Goodbye ContactPoint, Hello CareerWisecontactpoint.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/cjcd-vol12-issue1-full.pdf · CJCD Journal cover Nov 2012_Layout 1 12-12-04 11:05 AM Page 1. The Canadian

The Canadian Journal of Career Development is a peer-reviewed publication of multi-sectoralcareer-related academic research and best practices from Canada and around the world.

La Revue canadienne de développement de carrière est une publication revue par un comitéde lecture, qui présente des recherches universitaires et des meilleures pratiques multisectorielleset ayant trait aux carrières, provenant du Canada et du reste du monde.

Access this journal online / Accédez à cette revue en ligne à l’adresse suivante :

cjcdonline.ca/rcdcenligne.ca

This Journal was made possible through the generous contributions ofThe Counselling Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Education andResearch Institute for Counselling and Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Cette Revue est rendue possible grâce aux généreuses contributions deThe Counselling Foundation of Canada, l’Institut canadien d’éducation et de recherche en orientation et de l’Université Memorial de Terre-Neuve.

In this Issue / Dans ce numéro 1Vol. 1 / No. 1

GENTIANE BOUDRENGHIEN, MARIANE FRENAY, ETIENNE BOURGEOIS, STUART A. KARABENICK,AND JACQUELYNNE S. ECCLES

59 Job Development for Today - A Sector Specific Approach

HABIB ULLAH

Career Planning In Ontario - Grade 10 Students: Counsellor PerpectivesDR. PETER DIETSCHE

Antecedents of Educational Goal Commitment: An Experimental Investigation ofthe Role of Goal Abstraction, Integration, and Importance

International Students' Views of Transition to Employment and ImmigrationNANCY ARTHUR AND SARAH FLYNN

Relationships Among Career Thoughts, Career Interests, and Career Decision State

ASHLEY K. CHASON, EMILY BULLOCK-YOWELL, JAMES P. SAMPSON, JR., JANET G. LENZ, AND ROBERT C. REARDON

Transitioning into, Through, and out of Graduate School: A Theoretical ModelMELANIE J. GREENE

Creating Hope, Opportunity, and Results for Disadvantaged YouthCAROLYN ACKER AND NORMAN ROWEN

RESEARCH IN MOTION

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28

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49

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The Canadian Journal of Career Development

Revue canadienne dedéveloppement de carrière

Access this journal online / Accédez à cette revue en ligne à l'adresse suivante


Revue canadienne de développement de carrière

CJCD Journal cover Nov 2012_Layout 1 12-12-04 11:05 AM Page 1

The Canadian Journal of Career Development/Revue canadienne de développement de carrière

Volume 12, Number 1 2013

CONTENTS

Number 1

EDITORIAL

ARTICLES

Career Planning in-Ontario-Grade 10 Students: Counsellor PerspectivesDr. Peter Dietsche 4

Antecedents of Educational Goal CommitmentAn Experimental lnvestigation of the Role of Goal Abstraction, Integration, and ImportanceGentiane Boudrenghien, Mariane Frenay, Etienne Bourgeois, Stuart A. Karabenick and Jacquelynne S. Eccles 18

International Students’ Views of Transition to Employment and ImmigrationNancy Arthur and Sarah Flynn 28

Relationships among Career Thoughts, Career Interests, and Career Decision StateAshley K. Chason, Emily Bullock-Yowell, James P. Sampson, Jr., Janet G. Lenz and Robert C. Reardon 39

Transitioning into, through, and out of Graduate School: A Theoretical ModelMelanie J. Greene 49

Job Development for Today - A Sector Specific ApproachHabib Ullah 59

RESEARCH IN MOTION

Creating Hope, Opportunity, and Results for Disadvantaged YouthCarolyn Acker and Norman Rowen 63

EditorialThis edition of the Journal contains a number of interesting articles that touch on different areas of career development. In ‘Career Planning inOntario-Grade 10 Students: Counsellor Perspectives’ by Peter Dietsche we are presented with perspectives from Ontario secondary school guid-ance staff on their perceptions of students attitudes and knowledge towards career planning. This information in addition to their views of whatprograms and resources are beneficial to students is valuable to every secondary school across the country.

In ‘Antecedents of Educational Goal Commitment: An Experimental Investigation of the Role of Goal Abstraction, Integration, and Importance’by Gentiane Bourenghien, Mariane Frenay, Etienne Bourgeois, Stuart A. Karabenick, and Jacquelynne S. Eccles we are presented with a newtheoretical model regarding the transition to college from high school. Focusing on ‘goal importance’, ‘goal abstraction’, and ‘integration’ theirresults show us the interaction between the three, and how from this a tool was developed to assist students in structuring their educationalgoals.

For our international students, Nancy Arthur and Sarah Flynn in ‘International Students’ Views of Transition to Employment and Immigration’address a much needed question; how do students transition from school to employment while applying for permanent immigrant status? Thewords from the students have implications for all those working in career services and counselling.

In an article based out of the United States of America, Ashley K. Chason, Emily Bullock-Yowell, and James P. Sampson Jr address an area thatis applicable to all Canadian students. In ‘Relationships among Career Thoughts, Career Interests, and Career Decision State’ they address therelationship between negative career thoughts, profile elevation, differentiation, career decision, and satisfaction with their choices. This studyshines light onto how important it is to address and explore how negative thinking can interfere with students’ ability to make effective careerdecisions.

‘Transitioning Into, Through, and out of Graduate School: A Theoretical Model’ doctoral candidate Melanie J. Greene addresses the transitionalpathways of students making the decisions to attend graduate school, as well as those preparing to leave or graduate. The goal of this article is tocontribute to the literature on graduate education transitions, as well as present the readers with a newly developed model of graduate studenttransition.

Focusing on Canadian job development and labour markets, Habib Ullah in ‘Job Development for Today- A Sector Specific Approach’ talksabout the task of job developers and how it has become increasingly complicated with the changing labour-markets and shifting job require-ments. In this article he proposes that a sector specific approach will assist job developers in assisting job seekers to find employment, then goeson to show readers exactly how this will work.

For our Research In Motion section, we present an article written by Carolyn Acker and Norman Rowen co-founders of The Pathways to Educa-tion Program. In ‘Creating Hope, Opportunity, and Results for Disadvantaged Youth’ they present to readers information on the development ofthe Pathways program, the remarkable success rate the program has had in reducing the dropout rate in high school and in increasing post-sec-ondary participation in programs such as this. They close off the article by giving us lessons learned and some possible implications for other so-cial innovations.

In closing, my hope is that this edition of the Journal causes room for thought and debate on the areas of interest addressed by the articles within.It is only through further research, questioning, and trying of new programs that our students receive the best advice, programs, and be able toachieve their career expectations.

I hope you enjoy this issue!

Rob Shea

Founding Editor

Etta St. John Wileman Awardfor Lifetime Achievement in Career Development

Why develop this award?

This award is designed to recognize and celebrate individuals who have devoted their lives to furthering the profession of careerdevelopment.

To celebrate individuals who have established themselves as leaders within our profession.

Leaders who combine the role of researcher, educator, author, practioner and career leader.

To encourage individuals in Canada and around the world to celebrate those around us who have contributed so much to our iden-tity as career development professionals.

To establish a significant and uniquely Canadian award that recognizes those individuals who have devoted their lives to the en-hancement of career development practice, administration, research and education.

Who can be nominated?

Individuals who have demonstrated significant and long term commitment to the principles and experience outlined above.

When is the award presented?

The award is presented at the annual Cannexus Conference in Canada. The award is presented on a less than annual basis as isdetermined by the selection committee.

Who will comprise the selection committee?

The selection committee is comprised of the Founding Editor of the Canadian Journal of Career Development; a previous awardwinner; a career practioner; and the President of the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling.

What is awarded?

The award recipient will be presented with a hand made Innukshuk by an Inuit artisan from Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada.The Innukshuk is made from a precious stone called Labradorite native to the coast of Labrador. Each award will be presented atthe annual Cannexus Conference.

Submissions

To ensure confidentiality and to minimize disappointment it is requested that the nominee not know about the nomination in advance.

Submissions should attest to each of the principles outlined above in the section - Why develop this award? This is an award for signifi-cant and lifetime commitment to career development. Unsuccessful nominations will be considered for a period of two further years.

Nominations

Nomination packages should be sent to:

Dr. Robert SheaEditorCanadian Journal of Career DevelopmentStudent Affairs and ServicesMemorial University of NewfoundlandSt. John’s, NL CanadaA1C 5S7Email: [email protected]

The Canadian Journalof Career Development


The Canadian Journal of Career Development/Revue canadienne de développement de carrièreVolume 12, Number 1, 2013

Career Planning in OntarioGrade 10 Students: Counsellor Perspectives

Dr. Peter DietscheUniversity of Toronto

Abstract

Despite the recognized importance ofcareer guidance to postsecondary accessand persistence, research with keystakeholders in Canadian secondaryschools is meager at best. This studysought the perspectives of Ontarioschool guidance staff on the career plan-ning context of Grade 10 students. Stu-dents entering the workforce were seento have the most difficulty with careerplanning and university-bound studentsthe least. Respondents suggested thatmost students recognize the importanceof career planning and that self-explo-ration and broad exploratory informa-tion regarding careers would be mostuseful to them. Counsellors also indi-cated that career planning informationwould be best provided via interactiveweb sites, a comprehensive ‘one-stop’web site or workplace experience.Among the resources currently avail-able, individual interaction with coun-sellors and experiential opportunitiessuch as co-operative programs or theOntario Youth Apprenticeship Programand computer programs such as CareerCruising were rated as most helpful.Suggestions for additional resources arealso noted and the implications for cur-rent practice are discussed.

Résumé

Malgré l’importance reconnue de l’orien-tation professionnelle pour favoriser l’ac-cès aux études postsecondaires et lapersévérance scolaire, les recherches réa-lisées auprès d’intervenants clés dans lesécoles secondaires du Canada sont plutôtrares. La présente étude visait à recueillirles perspectives des orienteurs dans lesécoles de l’Ontario au sujet du contextede la planification de carrière chez lesétudiants de 10e année. Il appert que lesétudiants qui intègrent le marché du tra-vail ont le plus de difficulté avec la pla-

nification de carrière et ceux destinés ausecteur universitaire en ont le moins. Lesrépondants ont indiqué que la plupart desétudiants reconnaissent l’importance dela planification de carrière et que l’explo-ration intérieure et de l’information ex-ploratoire générale au sujet des carrièresleur seraient plus utiles. Cette informa-tion pourrait être mieux communiquéepar le biais de sites Web interactifs, d’unsite Web complet «à guichet unique» oud’une expérience en milieu de travail.Parmi les ressources actuellement of-fertes, l’interaction individuelle avec lesorienteurs et les possibilités d’expé-riences d’apprentissage, comme les pro-grammes coopératifs ou le Programmed’apprentissage pour les jeunes de l’On-tario, et les programmes informatiques,tels que Career Cruising, étaient considé-rées comme étant les plus utiles.D’autres ressources sont également sug-gérées et les répercussions des méthodesactuelles y sont discutées.

The dominant theories of the late20th century posited that with adequateaccess to good career information andguidance, individuals would acquire thetools to make sound career decisions ontheir own. These decisions would resultin improved human-resource allocation,labor force mobility and productivity,and improved cost-effectiveness of em-ployment, education, and training pro-grams (Krumboltz and Worthington,1999). However, recent analysis ofschool-to-work programs globallybrings this assumption into question byraising the need for individuals to locateand process information in an empow-ered way on top of simply providingbasic information and guidance (Lent,Hackett, and Brown, 1999; Savickas,1999; Worthington and Juntenen, 1997;Grubb, 2002).

The benefits of career guidanceprograms are well documented. Mag-nusson and Roest’s (2004) meta-analy-

sis and synthesis of the efficacy of ca-reer-development interventions hasshown that they are by and large posi-tive and enabling tools for Canadianadolescents across the provinces. De-spite the lack of longitudinal studies andbest practice analyses, many interview-based studies conclude that career plan-ning services among adolescents injunior and senior high schools often leadto reduced drop out rates, improved em-ployment prospects, an increase in self-esteem, more efficient use of resources,a greater supply of skilled workers toemployers, changed attitudes to in-creased career choice, and increasedmotivation to continue learning afterhigh school (McCrea Silva and Phillips,2007; Bell and Bezanson, 2006). Some,however, have argued that career plan-ning supports could reap greater bene-fits if they went beyond the typicaldescriptive format; there must be an ac-tive engagement with key stakeholdersthat goes beyond an information dump(Grubb, 2002; Walker, Alloway, Dalley-Trim and Patterson, 2006).

Barriers to PostsecondaryParticipation and Persistence

Numerous studies (Barr-Telford et.al., 2003; Ringer-Lepre, 2007; Malatest,2007; McElroy, 2008; King et. al.,2009) have examined the barriers citedby high school students as reasons fornot pursuing postsecondary educationimmediately after high school. Onestudy in particular (Malatest, 2007),suggests an information gap exists withrespect to making decisions about post-secondary studies. Less than half thehigh school students surveyed reportedthey had received enough information tomake informed choices about their ca-reer path. In addition, over one third feltthat high school had not providedenough information to make good post-secondary decisions. The same infor-

Career Planning in Ontario5


mation was also found to be importantfor persistence in that half of the respon-dents who had discontinued their post-secondary studies did so because theywere undecided about their career andreported they had not been providedwith sufficient information about post-secondary options (Malatest and Associ-ates, 2007). Foley (2001) found thatnearly thirteen per cent of high schoolgraduates did not pursue PSE becausethey couldn’t decide what to do. A re-gional analysis showed that in Ontario,more than other provinces, this reasonwas cited by one fifth of those who didnot pursue postsecondary education.The findings across many studies areconsistent in that career indecision or‘not knowing what I really wanted todo’ placed second or third among thereasons given for not pursuing postsec-ondary education.

The Council of Ministers of Educa-tion, Canada and the Canada Millen-nium Scholarship Foundation (2009)have highlighted the need for more em-phasis on career development. Theirstudy concluded that inadequate infor-mation about postsecondary choices andthe connection to careers led someGrade 11 students to discount the possi-bility of additional studies after highschool. It also found that only a minor-ity of participants had interacted withtheir school’s guidance counsellors.Those who spoke to them typically re-viewed grades and courses. Very fewparticipants had approached their guid-ance counsellors to inquire specificallyabout postsecondary education and inmost cases discussions with guidancecounsellors took place after students hadalready begun considering alternativesto postsecondary studies. An importantfinding, consistent with the argumentmade by Grubb (2002), is the need topresent information about postsec-ondary education alongside informationabout careers. This would not only illus-trate how they are linked, but also helpstudents think more about postsec-ondary education and future careers.Improved career guidance resources atthe secondary school level, therefore, isclearly one way to increase college anduniversity participation rates.

One of the first reports derivedfrom Statistics Canada’s Youth in Tran-sition Survey (Lambert, et. al., 2004),

concluded that a lack of program fit wasthe major reason cited by those who hadleft college or university without com-pleting their program. Ultimately, a no-table proportion of postsecondaryleavers stated that they had done so ei-ther because they didn’t like the pro-gram or their program wasn’t for them.Similarly, the Price of Knowledge(Berger et. al., 2007) concluded that alack of career direction is a barrier topersistence in and of itself.

Findings from the 2006 – 2008 On-tario College Student Engagement Sur-vey (OCSES) (Dietsche, 2009) alsosupport this conclusion. The studyshowed that while three in five enteringOntario college students are quite cer-tain about the type of job they will ob-tain when they graduate, that is they arehigh in career clarity, approximately onequarter are not. Career clarity was de-fined by a student’s response to the Lik-ert item, “I feel undecided about whatmy career will be after college”. Consis-tent with the findings of Berger et. al.(2007), the OCSES results demonstratedthe importance of career clarity in aneducational context where most aca-demic programs are designed to developoccupation-specific knowledge andskills. The study revealed that studentswho began college with significantdoubt regarding their future career andthe relationship between their programof study and their eventual career desti-nation were significantly less likely tobecome engaged in their studies, weremore likely to express a preference forworking rather than studying after a fewmonths of college experience and morestrongly indicated a desire to leave.Other research, both nationally (Finnieand Qiu, 2010) with college and univer-sity students and with Ontario collegestudents alone (Finnie, Childs and Qiu,2010), has produced similar results.

King (2003, 2006) examined accessto and perceptions of career guidanceactivities in Ontario secondary schools.His research found that the vast major-ity of students had received informationfrom their teachers and guidance coun-sellors about universities and colleges.For students who had received careerand educational information on col-leges, approximately one-half found theinformation they received from guid-ance counsellors ‘helpful’ and ‘very

helpful’, while approximately one quar-ter viewed the information as ‘slightly’or ‘not’ helpful. Additionally, two-fifthsfound teachers’ information ‘helpful’ or‘very helpful’, and over one thirdviewed the information as ‘slightly’ or‘not’ helpful. Finally, one fifth of thestudents claimed they had received ‘noinformation’ about colleges from guid-ance counsellors and teachers.

These results are consistent withthose obtained by Bloxom, Bernes, Mag-nusson, Gunn, Bardick, Orr, and McK-night (2008) with Grade 12 students inAlberta. The authors found that most re-sources such as career counselling, writ-ten materials, internet sites and careerfairs were only rated as somewhat help-ful. It was also noted that the results con-firm the importance of students beingactive participants in influencing the de-velopment of career services. Further, theCanadian Career Development Founda-tion (2003) has stressed the need tostrengthen student awareness, planningand decision-making with reference topostsecondary education choices. Theirstudy documented students’ frustrationwith not having enough help connectingentrance requirements and courses ofstudy with a career direction or careerpath; the relatively narrow focus on uni-versity as the preferred postsecondaryoption; the complexity of informationand applications; and understanding ofcosts associated with post-secondary par-ticipation. Clearly, more work is requiredto identify the types of career informa-tion and delivery formats that will mosteffectively support the career planningefforts of high school students.

In spite of the overwhelming evi-dence for the importance of career guid-ance to postsecondary access andpersistence, research on this topic withCanadian secondary school stakeholdersoutside of Alberta (Magnusson andBernes, 2002; Pyne, Bernes, Magnusson& Poulsen, 2002; Bardick, Bernes, Mag-nusson & Witko, 2004; Code, Bernes,Gunn & Bardick, 2006; Bloxom, Bernes,Magnusson et. al., 2008), is meager atbest. This is particularly true for researchon stakeholder groups such as teachersand guidance counsellors. The study ofcounsellor perceptions reported on herewas part of a larger research program de-signed to portray stakeholder views ofguidance resources in Ontario secondary



schools. Views regarding career informa-tion needs, resources and realities weresought from secondary students, schoolguidance staff and teachers involved inthe mandatory Ontario Grade 10 CareerStudies course. The nine-week CareerStudies course, a major component of theOntario secondary school guidance cur-riculum, is designed to help students as-sess their interests, skills, andcharacteristics and investigate currenteconomic and workplace trends, work op-portunities, and ways to search for work.The course explores postsecondary learn-ing and career options, prepares studentsfor managing work and life transitions,and helps students focus on their goalsthrough the development of a career plan(Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006).

The objectives of this study wereto: i) identify the attitudes and plansheld by junior high school students to-ward their future career; ii) identify thetypes of career information and deliveryformat(s) desired by adolescent learnersiii) identify key players and activitiesthat influence their career planning; iv)describe the availability, use and help-fulness of career information, activitiesand resources typically available to On-tario high school students. This reportfocuses on the perspectives of Ontariosecondary school guidance counsellorsregarding these topics.

MethodsPerspectives on the career planning

needs and activities of Ontario second-ary students were gathered via a surveysimilar to that used by Magnusson andBernes (2002). Parallel versions ofquestionnaires were administered to stu-dents, teachers and guidance counsellorsto triangulate the views of the threestakeholders groups. Areas examined in-cluded the views on the relative utilityof various types of career planning in-formation and activities, the relativeutility of various formats for the deliv-ery of career information, the relativeinfluence of individuals and groups onadolescent career planning, and theavailability, use and perceived helpful-ness of diverse career guidance/informa-tion resources typically available toOntario secondary school students.

The unique perspective of guidancecounsellors was obtained with a surveyconducted online during May 2010 in

collaboration with the Ontario SchoolCounsellors Association. The surveyweb site was publicized to all membersvia OSCAnews, the weekly e-journal ofthe Association. The questionnaire con-sisted of six sections and included bothclosed and open response types. In addi-tion to employment background and de-mographic items, four closed responsesections examined counsellor percep-tions of the information that would bemost useful to the career planning ofGrade 10 students, the most useful for-mat for presenting such information andwho influenced their career planning themost. A final section asked respondentsto indicate what types of resources wereavailable to their students and the de-gree to which they believed each washelpful in supporting career planning.The questionnaire ended with two openresponse items probing what additionalresources would help their students plantheir career.

Counsellor perceptions of the mostuseful supports for Grade 10 studentswere based on their ratings of fifteentypes of information or activities thatcould inform their career planning. Thesewere presented in a sequence followingGati and Asher’s (2001) characterizationof the career decision-making process asinvolving six tasks. The sequence beginswith a student recognizing the need toundertake the planning process followedby self exploration to identify passions,interests, and abilities and progresses to abroad exploration of types of careersavailable. This is followed by acquiringmore in-depth, career-specific informa-tion such as annual salary, employmentopportunities, required knowledge, skillsand duties, information about relatedpostsecondary programs and opportuni-ties for financial support. The last twostages involve selecting between a fewalternatives and finally committing to asingle career path.

