apply for a job/create a good CV (49%) and learnt how to do well in a job interview (52%) found these activities to have been very useful to them. However, only half of respondents recalled engaging in such activities while they were in secondary school. Comparable numbers of young people reported first-hand career experience of being in the labour market. Through volunteering in the community (OECD, 2025107), internships (OECD, 2025117) and part-time work (OECD, 2025/12), students are given opportunity to gain insight in what it is like to work, undertaking tasks under supervision in workplaces. The survey shows that both internships and part-time work experiences are highly valued by former students, but participation rates in both fields were limited.

International studies increasingly highlight the central importance of employer engagement within programmes of career development (Cedefop; ETF; European Commission, 2021713; OECD, 20211147). One means of gauging the extent to which young people recall notable engagements with employers and people in work through their school-mediated career development is to ask how many times they remember being involved in such activities (Table 3). In Madrid, most young people recall only limited interactions with employers. As Figure 1 illustrates fewer than half of respondents recalled participating in job fairs, job shadowing or internships. Asked specifically whether any schools which they attended between the ages of 15 and 18 arranged for them to take part in any career guidance activities that involved them meeting with employers/business people and if so on how many occasions, 35% of the respondents in Madrid said they never had such an experience, 28% on a single occasion, 27% twice, 6% three times and 3% on four occasions or more (Table 3). Such levels of recalled engagement are lower, but comparable to those found in the UK and the United States (Mann et al., 20175; Mann and Percy, 2013161; OECD, 20233). Young adults from more advantaged social backgrounds and who had attended private schools are more likely to recall higher levels of such employer engagement (Table 3).

What forms of career development do young adults in Madrid wish they had received more of while in secondary school?

From their vantage point in the labour market, young adults in Madrid express a strong desire that their secondary schools had provided greater support in career development. While they clearly value what they had received, young adults wish they had received still much more from their schools. Across all the potential areas considered, consistently eight out ten or more respondents say that they wish they had received some or a lot more help. Interest relates particularly to the practicalities of finding a job, preparing well to apply for one and beginning work. Such results are comparable to those found in the United Kingdom and the United States (Mann et al, 2017/51; OECD, 2023). Young adults are also very keen to better understand how the taxation and social security systems work and highlight a strong awareness of the stressful nature of transitions out of secondary education into the labour market. Figure 2 summarises fields in which young adults wished they had had a lot more help from their schools between the ages of 15 and 18 (Table 46 - Table 61). Young people particularly call for greater practical experience, information and skills related to transitions, a form of career development that is often under-developed within guidance systems.

Further exploration of the sample finds notably higher levels of interest among some specific demographic groups. Among female respondents for example, 45% state that they would have welcomed a lot more help in 'how to get a job that people of your gender or background don't normally do' (Table 56). Agreement with this statement is also particularly high (47%) among young adults from more disadvantaged social backgrounds. It is also notable that interest in "how to get onto a formal training programme like an apprenticeship' is high at 46% among young adults whose secondary education was in the general stream (Table 58). In many countries, understanding of VET routes within general education are limited.

Young adults who were educated in Madrid are in general evenly divided over whether they feel that their secondary schools had prepared them well for the working world (Figure 3) (Table 21), a result that is comparable to UK studies (Mann et al., 2017551) On average, around half of young adults agree that their schools had prepared them well. This figure is notably higher among the former students of private schools and foreign-born respondents. It is notably lower among students from the most socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

Source: OECD survey of young adults in Madrid (2024) Note: Young adults state comparable views when asked about how easy or difficult it has been to make progress in education and/or work since leaving secondary education (Figure 4) (Table 27)

Asked whether their progress in education and/or employment had been easy or difficult since leaving secondary school (Figure 4), respondents in general were split evenly in their opinion.

Figure 4. Percentage of young adults agreeing that it had been difficult for them to make progress in their education and/or employment since leaving secondary school - by sociodemographic characteristics and education/training route.

