Engaging with Parents to Empower the Next Generation

Presenter: Juliana Dignam, Leader of Learning Careers and Vocational Education & Training, St Edwards College

Workshop Summary  

Parents play a pivotal role as primary influencers in shaping their child's pathway and career choices. From an early age, children often look to their parents for guidance, observing their values, aspirations, and attitudes towards work. Beyond mere observation, parents directly influence their child's choices through active involvement in discussions about education, skills development, and future aspirations. By offering insights, sharing experiences, and providing encouragement, parents help their children explore various career paths.  However, parental career advice, while well-intentioned, may sometimes be inaccurate due to outdated information, limited perspective, unfulfilled aspirations, misunderstandings of skills and aptitudes, pressure to conform (go to university as an example) and lack of awareness about new opportunities and pathways.  So, while parental career advice comes from a place of love and concern, it’s essential for both parents and children to recognise its limitations and supplement it with input from career advisors, mentors, industry, and other information sources to ensure informed decision-making.

This workshop equips Careers Advisers with the skills, knowledge and a presentation to enable them to effectively lead parent workshops to educate and challenge existing parent perceptions and foster a deeper understanding of contemporary career landscapes. By empowering parents with updated insights and strategies, this initiative seeks to enhance parents’ ability to engage in informed and meaningful career conversations with their children. It's important to acknowledge that many parents may also grapple with uncertainties and lack confidence in their own knowledge and abilities. This workshop will not only equip Careers Advisers to instil confidence in parents, enabling parents to navigate career discussions with greater clarity and effectiveness.

About the Presenter

Winner of the Careers Advisers Association of NSW & ACT’s prestigious Careers Adviser of the Year Award in 2023, Juliana boasts a wealth of experience across both Department and Catholic school settings. She has a Masters in Education specialising in Career Development and holds membership in the Catholic Schools Broken Bay Pathways & Partnership Industry Advisory Group. She also serves as Chair of the Central Coast Careers Adviser Network. Drawing from her diverse career journey marked by numerous job roles and transitions, Juliana views this variety as a cornerstone of her effectiveness as a Careers Adviser. Embracing her identity as an "ideas" person, she thrives on pioneering fresh initiatives that enrich school communities.  Join Juliana as she shares her Parents Talking Careers workshop.