ResultsThe online survey of guidance

counsellors yielded 144 completedquestionnaires comprising 62% of On-tario school boards, 140 individual pub-lic, separate and independent schools,both English and French as the languageof instruction, and all geographic re-gions of the province. Over four fifthsof survey respondents were females em-

ployed full-time, with approximatelyone half having less than 10 years expe-rience and almost one third with fifteenor more years as a guidance counsellor.

A national study (Malatest and As-sociates, 2009) found that only a smallpercentage of guidance counsellors’time each day was dedicated to careercounselling. To assess how much wasdevoted to various student needs, coun-sellors in this study were asked to indi-cate, on average, what percentage oftheir time was spent dealing with stu-dent personal, social, academic or careerissues. The results showed the largestpercentage (40%) of time was dedicatedto discussing academic issues, followedby career (25%), personal (20%) and so-cial (15%) issues. A relatively smallcomponent, it seems, was focused onthe career concerns of students.

High school counsellors support thecareer planning efforts of students boundfor apprenticeship, college or universitystudy or the workforce following highschool graduation. Helping studentsidentify their future destination can bequite different for each group given thedifferences in the type information re-quired and in the students associatedwith each destination (Creed, Patton andHood, 2009; Rojewski and Kim, 2003).To explore this possibility for Ontariohigh school students in more detail,counsellors were asked to rank, on ascale of 1 to 4 with 1 being most diffi-cult, the level of difficulty they believestudents encounter when planning fortheir post-graduation destination. Meanrankings by group showed that counsel-lors believe students headed to the work-force had the most difficulty (M = 1.9),followed by college (M = 2.5) and ap-prenticeship-bound students (M = 2.7).University-bound students were per-ceived to have the least difficulty (M =2.9) with their career planning.

Several questionnaire items weredesigned to explore counsellor percep-tions of the career planning of Grade 10students. Three major areas were exam-ined: what types of career planning in-formation or activities were perceived tobe most useful to students; the relativeusefulness of various formats in whichcareer information might be delivered;and the relative influence of variousgroups and individuals on their careerplanning.



Ideal Career Planning InformationCounsellors were asked to indicate

the degree to which each of fifteen typesof information or activities could helpthe majority of Grade 10 students plantheir future career. These were presentedin a sequence corresponding to Gati andAsher’s (2001) characterization of thecareer decision-making process as in-volving six tasks. The process beginswith a student committing to undertakethe career planning process (Task 1) fol-lowed by self exploration to identifytheir passions, interests, and abilities(Task 2) along with a broad explorationof types of careers (Task 3). This is fol-lowed by collecting more in-depth, ca-reer-specific information such as annualsalary, employment opportunities, re-quired knowledge, skills and duties, in-formation about related postsecondaryprograms and opportunities for financialsupport (Task 4). The last two stagesinvolve selecting between a few alterna-tives (Task 5) and finally committing toa single career path (Task 6). Possibleusefulness ratings for each type of infor-mation or activity ranged from 0 =Don’t know, to 5 = Very Much.Table 1 presents, in descending order, thetypes of information counsellors rated asvery useful to the career planning ofGrade 10 students and their correspon-dence to Gati and Asher’s sequence oftasks.

Between sixty and sixty-five percent of counsellors indicated that self-exploration information, correspondingto Task 2 in Gati and Asher’s list, tohelp students identify their interests, tal-ents and abilities and related careerswould be most useful in their careerplanning. One half believed that broad

exploratory information about differenttypes of careers and related programs ofstudy (Task 3) would also be very use-ful. Approximately two in five sup-ported a mix of broad and in-depthinformation such as the experience of apostsecondary program, the knowledgeand skills required for specific careers,and obtaining one-on-one career plan-ning support. Approximately two in fivebelieved that ‘orientation to choice’ in-formation (Task 1) or an awareness ofthe need to make a career decisionwould be very useful for students.

One quarter of respondents believedthat information reflecting Gati andAsher’s final stage 6 ’commitment’ taskwould be very useful and approximatelyone fifth felt that students would needhelp deciding between more than one ca-reer plan (Task 5). Other types of in-depth information such as the salaries

and hiring potential associated with spe-cific careers were also seen as very use-ful by approximately one fifth ofrespondents.

Utility of Information Delivery FormatsInformation about careers may be

delivered to students in a number of

ways including workplace experiences,conversations with individuals workingin various careers, watching videos pro-filing specific careers or reading print orweb-based text. To assess which ofthese formats guidance counsellors con-sidered most useful to students engagedin career planning, they were asked, In-formation on careers can be presentedin different ways. How useful you thinkeach of the following would be to stu-dents in Grade 10? Responses couldrange from 0 = Don’t know, to 4 = VeryUseful.

Table 2 shows that almost twothirds (64%) of counsellors ranked in-teractive web sites involving surveysand quizzes first in usefulness and thatthree fifths (59%) rated the concept of acomprehensive ‘one-stop’ web-basedtool second. More concrete, activelearning resources such as work experi-

ence or speaking with people in a careerof interest were ranked as very useful byapproximately half the respondents.Two fifths believed that watching video-based interviews with similar contentwould be ‘very useful’.

Influencers of Career PlanningThe questionnaire item, Please in-

dicate the degree to which you believeeach of the following influences the ca-reer planning of Grade 10 students, re-quired counsellors to assess theinfluence of various actors on careerplanning. Possible responses rangedfrom 0 = Don’t Know to 4 = Very Much.Table 3 presents the proportion of re-spondents rating possible influencers asquite a lot and very much.

Consistent with other research find-ings, one half of counsellors rated par-ents/guardians as influencing the careerplanning of Grade 10 students very

Table 1 Ratings of Usefulness

Decisional Task Information/Activity Very Much (%)

2. Self Exploration 1. Help them understand/identify their interests, talents and abilities 65 2. Self Exploration 2. Help them identify careers related to their interests, talents and abilities 64 2. Self Exploration 3. Finding careers related to the things they are really passionate about 60 3. Broad Exploration 4. Information about career-related PSE programs of study 50 3. Broad Exploration 5. Information about the different types of careers available 49 4. In-depth Exploration 6. Information about the knowledge and skills required for specific careers 40 1. Orientation to Choice 7. Help them understand that career planning is important for them right now 39 3. Broad Exploration 8. Information about what it’s like to take a college / university program 38 4. In-depth Exploration 9. Obtaining personal one-on-one support to develop their career plan 37 4. In-depth Exploration 10. Information about the day-to-day tasks / duties for specific careers 29 6. Commitment 11. Help with planning the next steps in a career plan they’ve already developed 25 3. Broad Exploration 12. Information about financial help to continue their education after high school 22 4. In-depth Exploration 13. Information about the chances of getting hired in specific careers 20 5. Decisional Status 14. Help with choosing between two or more career options / choices 18 4. In-depth Exploration 15. Information about the salaries associated with specific careers 16

Table 2 Utility of Information Formats

Delivery Format Very Useful

(%) 1. Interactive web sites (e.g. surveys, quizzes, careers game etc.) 64 2. A web-based tool that provides all the information needed to select a future

career 59

3. Spending time ‘on the job’ exploring what a career involves on a day-to-day basis 52

4. Talking to people working in the career area you are interested in 47 5. Video clips of people talking about what they do in their career. 40



much. Almost one third reported thatsomeone the student admired whoworked at a job they liked could be veryinfluential. When only considering verymuch responses, other family members,friends, guidance counsellors, the mediaand teachers were perceived to haveconsiderably less influence than parents.However, combining the quite a lot andvery much responses results in a slightlydifferent picture. Guidance staff nowbecome the third most influential groupand the influence of the media increasessubstantially as well

Availability and Helpfulness ofCareer Planning Resources

The final closed response section ofthe questionnaire focused on the currentcareer planning context of high schoolstudents as perceived by guidance coun-sellors. This was assessed by asking re-

spondents to indicate whether a particu-lar planning resource was available tostudents and how helpful they thought itwas for those in Grade 10.

Table 4 shows the perceived avail-ability of various career planning re-sources. The results show that from theperspective of guidance counsellors, asubstantial number of resources areavailable to students in Ontario second-ary schools. Working individually withguidance staff, the mandatory CareerStudies course, the provincially requiredcommitment to volunteer work, com-puter programs such as Career Cruisingand written materials are seen as avail-able to all students.

In addition, between eighty andninety per cent of respondents indicatedthat students had access to co-operativeeducation and the Ontario Youth Ap-prenticeship Program, career informa-

tion in school libraries and communityagencies, group work with school coun-sellors, dialogue with college/universitystaff, guest speakers, events such as ca-reer fairs and career finding tools suchas questionnaires and internet sites. In-formation from job shadowing, work-place tours and short videos on careerswas seen to be less prevalent as onlytwo thirds of counsellors reported thesewere available. And only one third re-ported career planning workshops forparents were available.

Table 5 presents the perceived help-fulness ratings of these resources. Whenonly considering the “very much” re-sponses, working one-on-one with aguidance counsellor and high school co-op courses were seen to be the mosthelpful resources. Approximately onethird rated the Ontario Youth Appren-ticeship Program to be very helpful andapproximately one quarter consideredcomputer programs such as CareerCruising, groups working with a coun-sellor, speaking with college or univer-sity guidance staff and paid workexperience as very helpful.

Career information sessions withguest speakers and the mandatory Ca-reer Studies course were seen to be veryhelpful by roughly one fifth of respon-dents. The nine-week course teachesstudents how to develop and achievepersonal goals for future learning, work,and community involvement. Studentsassess their interests, skills, and charac-teristics and investigate current eco-nomic and workplace trends, workopportunities, and ways to search forwork. The course explores postsec-ondary learning and career options, pre-pares students for managing work andlife transitions, and helps students focuson their goals through the developmentof a career plan (Ontario Ministry ofEducation, 2006). Other resources suchas career days, workplace tours, jobshadowing, school career libraries, themandatory volunteer service require-ment and print materials were all seen tobe very helpful by quite small percent-ages of respondents.

Combining the “quite a lot” and“very much” responses results in fewchanges to the counsellor ratings, al-though the helpfulness of students speak-ing with college or university guidancestaff and the Career Studies course in-

Table 3

Sources of Influence

Individual/Group Quite a Lot (%)

Very Much (%)

Parent(s) or guardian(s) 42 51 Someone they admire working in a field/job they like 52 31 Brother, sister, cousins 49 17 Friend(s) 44 16 Guidance counsellor(s) 52 16 The media (e.g. movies, TV programs, etc) 51 15 Teacher(s) 45 9

Table 4 Availability of Career Planning Resources

Resource Available

(%) Working one-on-one with a guidance counsellor 100 Mandatory Career Studies course in high school 99 40 hour high school volunteer requirement 99 Computer programs (e.g. Career Cruising etc.) 99 Written materials (magazines, brochures etc) 99 High school co-op courses 93 Career information sessions with guest speakers 92 Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) 90 Community agencies (e.g. YMCA, Canada employment centre, etc.) 88 Speaking with college / university guidance staff 86 Paid work experience (full/part-time work) 85 School career information centre / library 85 Groups of students working with a guidance counsellor 83 Career Interest questionnaire (e.g. Strong Interest Inventory, etc.) 83 Career Fairs/Career Days 80 Career related internet sites (e.g. myBlueprint, The Real Game etc.) 80 Job Shadowing (time with someone at their job) 65 Short videos clips showing actual on-the-job duties 63 Workplace / Industry Tours 61 Career planning / education workshops for parents 35



creases. Generally, the resources per-ceived to be most helpful are experientialactivities such as interacting with staff,more hands-on experiences such as co-op and OYAP and computer resourcessuch as Career Cruising.

Additional ResourcesThe final closed response item

asked respondents to comment on thefollowing: Would specific career guid-ance or career information resourcesassist you in helping your students withtheir career planning? This was fol-lowed by two open ended survey ques-tions, If so, please describe what thiswould be in the box below and, Usingthe text box below, describe what onepolicy, action, resource or programwould most help Grade 10 studentsidentify and plan for their future career?

Responses to the final closed ques-tion showed that while almost two inthree (64%) counsellors agreed therewas a need for additional career plan-ning resources, approximately one quar-ter (23%) responded with “Don’tKnow”. Whether this is a reflection ofcounsellors’ reluctance to devote extratime to completing this section of thequestionnaire, or whether they actually“Did not Know” is a matter of conjec-ture. Of those who had an opinion, how-ever, over four in five (83%) endorsedthe need for additional resources.

The first open end question eliciteda large number of written suggestionsfor additional resources. Seventy four ofthe 93 suggestions could be groupedinto seven categories or themes. Themost frequently occurring comment(44) expressed a need for specific infor-mation or tools such as web sites thatprovided or integrated information in away that is currently not available. Forexample, one suggestion stated a needfor, Student friendly resources on jobmarket trends and accurate informationon salaries. More comprehensive re-sources on jobs related to high schoolsubjects, hobbies, interests, talents. An-other suggested, Various pathways takenby real people on how they reachedtheir career choice. They need to seedifferent ways that people eventuallyend up in a career. See the differentroads that are taken, post-secondary op-tions available etc.

The second most frequently men-tioned theme was related to the use ofCareer Cruising or myBlueprint. Someextolled the value of these computerprograms while others expressed the de-sire to have access to them. Others citedthe shortcomings of what is currentlyavailable,

“Students here currently usemyBlueprint and Career Cruis-ing. It would be nice to have acurrent, Canadian based toolspecifically for counsellors

with detailed information re-garding skills/aptitudes/inter-ests required for specificcareers and perhaps sugges-tions for a range of careers re-lated to skills/aptitudes/interests suited for a range ofstudents (i.e.) college bound,university bound, etc.”Reference to greater use of interac-

tions with others such as guest speakers,a roster of available speakers from thecommunity, workplace visits and jobshadowing was made by six respon-dents. Finally, five individuals identifiedthe need for additional professional de-velopment opportunities for counselingstaff especially as this related to the useof computer tools and interest invento-ries.

The final open ended question …describe what one policy, action, re-source or program would most helpGrade 10 students identify and plan fortheir future career?, elicited a total of126 comments of which 96 could beclassified into five categories. The fre-quency of comments for each categoryis shown in Table 6.

The most frequent comment relatedto the use of online resources such asCareer Cruising and myBlueprint. Forexample, one respondent mentionedCurrently, Career Cruising seems to bethe most engaging resource. Interactivegame sites to learn about the differentcareers and pathways are very positiveand well received by the students. Thesecond most frequent comment bycounsellors expressed a need for addi-tional resources that were a better fit fortheir students. For example one men-tioned the need for Comprehensive Ca-reer Interest Questionnaires adapted forhigh school students. JVIS and Ashlandare too advanced in terms of language

Table 5 Perceived Helpfulness

Resource Helpful (%) Quite a Lot Very Much

Working one-on-one with a guidance counsellor 40 44 High school co-op courses 40 42 Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) 37 34 Computer programs (e.g. Career Cruising etc.) 40 28 Groups of students working with a guidance counsellor 31 24 Speaking with college / university guidance staff 40 22 Paid work experience (full/part-time work) 31 22 Career information sessions with guest speakers 28 20 Mandatory Career Studies course in high school 36 19 Career related internet sites (e.g. myBlueprint, etc.) 30 15 Career Fairs/Career Days 30 12 Career Interest questionnaire (e.g. Strong Interest Inventory) 37 11 Workplace / Industry Tours 28 11 Job Shadowing (time with someone at their job) 30 10 Career planning / education workshops for parents 21 10 Community agencies (e.g. YMCA, CEC, etc.) 27 7 School career information centre / library 24 5 Short videos clips showing actual on-the-job duties 27 5 40 hour high school volunteer requirement 12 4 Written materials (magazines, brochures etc) 16 4

Table 6 Themes for Additional Resources

Topic Category # of Mentions

Career cruising/myBlueprint 24 New Information 21

Career Course 20

Trips, guest speakers 18 Professional Development 10

Career Planning in Ontario10but career cruising is too simple. An-other suggested, Something to help stu-dents identify what they are reallypassionate/interested in and connect itto careers. Also, a way to help themcommunicate these ideas to their par-ents (who often have other aspirationsfor their kids).

Many comments focused on theneed for change to the Career Studiescourse, a mandatory component of theOntario Grade 10 curriculum. Thecomments took three distinct forms. Thefirst was the need to lengthen thecourse; Extending this course to a fullcredit rather than 1/2 would be the bestway - we simply don’t have enough timeto make a huge impact. The second fo-cused on the fact that many Grade 10students are not ready for career plan-ning; I think most students in Grade 10are too young to and immature to startthinking about their future. Unfortu-nately our system forces them into astreamed decision at a young age interms of their “pathway”. Some sug-gested that the solution to the immatu-rity problem was to have sequentialcourses with a career focus in bothGrades 10 and 11, Honestly, sometimesGrade 10 students are too young or im-mature so there should be a follow upcourse in Grade 11. However, Grade 10students should focus more on theirskills/talents and interests, you have toknow yourself first to find the careerthat fits you. Others expressed the de-sire to have more flexibility in matchingcourse content with the characteristicsof their students; More flexibility in tai-loring Career Studies program to spe-cific needs of students in a particularschool. Because I teach only university-bound students, some aspects of the cur-rent course have little relevance.

A final category of comments fo-cused on the need for more direct con-tact with authentic career informationvia guest speakers, job shadowing andworkplace visits. For example, one re-spondent identified the need for, Aprovince-wide job shadowing programsimilar to Grade 9 take a child to workday for grade 10s would help, but stu-dents should be able to select from abank of jobs, not just rely on parents,and another cited the need for moreguest speakers, Availability of guestspeakers to visit class more often for

students to be able to speak to profes-sionals about their careers and relatedcareers. The effectiveness of suchstrategies was highlighted by one re-spondent who said, I find that studentsget the most when I organize a CareerDay and I invite community partners tospeak about their jobs.

DiscussionThis study sought to describe guid-

ance counsellor perspectives on the ca-reer planning activities of Grade 10students in Ontario high schools. Theresults document their views on the rel-ative utility of various types of careerplanning information and activities, therelative utility of various formats for thedelivery of this information, the relativeinfluence of individuals and groups oncareer planning, and the availability andperceived helpfulness of diverse careerguidance resources typically availableto Ontario secondary school students.

The study also examined the directinvolvement of high school guidancestaff in the career planning of Grade 10students. High school counsellors mustdivide their time with students to dealwith personal/social issues, academic is-sues such as course selection, and careerguidance. Currently the numbers ofguidance counsellors are spread quitethinly across the school population inmost secondary schools making directinvolvement with all students difficult.Available data (Malatest & Associates,2009) suggest a ratio of one full-timecounsellor for every 625 to 750 stu-dents, depending on school size. In ad-dition, much of their time is spent withsenior students advising and helpingthem to prepare applications for postsecondary institutions (King, 2009). Al-though students are typically assigned aguidance counsellor, they may not takeadvantage of the opportunity to obtaincareer counselling (Council of Ministerof Education, Canada & Canada Millen-nium Scholarship Foundation, 2009).

The results of this study are consis-tent with others that find counsellors de-vote close to half their time withstudents dealing with academic issueswith one-quarter dedicated to careersupport. For example, a pan-Canadiansurvey of counsellors (Malatest and As-sociates, 2009) found one-quarter of

their time was devoted to individual ca-reer planning with the remainder beingallocated to other activities. Possiblereasons for this include the fact that thehighest level of education for threequarters of Ontario guidance staff wasfound to be a B.Ed. degree and thelargest proportion, two in five, had lessthan five years of experience (Malatestand Associates, 2009). The same studyalso found that in provinces offeringmandatory, standalone career educationcourses, counsellors were less likely tospend time on individual career plan-ning with students. So, while counsel-lors indicate that working one-on-onewith students is available in all schoolsand rate this activity as the most helpfulcareer planning resource, it appears that,in actuality, only a relatively small frac-tion of counsellors’ time is spent on ca-reer guidance, particularly with Grade10 students.

To further complicate matters, theOntario secondary school curriculumsupports students working toward vari-ous post-graduation destinations such asthe work force, apprenticeship, collegeor university. This study has shown thatschool counsellors believe work-boundstudents have the most difficulty identi-fying a future career path, university-bound students have the least andapprenticeship or college-bound stu-dents fall in between. This finding is re-markably similar to other research onwork-bound students. Creed, Patton andHood (2009) found that work-boundstudents had the poorest career develop-ment and personal functioning, univer-sity-bound students the highest, with thecollege bound students falling in-be-tween the other two groups. The authorsconcluded that work-bound studentswere the poorest prepared, could bemaking occupational decisions based oninsufficient career information, a poorunderstanding of how labour marketsoperate, and with poor decision-makingskills.

These results are also important inlight of several studies with high schoolstudents suggesting that secondaryschool guidance activities are less likelyto be focused on work-bound studentswith university being the preferred op-tion (Herr & Niles, 1997; Rojewski,1999; Rojewski & Kim, 2003; CanadianCareer Development Foundation, 2003;




King and Warren, 2006). King and War-ren (2006) for example, found that ap-proximately one third of thosegraduating to work said they could notor were uncertain about accessing edu-cational and career planning supports attheir school. The work of Despres(2008), however, could prove instruc-tive in this area. The author has de-scribed a best practice in delivering aculminating career development experi-ence for work-bound seniors that leadsto their gaining full time employmentupon, or shortly after, graduation.