Young adults are generally positive when asked to rate their career trajectory to date on a scale of 1 to 10 (Figure 5). Nearly two-thirds given themselves a rating of 7 or above (with 10 being the most positive). When asked how useful they think 'what they are doing currently will be to prepare them for the job that they would like to have in 5-10 years', over 80% state that their current activity is quite useful (53%) or very useful (29%) (Table 28).

Figure 5. Percentage of young adults rating their career trajectories to date on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most positive).

Can transition experiences and perceptions be related to levels of recalled participation levels of recalled participation in teenage career development?

In comparable studies undertaken to date in the United Kingdom and the United States, evidence is found of associations between transition outcomes and levels of recalled engagement in career development, notably with regard to those activities which bring students into contact with employers, people in work and workplaces (Moote et al., 20244]; Mann etal., 2017;s;; Mann and Percy, 2013; OECD, 2023157). (Table 62 - Table 65) explore statistical relationships based on regression analysis between different forms of transition outcomes and recalled levels of participation in career development activities (individual activities, number of activities undertaken, number of useful activities recalled and engagement within employers). The analysis reviews relationships with regard to a range of transition elements, including NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) status, perceptions of how well schools had prepared respondents for working life, ease of progression since secondary school, the perceived usefulness of current activities, satisfaction with career trajectory, and, for those employed, job satisfaction and monthly pay. Relationships are also explored with regard to dropout from university and postsecondary training provision. Controls are applied in relation to age, gender, socioeconomic background, nativity, and highest level of educational attainment. Significant relationships are identified where p-values are less than 0.05, indicating that there is less than a 5% probability that the observed relationship has occurred by chance, given the controls applied. Additionally, a low standard error suggests greater precision in estimating the typical effect size. Results are generally presented as odds ratios (OR), illustrating the likelihood of more positive or negative outcomes among young adults who recalled participating in different forms of career development activities, compared to similar peers who did not engage in these activities during secondary education.

The analysis finds statistically significant relationships between engagement in certain career development activities and a lower likelihood of being NEET between ages 19 and 26, after accounting for other characteristics. Young adults who recalled participating in career development activities during secondary school are also significantly more likely to report that their schools prepared them well for working life. Additionally, they tend to express greater satisfaction with their career trajectory in education, training, or work to date. For example, young adults who spoke with their teachers about jobs of interest were nearly twice as likely to avoid NEET status (OR = 1.8), while those who engaged in workplace visits (OR = 1.6), volunteering (OR = 1.6), hearing from guest speakers (OR = 1.6), or participating in job shadowing (OR = 1.6) also showed substantially lower odds of being NEET. Additionally, those who recalled participating in career development activities during secondary school were significantly more likely to report that their schools prepared them well for working life (e.g., OR = 3.3 for speaking with teachers about jobs, OR = 2.9 for hearing from guest speakers). They also tend to express greater satisfaction with their career trajectory in education, training, or work to date.

More modest positive impacts are identified with regard to the perceptions of young adults on how easy it has been for them to progress since leaving school, the usefulness of their current activity and their job satisfaction if in employment. The study is unable to identify patterns of significant relationships with regard to dropout out from university or training programmes or with regard to monthly earnings for those in employment (Table 62 - Table 65). In this analysis, it is important to note sample size for specific analyses may impact on capacity to identify significant relationships.

Figure 6 sets out descriptive figures illustrating the simple relationship between recollection of greater volume of employer engagement interventions within teenage career development and more positive perceptions that their schools had prepared respondents well (quite well and very well combined) for adult working life. Whereas only 39% of young adults who remembered no engagement from employers in their secondary school career development felt that their schooling had prepared them well for working life, this figure rises to 68% among peers who recalled four or more engagements.

