Career Pathways Overview

The state of Missouri has identified six Career Paths as a way to help students become aware of and explore careers in a logical and meaningful way. They include Arts and Communication, Business, Management and Technology, Health Services, Human Services/Transportation, Industrial and Engineering Technology, and Natural Resources and Agriculture. Missouri uses 16 Career Clusters as a way of organizing occupations and careers to assist educators in tailoring rigorous coursework and related activities for all students. The Career Clusters include all occupations, even those not usually found in career and technical education. Occupations within a Career Cluster are further grouped according to shared commonalities such as skill sets or common roles. This grouping is called a Career Pathway. Each cluster contains two to seven Career Pathways. Career Pathways assist educators in the development of a coordinated and non-duplicative sequence of courses that identifies both secondary and postsecondary education elements; includes challenging academic and career and technical education content; and culminates in one or more of the following: technical skill proficiency, a credential, a certificate, or a degree at the secondary or postsecondary level.

State Resources: https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/career-education