Ideal Career Planning InformationThe type of information that would

best help Grade 10 students with theircareer planning was one of the corequestions posed by this study. Counsel-lors rated various types of informationfollowing the task sequence describedby Gati and Asher (2001) representing;(1) orientation to choice, (2) self-explo-ration, (3) broad exploration of the envi-ronment, (4) in-depth exploration of theenvironment, (5) decisional status, and(6) commitment. Each task level bringsthe individual closer to identifying aspecific career plan.

Two in three counsellors indicatedthat self-exploration type informationthat helps students identify their inter-ests, talents and abilities and related ca-reers would be most helpful to theircareer planning. These results are notsurprising and are consistent with aGrade 10 student population who are,for the most part, in the early stages ofcareer planning. Indeed, the develop-mental theories of Erikson (1968) andChickering and Reisser (1993) empha-size that adolescence is a stage of devel-opment with a focus on identity as asense of direction and purpose. Individ-uals at this stage are struggling to an-swer not only the question “Who amI?”, but also “Who am I going to be?”Not surprisingly therefore, the secondmost frequent response by counsellorswas that broad exploratory informationabout different types of careers, corre-sponding to Gati and Asher’s Task 3,would also be very useful. Smaller pro-portions of respondents, approximatelytwo in five, reported that informationcorresponding to Tasks 1, 5 and 6 wouldbe useful. The implication is that mostcounsellors believe most of the students

are beyond the ‘orientation to choice’task and are aware of the need to make acareer decision. Few of them, however,were seen to be at the point of decidingbetween two careers or committing to aspecific career.

Ideal Format of InformationThe ideal format for delivering ca-

reer planning information was the sec-ond core question posed by this study.Options included print material, staticand interactive web sites, and experien-tial activities such as speaking withthose employed in an area of interest orwork placements. While print materialsand static, text-based web sites were notseen to be effective delivery formats, in-teractive web sites and a comprehensive‘one-stop’ web tool were rated as themost useful methods for delivering ca-reer-related information. This resultmight be expected if, as has alreadybeen noted, only a small portion of acounsellor’s time is focused on the ca-reer needs of students. Such tools allowstudents to access career planning infor-mation independently and reduce theworkload of guidance staff. It mightalso be felt that the delivery of self ex-ploration and broad exploratory infor-mation would be most efficientlyachieved via computer programs or webtools. Their effectiveness, however,likely depends on the student’s ability tomake sense of the information they re-ceive or else it simply becomes an ‘in-formation dump’ (Grubb, 2002).

While their work context may be asignificant influence, it is clear from thisstudy that counsellors view internet re-sources that provide opportunities forstudents to explore interests and relatedcareers as the most effective format forthe delivery of career planning informa-tion. This is consistent with other re-search (Canadian Career DevelopmentFoundation, 2003) that highlights an in-creased use of tools such as the RealGame, Career Cruising, myBlueprintand other web-based career develop-ment resources supported by HumanResources Development Canada. Em-phasis, however, was also placed on theusefulness of more authentic formats forthe delivery of career information

The second format counsellors per-ceived as very useful for delivering ca-reer planning information was exposure

to concrete experiences and opportuni-ties to dialogue with others. Approxi-mately half felt that activities providingconcrete and authentic information suchas work placements or speaking withsomeone in their field of interest wouldbe very useful. A less concrete and lessinteractive format such as watching avideo was not considered to be as usefulas actual experience. Indeed, the utilityof experiential activities such as co-opand work placements has also beenhighlighted by others (King, 2009). Ad-ditional possibilities for obtaining careerinformation in this way, such as visits tobusinesses and industries, appear to bequite infrequent for Ontario high schoolstudents (King, 2006). Other jurisdic-tions, however, such as the U.K. (EBPWest Berkshire, 2011) have been suc-cessful in creating organizations that fa-cilitate such opportunities on a broaderscale and might serve as models for On-tario.

Established in 1992, EBP WestBerks works closely with all ten of thelocal state secondary schools along withNewbury College. Links with the busi-ness community range from multina-tionals such as Vodafone and Bayer tosmaller local organizations. The aim ofthe organization is to inspire and enablethe future workforce. This means engag-ing with and supporting young pupilsand students at all levels to better equipthem for the challenges of their futureworking life. This is accomplished bygiving young people of the region an in-troduction to the world of work to in-spire and motivate them and above all togive them a sound footing on which tomake more informed decisions abouttheir future. The organization has suc-cessfully forged links between local em-ployers, teachers and students, andthrough these partnerships they createand deliver a range of work-related andvocational learning opportunities to in-spire, inform and motivate young peo-ple at all levels for their future workinglives.

Career Planning InfluencersThe relative influence of groups

and individuals on the career planningof Grade 10 students was a third focusof this study. Parents were perceived bycounsellors as having the greatest influ-ence on the career planning of high



school students followed by someonethe student admires working in a field ofinterest. As with other research(Knighton and Mirza, 2002; Looker andLowe, 2001), there is ample evidence toindicate that youth look to their parentsfor guidance in many parts of their lifeand that specific parental behaviours in-fluence adolescent career exploration(Kracke, 1997). Indeed, the term ‘heli-copter parent’ is well recognized bypostsecondary admissions staff (Lipka,2007; Miller, 2008). Otto (2000) foundthat four-fifths of high school juniors in-dicated their career aspirations are con-sistent with those of their parents andparental influence has generally beenshown to be positive (Grant, 2000).However, as Otto (2000) suggests, thetwenty per cent of cases where the ca-reer aspiration of the child does notmatch that of the parent could lead toenrollment in a program of study forwhich the student is ill-suited.

There is also some concern regard-ing the content of the advice parentsprovide. Middleton and Lougheed(1993) noted that parental encourage-ment, although well-meaning, mayfocus only on a range of alternatives ac-ceptable to the parent and thus maylimit adolescents’ career exploration andchoice. King (2006), for example,found that some high school students in-dicated their parents felt so stronglyabout attending a university that theywould not let them go to college. Kingalso found evidence that parents’ advicemay not be substantial. A third of uni-versity and of college-bound highschool students thought the career infor-mation provided by parents was‘slightly’ or ‘not’ helpful. Focus groupresults with students in another study(Council of Ministers of Education,Canada & Canada Millennium Scholar-ship Foundation, 2009) suggest thatsome parents were more inclined to nagtheir children about postsecondary at-tendance rather than provide them withpractical information that could helpthem to decide what they might like tostudy.

While parents typically see theirroles as being supportive, informativeand educative, they also believe thatmore information and stronger relation-ships with teachers would help them(Bardick, Bernes, Magnusson & Witko,

2005). Parents also want their childrento have the “personal touch” from coun-sellors with respect to a plan tailored totheir children’s abilities and aspira-tions(Canadian Career DevelopmentFoundation, 2003). Individual attentionmatters, as does assistance in gatheringand understanding post-secondary edu-cation and career and financial informa-tion. However, the lack of opportunityfor parents to obtain career-related in-formation is a challenge. Few counsel-lors in the current study reported thatsuch workshops were available in theirschool, a finding also noted in a nationalstudy of guidance counsellors (Malatestand Associates, 2009).

The relatively low level of influ-ence attributed by counsellors to teach-ers, friends, the media, as well asthemselves, is noteworthy and also con-sistent with other research (Alexitch &Page, 1997; King, 2006; Yau &O’Reilly, 2007). A potential reason forthese low rates is provided by Yau &O’Reilly with a census of Toronto Dis-trict School Board students. They foundthat more than half the students sur-veyed indicated that they “rarely” or“never” felt comfortable discussing per-sonal problems with a teacher or coun-sellor. King’s study also showed thatwhile teachers and counsellors weresuppliers of career information, one-third of students thought the informationprovided by teachers was ‘slightly’ or‘not’ helpful and one-quarter felt thesame about information from counsel-lors. While friends and the internet arealso sources of career information, lessthan half the students in King’s study re-ported information from friends was‘slightly’ or ‘not’ helpful and only onehalf found internet information was‘helpful’ or ‘very helpful’.

Availability & Helpfulness ofResources

The results of this study confirmthat, from the counsellor perspective, awide variety of career planning re-sources are available to Ontario second-ary school students. Those reported tobe available to all students includespeaking with a guidance counsellor, amandatory Career Studies course, vol-unteering for community service, writ-ten materials and using computer

programs such as Career Cruising andmyBlueprint. Of these, working one-on-one with a guidance counsellor andcomputer programs such as CareerCruising were also rated as very helpfulcareer planning resources. Indeed, inter-views with students and parents (Cana-dian Career Development Foundation,2003) have shown that both groups de-sire greater access to individualized sup-port. However, while counsellors reportthat such support for career planning isavailable to students, this and other re-search (Malatest and Associates, 2009)has shown that a minority of their timeis actually devoted to individual careerplanning.

While the resources above show agood correspondence between availabil-ity and perceived helpfulness, this is notalways the case. For example, themandatory Grade 10 Career Studiescourse and the forty-hour communityservice requirement within the Ontariosecondary school curriculum, availableto all students, were rated as less help-ful. The latter case is particularly inter-esting as a very small proportion ofcounsellors considered the communityservice requirement very helpful to ca-reer planning. This is despite the factthat experiential activities were cited bycounsellors as one of the best formatsfor delivering career planning informa-tion. Perhaps the perception is that stu-dents are not able to use the experiencesas a way to test potential career options.In contrast, paid work experience, con-sidered by counsellors to be available tomost students was rated by over half asquite or very helpful. Similar resultshave been found in interviews with stu-dents (King, 2009) who indicate that theexperiences have helped them decide ona career path. It is possible that paidwork experiences afford students agreater opportunity to select jobs relatedto potential career aspirations.

Other experiential opportunities toassess career options include co-opera-tive education programs and the OntarioYouth Apprenticeship Program. Whilecounsellors view both of these as notbeing available to all students, they arerated as very helpful to career planningby an overwhelming majority. Indeed,while Ontario is the province with thehighest enrollment in co-op programs,counsellors have reported that only be-



tween twenty and forty per cent of stu-dents enroll in the courses (Malatest andAssociates, 2009). Students, however,also cite the value of co-op programs inhelping decide on a future career (King,2009).

Additional ResourcesThis study sought counsellors’ views

regarding what additional resourcesmight assist Grade 10 students with ca-reer planning. Two in three agreed thatnew resources were needed. The major-ity of comments focused on providingstudents with information of a type orformat that does not currently exist. Thisranged from the need for Canadian con-tent in computer programs such as Ca-reer Cruising that is aligned with specificpost high school destinations to havingspecific information about local job mar-ket trends and salaries. Other suggestionsincluded increased opportunities for ex-periential learning via a guest speaker,job shadowing, or work placement ros-ters so that students could interact withthose in careers corresponding to theirinterests or experience the career areafirst-hand, if only briefly. The effective-ness of such opportunities has beennoted elsewhere (Canadian Career De-velopment Foundation, 2003).

A second theme that emerged fo-cused on the Grade 10 Career Studiescourse. This half-credit course was de-signed to help students with course se-lection and consequent career planning(Ministry of Education, 2006a). Some inthis study suggested it should be a full-credit course as there was insufficienttime to thoroughly cover all the mate-rial. Others noted that while the Ontariocurriculum requires Grade 10 studentsto make course choices for Grade 11,some are too immature to do so effec-tively. King (2009) has also noted thatfor those students whose Grade 10 orGrade 11 achievement forces a recon-sideration of future educational plans,additional opportunities to revise careerplans are required. Another study(Canadian Career Development Founda-tion, 2003) has recommended greaterinfusion of career opportunities intoclassroom subjects and an increase inthe amount of guidance/career develop-ment content and courses available indifferent grades. One solution suggested

in this study was to have a Grade 11 Ca-reer Studies option available. One possi-bility is the current Grade 11 course,Designing Your Future, a career-plan-ning course that develops students’ abil-ities to identify and pursue appropriatepostsecondary educational and employ-ment opportunities (Ministry of Educa-tion, 2006b). It is not clear, however,how many students actually take advan-tage of this option.

ConclusionThis study obtained information

from guidance staff located in numerousschools across Ontario with the goal ofgaining their perspective on the careerplanning context of Grade 10 students.A number of important conclusions arewarranted. First, the current study, inconcert with others, suggests that careerplanning for students with a workplacedestination after graduation is more dif-ficult than those who are universitybound. While the Ontario secondaryschool curriculum supports studentswith a variety of destinations, the Grade10 Career Studies course is an ‘open’course and could have all destinationsrepresented in the classroom. Other re-search in Ontario suggests the focus ofcareer planning often tends to empha-size the university destination aboveothers. This is perhaps because, giventheir educational background, they aremore familiar with the university settingthan with community colleges or ap-prenticeship. If so, this could exacerbatethe difficulties for students who arework bound and perhaps those focusedon apprenticeship or college destina-tions as well. Implications include thepotential modification of the CareerStudies course to more intensively focuson diverse destinations and the consid-eration of proven best practices in otherjurisdictions that ease the transition forwork-bound students.

Second, counsellors reported theydevote a minority of their time to careerplanning with individual students, likelydue to high caseloads and the multipledemands of their role. A mandatory Ca-reer Studies course might also con-tribute since guidance staff know thatstudents can access career informationin the classroom. They believed thatself-exploration and broad exploratory

information regarding careers and re-lated educational programs would bemost useful to the career planning ofGrade 10 students. The majority alsothought this information could be bestobtained via a comprehensive ‘one-stop’web site or computer programs such asCareer Cruising. Should this occurwithin the half-credit Career Studiescourse, which some consider being tooshort, the danger is that the activitycould become an ‘information dump’and lack meaning, especially for stu-dents whose critical thinking skills areless well developed. While counsellorsrated individual support for career plan-ning relatively low in terms of useful-ness, perhaps because Grade 10 studentsare early in the career planning process,such personal support might help morestudents ‘connect the dots’ than is possi-ble in the current context.

Third, counsellors also strongly en-dorsed experiential sources of career in-formation such as co-op and OntarioYouth Apprenticeship programs, and op-portunities to speak with someone em-ployed in an area of interest as beingvery useful to students’ career planning.While opportunities such as co-op pro-grams and OYAP were seen to be avail-able to most students, evidence suggeststhat few students participate. Themandatory community service require-ment, completed by all students, wasnot rated as being very helpful to careerplanning although little is known abouthow students view the experience.While workplace tours are not as avail-able to students and counsellors did notrate them as very helpful, other jurisdic-tions appear to be enjoying success withsuch programs and might provide usefulmodels for Ontario. Greater exposure toexperiential forms of career informationseems warranted.

As with many other studies, parentswere perceived to be the primary influ-ence on the career planning of Grade 10students. While parents are largely seenas exerting a positive influence, otherresearch suggests some may not beaware of the complete range of careerand educational opportunities availableto their children or promote options thatare ill suited to their interests and tal-ents. Unfortunately, this and other re-search indicates that few schools offercareer planning and education informa-



tion workshops for parents. Given thelow incidence of individual student-counsellor contact already noted(Malates & Associates, 2009), the possi-bility is that parents might create a poormatch between the student, a career andpostsecondary pathways. If studentswere exposed to additional sources ofcareer information via experiential ac-tivities such as workplace visits or jobshadowing, they might be better able tomoderate parental influence and suc-ceed in following a career path bettersuited to their interests and talents.

This study has also shown that awide variety of career planning re-sources are available to Grade 10 stu-dents. Some that are widely availableare not perceived by counseling staff tobe very helpful while others with morelimited availability are perceived to bevery helpful. In contradiction to earlierfindings, counsellors indicated that one-on-one support for students is the mosthelpful resource for career planning andalso reported that it is available to allstudents. Research, however, suggests areality of infrequent student-counsellorcontact for career planning purposes.The likelihood is that this resource isavailable to all students, in theory, butthat the current secondary school con-text imposes strict limits. Indeed, manyof the respondents in this study sug-gested a need for additional career plan-ning resources developed for theCanadian high school context as well asadjustments to the mandatory Grade 10Career Studies course.

Taken together, the informationprovided by secondary school guidancestaff suggests a need to rethink the ac-cess to and delivery of career planningresources for Grade 10 students in On-tario. Key initiatives might include anincrease in experiential learning oppor-tunities via expanded co-operative edu-cation, the development of localguest-speaker rosters representing com-mon career destinations and increasedliaison with business and industry, asoccurs in other jurisdictions, to facilitateworkplace tours. Consideration mightalso be given to increasing the CareerStudies course to a full credit or, in itsabsence, develop strategies such as theuse of peer-tutors to help students ‘con-nect the dots’ when working with web-based tools or computer programs such

as Career Cruising. Finally, the wide-spread development of career planningworkshops or online resources specifi-cally designed for parents could also beof great benefit. Similarly, professionaldevelopment workshops that include acomprehensive review of communitycollege programs, apprenticeship oppor-tunities and career planning tools ratedas particularly effective by studentscould also be of benefit to counsellors.

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ceric.ca18 Spadina Road, Suite 200

Toronto, ON M5R 2S7 | 416.929.2510

Graduate Student Engagement ProgramCERIC encourages the engagement of Canada’s full-time graduate students whose academic focus is in career development or related �elds. Faculty members are asked to help identify appropriate graduate students.

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Compete for the CERIC Graduate Student Program Award, which provides funding to attend and present at the Cannexus conference;Join one of CERIC’s committees (one graduate student per year);

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Abstract

This study investigated the antecedentsof educational goal commitmentregarding the transition from highschool to college among 702 high-school students. A theoretical modelbased on assumptions from theexpectancy-value framework (Eccles &Wigfield, 2002) and the hierarchicalgoal structure (Carver & Scheier, 1998)was tested. This model is composed ofone proximal antecedent—goalimportance—and two distalantecedents—goal abstraction andintegration. The distal antecedents wereexperimentally manipulated. The resultsshowed that (a) goal commitment isinfluenced by goal abstraction andintegration, and (b) goal importance is amediator of this effect. In addition totheoretical implications, a suggestedpragmatic outcome is the developmentof a tool to guide students in the moreeffective structuring of their educationalgoals.

Students’ commitment to theireducational goal at the end of highschool has been shown to be animportant predictor of choiceactualization, commitment to the chosenfield of study, and academic adjustmentin higher education. These factors are inturn predictive of college students’academic achievement (Germeijs &Verschueren, 2007). However, we knowmuch less about the factors thatinfluence this commitment. Identifyingthese factors is crucial to guidingstudents in the construction of their

educational goals and helping themachieve their plans.

Educational goals are the goals thatstudents pursue when choosing theirprogram of study. Goal commitment isdefined as the extent to which aparticular goal is associated with astrong sense of determination and withthe willingness to invest effort inattaining it (Brunstein, 1993;Hollenbeck & Klein, 1987). Theantecedents of goal commitment havemainly been investigated for assignedgoals in the framework of goal-settingtheory (Hollenbeck & Klein, 1987).Research is needed to explore howcommitment to personal goals develops.A theoretical model of the factorsinfluencing the commitment to personal(educational) goals has been suggestedby Boudrenghien, Frenay, Bourgeois,Karabenick, and Eccles (submitted).The present study is aimed atempirically testing most of theassumptions of this model. They arepresented below.

Goal commitment is hypothesizedto be directly influenced by goalimportance. This assumption issupported by several theoretical andempirical arguments. The expectancy-value model assumes a direct impact ofattainment value (i.e., the personalimportance of doing well at a giventask) on task choice (i.e., the decision ofwhether or not to begin or continue toinvest effort in the task) (Eccles &Wigfield, 2002). Several empiricalstudies have applied this assumption tothe study of goals and confirmed thatgoal commitment is influenced by goal

value or goal importance(Boudrenghien, Frenay, & Bourgeois,2011; Klinger, Barta, & Maxeiner,1980).

Two distal antecedents arepostulated to indirectly influence goalcommitment, through their impact ongoal importance. Carver and Scheier(1998) suggest that the importance of agoal is influenced by its position withinan individual’s goal hierarchy, which isdetermined by its degree of integrationand level of abstraction. We define thedegree of integration of a goal as theextent to which the goal is linked toother goals within the hierarchy. A goalthat is linked to other goals is supposedto be more important than an isolatedgoal (Carver & Scheier, 1998; Sheldon& Kasser, 1995). Moreover, a goal thatis formulated at a high level ofabstraction concerns being a particularkind of person (a be-goal), whereas agoal that is formulated at a low level ofabstraction concerns completing aparticular kind of action (a do-goal)(Carver & Scheier, 1998). A be-goal isrepresented in the higher levels of thehierarchical goal structure and generallyapplies for a long time, whereas a do-goal is represented in the lower levels ofthe structure and generally applies for ashort time. Carver & Scheier (1998)argue that be-goals are morefundamental to the over-riding sense ofself and are therefore intrinsically moreimportant than do-goals.

Abstraction level and degree ofintegration have rarely been empiricallystudied with reference to the modeldeveloped by Carver and Scheier

Antecedents of Educational Goal Commitment:An Experimental lnvestigation of the Role of

Goal Abstraction, Integration, and ImportanceGentiane Boudrenghien

Mariane FrenayUniversité catholique de Louvain

Etienne BourgeoisUniversité de Genève

Stuart A. KarabenickJacquelynne S. EcclesUniversity of Michigan

Antecedents of Educational Goal Commitment19


(1998). Other theories have beenempirically tested, but these studieshave focused on only one of the twodimensions (Emmons, 1992; Sheldon &Emmons, 1995; Sheldon & Kasser,1995; Vallacher & Wegner, 1989). Tothe best of our knowledge, only onestudy has investigated both dimensions(Boudrenghien et al., 2011). This studyshowed a mediation of the impacts ofgoal abstraction and integration on goalcommitment, by goal importance.However, its correlational design didnot allow causal relationships to betested.