Conclusions

This survey of young adults who were educated in the Community of Madrid provides a unique perspective on the experiences and perceptions of users of a career guidance system. The study finds that overwhelmingly, respondents who participated in career development activities as teenagers found them to be useful to their post-secondary transitions with many stating that they were very useful. They wished however that they had received more support from their schools, especially with regard to practical activities related to integration with the working world. Analysis finds many strong relationships between participation in career development and the quality of transitions. It is less likely for young adults who engaged more deeply in career development as teenagers to report that they were NEET at the time of the survey and they expressed more positive attitudes about their transitions and the value of the support received from their schools.

OECD (2021), "Getting the most out of employer engagement in career guidance", OECD [14] Education Policy Perspectives, No. 36, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/fbbc3788-en.

Annex A. Technical guide

This publication analyses data from a survey commissioned by the OECD to examine the experiences and perspectives of young adults (ages 19-26) who attended secondary school in the Community of Madrid with regard to their preparation for working life while in secondary education and transitions after its completion.

Survey Design and Sample

The survey consisted of 25 questions, which were used to derive approximately 80 analytical variables. These questions addressed a range of topics, including demographic information, secondary school experiences, participation in career development activities, and perceptions of career readiness. The survey emphasized themes such as parental background, current employment or education status, satisfaction with career trajectories, and retrospective assessments of secondary school support.

A total of 1 015 respondents completed the survey. Eligibility criteria required participants to:

e Be between the ages of 19 and 26 years at the time of the survey.

e Have attended a secondary school in the Community of Madrid for at least part of their education between the ages of 15 and 18.

Data Collection

The survey was conducted during the summer of 2024 using the LimeSurvey platform, ensuring a standardized and consistent data collection process. Respondents were recruited through targeted outreach by TGM Research to ensure diverse representation within the target demographic. Participation was voluntary, and all responses were anonymized to maintain confidentiality and protect respondent privacy.

Key Variables

The survey collected data across a wide range of variables to explore the educational, career, and personal experiences of respondents. The key areas of focus included:

e Demographics: Information on respondents' age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and birthplace to understand the basic composition of the sample. SES is a derived variable based on respondents' answers regarding their parents' occupations (mapped to ISCO Major Groups) and university attainment.

о High SES: Respondents were classified as High SES if at least one parent attended university and at least one held an occupation in ISCO Major Group 1 or 2 (e.g., managerial or professional roles).

o Low SES: Respondents were classified as Low SES if neither parent attended university, and at least one parent worked in ISCO Major Groups 5 to 9 (e.g., service workers, craft workers, or elementary occupations).

o Middle SES: Any other combination of parental university attainment and occupation was classified as Middle SES.

e Educational Background: Details were collected on the type of secondary school attended (e.g., public, private, vocational, general), highest level of education completed during the respondents' secondary school years. In the Spanish education system, Enseñanza Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) is the compulsory secondary education stage, typically covering ages 12 to 16 (corresponding to grades 1° to 4° de ESO). Upon completion of ESO, students around age 16 may choose between two main educational tracks:

о Bachillerato: A two-year academic program (ages 16 to 18) intended to prepare students for university studies. It is more theory - based and includes specializations such as sciences, humanities, or arts.

o Formación Profesional (FP): A vocational education track with different levels:

- Grado Básico (Basic Vocational Training): Typically for students aged 15 to 17, often as an alternative to completing ESO. It provides basic skills and a pathway to Grado Medio.

- Grado Medio (Intermediate Vocational Training): Usually undertaken after completing ESO, lasting two years (ages 16 to 18), and focused on more specialized technical training.

e Current Status and Career Satisfaction: Insights into respondents' main activities at the time of the survey (e.g., employed, studying, unemployed), gross monthly pay, and self-assessed satisfaction with their current job and overall career trajectory, both rated on a 10-point scale.

e Career Development Activities (CDA): Frequency of recalled engagement in career-focused activities during secondary school, including internships, job shadowing, career fairs, and discussions with career advisors - and perceptions of how useful recalled activities had been.

e Perceived School Support: Respondents' evaluations of how well their secondary school equipped them for working life, categorized into responses ranging from "very well" to "very badly."

e Retrospective Desire for Support: Respondents' perspectives on whether they felt they would have benefited from additional support in secondary school, such as guidance on creating CVs, preparing for interviews, or visiting workplaces of interest.

