What Are Career Clusters?

The world of careers has been organized into 16 groupings of occupations called Career Clusters. These 16 Career Clusters categorize the economy into related occupations and industries.

Career Clusters prepare learners of all ages for the information age as schools, colleges and employers strive for higher achievement in science, math and communication skills. One key to improving learner achievement is providing learners with relevant contexts for studying and learning. Career Clusters provide these contexts by linking school-based learning with career-related experiences.

Career Clusters identify pathways from high schools to two- and four-year colleges, technical schools, graduate schools, apprenticeship programs and the workplace so that learners can recognize the relationship between what they learn in school and what they can do in the future. This connection to future goals motivates students to work harder and enroll in more rigorous courses.

Counselors/teachers can use Career Clusters to help students explore a wide array of options for the future.

Parents can use Career Clusters to help their children explore career options and be better prepared for college and the workplace.

Pam Stacey
Career Clusters Director
States' Career Clusters Initiative

Did You Know Career Clusters Can Help Students Plan Their Future?

Whether students realize it or not, they are making decisions every day that will affect their future. They need to think about what they want to do when they graduate. Students need to be aware of the many choices available to them and how those choices impact their future. In today's rapidly changing world, students must know about future employment trends and employment and postsecondary education/training when they graduate. Students graduating from high school should have several different options, not just one.

There are many different types of training available to students after they graduate from high school. One choice is not better than the others; each choice simply educates high school graduates for different types of careers.

Encourage students to think beyond high school enrollment or meeting graduation requirements. Use the Career Clusters as a springboard to their future.