The present study is aimed atexperimentally investigating the impactof goal abstraction and integration ongoal commitment and importance. Inaddition to the positive main effect ofeach of these distal antecedents, wepostulate an interaction effect. Based onthe well-known assumption that distalgoals result in lower motivation thanproximal ones (e.g., Locke & Latham,2002; Schunk, 1990; Zimmerman,1989), we suggest that be-goals do notalways enhance goal commitment. Theinteraction effect we postulate takes intoaccount these two contradictoryassumptions concerning the impact ofabstraction on motivation. Wehypothesize that the positive impact ofabstraction on goal commitment(assumed by Carver and Scheier, 1998)appear when the goal is perceived ashighly integrated. This interest incombining high levels of abstractionand integration is in line with Bandura’s(1986) assumption that we need tocombine distal aspirations (i.e., be-goals) with proximal self-guidance (i.e.,integration with other goals, includingconcrete ones) to obtain the bestpersonal development. However, wehypothesize that, in circumstances oflow integration, we will observe thenegative impact of abstraction assumedby Locke and Latham (2002). Whenthere is not much integration, the focuson a be-goal, which is too far off toundertake actions in immediatesituations, is not (sufficiently)compensated for by an awareness of theconcrete hierarchical paths to progresstoward this goal. On the contrary, thefocus on a do-goal compensates for thislack of integration by giving a cleareridea of the actions which need to be

completed. This reasoning suggests that,when the goal is rather isolated, thelower the level of abstraction, thegreater the commitment.

We formulated three hypotheses,one for each main effect and one for theinteraction effect. The combination ofthese hypotheses within the sametheoretical model (Boudrenghien et al.,submitted) implies that the positiveimpact of abstraction when integrationis high should be stronger than itsnegative impact when integration is low.The main effects as well as theinteraction effect are assumed to bemediated by goal importance.

Hypothesis 1. The higher the level ofabstraction of a goal, the greater thecommitment to this goal, because of theincreased goal importance.

Hypothesis 2. The higher the degree ofintegration of a goal, the greater thecommitment to this goal, because of theincreased goal importance.

Hypothesis 3. When a goal is highlyintegrated, the higher the level of goalabstraction, the greater the commitmentto this goal, because of the increasedgoal importance. When a goal is notmuch integrated, the higher the level ofgoal abstraction, the lower thecommitment to this goal, because of thedecreased goal importance.

Method

Design and ParticipantsThis study employed a 2

(abstraction level: high or low) x 2(degree of integration: integrated orunintegrated) between-participantsdesign. Data were collected from Marchto May 2008 in nine French-speakinghigh schools in Belgium. The sampleconsisted of 702 Grade 12 studentsenrolled in a comprehensive educationprogram. Participants were randomlyassigned to one of four conditions: 175students, to condition a (high level ofabstraction plus integration); 175students, to condition b (high level ofabstraction but unintegrated); 179students, to condition c (low level ofabstraction plus integration); and 173students, to condition d (low level of

abstraction and unintegrated). Some49.7% of the participants were femaleand 44.7% were male (39 missingvalues); 68.9% of them had theireighteenth birthday in 2008 (4.8% wereyounger and 21.8%, older) (31 missingvalues).

ProcedureData were collected in class, during

50-minute sessions. Each studentreceived a document including all theinstructions, measures, andmanipulations. Four documents weredeveloped, one for each condition. Ineach class, we randomly gave out thefour types of documents, which werenot distinguishable from their coverpage. In all four documents, theexperiment proceeded in three steps andtook approximately 40 minutes. First,the participants completed a self-reportquestionnaire. They were asked toimagine that they had to pick a programof study at college now, and to writedown the educational goal they werepursuing by choosing this program.Students provided informationconcerning this goal, which allowed usto collect baseline measures. Second,goal abstraction and integration weremanipulated (see below). Finally, asecond self-report questionnaire wasadministered. It again asked the studentsto give their educational goal, and thenmeasured goal commitment and itsantecedents. At the end of the study, theparticipants were debriefed.

The objective of the manipulationof the abstraction level was to makestudents adopt either an abstractexpression of their educational goal(worded in terms of a be-goal) or aconcrete expression (worded in terms ofa do-goal). Students were asked toselect the one that suited them best fromthree expressions of educational goals.Depending on the condition to whichthe participant had been assigned (highor low level of abstraction), theexpressions among which he/she had tochoose were either all worded in termsof a be-goal or all worded in terms of ado-goal. Students assigned to the highlevel of abstraction condition werepresented with the three following be-goals: “to be a person working in thisdomain” “to be competent in this



domain”, and “to be recognized bypeople working in this domain”. Bycontrast, students assigned to the lowlevel of abstraction condition had tochoose between the following do-goals:“to attend courses in this domain”, “totrain myself in this domain”, and “tostudy in this domain”.

The objective of the integrationmanipulation was to encourage studentsto perceive their educational goal aseither linked to, or isolated from, othergoals in their life. All the students wereasked to select the goals they pursued intheir life from a list of 30 be-goals and alist of 30 do-goals. The next three stepswere different depending on the

condition to which the participant hadbeen assigned. Students in theintegrated condition were told that mostpeople perceived their goals as highlylinked, and were given some examplesof this perception (e.g., in order tobecome competent in medicine, it is ofcourse necessary to succeed in high

school, but it could also be important todo a student job, for example in themedical domain). Then, these studentswere asked to indicate which of thegoals they had selected from the twolists were related to their educationalgoal. Finally, these participants wereasked to write down their educationalgoal and the other goals that were

related to this goal on the hierarchicaldiagram represented on Figure 1 (be-goals in Line 1 and do-goals in Line 2).To be consistent with the manipulationof abstraction level, if they had beenassigned to the condition of a high levelof abstraction they were asked to writetheir educational goal in Line 1,whereas if they had been assigned to thecondition of a low level of abstractionthey were asked to write it in Line 2.

Students in the unintegratedcondition were told that most peopleperceived their goals as isolated, asbelonging to different life spheres.Some examples of this perception weregiven (e.g., that the goal of becomingcompetent in medicine has got nothingto do with other goals pursued in life,such as to be a good parent). Then, thesestudents were asked to indicate which ofthe goals they had selected from the twolists were different from theireducational goal and belonged to otherlife spheres than the study/work sphere.Finally, these participants werepresented with a diagram showing fivelife spheres (Figure 2), and asked towrite their educational goal in thestudy/work sphere and their other(different) goals in the other spheres asappropriate.

MeasuresMost items on the self-report

questionnaires were rated on 5-pointLikert-type scales, from 1 (stronglydisagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Theexceptions are presented below.

Abstraction level.As explained above, before and

after the manipulations, participantswere asked to state their educationalgoal. The expressions students used toformulate their educational goal werecoded for their level of abstraction on ascale from 0 to 2. Code 2 was attributedto an expression that relates to being acertain kind of person (high level ofabstraction). Code 0 was attributed to anexpression that relates to doing a certainkind of thing (low level of abstraction).If the expression mixes characteristicsfrom both levels of abstraction, it wascoded 1. This coding was conducted bythe first author using a blind procedure(i.e., without knowing the experimental

2

1

My ideal self

Fig. 1 Hierarchical diagram used for manipulation in the integrated condition

Family

-

-

-

-

Friends

-

-

-

-

Leisure

-

-

-

-

Study/work

-

“ Other ”

-

-

-

-

Fig. 2 Life-spheres diagram used for manipulation in the unintegrated condition

y



conditions in which the expressionswere formulated). An index of inter-rater agreement was computed for arandom sample of 50 goals. Theintraclass correlation coefficient reachedthe value of .83 (p < .001), whichindicates a very high inter-rateragreement. Some examples ofabstraction level coding are presented inTable 1.

Degree of integration.One item, developed from

definitions of the degree of integration(Carver & Scheier, 1998; Sheldon &Kasser, 1995), was used to measure goalintegration before and after themanipulations: “I see clearly howcertain other goals in my life will helpme achieve this goal”. Before the

manipulations, this item referred to theeducational goal written in the firstquestionnaire; after the manipulations, itreferred to the goal in the secondquestionnaire.

Absolute importance.As suggested by Bardi, Lee,

Hofmann-Towfigh, and Soutar (2009),

we distinguished between absolute andrelative importance, and investigated theimpact of this distinction in anexploratory way. One item taken fromSideridis (2001) asked students toestimate the importance of theireducational goal without anycomparison to their other goals: “Thisgoal is extremely important to me”

(nine-point Likert-type scale from 1[strongly disagree] to 9 [stronglyagree]).

Relative importance.Another of Sideridis’s (2001) items

asked students if they agree that toppriority should be given to theireducational goal in a classification ofthe various things they try to be or to doin their life: “Working towards this goalis the most important thing for me”(nine-point Likert-type scale).

Absolute commitment.The same distinction between

absolute and relative has beenintroduced into our measure ofcommitment. Thirteen items, adaptedfrom Brunstein (1993), and Hollenbeck,Klein, O’Leary, and Wright (1989),asked students to estimate theircommitment to their educational goalwithout any comparison to their othergoals (α = .85). An exploratory factoranalysis showed that the thirteen itemsloaded on a unique factor. Six of thethirteen items (e.g., “I am stronglycommitted to pursuing this goal”) wereused before the manipulations (α = .76),and the other seven (e.g., “It wouldn’ttake much to make me abandon thisgoal” (reversed item)) were used after it(α = .79).

Relative commitment.Three of the items measuring

absolute commitment were also used, ina slightly adapted form, to ask studentsto estimate their commitment to their

Table 1 Examples of Educational Goals and their Abstraction Level Index

Low level of abstractiona: do-goals (code = 0)

Medium level of abstractionb (code = 1)

High level of abstractionc: be-goals (code = 2)

1. To study at the School of Management.

1. To study something that I love and in which I could be useful later.

1. To be recognized in my job.

2. To attend math classes. 2. To be happy in my job while earning a good living.

2. To be a civil engineer.

3. To study one of the various branches of medicine.

3. To help other people, to be a part of their life.

3. To become an important person.

4. To work hard for the subjects that I love.

4. To be a doctor working abroad for a humanitarian organization.

4. To be totally fulfilled in my job.

5. To develop my language skills.

5. To work hard in a job that allows me to be useful to others.

5. To become an open-minded person.

a an expression that relates to doing a certain kind of thing b an expression that mixes characteristics of the low and high levels of abstraction c an expression that relates to being a certain kind of person

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Table 2 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations between Scales

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. Abstraction level (BMa) 0.59 0.78 1.00 2. Abstraction level (AMb) 0.85 0.86 .28*** 1.00 3. Degree of integration (BM) 3.49 0.94 .01 .03 1.00 4. Degree of integration (AM) 3.63 0.91 –.03 .04 .47*** 1.00 5. Absolute importance (AM) 7.29 1.66 .05 .07 .16*** .20*** 1.00 6. Relative importance (AM) 5.79 2.07 .06 .08* .14*** .17*** .57*** 1.00 7. Absolute commitment (BM) 4.04 0.58 .15*** .09* .32*** .28*** .44*** .29*** 1.00 8. Absolute commitment (AM) 3.91 0.60 .11** .05 .25*** .25*** .53*** .41*** .62*** 1.00 9. Relative commitment (BM) 3.85 0.90 .09* .06 .23*** .23*** .28*** .21*** .29*** .33*** 1.00 10. Relative commitment (AM) 3.51 0.94 .07 .08* .11** .10** .34*** .38*** .34*** .47*** .23*** 1.00

Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 a before manipulationb b after manipulation

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educational goal in comparison to othergoals. An exploratory factor analysisshowed that the three items loaded on aunique factor. One of these three items(“I am ready to put in more effort intoachieving this goal than into achievingmy other goals”) was used before themanipulations. The other two items(e.g., “I am more determined to pursueother goals than this one” (reverseditem)) were used after the manipulations(α = .71).

ResultsEight participants had some

outliers (+/– 3 standard deviations fromthe mean) and were excluded from theanalyses. The descriptive statistics andcorrelations are presented in Table 2.

Manipulation ChecksGoal abstraction.A between-participants ANCOVA

was conducted to check the effective-ness of the abstraction manipulation onthe abstraction level after the mani-pulation, controlling for its level beforethe manipulation. More specifically, thetwo manipulations and their interactionwere introduced as independentvariables to check if there was only amain effect of the abstractionmanipulation, or whether the othermanipulation or the interaction had aneffect. The results indicate a significantmain effect of the abstractionmanipulation (F(1, 678) = 102.90; p <.001; ηp² = .13), no main effect of theintegration manipulation (F(1, 678) =0.80; ns), and no interaction effect (F(1,678) = 2.48; ns). After the manipulation,the goal expression was more abstract inthe high level of abstraction condition(M = 1.15, SD = 0.85) than in the lowlevel of abstraction condition (M = 0.55,SD = 0.77). Before the manipulation,the mean in the high level of abstractioncondition (M = 0.59, SD = 0.77) andthat in the low level of abstractioncondition (M = 0.58, SD = 0.78) did notdiffer (F(1, 684) = 0.03; ns). Weconducted two additional within-participant ANOVAs to improve ourunderstanding of the abstractionmanipulation’s effect. In the high levelof abstraction condition, the goalexpression was more abstract after the

manipulation (M = 1.15, SD = 0.85)than before (M = 0.59, SD = 0.77) (F(1,338) = 120.98; p < .001; ηp² = .26).However, in the low level of abstractioncondition, the goal expression was notsignificantly less abstract after themanipulation than before (F(1, 343) =0.40; ns). It therefore seems to be easierto lead students to express theireducational goal more as an identity todevelop, than to lead them to expresstheir goal more as an action tocomplete. Having said that, the resultsconfirm that the manipulation createdtwo groups significantly different interms of their abstraction level.

Goal integration.A between-participants ANCOVA

was conducted to check theeffectiveness of the integrationmanipulation on the degree ofintegration after the manipulation,controlling for its level before themanipulation. Again, the twomanipulations and their interaction wereintroduced as independent variables.The results indicate a significant maineffect of the integration manipulation(F(1, 670) = 4.91; p < .05; ηp² = .01), nomain effect of the abstractionmanipulation (F(1, 670) = 0.80; ns), andno interaction effect (F(1, 670) = 0.02;ns). After the manipulation, students inthe integrated condition perceived theirgoal as more integrated (M = 3.69, SD =0.92) than students in the unintegratedcondition (M = 3.59, SD = 0.90). Thetwo conditions did not differ before themanipulation (F(1, 678) = 1.21; ns). Weconducted two additional within-participant ANOVAs to improve ourunderstanding of the integrationmanipulation’s effect. Students in theintegrated condition perceived their goalas more integrated after themanipulation (M = 3.69, SD = 0.92)than before (M = 3.45, SD = 0.96) (F(1,340) = 20.72; p < .001; ηp² = .06).However, in the unintegrated condition,the goal was not perceived differentlybefore (M = 3.53, SD = 0.91) and afterthe manipulation (F(1, 333) = 1.71; ns).It seems therefore to be easier toincrease the perception of a goal aslinked to other goals than to decreasethis perception. Having said that, theresults confirm that the manipulation

created two groups significantlydifferent in terms of their perception ofgoal integration.

Impact of the ManipulationsGoal commitment.Two between-participant ANOVAs

tested the impact of the manipulationson the absolute and relative goalcommitment. The first analysis did notshow any main effect of the manipu-lations on the absolute commitment(manipulation of abstraction: F(1, 683)= 0.08; ns; manipulation of integration:F(1, 683) = 2.51; ns). Nor was there aninteraction effect (F(1, 683) = 1.38; ns).

The second ANOVA also showedno main effect of the manipulations onthe relative commitment (manipulationof abstraction: F(1, 676) = 0.01; ns;manipulation of integration: F(1, 676) =0.28; ns). However there was asignificant interaction effect (F(1, 676)= 4.88; p < .05; ηp² = .01). The relativecommitment was highest in condition a(M = 3.61, SD = 0.92) and lowest incondition b (M = 3.42, SD = 0.93). Itwas intermediate in conditions c (M =3.45, SD = 0.92) and d (M = 3.57, SD =0.99). The scores of the students in thefour conditions did not differ before themanipulations (F(3, 682) = 1.40; ns). Asimple effects analysis was conducted tolook at the effect of each manipulationat individual levels of the othermanipulation. This revealed asignificant difference betweenconditions a and b (F(1, 677) = 3.75; p= .05; ηp² = .01). The interaction effectof the manipulations on the relativecommitment is presented in the top partof Figure 3.

Goal importance.Two between-participant ANOVAs

tested the impact of the manipulationson absolute and relative goalimportance. The first ANOVA did notshow any main effect of the manipu-lations on the absolute importance(manipulation of abstraction: F(1, 683)= 0.08; ns; manipulation of integration:F(1, 683) = 2.51; ns); nor did it show aninteraction effect (F(1, 683) = 1.38; ns).

The second ANOVA also showedno main effect of the manipulations onthe relative importance (manipulation ofabstraction: F(1, 681) = 0.33; ns;



manipulation of integration: F(1, 681) =0.04; ns). However it did display asignificant interaction effect (F(1, 681)= 4.98; p < .05; ηp² = .01). The relativeimportance was the highest in conditiona (M = 5.99, SD = 2.03) and the lowestin condition c (M = 5.55, SD = 2.07). Itattained intermediate levels inconditions b (M = 5.67, SD = 2.15) andd (M = 5.93, SD = 2.02). The simpleeffects analysis revealed a significantdifference between conditions a and c(F(1, 682) = 4.01; p < .05; ηp² = .01).The interaction effect of themanipulations on the relative impor-tance is presented on the bottom part ofFigure 3.

Mediational AnalysisGoal importance has been

postulated as a mediator of the impactof abstraction and integration on goalcommitment. The first two conditionsfor a mediational model (Baron &Kenny, 1986) were checked byinvestigating the impact of the mani-pulations. We found that the interactionbetween the two manipulations had asignificant impact (1) on the relativecommitment, and (2) on the relativeimportance. To complete the test of themediation, a between-participant

ANCOVA was conducted, with the twomanipulations and their interaction asindependent variables, the relativeimportance as a covariate, and therelative commitment as the dependentvariable (Muller, Yzerbyt, & Judd,2008). The impact of the relativeimportance on the relative commitment,controlling for the impact of the twomanipulations, was significant (F(1,671) = 107.39; p < .001; ηp² = .14).Importance and commitment werepositively linked (r = .38; p < .001). TheANCOVA also showed that the impactof the interaction between the mani-pulations on the relative commitmentdisappeared (F(1, 671) = 2.60; ns) oncethe impact of the relative importance

had been taken into account. All fourconditions for a full mediation weretherefore satisfied.

DiscussionThis study was, to the best of our

knowledge, a first attempt toempirically test Carver and Scheier’s(1998) assumptions about thehierarchical goal structure, and toexperimentally investigate theantecedents of educational goalcommitment. Although there are certainlimitations, which will be discussed

below, three main conclusions can bedrawn: (1) the representation studentshave of their educational goal can bechanged; (2) goal commitment andimportance are influenced by goalabstraction and integration; (3) theimpact of goal abstraction andintegration on goal commitment ismediated by goal importance.

With respect to the first conclusion,the representation students have of theireducational goal (in terms of abstractionlevel and degree of integration) can bechanged. However, although it could bemade more abstract and moreintegrated, it could not be made lessabstract or less integrated. Why? If it iseasier to increase the abstraction levelof an educational goal than to decreaseit, this is probably due to the low meanlevel of abstraction beforemanipulation: most of the educationalgoals were coded 0 on the scale from 0to 2. For most of the students in the lowlevel of abstraction condition, it wastherefore impossible to decrease theirabstraction level further.

It has also been shown that it iseasier to increase students’ perceptionsof the degree to which their goals areintegrated, than to decrease them. Oneexplanation for this asymmetrical effectof the integration manipulation may bethat the perception of integration is at ahigher level of complexity than that ofisolation (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005).Students who have already attained thislevel of complexity do not readily returnto a less developed perception. Anotherexplanation of this limit could lie in theintegration measure. Goal commitmentdiffered in conditions a and b, althoughthese only varied on the integrationdimension. Two explanations for thisdifference are possible. Either it is justdue to an increased degree ofintegration in condition a, or it is due toboth an increased degree of integrationin condition a and a decreased degree ofintegration in condition b. If the secondoption is correct, then the non-significant effectiveness of themanipulation in the unintegratedcondition may be due to the inability ofour measure to detect the decrease inintegration. This measure should beimproved in future research. However,in the present study, the comparisonbetween the four conditions still makes

Fig. 3 The impact of the manipulations on goal commitment and goal importance

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sense given the significant differencesobserved in terms of abstraction andintegration between the four conditions.

Our second conclusion is that theimpact of the manipulations of goalabstraction and integration on goalcommitment and importance has beenconfirmed. Three characteristics of thisimpact were consistent in theinvestigations of commitment andimportance, which gives them additionalweight. First, the manipulations onlyaffected the commitment and importanceattached to the educational goal incomparison to other goals. This may bebecause the relative dimension is moreflexible than the absolute dimension(which is relatively stable). Therefore,the external influence of themanipulations was more easily reflectedby the relative dimension.

