School Careers Advisor's Role in Facilitating “Hot” and “Cold” Knowledge
22/03/2023
Laura Peisley is a former school careers advisor and CICA registered career practitioner employed by Year13. She writes resources for the Career Tools platform, an all-in-one tool developed by careers advisors for careers advisors, servicing over 1100 secondary schools nationwide.
When it comes to navigating the complex landscape of career education and planning, it is important for a school careers adviser to recognise the navigational capacity of both students and families. Navigational capacity refers to the knowledge, skills, and resources that individuals and families have to navigate complex systems and make informed decisions.
Reflecting on Ball & Vincent’s (1998) concepts, we can divide these factors into informal and formal categories for consideration, respectively labelled "hot" and "cold" knowledge. What does “hot” and “cold” knowledge mean and how does it impact the navigational capacity and career decisions of Australian school students?
According to Ball & Vincent (1998), "hot" knowledge is knowledge that is based on personal experience, emotion, and intuition. It is the kind of knowledge stemmed from actually doing something, rather than just reading or hearing about it. "Cold" knowledge, on the other hand, is knowledge that is acquired through formal education, textbooks, and other sources of objective information.
So how do these types of knowledge impact career decisions?
Let's start with "hot" knowledge. When it comes to choosing a career path, many young people in Australia are influenced by their personal experiences and emotions. For example, a student who is not good at mathematics cannot think of anything worse than to try engineering.
Similarly, someone who has a passion for helping others may aspire to pursue a career in healthcare or social work. "Hot" knowledge can also come from the experiences of friends and family members. For example, a young person who has seen a family member struggle to find work in a certain field may be less likely to consider that field for themselves, even if it's something they are interested in.
On the other hand, if a friend or family member has had a positive experience in a particular career, it may inspire the young person to pursue that career as well. This insight may make the person seem happy with their knowledge but how accurate might it be? For example, many parents don’t realise that VET is an option in schools or that their child can undertake a School-based Traineeship or Apprenticeship as part of their pattern of senior school study.
This comes down to parents imparting “hot” knowledge by drawing on their own experiences and overlaying it with their aspirations for their children. As the landscape changes, parents aren't to blame for not being able to keep up. The role of the careers advisor here is particularly important in updating the family's knowledge for personalised career planning to occur.
While "hot" knowledge can be a powerful influence on career decisions, it's not the only factor at play, and not always the most accurate.
"Cold" knowledge plays a significant role for school students to receive objective information. For example, a young person who is considering a career in a particular field may do research on labour market information; job prospects, expected salaries, course and pathway options, to help them decide. They may also rely on the advice of teachers, career counsellors, and other professionals who have expertise in the field.
School career advisors play an integral role in the success of career education and the development of cold knowledge in schools. They bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table, helping students to explore their career options, instil career development skills, and plan for their future.
Accurate career information is necessary to help students make informed decisions, reduce uncertainty and anxiety, provide a realistic understanding of the labour market, help to identify potential barriers and a plan of action, and facilitates the ongoing career development process of students.
Of course, the relative importance of "hot" and "cold" knowledge will vary from person to person. Some young people may be more swayed by personal experiences and emotions, while others may place more weight on objective information and advice from experts. Additionally, there are many other factors that can impact career decisions and a student’s ‘capacity to aspire’ (Apadurai, 2004), such as social and cultural expectations, economic circumstances, and personal values, embedding a complex layer on career counselling.
Often, “cold” knowledge is just not enough, with the notion of the “grapevine” being a large influence in the manifestation of an individual’s decision making. In low SES students, certain types of “hot” knowledge can be the segue to students taking interest in accessing “cold” knowledge (Smith, 2011) hence careers advisors who encourage career conversations and exploration beyond the school grounds will foster students’ ‘capacity to aspire’.
So what does all of this mean for careers advisors assisting young Australians to make career decisions?
Firstly, it's important to recognise that both "hot" and "cold" knowledge can be valuable sources of information. Personal experiences and emotions can provide rich insights into what kind of work will be fulfilling and rewarding, while objective information can help to make informed decisions about careers that may not have been considered before, or projections of occupations that don’t yet exist, e.g. 3D organ printer technicians, neural augmentation specialists and bio-identity managers, as identified by trend forecaster Michael McQueen.
You never know what you might discover - I mean, did you as a child aspire to become a career practitioner “when you grew up”? Students need to know that career decision making is a dynamic and lifelong skill, where an open mind leads to new opportunities and experiences along the way.
Supporting the navigational capacity of students and families, expertise from school career advisors can help to balance personal experience and emotions with objective information, knowledge, skills, and resources to navigate "hot" and "cold" knowledge for career decision making.
Through providing accessible career information, offering guidance and support, building networks and partnerships, encouraging self-advocacy, and recognising the influence of cultural and social factors, career advisors can empower students and families to take charge of their career paths and achieve their goals. And by staying open to new possibilities and being willing to change course, young people can navigate the complex and ever-changing world of work, and find fulfilling and rewarding careers that align with their personal passions, values, and aspirations.
Reference list:
- Appadurai, A. (2004). The capacity to aspire: Culture and the terms of recognition. In V. Rao & M. Walton (Eds.), Culture and public action (pp. 59–84). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
- Ball, J & Vincent, C. (1998). ’I Heard It on the Grapevine’: ‘hot’ knowledge and school choice, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 19:3, 377-400
- Smith, L. (2011). Experiential ‘hot’ knowledge and its influence on low-SES students' capacities to aspire to higher education, Critical Studies in Education, 52:2, 165-177