Table 4. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Speaking with my teachers about jobs of interest

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Speaking with my teachers about jobs of interest]"

Table 5. Distribution by participation career development activities - Speaking with your parents and/or friends of the family about jobs of interest

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Speaking with your parents and/or friends of the family about jobs of interest]"

Table 6. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Hearing from guest speakers who came into the school to talk about their jobs

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Hearing from guest speakers who came into the school to talk

about their jobs]

Table 7. Distribution by participation career development activities - Learning how to apply for a job/create a good CV

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Learning how to apply for a job/create a good CV]

Table 8. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Learning how to do well in a job interview

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Learning how to do well in a job interview]

Table 9. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Volunteering in the community

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Volunteering in the community]

Table 10. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Doing an internship or short work placement

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Doing an internship or short work placement]

Table 11. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Taking

part in job shadowing

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the

following activities? [Taking part in job shadowing]

Table 12. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Taking part in visits to workplaces

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Taking part in visits to workplaces]

Table 13. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Taking part in job fairs

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Taking part in job fairs]

Table 14. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Speaking to a career advisor in school

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Speaking to a career advisor in school]

Table 15. Distribution by participation in career development activities - Speaking to a career advisor outside of school

Percentage of survey respondents by their response to the question: "In the school(s) you attended between the ages of 15 and 18, how often did you participate in the following activities? [Speaking to a career advisor outside of school]

References

References

Cedefop; ETF; European Commission (2021), Investing in Career Guidance: revised Edition 2021, Inter-Agency Working Group on Career Guidance WGCG, https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications/2230.

Covacevich, C. et al. (2021), "Indicators of teenage career readiness: An analysis of longitudinal data from eight countries", OECD Education Working Papers, No. 258, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/cec854f8-en.

Jones, S., A. Mann and K. Morris (2015), "The 'Employer Engagement Cycle' in Secondary Education: analysing the testimonies of young British adults", Journal of Education and Work, Vol. 29/7, pp. 834-856, https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2015.1074665.

Kashefpakdel, E. et al. (2018), "Young people in the labour market: how teenage employer engagement makes a difference to adult outcomes", in Mann, A., P. Huddleston and E. Kashefpakdel (eds.), Essays on Employer Engagement in Education, Routledge, London, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315144115-14.

Kashefpakdel, E. and C. Percy (2022), Work Experience for All: Exploring the impacts of work experiences on young people's outcomes, Speakers for Schools, https://www.speakersforschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SP-2074 SFS-WorkExperience-For-All-Y ouGov-Report_v1.pdf.

Mann, A. et al. (2017), Contemporary Transitions: young Britons reflect on life after secondary school and college, Education and Employers, https://www.educationandemployers.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/01/Contemporary-Transitions-30-01-2017.pdf.

Mann, A. and C. Percy (2013), "Employer engagement in British secondary education: wage earning outcomes experienced by young adults", Journal of Education and Work, Vol. 27/5, pp. 496-523, https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2013.769671.

Moote, J. et al. (2024), "More is more: exploring the relationship between young people's experiences of school-based career education, information, advice and guidance at age 14-16 and wider adult outcomes at age 21-22 in England", Research Papers in Education, pp. 1-24, https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2024.2330971.

OECD (2025), Internships for secondary school students in general education, OECD Publishing.

OECD (2025), Teenage part-time working: How schools can optimise benefits and reduce risks for secondary school students, OECD Publishing.

OECD (2025), Voluntary work in the community: A guide to delivering an effective career development activity, OECD Publishing.

OECD (2023), Career Readiness Review: The Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/aSff0e6c-en.

Percy, C. and A. Mann (2014), "School-mediated employer engagement and labour market outcomes for young adults: wage premia, NEET outcomes and career confidence", in Mann, A., J. Stanley and L. Archer (eds.), Understanding Employer Engagement in Education, Routledge, London.