The second consistent result is thatonly the interaction between the twomanipulations had an impact on goalcommitment and importance; neither ofthe manipulations was effective on itsown. In other words, Hypotheses 1 and2 were not supported, but we found aninteraction that is exactly in line withHypothesis 3. As assumed by thishypothesis, if the goal was perceived tobe linked to other goals, goalcommitment and importance increasedwhen moving from a low to a high levelof abstraction. However, if the goal wasperceived as unintegrated, goalcommitment and importance decreasedwhen moving from a low to a high levelof abstraction. If a goal was perceivedas integrated, Carver and Scheier’s(1998) hypothesis of a positive impactof be-goals is supported. This first partof the interaction is in line withBandura’s (1986) assumption thatpersonal development is best served bycombining distal aspirations withproximal self-guidance. However, if agoal is perceived in isolation, the resultsare more supportive of Locke andLatham’s (2002) proposition that do-goals, which are generally moreproximal, enhance motivation.

How can we explain the absence ofany main effect? This is due to thecross-over interaction we found. Thenegative impact of abstraction whenintegration was low was approximatelyas strong as its positive impact whenintegration was high. We suggest that

this strong negative impact is due to theextremely low level of integrationwhich students in the unintegratedcondition experienced. These studentswere asked to complete a diagramrepresenting their educational goal astotally isolated from their other goals.The representation to which students incondition b were therefore confronted (abe-goal alone, without any link to othergoals) gives them no ideas on how toachieve their educational goal. This hasa strong negative impact on theircommitment. We suggest that, outsidesuch an experimental setting, this totallyisolated representation is quite rare.Students at a low degree of integrationperceive few links between theireducational goal and other goals.However, the few links they do perceivemake the focus on a be-goal not asnegative as in condition b.

The third consistent result is thatstudents reached the highest level ofboth goal commitment and importancein condition a. Moreover, the simpleeffects analyses revealed this conditionas having a significantly higher degreeof commitment than condition b, and asignificantly higher level of importancethan condition c. In other words,commitment and importance were bothsignificantly higher only if the twoconditions were present together: thestudent was focused on a be-goal andthis goal was perceived as linked toother goals in his/her life. This resultbrings a second support to Bandura’s(1986) and Carver and Scheier’s (1998)assumptions.

The participants in condition dreached a position just below those incondition a on both commitment andimportance. The fact that this conditiondid not differ significantly fromcondition a is in line with Hypothesis 3.However, unlike condition a, conditiond was not significantly different fromeither conditions b or c. A differencebetween conditions d and b would havebrought a second support to Locke andLatham’s (2002) assumption. Theabsence of a significant differencebetween it and the other conditionsmakes the position of condition d quitedifficult to explain. Future researchshould include control conditions in a 3(goal abstraction: high – low – control)x 3 (goal integration: integrated –

unintegrated – control) experimentaldesign. This would reveal more aboutthe specific impact of each condition ongoal commitment and importance.

The main difference between theresults on goal commitment and thoseon goal importance concerns theclassification of conditions b and c.Based on Hypothesis 3, these conditionsare assumed to be at a significantlylower level of goal commitment andimportance than conditions a or d.However, only condition b was at asignificantly lower level of commitmentthan condition a, and only condition cwas at a significantly lower level ofimportance than condition a. Thenegative impact, observed in conditionb, of a focus on an isolated be-goal ongoal commitment is in line withHypothesis 3. This difference betweenconditions a (an abstract goal integratedin a hierarchical structure of abstractand concrete goals) and b (an abstractgoal isolated from other goals) can beviewed as an illustration of thedistinction between reality-based goalsand empty dreams and fantasies (Miller& Brickman, 2004). The educationalgoal in condition b appeared too far offand isolated to develop a highcommitment to its achievement.However, students in condition b did notattach significantly less importance totheir goal as postulated by Hypothesis 3.Although it is difficult for students tocommit to an isolated be-goal, they donot necessarily attach less importance tothis dream than to a reality-based goal.

The importance of the link toconcrete goals or subgoals has beendemonstrated for goal commitment.However, this conclusion should notovershadow the importance of the be-goals to which these subgoals areanchored (Bandura, 1986; Miller &Brickman, 2004). Our results show thatthe impact of the manipulations onimportance in condition c wassignificantly less good than in conditiona. This negative impact of an integrateddo-goal on goal importance is in linewith Hypothesis 3. It is difficult forstudents to attach a lot of importance toa concrete goal, expressed as an actionto undertake. This is more specificallytrue when this do-goal is perceived asintegrated with other goals. Indeed, inthis case, the relative importance of the



goal is significantly lower because theconcrete goal appears at the very bottomof a hierarchy and is only seen as a toolto reach other goals. However, studentsare not significantly less committed tothis integrated do-goal as hypothesizedby Hypothesis 3. The perception thatworking on this concrete goal cancontribute to the attainment of moreabstract goals probably helps them tomaintain this commitment.

To sum up, our results offer strongsupport to Hypothesis 3. The cross-overinteractions are in line with thishypothesis, and do not support the maineffects we postulated. Additionalsupport for Carver and Scheier’s (1998)assumptions was provided by the simpleeffects analyses.

Our final conclusion concerns therole of goal importance within theimpact of goal abstraction andintegration on goal commitment. Weshowed that the higher the relativeimportance of a goal, the greater therelative commitment to that goal. Thisresult supports the hypothesis that goalimportance is a direct antecedent of goalcommitment, which was mainly basedon the expectancy-value model (Eccles& Wigfield, 2002). Moreover, themediating role of the relativeimportance of the goal is supported. Theinteractive impact of abstraction andintegration on relative commitment iscompletely mediated by the relativeimportance. The representation of a goalwithin the hierarchical goal structureinfluences its relative importance, andtherefore, indirectly, the relativecommitment to that goal.

Three limitations to the presentstudy should be noted. First, goalintegration and goal importance wereboth single-item measures. However,these measures were not aimed atinvestigating the constructs ofintegration and importance in all theircomplexity. Their aim was to analyzethe change of the four experimentalconditions in terms of (some aspects of)integration and importance. However,the measures do need further validation.

Second, although the impact of ourmanipulations has been demonstrated,their effect sizes were quite small. Thiswas expected, given that thesemanipulations were performed duringone short period of time. The aim of our

study was to investigate the causality ofthe link between goal commitment andits possible antecedents, not to developa program to influence commitment inthe long run. However, it would beinteresting to develop an interventionstudy with this aim.

Third, our final dependent variable,goal commitment, was measured as anintention and not as a behavior. Thisstudy provided a snapshot of students’perceptions of and motivations towardstheir educational goal at the end of highschool, before they had to choose theirprogram of study and to commit to thischoice by registering, attending courses,and taking examinations. Theantecedents identified in this study arethose of the students’ intentions tocommit to their goal. Although previousresearch has already shown a linkbetween educational goal commitmentand achievement-related behaviors (e.g.,Germeijs & Verschueren, 2007), ourresults need to be completed by aninvestigation of the students’ behavioralcommitment to their goal after entry tocollege.

Because our study breaks newground in the explanation of educationalgoal commitment, its practicalimplications remain tentative. Ourresults give rise to the development of atool for counseling interventions. Thistool would be an empty diagramrepresenting the hierarchical goalstructure (like Figure 1). The firstpurpose of such a tool could be toincrease students’ awareness of theirown representation of their educationalgoal, by asking them to complete thediagram with their goals. This increasedawareness of their own representationand its potential consequences on theircommitment and on goal actualizationmay allow them to control theseconsequences better. A second aim ofthe tool could be to guide students in thedevelopment of their hierarchical goalstructure. People vary in theirknowledge of the paths they can take toachieve their long-term goals (Miller &Brickman, 2004). This tool could be auseful way of providing someinformation about possible routesbetween goals and subgoals, whileleaving students free to draw their owndiagram of their relevant goals and thepaths between them.

References

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Acknowledgment

Funding for this study was awardedto the first author from the Prairie Me-tropolis Centre.

AbstractThis study explored international

students’ views and experiences of tran-sitioning from school to employmentwith the goal of permanent immigration.A semi-structured interview with criticalincidents was used to assess the careertransition experiences of 14 graduate in-ternational students from university toemployment and permanent immigra-tion to Canada. Data were analyzedusing a constant comparison methodand critical incident protocol. Despitethe fact that most students had not ob-tained a job after completing their edu-cational programs, the majority felt asthough the decision to remain in Canadato work and eventually immigrate was agood one. Students’ expectations aboutbetter job prospects were unmet whiletheir expectations about an enhancedquality of life in Canada were met. Stu-dents recommended that Canadian em-ployers be more open-minded abouthiring people with international experi-ence and see the benefits of a diverseworkforce. The international studentshoped that those employed in careerservices will help future students tobuild networks and meet prospectiveemployers. Students advised future in-ternational students to educate them-selves about Canadian culture, howCanadians interact, and the Canadianwork environment. Implications for ca-reer services and career counselling arediscussed.

Canada’s immigration policies arelinked to our country’s position in thenew global economy that is character-ized by knowledge, information, andtechnology (Chen, 2008; Statistics

Canada, 2005). Immigration policy nowpermits international students to work inCanada while they are students and forthree years post-graduation. Thesechanges to employment policies weremade to increase the qualifications ofinternational students for immigrationunder the Canadian Experience Class(Citizenship and Immigration Canada[CIC], 2008). International studentshave specific skills and assets that makethem preferred immigrants for thelabour force (Hawthorne, 2006; IndustryCanada, 2002). They bring experienceand contacts from their home countriescoupled with the skills that they acquirethrough their Canadian education.

Minimal research is available aboutthe career development experiences ofinternational students (Arthur, 2007).Available literature has typically focusedon their adjustment issues, or preparationfor re-entry to the home country, withfew sources to guide a comprehensiveview of international students’ career de-velopment (e.g., Arthur, 2003a, 2007;Leung, 2007; Singaravelu, White, &Bringaze, 2005; Shen & Herr, 2004,Spencer-Rodgers, 2000). Policy changesthat encourage international students towork in the host country where theystudy open up the scope of options. En-hanced opportunities to enter the Cana-dian labour force are connected tobroader decisions about whether to gainexperience and return home, or to pursuepermanent immigration. Internationalstudents face decisions that are morecomplex than where to work; their careerdecision-making includes deliberationabout factors in both home and host cul-tures, making lifestyle choices, and re-flection about a preferred future (Arthur& Flynn, 2011). It is timely for careerservices personnel and career counsellorsto consider the influences on interna-tional students’ career decision-makingabout pursuing employment and perma-nent immigration to Canada.

The purpose of this study is to in-vestigate international students’ transi-tion experiences from university toemployment and permanent immigra-tion. First, a brief literature review isprovided to expand the rationale for ex-amining the career development of in-ternational students. Second, theapproach taken to documenting interna-tional students’ experiences is outlined.Third, the results of this study are de-scribed, including exemplars from inter-views with international students.Finally, the discussion addresses consid-erations for future research and prac-tices to support international studentswho decide to pursue the option of stay-ing in Canada.

International Students AndDesirable Skilled Workers

In 2009, Canadian universities werehost to more than 178,000 internationalstudents (FAITC, 2009). Canadian uni-versities attract international studentsfrom more than 200 countries; the top10 source countries are China, theUnited States, France, India, SouthKorea, Iran, Japan, Hong Kong, Mex-ico, and Pakistan. At the institutionallevel, international students bring finan-cial benefits and promote interculturallearning. International students pay sub-stantially higher tuition fees than localstudents, up to four times more thanlocal students, and supply a revenuestream for budgets in higher education.It is estimated that international studentscontribute $6.5 billion to Canada’seconomy annually (AUCC, 2010). Aswell, international students strengthenan institution’s culturally and intellectu-ally diverse learning environment. Inter-national students also enhance contactsfor future recruitment and business con-tacts (Arthur, 2003b; Francis, 1993;Knight, 1994). The prospect of perma-nent migration to a foreign country is

International Students’ Views of Transitionto Employment and Immigration

Nancy Arthur & Sarah FlynnUniversity of Calgary

International Students’ Views of Transition29


used as a marketing strategy to recruitadditional international students. For in-dividuals born in war-torn or impover-ished countries, this is a major incentive(Ziguras & Law, 2006). Such prospectshave attracted many students to chooseCanadian institutions to pursue their ac-ademic and broader career goals.

From a global perspective, interna-tional students are considered attractivemigrants for several key reasons (Zig-uras & Law, 2006). In most economi-cally developed societies, the birth rateis declining and the population is aging,creating opportunities for young, skilledworkers to fill vacated positions. In fill-ing such positions, international stu-dents increase a country’s pool of highlyskilled workers, thereby supporting eco-nomic development. International stu-dents bring expertise regarding labourpractices and customs from their homecountries and, as a result of their educa-tion in the host country, acquire valu-able local experience (Ziguras & Law,2006). International students who havebeen educated at local institutions maybe more desirable to employers thanthose who have a foreign education butlack local experience.

Increased efforts to recruit interna-tional students and changes in Canadianimmigration policy have implicationsfor international students’ immediateand long-term career decisions. Someinternational students may endeavour tostudy abroad with the intention of re-turning to their home countries withmarketable skill sets. Other studentsmay be set on remaining in the hostcountry to gain valuable foreign workexperience, build international relation-ships, or immerse themselves in the hostculture and language. Permanent immi-gration may be the long-term goal ofsome international students who oftenhave a plethora of career- and/or famil-ial-related motives for this decision(Arthur, 2007).

As students are approaching theend of their educational programs ca-reer-related issues may surface thatpivot around their decision to returnhome, their intention to gain additionalexperience in Canada prior to returninghome, or their plans to gain additionalwork experience and pursue permanentimmigration. As previously mentioned,some international students decide to re-

turn home after the completion of theirstudies. These students may seek assis-tance with career services such as jobsearch approaches and strategies fortransferring their educational experi-ences to their home countries (Shen &Herr, 2004; Spencer-Rodgers, 2000).Other students will investigate employ-ment opportunities in the host country.For some students, the motive to secureemployment in Canada is to enhancetheir expertise and credentials so as tobe considered marketable employeesupon their return to their home countries(Arthur, 2007). The current study isconcerned with the experiences of inter-national students who actively seek em-ployment experience for the purpose ofpursuing permanent immigration toCanada.

The Current StudyThe aim of the current study was to

build on our knowledge of the transitionand employment experiences of interna-tional students who remain in Canadaafter completing their educational pro-grams. More specifically, the study ex-amined how international students’general and career expectations weremet as well as how the job search andacquisition of employment unfolded. AsCanadian immigration policies changein ways that create expanding optionsfor international students, it is importantto understand how they navigate suchchanges. The primary research questionaddressed in this study was the follow-ing: How do international studentsstudying in Canada view the transitionsfrom student to employee and/or immi-grant? Three secondary questions wereaddressed, 1) How were students’ ex-pectations about better job prospectsand enhanced quality of life in Canadamet or unmet?; 2) How were students’immigration decisions influenced bytheir experiences to date; and, 3) Whatrecommendations would internationalstudents make for Canadian employers,those employed in career services, andfuture international students?

MethodParticipants

The participants in this study werestudents previously recruited for a studyon the topic of influences on the career

development of international students.Participants were 14 undergraduate andgraduate international students at a largeWestern Canadian university. Elevenwere men and the ages of the studentsranged from 22 to 38 years, with an av-erage of 28.7 (SD =4.64). Studentscame from the following countries:China (6), Mexico (2), India (2), SaudiArabia, Bangladesh, Iran, and Taiwan.Length of time studying in Canadaranged from 0.5-7 years, with an aver-age of 3.01 (SD =1.82). Five of the 16participants were married and four re-ported having a partner.

ProcedureThis study involved follow-up in-

terviews with international students whowere initially interviewed in the last se-mester of their university program. Par-ticipants were initially recruited fromthe institution’s Centre for InternationalStudents and Study Abroad (CISSA)during their final year of academic stud-ies. Any international student who sub-scribed to the CISSA listserv wascontacted via e-mail. The participantswere recruited from the institution’sCentre for International Students duringtheir final year of academic studies.Prospective participants were contactedfrom the Centre via a general messagesent out to all international students ontheir e-mail list-serve. This e-mail in-cluded information about the purpose ofthe study and the compensation for par-ticipation. Students were asked toarrange a time with the second author tomeet and be interviewed for up to 1hour. A total of 26 responses were re-ceived, 19 of whom were originally in-terviewed due to budgetaryconsiderations.

In the current study, phase two, allof original participants were presumedto have completed their educational pro-grams and thus were contacted for a fol-low-up interview. The second authorcontacted each participant via e-mailand arranged a time for the interview tobe conducted over Skype, a software ap-plication that allows video conferencecalls to be made over the internet andrecorded. Sixteen of the 19 internationalstudents agreed to be interviewed for asecond time, which was approximately6 months after the first interview. Of



these 16 students, just two were under-graduate students. Due to the potentiallydiffering career goals of undergraduateand graduate students, and this dispro-portionate ratio, these two students wereexcluded from the study. As a result, atotal of fourteen graduate student inter-views were included in the analysis andresults. Each interview was audiorecorded via the Skype software. In bothphases of the study, each student wascompensated $30 for his or her time.Permission for both phases of the studywas obtained from the Conjoint Facul-ties Research Ethics Board at the uni-versity where the research wasconducted.

The Interview ProcessA semi-structured interview was the

method of inquiry in this study. This in-terview involved fourteen open-endedquestions as well as inviting participantsto offer a descriptive critical incident(CI). The CI related to participants’ de-cisions to pursue immigration toCanada. The choice of using this quali-tative methodology is compatible withthe need to understand process issues incareer development (Merchant &Dupuy, 1996). The Critical IncidentTechnique is derived from the casestudy method and early work of Flana-gan (1954). It has been used in researchon the experience of cross-cultural tran-sitions (e.g., Arthur, 2001; Pedersen,1995), and in career development re-search (e.g., Amundson, Borgen, Jordan,& Erlebach, 2004; Arthur, Collins,McMahon, & Marshall, 2009). Criticalincidents offer snapshots of participants’experiences as they recall situations thatstand out for them and that are meaning-ful in relation to the topic of inquiry.The interview questions, found in theAppendix, were posed in English by thesecond author. Each interview lasted be-tween 20 and 30 minutes. As well, thesecond author discussed the interviewwith each participant after the fourteenquestions had been asked. Participantswere invited to add any other informa-tion they felt contributed to their experi-ences as international students. Allinterviews were transcribed verbatim bya professional transcriptionist, who hadsigned an oath of confidentiality regard-ing use of interview material.

The main prompt for the CI, thatencouraged participants to choose aunique, outstanding experience, was:Give an example of a situation (i.e., animportant event, something that hap-pened, or something that you learned,any situation that you feel was impor-tant for you) that helped you to decideto pursue employment/immigration toCanada. The following open-endedquestions were also posed to providesome structured parameters for the CIand to encourage participants to elabo-rate on their descriptions.

1. What were you doing/thinking/-feeling?

2. What was your role in this situa-tion?

3. Who else was involved?4. What stands out for you about this

situation?5. What was going well for you in this

situation?6. What difficulties were you experi-

encing in this situation?7. What did you learn from this

situation?8. How do you see this situation as re-

lated to your plans and decision-making to work in Canada and/orimmigrate to Canada?

Data AnalysisThe data collected from the four-

teen open-ended interview questionswere analyzed using a constant compar-ison method (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994;Guba & Lincoln, 1981) and frequencyanalysis. The second author started byreading each participant’s answers infull; she then created a series of tablesto index the frequency of participants’responses to the 14 questions. She com-pared participants’ answers, noting com-monalities in language such that someanswers could be considered the same.For instance, question ten was “Do youplan on immigrating to Canada whenyour post-graduation work permit ex-pires? Why or why not?” Those who an-swered “Yes” to this question providedreasons such as “better life than homecountry” and “social benefits”. Theseanswers were considered together andtermed “enhanced quality of life”.

The approach to analyzing the criti-cal incidents was the same as reported

for the first phase of the study (Arthur& Flynn, 2011). To recap, the proce-dures from Flanagan’s (1954) and But-terfield, Borgen, Amundson, andMaglio’s (2005) prescribed protocolwere followed. The focus of the analysiswas placed on how the data in the studycould inform career counsellors andcampus support services of internationalstudents’ views of their transitions andexperiences from students to employeesand immigrants to Canada. The secondauthor read through the transcribed criti-cal incidents twice, highlighting generalfactors that related to the purpose of thestudy. Constant comparison was used togroup similar incidents together andcode the data into themes. A secondcoder (i.e., the first author) reviewed theemerging themes in relation to portionsof each transcript, to guard against cod-ing drift. Any discrepancies about datacoding were negotiated until consensuswas reached. Two additional steps weretaken to enhance the trustworthiness ofthemes that emerged from the dataanalysis. The first author examined 25%of the CIs to establish the level of agree-ment between what the second authorthought was a critical incident and whatshe thought was a critical incident. Inorder for a theme to be considered valid,critical incidents from a minimum of25% of participants had to relate to thattheme.

ResultsSome of the outcomes of this study,

including employment status, difficul-ties in transitioning, expectations, anddesire to immigrate at the time of the in-terviews have been summarized in Table1. The results from the open-ended in-terview questions are presented next,followed by the critical incidents. Num-bers in brackets indicate the number ofparticipants. Selected quotes from par-ticipants are offered to illustrate key in-fluences on international students’transition experiences. To recap, the in-terviews were deliberately scheduledapproximately 6 months from the end ofthe previous academic semester to cap-ture students’ experiences with securingemployment and how they viewed theirprospects of life in Canada.



Employment StatusOf the 14 participants, 28% (four)

had secured a job since graduating, twowere employed full-time and two wereemployed part-time. Forty-three percent(six) of participants reported being un-able to secure a job and 28% (four) hadnot yet completed their educational pro-grams. Of the four participants who hadobtained employment, two had a jobthat related to their field of study. Whenasked if this job was what he or she hadexpected to be doing, one of the fouremployed participants indicated that thiswas his or her expected job. Those whohad been unable to secure employmentwere asked what they had been doing toobtain employment. Most (six) had re-viewed job web sites; others had con-sulted with mentors or those in field(three), or had prepared their resumesand covering letters (two).

TransitionsThe majority of participants (seven)

believed that a lack of experience wasthe most difficult aspect of the jobsearch. As well, not having Canadiancitizenship or permanent residency (PR)status (two), and a lack of connectionsor network (two) made this process dif-

ficult. When asked to describe the mostdifficult aspect of the new workplace,those who had secured a job believedthat language barriers (1), instability infunding in the non-profit sector (1), theworkplace culture (1), and insecurityabout skills or lack of skills (1) wereproblematic. In the words of W. (age 27)“I haven’t done such work before andthen, I think I’m lacking some of theskills you know.” D. (age 38) stated “If Ihave to speak online there are someproblems for me because sometimesthey speak too fast and I can’t under-stand. And sometimes I have serious ac-cent and they don’t understand me.”

Participants were asked to describethe difficulties in transitioning from stu-dents to employees or applicants. Diffi-culties included the necessity of findingor retaining a job (2), a lack of dailystructure compared to student life (forapplicants; 2), and an uncertainty about(or discomfort in) the Canadian work en-vironment (2). In the words of C. (age22), “But when I graduate, you finallyfind that you have to depend on yourself.You cannot lose your job, otherwise youcannot survive.” Another participant, W.age 27, stated how the lack of structurein the workplace was a challenge.

“Well, I think the major thing is thatwhen you were a student, you kind ofwere being assigned work once in awhile by your professor. And there is adeadline and it’s very clear what thedeadline is, but now when I become anemployee, I have to sometimes run dif-ferent projects by myself and I have tomake a very clear guideline or schedulefor myself in the aspect of how to organ-ize the whole project or the whole task.”

Participants believed diversified,well advertised career fairs (3) and hav-ing a network (2) would have been help-ful during the job search. As well,having Canadian experience or an in-ternship (2) would have been helpful.One participant noted “Even thoughCanada is kind of an immigrant country,but I think it’s not always easy to immi-grate or work as a foreigner and sup-port ourselves” (N., age 27).

ExpectationsParticipants were asked about their

expectations and how they had shiftedover the course of the progression fromstudent to job applicant or employee.When asked at this point in time if theythink remaining in Canada was a gooddecision for themselves and their fami-lies, 64% (11) said yes, 35% (5) wereunsure, and 0% said no. Those who an-swered yes believed that Canada offereda better quality of life (3), cited familialreasons (2), were attracted by career in-centives (1), or had made an extensiveinvestment in Canada. According to A.(age 25), “In India, if the person goesfor work, he goes in the morning ateight o’clock and he comes back thenext day at nine o’clock. Here it’s sim-pler. If I work, then you can give moreto your family. This is the biggest thing;you have time for your family and foryourself.” Those who were unsurestated that there was an economic reces-sion in Canada (2), that there wereample jobs in the home country (1), thisdecision depended on job they wouldobtain (1), and that hard work is neces-sary anywhere (1).

Fifty percent (7) of participants be-lieved that their expectations about bet-ter job prospects or enhancedopportunities in Canada were unmet,28% (4) believed they were met and21% (3) believed they were both met

Table 1 Summary of Employment Transitions, Expectations and Desire to Immigrate !Participant Employed?

(Y/N) Difficulties in transitioning to work

Career ! Life expectations: M= met U= unmet N= neither !

Desire to immigrate? Y= yes N= no U= unsure

Recommendations for Canadian employers:

1 Y Discomfort in the Canadian work environment

Career Life Y Do not discriminate N M

2 N Finding or retaining a job

M M Y Recognize skills

3 N Lack of daily structure

U U U Appreciate the acculturation process

4 Y N/A M M Y Do not discriminate 5 N Discomfort in the

Canadian work environment

U M Y Recognize international experience

6 N N/A U M U Do not discriminate 7 N Less autonomy U N U Recognize skills 8 N N/A M M Y Recognize international

experience 9 Y N/A N M Y Appreciate unfamiliarity with

workplace 10 N Increased

responsibility U M Y Do not discriminate

11 N Lack of hands on skills

N M Y Appreciate logistical constraints

12 Y Lack of daily structure

U M Y Do not discriminate

13 N Lack of Canadian work experience

U M Y Recognize skills

14 N Finding or retaining a job

M N Y Recognize international experience

!!! !



and unmet. Those who believed theirexpectations were unmet stated that jobsrelated to their major were scarce, therewas a greater chance of promotion athome, their perception of opportunitieshad changed, or that there was currentlyan economic recession. Those who be-lieved their expectations were met be-cause of the friendly people (1), goodsalaries (1), or by the fact that friendshad gotten jobs (1). According to W.(age 27), whose expectations wereunmet, “While I was looking for a joband I clearly understand what I am ca-pable of doing, then I changed my ex-pectation. I kind of lowered myexpectations”.

Regarding the quality of life inCanada, participants were asked similarquestions. When asked if their expecta-tions about an enhanced quality of lifein Canada were met or not met, 78%(11) stated they were met, while 14%(2) believed they were both met andunmet, and 4% (1) believed they wereunmet. Those who believed they weremet stated reasons such as the existenceof work-life balance (3) and personalfreedom (1). One participant noted “Ihad a good life in Iran. But if I want tocompare, I had a bigger house, I had abetter car. But these are just, like mate-rial things, right? Here in Canada wehave more peace of mind. You don’tworry much about your daily life; basi-cally it is calm and friendly” (A., 36).As stated by another participant, L. (age26), “We decide to stay because of thelifestyle and the environment and notnecessarily the job opportunities. Be-cause actually there are a lot of oppor-tunities in our home country, which isChina.” Those who believed they wereboth met and unmet stated that it de-pended on their permanent residencystatus (1) or were unsure how to com-pare their current expectations to theirprevious ones (1).

Immigration PlansParticipants were asked about their

current plans for immigration toCanada. The majority of participants,78% (11), planned to immigrate toCanada when their 3year post-gradua-tion work permit expired. Reasons forimmigrating included an enhanced qual-ity of life (4), career incentives (3), the

possibility of becoming a permanentresident (4), the freedom provided tomove between countries (3), and famil-ial incentives (3). In the words of H.(age 27), “I’m looking for a safe, stablelife.” Twenty-one percent (3) were un-sure if they would immigrate, for thesestudents the decision depended on thejob market.

When asked if their decisions toimmigrate had been strengthened orweakened by their work (or job search)experiences to date, 42% (6) reportedthat their decisions had been strength-ened. Reasons included: having secureda job, it made sense given one’s careergoals, and familial incentives. Thirty-one percent (5) stated that it neitherstrengthened nor weakened their deci-sion. According to B. (age 29), “I don’tthink it’s a factor because even when Iam not an immigrant right now, I stillwant to work in Canada for a while.”Twenty-one % of participants (3) be-lieve their decision to immigrate toCanada had been weakened. Reasonsfor weakening in decisions included de-pendence on job prospects and perma-nent residency status.

Critical IncidentsParticipants were asked to give an

example of a situation (i.e., an importantevent, or something that they learned,etc.) that helped them to decide to pur-sue employment/immigration toCanada. The second author constructedtwo themes that described the influenceson these international students’ inten-tions to pursue employment and/or im-migration to Canada post-graduation.The first theme was career/educationthe second was lifestyle/familial.

The career/education theme de-scribed 64% (9) of participants’ criticalevents and included perceived and real-ized career opportunities, viewing oth-ers’ career-related successes, substantialeducational investment, and supportivefaculty. In the words of R. (age 33), wit-nessing others’ success motivates one topursue personal goals.

Some classmates have alreadyfound a job and then theysomeone encourage you tokeep going because like that’sthe hardest part somehow.Once you’re doing something

that you like, then you’re moresatisfied with the income thatyou might have. I mean every-thing starts to get better.”Another participant spoke of her

educational investment as a critical in-fluence.

… I guess one of my main rea-sons why I would want to workhere is because like ever sinceI’ve been studying, like I’vebeen moving my savings forlike graduation and all thosethings. I would want to workhere and earn Canadian dol-lars. Because if I go back toIndia and like the currency isentirely different, so I wouldrather kind of make up for allthe investments that I have putin the education while I was inCanada. So it just makes sensefor me to work here” (J., age26). Encouragement and support from

academic advisors, such as supervisorswas meaningful, as

noted by J. (age 27).I would say my professorhelped me a lot, so if wouldpick one significant event, Iwould say he took me to twoclass conferences. And I see alot of things in these confer-ences and met a lot of people.And I feel very confident afterthose conferences because Ifeel that I could learn a lot andI could meet a lot of people inthis environment and I couldcontribute a lot to the society.This example illustrates how assis-

tance to make initial contacts and beginthe network process enhances confi-dence for pursuing career goals.

The lifestyle/familial theme encap-sulated 36% (5) of critical incidents inparticipants’ decisions to stay. A majorinfluence was the high quality of life of-fered in Canada compared to partici-pants’ home countries. According to A.(age 25), “What I think… is the qualitylife between India and here. Like here,medium class or low class person canenjoy the things that a high class personcan in India. And I am living here like ahigh class person can live in India.”



Some participants noted the possibilityof achieving a work-life balance as criti-cal in their decision, while others notedhow their relationships with Canadianswas strongly related to their views oflifestyles. “I think people always—-thefriends I know and the life in Canadaoverall” (L., age 26). The possibility ofsponsoring one’s family was critical inM.’s (age 24) decision.

Being in school, you can applyfor many scholarships andother stuff. So if you are alanded immigrant and anotherthing is that once you becomethe permanent resident, it onlytakes three years to get the citi-zenship because you have al-ready spent one year in theschool, so it gets counted.That’s one thing. Anotherthing is that you can sponsoryour family if you are a PR. SoI can sponsor my parents, sothat they can come here andstay with me.”These examples show how relation-

ships in both home and host cultures arekey influences for international studentsas they consider lifestyles afforded intheir home countries and cultures incomparison to Canada.

RecommendationsBased on their experiences, partici-

pants were asked to provide some rec-ommendations for Canadian employers,campus support services, and incominginternational students. A summary of therecommendations if found in Table 2.

When asked what they could tellCanadian employers anything, the ma-jority of participants (5) advised theseindividuals to refrain from discriminat-ing against students’ international status,lack of citizenship, or poor English pro-ficiency. As well students suggested em-ployers get to know internationalstudents’ skills and qualifications (3)and to recognize that international expe-rience is a valuable asset (3). Accordingto W. (age 27) stated “I would say forthe Canadian employers well, be moreopen-minded and be more inclusive ofthe diversity of the employees in yourcompany or organization.” B. (age 36)noted, “Some employers really don’tknow what it’s like to immigrate or work

in a different country...but some people,if they have experience working outsideof Canada or different places or evenimmigrated here, they usually are moresympathetic to me.”

When it came to those employed incampus support services, participantsrecommended that these personnel helpstudents build networks and meetprospective employers (5). “So toarrange the opportunity to let studentsknow the employers and to know whothey are going to work for” (J., 27).This is explained by another student“Canadian students here have a nicenetwork of family and friends. For usit’s totally different. We have a network,but we left it at home” (A., 36). As wellparticipants noted a lack of informationspecifically for graduate students (4)and suggested that personal help stu-dents get pre-graduation work experi-ence and/or internships (4). This isexemplified by B.’s (age 29) comment:“They don’t really have some programto help graduate students to find an in-ternship or a volunteer job or something

like that.” In J.’s (age 26) statement,there is also a plea for services that helpinternational students to transition intothe labour market:

I think for graduate studentsespecially, because most ofthem are international studentsand most are graduating withPhDs or Masters. I find be-cause the undergraduates aremostly Canadians. Graduatesas compared to undergradu-ates have more difficulty infinding a job because they arenot really familiar with how tofind a job in a different countryand those things. So I wouldsuggest that the Career Centershould like have some specialgrants or something, a specialdepartment to look after thegraduate students. Yeah, andconnect them to the employers.Finally, participants were asked to

make recommendations to other interna-tional students wishing to stay in

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ TRANSITIONS/ 2

Table 2 Recommendations for Employers, Student Services, and Incoming International Students

Participant Recommendations for Canadian employers:

Recommendations for campus support services:

Recommendations for incoming international students:

1 Do not discriminate

Info specifically for graduate students Educate themselves about Canadian culture, Canadians, Canadian work environment

2 Recognize skills Help students build networks, meet prospective employers

Proficiency in English or French

3 Appreciate the acculturation process

Info specifically for graduate students Educate themselves about Canadian culture, Canadians, Canadian work environment; Pre-graduation job research


Greater promotion of services Pre-graduation job research ; Proficiency in English or French;!Pre-graduation part-time employment

5 Recognize international experience

Help students get pre-graduation work experience/internships"!Continued support post-graduation

Proficiency in English or French;!Be confident in interviews;!Do not get discouraged regarding jobs


Help students build networks, meet prospective employers

Educate themselves about Canadian culture, Canadians, Canadian work environment; Pre-graduation job research

7 Recognize skills Info specifically for graduate students Pre-graduation networking, ask those in the field;!Proficiency in English or French


Help students build networks, meet prospective employers

Pre-graduation job research; Pre-graduation networking, ask those in the field

9 Appreciate unfamiliarity with workplace

Help students get pre-graduation work experience/internships

Educate themselves about Canadian culture, Canadians, Canadian work environment


Info specifically for graduate students; Do not be fearful of giving advice re work policies

Educate themselves about Canadian culture, Canadians, Canadian work environment

11 Appreciate logistical constraints

Help students build networks, meet prospective employers; information on permanent residency status

Pre-graduation job research; Pre-graduation networking, ask those in the field; Do not get discouraged regarding jobs


Do not just direct students to websites Educate themselves about Canadian culture, Canadians, Canadian work environment; Pre-graduation job research

13 Recognize skills Help students build networks, meet prospective employers

Educate themselves about Canadian culture, Canadians, Canadian work environment; Pre-graduation networking, ask those in the field


Help students get pre-graduation work experience/internships

Pre-graduation job research;!Do not get discouraged regarding jobs

!



Canada post-graduation. First and fore-most, participants advised potential in-ternational students to educatethemselves about Canadian culture,Canadians, and the Canadian work envi-ronment (6). As well pre-graduation jobresearch was noted as a very importanttask (5) as was pre-graduation network-ing with those individuals in the stu-dents’ fields (6). J. (age 27) advisedfuture international students to be proac-tive about ways to make the transition toworking in Canada.

I would tell them, of course, theofficial language is Englishand French, so at least theyhave to be very fluent in eitherEnglish or French. If theycould, they could learn theother language as well, be-cause it will be very helpful.And also, for the students, theyhave to know more about theculture and the working culturein the companies. Because it’sa little bit different from theculture in China or in India orother countries. So yeah, theyhave to do all those researchesby themselves to fit in the envi-ronment.”The emphasis in this recommenda-

tion for incoming international studentsis to be proactive about learning aboutCanadian culture, enhance languageskills, and to become informed as muchas possible prior to arriving to Canada.

DiscussionThe choice to remain in a foreign

country after completing one’s studies isan exciting prospect, yet it is a decisionthat pivots around employmentprospects. The international students inthis study were willing to embrace therisks associated with remaining inCanada following their degree comple-tion to forward important career,lifestyle, and familial objectives. Theprimary incentives for studying abroadare usually related to academic and ca-reer goals (Arthur, 2007) and the stu-dents in this study noted key strugglesnot only in finding a job but in showcas-ing themselves to potential employers.Most of the international students inter-viewed in this study were unable to se-cure stable employment within six

months after completing their educa-tional programs. Students believed thata key piece missing from their reper-toire of skills was work experience. Thisfinding is reflected in the literature; ithas been demonstrated that internationalstudents have relatively greater needsfor work experiences than job explo-ration or career planning (Leong & Sed-lacek, 1989; Spencer-Rodgers, 2000).Students believed that the existence of anetwork would be helpful in obtainingemployment. Students felt as thoughthey were at a disadvantage comparedto their Canadian counterparts when itcame to knowing about or securing cov-eted positions. Programming throughuniversity career services and interna-tional students’ centers might look at ad-dressing this concern by betterconnecting students with potential em-ployers in their communities. As well,previous research has indicated that rel-evant work experience, in the form ofinternships or teaching assistantships,enhances students’ career foundations,helping them to establish a network(Shen & Herr, 2004).

Students noted the most difficult as-pect of transitioning from a student to a(potential) employee was the increasedlevel of responsibility. This finding maybe of interest to career counsellors inpreparing students for the realities of thework world prior to degree completion.It appears as though the structure andconsistency of student life was not par-alleled in students’ roles as potentialemployees and employees. This transi-tion might be particularly difficult forinternational students from East Asiancultures who are accustomed to hierar-chical relationships and may be uncom-fortable questioning an authority figureor clarifying their role in a new work-place (Hong & Domokos-Cheng, 2000).Counsellors might adopt a psycho-edu-cational approach for helping studentsto understand aspects of the Canadianworkplace. Although expectations willvary according to each occupational en-vironment, counsellors can help stu-dents understand general expectationsand how roles will be different as anemployee compared to a student.

Students were secure in their deci-sions to remain in Canada and to even-tually immigrate. Further, thesedecisions were strengthened by their ex-

periences of living and studying inCanada. This outcome speaks to stu-dents’ optimism and desire to continueto pursue long-term career goals despitebarriers and challenges. This is reflectedin the critical incidents, many of whichwere centered on education/career. Stu-dents were willing to withstand immedi-ate difficulties in the face of long-termacademic or vocational interests. Acomparatively higher quality of life wascritical to students- this was reflected inboth the critical incidents and the inter-view responses. Perhaps this incentivecombined with the possibility of en-hanced career opportunities strength-ened students’ decisions to remain inCanada after completing their educa-tional programs. This finding has beenreflected in the literature, as the interna-tional students in Shen and Herr’s(2004) study viewed the prospect of abetter living and working environmentin the United States as an incentive toremain in that country.

Students provided a series of rec-ommendations for Canadian employers,personnel in career services, and inter-national students interested in studyingin Canada. These valuable suggestionscan be examined and implemented inseveral domains. There must be astronger connection and increased com-munication between Canadian universi-ties and Canadian employers. In theviews of the participants in this study,Canadian employers are somewhatclosed to the prospect of hiring interna-tional students and may be discouragedby students’ accents and lack of Cana-dian citizenship. As well, students be-lieved employers do not understand orappreciate their international experi-ence. If taken in a stronger light, the ex-periences of some international studentsin this study was that employers pre-ferred to hire only Canadian studentsand were negatively biased against hir-ing international students. This raisesquestions about the responsibility of theinstitutions that recruit international stu-dents to ensure that students looking toremain in Canada receive a fair chanceof obtaining sustainable employment.University-based personnel, includingacademic staff and career services staffhave roles to play in educating Cana-dian employers about what internationalstudents can offer as potential employ-



ees. Brochures, websites, or presenta-tions may be used to highlight, for in-stance, students’ multilingual skills,knowledge of foreign economies andmarket trends, or their familiarity andcomfort working with individuals fromdiverse cultural groups. Furthermore, anemphasis must be placed on the long-term benefits of hiring an individualwith multi-national experience. Suchbenefits include establishing andstrengthening global relationships andenhancing business communicationthrough students’ global perspectivesand multilingualism.

International students can be an in-tegral part of the burgeoning relation-ship between Canadian universities andCanadian employers. The internationalstudents in this study were keen to meetprospective employers, partake in in-ternships, and obtain pre-graduationwork experience. Students can partici-pate in creating and updating the re-sources presented to Canadianemployers. They can create profiles onpromotional websites and speak duringpresentations about their experiencesand marketable skills. This is an oppor-tunity for students to become more cre-ative and promote their internationaland local experience in an interestingand relevant way to employers. As well,it might be helpful for employers tohave a standard means of evaluatingstudents at the end of their work termsand internships. This will provide stu-dents with constructive, practical feed-back to prepare for the job acquisitionprocess.

Finally, the students in this studyadvised international students planningon studying in Canada to integrate intothe Canadian culture and conduct pre-graduation research on potential job op-portunities. This advice to incominginternational students might be most ef-fectively distributed through presenta-tions given by experienced internationalstudents during student orientation. Aswell, counsellors assisting internationalstudents can examine students’ bicul-tural realities to understand how clientsinternalize and adhere to the Canadianculture in light of their own culturalidentities and values (Miller, 2007; Tsai,Ying & Lee, 2000). Counsellors mayuse a cultural formation approach to ex-plore the culturally situated self and

how transitions impact career choiceand development (Arthur & Popadiuk,2009).

Considerations for Future ResearchThis study provided many insights

into international students’ views andexperiences of transitioning from full-time university students to potential em-ployees and immigrants. The resultsprovide a foundation from which othersmay explore how the international stu-dents at their institutions are adjustingto the transition from students to poten-tial employees or immigrants.

One major limitation in this studywas its small sample size. The results ofinterviews with fourteen internationalstudents representing eight countrieswere explored in this study. This is arelatively small number compared to thetotal number of international studentsstudying at the institution where thestudy was conducted. Further, the par-ticipant pool consisted largely of gradu-ate students, most of whom werestudying engineering or science. Thedanger in using a small participantgroup is that the codes and themes gen-erated may not necessarily speak to thediversity of the student population. Theparticipants in the study were volunteerswho had a particular interest in the topicof inquiry.

Further investigation is warrantedto more fully explore international stu-dents’ experiences of transition. Firstand foremost, a study of a larger scale iswarranted. A multi-institutional studythat captures the experiences of a largenumber of international students from avariety of countries would provide valu-able information on the transition issuesthese students encounter in their en-deavours to work and immigrate toCanada. The outcomes of such inquirycould be used to inform institutionalpolicies and services to support interna-tional students’ career development inthe transition from school to work.

As well, it would be useful to com-pare international students’ perceptionsto those held by Canadian employers.The students in this study, for instance,believed that Canadian employers weresomewhat closed to hiring internationalstudents. It would be worth examiningif, in fact, international students are at a

disadvantage or advantage compared totheir Canadian counterparts in terms oftheir employability, and particularly thevalue placed on international experienceby employers. This information wouldhelp researchers target the actual barri-ers and facilitators for making the tran-sition from school to work. .

Most international students felt asthough the decision to remain in Canadaand to eventually immigrate was a gooddecision and this decision was strength-ened by their experiences to date. Stu-dents’ expectations about better jobprospects were unmet while their expec-tations about an enhanced quality of lifein Canada were met. In conclusion, wehope that this study may be used as alaunching point for further inquiry intounderstanding and improving the transi-tion experiences and eventual success ofinternational students who pursue em-ployment and permanent immigration toCanada.

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Appendix

Interview Questions

1. Have you been able to secure a jobsince graduating?

2 a. If yes to #1, i) What is your job?ii) Is your job/position related

to your field of study?iii) Is this job what you ex-

pected to be doing?

2 b. If no to #1, what have you beendoing to obtain employment?

3. What was (is) the most difficult as-pect of the job search?

4. What has been the most difficult as-pect of the new workplace? (If ap-plicable)

5. What has been the most difficult as-pect of the transition from studentto employee (or applicant)?

6. Describe what would have been(would be) helpful in making thejob search easier.

7. At this point, do you think remain-ing in Canada was a good decisionfor yourself and/or for your family?Explain.

8. How were your expectations aboutbetter job prospects/enhanced op-portunities in Canada met/ not met?

9. How were your expectations aboutan enhanced quality of life inCanada met or not met?

10. Do you plan on immigrating toCanada when your 3year post-grad-uation work permit expires? Whyor why not?

11. Has your immigration decisionbeen strengthened or weakened byyour work (or job search) experi-ences to date?

12. If you could tell Canadian employ-ers anything, what would it be?

13. If you could tell campus supportservices anything there services,what would it be?

14. If you could tell other internationalstudents wishing to stay in Canadapost-graduation anything, whatwould it be?

18 Spadina Road, Suite 200, Toronto, ON

M5R 2S7 | 416.929.2510

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ceric.ca

Project Partnership Funding Available

CERIC is currently accepting partnership proposals to develop innovative resources for counselling and career development.

CERIC’s Practical & Academic Research Committee has identified as priority areas:

Labour market informationEarly interventionEvaluationIntersection of diversity and work

For more information or to download a Letter of Intent application, visit ceric.ca.

CERIC’s Professional Development & Ongoing Learning Committee has identified as priority areas:

New emerging career development theories and career management modelsThe impact of social media on how career practitioners are doing their workEntrepreneurial education and career development

We invite individuals and organizations (e.g. education, community-based, non-profit, private, etc.) alike to submit project proposals for career counselling-related research or learning and professional development.


Relationships among Career Thoughts,Career Interests, and Career Decision State

Ashley K. ChasonFlorida State University

Emily Bullock-YowellUniversity of Southern Mississippi

James P. Sampson, Jr.Janet G. Lenz

Robert C. ReardonFlorida State University

Abstract

This study investigated the relation-ships among negative career thoughts,profile elevation and differentiationscores on the Self-Directed Search, andcareer decision state, including level ofdecidedness and satisfaction withchoice. Participants were 226 under-graduate students enrolled in a careercourse. Measures included the CareerThoughts Inventory (CTI) for careerthoughts, the Self-Directed Search(SDS) for profile elevation and differen-tiation, the Occupational AlternativesQuestion (OAQ) for career decidedness,and the Satisfaction with Choice itemfor level of satisfaction with careerchoice. A series of multiple regressionanalyses were conducted to determinethe amount of variance accounted for bynegative career thoughts (i.e., decision-making confusion, commitment anxiety,and external conflict) in profile eleva-tion, differentiation, career decidedness,and satisfaction with choice. Negativecareer thoughts were found to accountfor a significant amount of variance inprofile elevation, career decidedness,and satisfaction with choice. Findingssuggest the need to fully explore nega-tive thinking that interferes with clientsmaking effective career decisions.

Career professionals look for waysto use assessment instruments to thefullest. With limited time and funding,it is important to use all possible infor-mation from assessments to promote ef-fective career exploration and decisionmaking. Just using more tests or inven-tories may not produce additional useful

information, but may add to the cost andtime for career interventions.

The purpose of this study was toexamine negative career thoughts in re-lation to interest inventory results andthe individual’s career decision state, orlevel of career decidedness and satisfac-tion with choice. More specifically, itexplored how individuals’ results fromthe Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI;Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, &Saunders, 1996a), the Self-DirectedSearch (SDS; Holland, 1994), and twomeasures of career decision state, theOccupational Alternatives Question(OAQ; Slaney, 1980) and Satisfactionwith Choice item, are related. The re-sults were expected to provide informa-tion for more efficient and effective useof the CTI and the SDS.

The SDS is an interest inventorywidely used in career counseling andadvising. While an understanding ofvocational interests and Holland’s RI-ASEC theory are important, dysfunc-tional thinking can interfere with thecareer decision-making process and pre-vent individuals from making effectivecareer choices (Reardon & Lenz, 1998;Wright, Reardon, Peterson, & Osborn,2000). However, use of the CTI to get amore complete diagnostic profile ofclients’ readiness for career decisionmaking has been shown to produce sig-nificant improvements in five measuresof dysfunctional career thoughts and vo-cational identity (Strohm, 2009). In ad-dition, differentiation, consistency, andcoherence of an individual’s SDS profileare positively related to stability of ca-reer choice (Holland, 1997), suggestingthat the SDS results may not be as sta-

ble when individuals have SDS codeswith negative signs on these indicators(Reardon & Lenz, 1998).

Cognitive Information Processing(CIP) Theory and the CTI

The CTI is based on CIP theory,which uses a three-level pyramid figureto display the important cognitive do-mains involved in career choice (Samp-son et al., 2004). The model iscomprised of three knowledge domains,which are represented by a pyramid. Thefoundation of the pyramid symbolizesthe knowledge domains, which includeself-knowledge and occupational knowl-edge. The middle level of the CIP pyra-mid represents the decision-makingskills domain, which includes generic in-formation-processing skills essential ingathering and using information to solveproblems and make decisions. Theseskills include five CASVE phases for re-ceiving external or internal signals of agap between one’s current and desiredsituation (Communication), interrelatingproblem components (Analysis), generat-ing alternatives (Synthesis), prioritizingoptions or alternatives (Valuing), andforming an action plan to close the gap(Execution). At the top of the pyramid isthe executive processing domain whichrelates to metacognitions, such as self-talk, self-awareness, and control andmonitoring, that govern the choosing andsequencing of cognitive strategies careerdecision making.

Negative Career ThoughtsWhile progressing through the

CASVE cycle, individuals may recog-

Relationships among Career Thoughts40


nize specific thoughts related to theircareer planning. Career thoughts in-clude an individual’s feelings, thoughts,attitudes, beliefs, and expectations re-lated to career decision-making andproblem-solving effectiveness (e.g., “Ican’t wait to begin work in my chosenfield; I know I can succeed as a finan-cial analyst”) (Sampson et al., 2004).Negative career thoughts are those dys-functional cognitions that have a nega-tive impact on one’s careerdecision-making and problem-solvingabilities (e.g., “I’ve messed up the bestopportunity of my life; I’m never goingto get another job that good.”) (Samp-son, et al., 2004; Sampson, et al., 1996a;Saunders, Peterson, Sampson, & Rear-don, 2000).

Dysfunctional cognitions mediateand change an individual’s career be-havior (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Rear-don, & Saunders, 1996b). Thesecognitions cause individuals to avoid orinappropriately engage in career deci-sion-making behaviors. This behaviorcan result in a myriad of outcomes suchas procrastination, anxiety, dependency,and/or premature foreclosure, and maylimit the effectiveness of career problemsolving and decision making. There-fore, it is important that negative careerthoughts be identified, challenged, andaltered to help individuals improve theircareer decision making (Sampson, et al.,1996b). A screening instrument such asthe CTI may be used to evaluate the de-gree to which the client is likely to ben-efit from the use of interest inventoriessuch as the Self-Directed Search (SDS).

RIASEC Theory and the SDSJohn Holland’s RIASEC theory has

been touted as the most empiricallysound model (Rayman & Atanasoff,1999). The “hallmark” of Holland’s the-ory has been the application of voca-tional theory to practical client concerns(Spokane & Cruza-Guet, 2005), and theSDS is a basic tool in this process. Hol-land’s RIASEC theory posits that voca-tional interests are an expression of one’spersonality, and the main goal is a good“fit” between individuals and their envi-ronments. This theory is based on fourkey assumptions (Holland, 1997). First,most people can be categorized as one ofsix personality types: Realistic, Inves-

tigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, orConventional (RIASEC). Each type hasbeen described through preferences foractivities and occupations, values, viewof self, self-perception of competenceand ability, perception by others, andwhat is avoided (Gottfredson & Holland,1996). Second, most environments (e.g.,jobs, leisure activities, and education ortraining programs) can also be catego-rized in the same way. It is assumed thatpeople with a particular personality typetend to dominate the corresponding envi-ronment. For example, an Artistic envi-ronment is most likely to be comprisedof Artistic personalities. Third, peoplesearch for environments that are compat-ible with their personality style, values,and skills, and fourth, peoples’ behavioris determined by an interaction betweentheir personality style and environment.

Primary and Secondary ConstructsThe RIASEC theory assumptions

and the hexagon provide a foundationfor primary and secondary constructsthat have informed research and practice(Holland, 1997). These constructs arethought to be diagnostic of individuals’career situations and their potential forsuccessful career decision making.They are helpful in providing additionalinformation regarding a client’s deci-sion-making process (Reardon & Lenz,1998, 1999). The two primary con-structs include personality type (RI-ASEC three-letter code) and congruence(the degree of match between a personand an environment).

The secondary constructs of interestto this study are (a) differentiation, “thelevel of definition or distinctiveness of apersonality or occupational profile” (Hol-land et al., 1994 p. 262), and (b) profileelevation, the sum of the six RIASECscores across all sections of the SDS(Fuller, Holland, & Johnston, 1999).

DifferentiationDifferentiation is “the level of defi-

nition or distinctiveness of a personalityor occupational profile” (Holland et al,1994, p. 262). Differentiation can alsobe thought of as how well individualsknow their likes and dislikes. A personwith a highly differentiated SDS sum-mary score will have a relatively largediscrepancy between the highest and

lowest code scores, whereas an undiffer-entiated person earns similar scoresacross all six areas. Differentiation iscommonly calculated by subtracting thelowest score from the highest (Holland,1997) or by using the Iachan index(Iachan, 1984). The Iachan index, usedin this study, takes into account the first,second, and fourth summary scoreswhen calculating differentiation, and isconsidered to be more sensitive to theshape of the profile (Holland et al.,1994).

An individual’s level of differentia-tion can affect any prediction a coun-selor might make from the person’scode (Zunker & Osborn, 2005). Well-differentiated interests are unlikely toswitch drastically, while those individu-als with lower differentiation might beunclear as to what really interests them.High differentiation is positively corre-lated with more stability in work historyand the directions of career preferencesor work histories (Reardon & Lenz,1998).

Profile ElevationProfile elevation is the sum of the

six section scores on the SDS, rangingfrom 14 to 300 and indicates an overalllevel of endorsement that is not specificto any RIASEC domain (Fuller et al.,1999). Gottfredson and Jones (1993)indicated profile elevation (PE) hasbeen subsumed under the professionaljudgment of a counselor, but Fuller et al.noted that researchers have never com-pletely understood its validity. In addi-tion, Fuller et al. (1999) noted thatprofile elevation has not been accuratelyunderstood. Exploring profile elevationcould provide counselors with addi-tional information about clients thatwould help them tailor interventions toclients’ needs. If high and low PE is de-termined by calculating one standarddeviation above and below the norma-tive sample, high PE are: (men, 150 >;women, 147 >), average range: (men,129-149; women 128-146), and low:(men, < 128; women, < 127) (Holland,Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994). Yet, it hasbeen suggested that more clinically rele-vant ranges be developed (Bullock &Reardon, 2008).

Differentiation and profile elevationare related, but not equivalent con-



structs. Individuals can have the sameprofile elevation (PE) whether they arehighly differentiated or not. Researchemphasizes the importance of not evalu-ating those with low PE and undifferen-tiated profiles and those with high PEand undifferentiated profiles in the sameway (Swanson & Hansen, 1986). Un-differentiated individuals with high PEmay be multipotential or indecisive,while undifferentiated individuals withlow PE may need more help to identifyskills, interests, and possible negativeself-talk.

The contribution of profile eleva-tion has been an area of focus for re-searchers. There has been somespeculation about the relationship be-tween low PE and depression for years(Spokane, Luchetta, & Richwine, 2002).Counselors often notice when a clientdoes not have many interests and drawconclusions about an individual’s per-sonality or attitude. Lehberger (1989)concluded that those with lower SDSscores may require more intensive coun-seling than those with higher scores anddistinct profile shapes.

Higher PE has been found to posi-tively correlate with extraversion andopenness to experience, extraversion, anexpressive style, conscientiousness, andlower depressive personality traits (Hol-land, Johnston, & Asama, 1994; Got-tfredson & Jones, 1993; Bullock &Reardon, 2008). Thus, individuals withhigher PE would likely be more openand receptive to career counseling.Hirschi and Lage (2007) found mean-ingful connections between profile ele-vation and career exploration and careerplanning, which suggested that highprofile elevation was positively relatedto degree of overall career-choice readi-ness attitudes.

There has been some discussionabout a “general factor” impacted by PEthat affects areas of interest and ability(Darcy & Tracey, 2003). They de-scribed this factor as similar to Spear-man’s “g” in intelligence. In the sameway that intelligence is thought to bemultifaceted, but still has an overarch-ing g, they proposed that profile eleva-tion might serve as an overarching orgeneral factor of vocational interest.Profile elevation may “bias the relationswith other variables or be related toother variables in a substantive manner”

(p. 227). In addition, there is specula-tion, based or prior research, that per-haps profile elevation is not just anothersecondary construct, but a superordinateconstruct that accounts for much of thevariance in SDS profiles (Bullock &Reardon, 2008).

The constructs of negative careerthoughts and profile elevation may ac-count for variation in career decidednessand satisfaction, which are described inthe next two sections.

Career Decision StateThe concept of decision state in this

study was based on level of career de-cidedness and satisfaction with occupa-tional choice.

DecidednessIn order to provide effective career

counseling services, counselors mustexamine an individual’s career decisionstate, i.e., how decided and satisfied theperson is about the career choice.

Decided individuals are those whocan “provide a choice of occupation or afirst choice with secondary alternatives”(Peterson et al., 1991, p. 174). Decidedadolescents are more likely to havehigher levels of career planning/explo-ration, career decision-making self-effi-cacy, less career indecision, and higherlevels of self-esteem and vigilance(Creed, Pridaeux, & Pattoon, 2005).Undecided individuals are those who“…have not made a commitment to aspecific occupational choice due to gapsin the knowledge necessary for choos-ing” (p. 82). An analysis by Lucas andEpperson (1988) found that undecidedstudents differed with respect to theirparticular concerns and it would be ben-eficial to distinguish between types ofundecided individuals.

In contrast, indecisive individualscannot generate occupational alterna-tives and lack sufficient self- and occu-pational knowledge to carry out thedecision-making process. Tyler (1969)was one of the early psychologists todistinguish between career indecisionand indecisiveness. He regarded unde-cided individuals as having problemscoming up with a plan of action, whereindecisiveness stems from personal is-sues. The term indecisive can be usedsimilarly to the “chronically undecided

student” (Fuqua & Hartman, 1983).They tend to exhibit a lack of sense ofidentity and possess a maladaptive ap-proach to problem solving, self-percep-tual problems, and externalizedattribution, along with a high level ofanxiety (Fuqua & Hartman, 1983; Hol-land & Holland, 1977; Peterson et al.,1991). Additionally, decided individu-als reported less control and more au-tonomy support from their peers andless control from their parents than indi-viduals in a chronically undecidedgroup (Guay, Ratelle, Senecal, Larose,& Deschenes, 2006). Finally, in a studyof college attrition, Lounsbury, Saudar-gas, and Gibson (2004) found a signifi-cant negative relationship betweencareer decidedness and intention towithdraw from college. Researchshows that a feeling of decidedness andcommitment to a career choice is an im-portant facet of overall career-choicereadiness (Creed, Prideaux, & Patton,2005; Powell & Luzzo, 1998).

Satisfaction with ChoiceAn individual’s satisfaction with ca-

reer choice can also help to conceptual-ize career decidedness. An early studyby Zener and Schnuelle (1972) reportedthe use of a single item in the form of aquestion, “How satisfied are you withyour first choice?” followed by six lev-els of positive to negative responses.Kleiman et al. (2004) found satisfactionwith occupational choice was negativelycorrelated with career decision-makingdifficulties in college students.

The Present StudyNegative career thoughts, profile el-

evation, differentiation, and career de-cidedness have received attention byresearchers, but minimal research hasdirectly explored how dysfunctional ca-reer thoughts are related to an individ-ual’s SDS code and secondaryconstructs in RIASEC theory. Onestudy (Wright et al., 2000) examinedthese relationships and did not find sig-nificant zero order correlates betweendifferentiation and negative careerthoughts.

Holland’s theory has generatedabundant research examining primaryand secondary constructs within the the-ory, but these constructs have not been



examined in relationship to negative ca-reer thoughts, differentiation, career de-cidedness, and satisfaction with choice.This study used a co-relational researchdesign to focus on four questions of in-terest: the relationships between careerthoughts and (a) profile elevation, (b)differentiation, (c) career decidedness,and (d) satisfaction with career choice.It was hypothesized that as careerthoughts decreased profile elevation, dif-ferentiation, career decidedness, and sat-isfaction with career choice wouldincrease.

MethodsParticipants

The sample consisted of 226 under-graduate students enrolled in a college-level career course. Common reasonsfor enrolling in this course are to ex-plore career options and learn moreabout career decision making. Partici-pant ages ranged from 18 to 38 years, M= 20.9 years, SD = 2.2 years, with49.6% female and 50.4% male. Accord-ing to the student data sheets, the demo-graphic breakdown of the sample was65.9% Caucasian, 20.4% African-Amer-ican, 6.6% Hispanic/Latino, 2.7% other,and 1.8% Asian. As for academic class,the sample was dominated by seniors53%, followed by juniors, 15%; sopho-mores, 23%; and freshman, 9%. While no participants asked to withdrawfrom the study, 30% of the initial sam-ple did not complete the full protocol.Data collection was conducted duringthe first week of class, and some stu-dents dropped the class before the uni-versity drop-add process for registrationprocess was complete. Additional stu-dents took the course for partial credit(one or two credit hours) which pre-vented their completion of all researchinstruments. Inspection of demographiccharacteristics of completers and non-completers revealed no pattern of differ-ences.

InstrumentsCareer thoughts inventory. The

CTI is a 48 item self-report inventorydesigned to measure negative careerthoughts that impede career decisionmaking. The CTI yields three subscalescores, Decision-Making Confusion(DMC), Commitment Anxiety (CA),

and External Conflict (EC). The DMCscale (14 items) measures “an inabilityto initiate or sustain the decision makingprocess as a result of disabling emotionsand/or a lack of understanding about thedecision making process itself” (Samp-son et al., 1996a, p. 2). The CA scale(10 items) measures “an inability tomake a commitment to a specific careerchoice, accompanied by generalizedanxiety about the outcome of the deci-sion making process, with anxiety per-petuating the indecision” (Sampson etal., 1996a, p. 2). The EC scale (5 items)measures “an inability to balance theimportance of one’s own self-percep-tions with the importance of input fromsignificant others, resulting in a reluc-tance to assume responsibility for deci-sion making” (Sampson et al., 1996a, p.2). The three subscales scores, and notthe CTI total score, were used in thepresent study’s analyses.

Internal consistency for the CTI hasbeen shown to range from .96 for col-lege students (Sampson et al., 1996b)with the three subscale alpha coeffi-cients ranging from .94 to .77. Test-retest reliability at four weeks for acollege sample was as follows: TotalScore = .86, DMC = .82, CA = .79, EC= .74 (Sampson et al., 1996b). The con-vergent validity of the CTI has beensupported with correlations from Indeci-sion Scale of the Career Decision Scaleat .70 (Sampson et al., 1996a), the Ca-reer Decision Profile (Jones, 1989), theNeuroticism domain on the NEO PI-R(Costa & McCrae, 1992), and the Ca-reer Decision Making Difficulties Ques-tionnaire (Gati, Krausz, & Osipow,1996) total and subscale scores(Kleiman et al., 2004). In another sam-ple, the CTI was administered to 199clients and 149 non-clients at two uni-versities and the client population hadsignificantly higher scores on the totalscales and three construct scales thanthe non-client group (Sampson et al.,1996b).

Self-directed search (SDS; Hol-land, Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994). TheSDS is based on Holland’s RIASEC the-ory and is self-administered in 35-45minutes. The SDS Assessment bookletincludes a measure of expressed inter-ests or vocational aspirations (the Day-dreams Section) and a measure of

assessed interests. The latter is obtainedwhen users respond to SDS items infour sections: Activities (11 questionsper RIASEC section that are endorsedlike or dislike); Competencies (11 ques-tions per RIASEC section that are en-dorsed yes or no to assess skills assess);Occupations (14 occupations per RI-ASEC section that are endorsed yes orno to assess occupations of interest ordislike interests); and Self-Estimates (12Likert-scale ratings (1 is low and 7 ishigh) to indicate self-estimates of skillsand abilities as compared to those ofsimilar age across each RIASEC type).An individual’s three-letter summary orHolland code is calculated by summingthe positive or score responses fromeach of the four sections included in theAssessment booklet (Holland, 1994).Profile elevation and differentiationscores will be derived for each partici-pant’s SDS responses. Profile elevationis calculated by summing the six RI-ASEC summary scores. Differentiationwas calculated using the previously de-scribed Iachan Index (Iachan, 1984).

Intercorrelations among the SDS:Form R results (Holland, 1994) andmeasures of vocational aspiration andcollege major indicate concurrent valid-ity for male and female college studentsranging from .32 to .39 (Holland,Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994). Substantialreliability for the summary scales on theSDS are indicated by the internal con-sistency coefficients (KR-20) rangingfrom .90 to .94, and test-retest reliabilitycoefficients ranged from .76 to .89 (Hol-land et al., 1994). Overall, support ex-ists for documenting both the reliabilityand validity of the SDS.

Occupational alternatives ques-tion (OAQ; Zener & Schnuelle, 1972;modified by Slaney, 1980). The OAQ isa measure of occupational decidednesswhich asks respondents the number ofoccupations they are considering andthe level of decidedness pertaining tothese occupations. The OAQ includestwo parts: (a) “List all of the occupa-tions you are considering right now”and (b) “Which occupation is your firstchoice? If undecided, write undecided.”The OAQ is scored on a scale from oneto four and is rated as follows: 1 = afirst choice is given with no alterna-tives; 2 = a first choice is given with al-



ternatives listed as well; 3 = no firstchoice is given, only alternatives; and, 4= no choices or alternatives are given.Therefore, the higher the OAQ score,the less decided the individual. Individ-uals who report having one occupationalchoice with no alternatives are said tobe decided individuals, while those whoare unable to list any career choices areclassified as undecided. The OAQ hasbeen found to have convergent validitywith other measures of career indeci-sion, including the Satisfaction with Ca-reer Scale, the Vocational DecisionMaking Difficulties Scale, and the Ca-reer Decision Scale (Slaney, Stafford, &Russell, 1981). Slaney (1978) foundstability of OAQ responses over a 6-week time period.

Satisfaction with choice question(SCQ; Zener & Schnuelle, 1972; modi-fied by Holland, Gottfredson, &Nafziger, 1975). This instrument asks asingle question, “How well satisfied areyou with your first choice?” and is usedto assess one’s level of satisfaction withcareer choice. This item is rated on ascale from one to six, and is scored asfollows: 1 = well satisfied with choice;2 = satisfied, but have a few doubts; 3 =not sure; 4 = dissatisfied and intend toremain; 5 = very dissatisfied and intendto change; and, 6 = undecided about myfuture career. Similar to the OAQ, thehigher the score on the SCQ, the greaterthe degree of dissatisfaction withchoice. Slaney, Stafford, and Russell(1981) reported average correlations of.43, .53, and .44 between the Satisfac-tion Question and other measures of ca-reer decidedness, including the OAQ,Vocational Decision Making DifficultyScale, and the Career Decision Scale.

Student data sheet. The studentdata sheet served as a demographicquestionnaire and included informationsuch as age, sex, year in school, major,previous work experience, extracurricu-lar activities, and ethnicity, as well asthe OAQ and the SCQ. This form wasused to describe the study sample.

ProceduresApproval for this study with human

participants was obtained from the uni-versity institutional review board. Dur-ing the first week of class, students were

recruited to participate voluntarily in thestudy. The students were made awareverbally and through written informedconsent that choosing not to participatewould in no way affect their coursegrade. Participants were administeredthe research packet, including the CTIand Student Data Sheet. This phase ofdata collection lasted approximately 30minutes. In the third week of class, aspart of the normal class procedure, stu-dents completed the paper and pencilversion of the SDS. Data from the SDSwere entered and scored using the com-puter software program Self-DirectedSearch Software Portfolio for Windows® (Reardon & PAR Staff, 2001) bycourse instructors.

ResultsThe means, standard deviations,

and ranges for the variables of interestare presented in Table 1. The DMC,CA, and EC scales from the CTI, theprofile elevation and differentiationscores from the SDS, the OAQ, and theSatisfaction with Choice items were an-alyzed.

Scale and subscale reliability analy-ses were conducted for the CTI. The re-liability estimates for the CTI total werecalculated as follows: DMC = .93, CA =.87, and EC =.67. These estimates wereconsistent with previous studies (Samp-son et al., 1996b; Reed, 2006) for DMCand CA. There was a .10 difference be-tween this sample’s EC estimate (.67)and the standardization sample (.77)(Sampson et al., 1996b). Given their 1-

item structure, an index of reliabilitycould not be calculated for the Occupa-tional Alternatives Question (OAQ) orSatisfaction with Choice item. Scale re-liabilities for the SDS were not calcu-lated, as individual item responses werenot available for this sample.

The statistical program, PASW(Predictive Analytics SoftWare) 18 wasused to complete the statistical analysisof the data. Preliminary analyses re-vealed that assumptions of normalitywere not violated. Specifically, therewere no violations of skewness or kurto-sis. In addition, there were no viola-tions of multicollinearity or linearity.The correlations between all predictorand criterion variables are presented inTable 1.

Career Thoughts and ProfileElevation

Inspection of the correlation matrixrevealed no significant relationships be-tween profile elevation and any of thethree individual predictor variables(DMC, CA, or EC). A multiple regres-sion was used to examine the combinedeffect of the three predictor variables.

The overall model was significant be-yond the .05 level (F (3, 222) = 3.456, p= .017). The model R2, reflecting theoverall strength of the relationship be-tween the profile elevation and the pre-dictor variables, was .045, meaning that4.5% of profile elevation can be ex-plained by negative career thoughts(Table 2). The adjusted R2, compensat-ing for the positive bias of the R2, was.032.

Table 1 Variable correlations, Means, SD, and Range Decision-

Making Confusion

Commitment Anxiety

External Conflict

Profile Elevation

Differentiation Career Decidedness

Satisfaction with Choice

DMC 1 .662** .617** -.114 -.129 .302** .307** CA 1 .553** .055 -.139* .318** .333** EC 1 -.012 -.137* .12 .092 PE 1 -1.57 -.011 .021 Differentiation 1 -.046 -.047 Career Decidedness

1 .823**

Satisfaction 1 M 10.67 13.08 4.69 133.26 6.25 2.42 3.47 SD 7.64 5.84 2.97 31.98 2.87 .80 2.26 Participant Range

0-38 0-27 0-13 41-250 1-16 1-4 1-6

*-p<.05; **p<.001



Although not directly related, it isinteresting to note that as DMC de-creased profile elevation increased, butthis was not the case with regard to ECand CA. CA increased as profile eleva-tion increased, and the relationship withEC was not significant.

Career Thoughts and DifferentiationInspection of the correlation matrix

revealed significant relationships (one-tailed) between differentiation and CA (-.139), as well as differentiation and EC(-.137). The relationship between dif-ferentiation and DMC was non-signifi-cant.

A multiple regression analysis wasused to examine the combined effect ofthe three predictor variables. Negativecareer thoughts were inversely related todifferentiation, decreasing with everysingle unit increase in differentiation(DMC = -.012, CA = -.037, EC = -.073).However, the overall model was not sig-nificant (F (3, 222) = 1.903, p= .130).

Career Thoughts and DecidednessInspection of the correlation matrix

revealed significant relationships be-tween career decidedness and DMC (r=.302), and career decidedness and CA(r =.318), but not between career decid-edness and EC (r =.120).

To examine the combined effect ofthe three CIP cognitive constructs,DMC, CA, and EC, a multiple regres-sion analysis was used. The overall

model was significant beyond the .01level (F (3, 222) = 11.295, p = .000).The model R2, reflecting the overallstrength of the relationship between ca-reer decidedness and the predictor vari-ables, was .132 (Table 2), meaning that13.2% of career decidedness can be ex-plained by negative career thoughts.The adjusted R2, compensating for thepositive bias of the R2, was .121.

However, it may be noted that ECincreased when the OAQ score de-creased (indicating a greater degree ofdecidedness). Conversely, both DMCand CA increased as the OAQ score in-creased, indicating a lesser degree of ca-reer decidedness.

Career Thoughts and SatisfactionInspection of the correlation matrix

revealed significant relationships be-tween satisfaction with choice andDMC (r = .307) and satisfaction withchoice and CA (r = .333), but not be-tween satisfaction with choice and EC(r = .092).

To examine the combined effect ofthe three predictor variables, DMC, CA,and EC, on the prediction of satisfactionwith choice, a multiple regressionanalysis was used. The overall modelwas significant beyond the .01 level (F(3, 222) = 13.396, p = .000). The modelR2, reflecting the overall strength of therelationship between satisfaction withchoice and the predictor variables was.153, meaning that 15.3% of satisfaction

with choice can be explained by nega-tive career thoughts (Table 2). The ad-justed R2, compensating for the positivebias of the R2, was .142.

As scores on the Satisfaction withChoice item increased (indicating lesssatisfaction with one’s first careerchoice), DMC and CA also increased.However, this was not true for EC,which increased as the Satisfaction withChoice score decreased (indicatingmore satisfaction with one’s first careerchoice).

Discussion

Career Thoughts and ProfileElevation

Previous research and theory led usto speculate that as negative careerthoughts decreased profile elevationwould increase. Simple correlationswere examined and revealed no signifi-cant relationships between profile eleva-tion and any of the negative careerthoughts predictor variables (i.e., DMC,CA, or EC). However, a multiple re-gression exploring the relationships be-tween the predictor variables of DMC,CA, and EC and criterion variable (pro-file elevation) supported the overall re-gression model, with decision-makingconfusion decreasing and commitmentanxiety increasing as profile elevationincreased. The relationship between PEand DMC may have been expected,given the discussion of low profile ele-vation and depression (Spokane,Luchetta, & Richwine, 2002), the posi-tive correlation between DMC and de-pression found in previous research(Sampson et al., 1996b), and the prob-lems one might have making decisionswhile in a depressed state. Previous re-search indicated that high profile eleva-tion is positively related to the degree ofoverall career-choice readiness attitudes(Hirschi & Lage, 2007) and that individ-uals with lower profile elevation scoresmay require more counseling(Lehberger, 1989). Bullock and Rear-don (2005) suggested that clients withhigh profile elevation scores would bemore open to considering options andconscientious about tasks presented tothem.

Perhaps profile elevation increasesas people become aware of all the possi-

Table 2 Summary of Multiple Regression Analyses Total R2 Adj. R2 ! Profile Elevation .045 .032 DMCa -.288** CAb .222* ECc .043 Differentiation .025 .012 DMCa -.032 CAb -.076 ECc -.076 Career Decidedness .132 .121 DMCa .238** CAb .253** ECc -.167* Satisfaction with Choice .153 .142 DMCa .254** CAb .288** ECc -.224** ** Beta weight is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). * Beta weight is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). a Career Thoughts Inventory: Decision-Making Confusion. b Career Thoughts Inventory: Commitment Anxiety. c Career Thoughts Inventory: External Conflict.



ble options available to them. With re-gards to the unexpected findings be-tween PE and CA, once an individualhas a working list of options, it is possi-ble that commitment anxiety would in-crease because the person is nowbecoming less tentative and closer tomaking a commitment. Someone whohas low profile elevation may not beanxious about committing to a specificoption because a list of possible optionshas not yet emerged.

It is important not to overgeneralizethese results. Although the regressionmodel did reach statistical significance,negative career thoughts only accountfor 4.5% of the variation in profile ele-vation. Therefore, many other factorslikely influence profile elevation, andcounselors should be careful not to as-sume the client possesses high levels ofnegative career thoughts based on lowprofile elevation. When working withclients who have low profile elevationon the SDS, counselors should listen fornegative self-talk and consider adminis-tering the CTI to identify, alter, andchallenge these thoughts (Sampson etal., 2004).

Career Thoughts and DifferentiationPrevious research and theory led us

to expect that as negative careerthoughts decreased differentiationwould increase. Differentiation refers tothe distinctiveness of an interest profilebut can also be conceptualized as howwell individuals know their likes anddislikes. A multiple regression analysisrevealed that negative career thoughts asdefined by DMC, CA, and EC did notaccount for a significant amount of vari-ation in differentiation. One possibleexplanation for this unexpected lack ofa relationship is that differentiation hasreceived less empirical support and isviewed as a weaker indicator than otherconstructs (Holland, 1997). These re-sults are also consistent with a study byWright et al. (2000) that did not find asignificant correlation between differen-tiation and negative career thoughts.

For practical purposes, counselorsshould refrain from using differentiationon the SDS to predict clients’ thoughtsabout making a career decision. Thefindings of this study and previous re-search indicate that there is insufficient

evidence to suggest a significant rela-tionship between differentiation andnegative career thoughts (Wright et al.,2000).

Career Thoughts, Decidedness, andSatisfaction

Negative career thoughts accountedfor a significant amount of variation incareer decidedness and satisfaction.Specifically, DMC and CA decreased,while EC increased, as career decided-ness and satisfaction increased. The re-lationship decidedness and satisfactiondemonstrated with DMC and CA makesintuitive sense in that once you have amade a decision you are satisfied with,you have likely already dealt with anxi-ety about committing to the choice andbelieve you possess decision-makingskills. It is possible that EC’s lowerlevel of reliability in this study (.67)was a factor in the unexpected relation-ship EC demonstrated with decidednessand satisfaction. High EC scores indi-cate a compromised ability to balancethe opinions of self with the opinions ofsignificant others. An alternate explana-tion may be that individuals outwardlycommit to or ‘decide’ on a career choicethey are personally not satisfied with inorder to avoid conflict with significantothers, but they are actually undecidedor indecisive. This is consistent withthe concept of the “decided-conflictavoidant” individual in Sampson et al.’staxonomy (2004).

As individuals become more de-cided about their career choice, theymay also become more confident andpositive about their ability to make deci-sions. However, with increased decid-edness, concern about the values ofsignificant others’ input, views of soci-ety, or culture may also increase. Therelationship between external conflictand career decidedness may indicatethat as an individual approaches makinga decision, they may begin looking attheir options on a deeper and more so-phisticated level. Counselors may workwith clients who appear decided or con-fident about making a decision, but theyshould also check with these clientsabout the importance of balancing inputfrom significant others with their ownvalues. For example, the counselorcould question how individuals arrived

at their decision, how the decision wasinfluenced by significant others, andhow the decision fits the individuals’values.

Limitations of this StudyThere were several factors in the

sample that limited generalizability.First, the sample was primarily Cau-casian, which limits the generalizabilityof the sample to other ethnic groups.Second, the sample was dominated bystudents in the upper division, 68%,while only 32% were in the lower divi-sion. At this university, students are re-quired to declare a major by theirsophomore year and the upper divisionstudents were probably more decidedthan those in the lower division with re-spect to career planning and decisionmaking. Specifically, they are morelikely to have made a career decisionand to be in the Execution phase of theCASVE cycle. By signing up for thecourse, it is assumed that students arelooking for assistance in making a ca-reer choice on some level, and studentsthat are openly seeking career assistancemay be inherently different from thosewho are not. Lastly, while the meanscores on DMC and CA were consistentwith the standardization norms, EC washigher (M = 4.69 as compared to 3.32).Since this group had higher levels of ECthan the standardization group, this mayhave affected the relationship betweenEC and other variables. Additionally,the internal consistency of EC (α = .67)was lower than found in previous stud-ies and may have affected the overall re-liability of the findings associated withthis construct. A possible limitation ofthe data analysis is the attrition ratecaused by students dropping the courseor taking fewer than three credits of thisvariable credit course; however, the de-mographic characteristics of completersand non-completers did not appear tovary.

Implications for PracticeThis study also provides additional

support for the importance of career in-terventions that target negative careerthoughts (Strohm, 2009). Given the re-lationship between negative careerthoughts and career decidedness, as wellas satisfaction with choice, interventions



(such as the CTI Workbook, Sampson,et al., 1996c ) designed to restructurecognitions that impede one’s ability toengage in the career decision-makingprocess are especially important. Fi-nally, it may be noted that while theAmerican English version of SDS-FormR was used in this study, the instrumentis also available in Canadian Englishand French. More information aboutthese versions of the SDS-Form R isavailable at http://www4.parinc.com/.

As individuals become more de-cided about their career choice, they arelikely to also become more confidentand positive about their ability to makedecisions. However, with increased de-cidedness, it is possible that concernabout the views of significant others andthe views of society become more im-portant. This relationship may indicatethat as an individual approaches makinga decision, they may begin looking attheir options on a deeper and more so-phisticated level while considering theviews of others. Counselors may workwith clients who appear decided or con-fident about making a decision, but theymay want to check with these clientsabout the importance of balancing inputfrom significant others. These findingssuggest that just because clients maypresent as very decided, this does notuniversally mean that they could notbenefit from additional counseling orthat they are not concerned how theircareer decision could impact others.

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Abstract

In recent years, graduate educationhas received increasing attention, butwhile extensive research has been con-ducted on the experiences of graduatestudents, scant literature has addressedthe transitional pathways of those mak-ing the decision to attend graduateschool, or those preparing either to leaveor to graduate. The process by whichstudents make the decision to apply for,enrol in and attend graduate school hasnot been well researched. A central aimof this paper, then, is to contribute to thesparse literature on graduate educationtransitions, giving consideration to andidentifying influential factors thought toplay a role in a student’s decisions toenrol and persist in graduate school. Atheoretical model of graduate studenttransitions will be presented, developedthrough a synthesis of research on thepersistence and attrition of undergradu-ate and graduate students. While it is ac-knowledged that the factors identifiedare in no way exhaustive of the manyconcerns and issues graduate studentsface in gaining entry, persisting and de-parting from their studies, it is hopedthat this model will stimulate further dis-cussion and prompt exploration into themost influential factors that help toshape their experiences and decisions;and the implications of these on careertrajectories.

As a more educated workforce be-comes a priority to an increasingly com-plex, fast-paced and technologicalsociety, the number of people opting tocontinue on or return to studies at thegraduate level continues to rise. Be-tween 1999 and 2008, enrolments inMaster’s degree programs in Canadarose by 40%, while enrolments at theDoctoral level rose by over 60% (Cana-dian Association for Graduate Studies,2011). In recent years, graduate educa-tion has garnered much attention, but

while extensive research has been con-ducted on the experiences of studentsenrolled in graduate programs, scant lit-erature has addressed the transitionalpathways of those making the decisionto attend graduate school, or thosepreparing either to leave or to graduate.Furthermore, much of the existing liter-ature almost exclusively addresses doc-toral education and tends to excludemasters and professional degree pro-grams.

The process by which studentsmake the decision to apply for, enrol inand attend graduate school has not beenwell researched, and while numerousfactors have been identified as influen-tial to this decision-making process, nomodel has yet been developed, to theauthor’s knowledge, to outline the tran-sitions into, through, and out of gradu-ate school. A central aim of this paper,then, is to contribute to the sparse litera-ture on graduate education transitions,giving consideration to and identifyingkey factors thought to be most influen-tial in a student’s decisions to enrol andpersist in graduate school.

A tentative model of graduate stu-dent transitions is presented here, devel-oped through a synthesis of research onthe persistence and attrition of under-graduate and graduate students, andmay be seen as containing elements ofpre-existing models. The factors in-cluded therein have been identifiedthrough thematic analysis of the extantliterature as essential components ofpost-secondary education pathways. Itis important to note that enrolment ingraduate school exemplifies persistencein and of itself, as students whoprogress to this level of higher educa-tion have persisted through undergradu-ate education, and thus it is difficult -and not entirely necessary, it may be ar-gued, to separate those factors influen-tial in the decisions to enrol from thoseinfluential in the decision to either per-sist or to depart.

Student Transitions Much has changed in graduate edu-

cation in recent years; students entergraduate programs at very differentstages of their lives and careers. In spiteof these individual differences, how-ever, it has been noted that all adultlearners experience educational transi-tions as a process over time. A transitionis defined as an event or a non-eventthat alters one’s roles, relationships,routines, and assumptions; a theory oftransition has been developed for adults,characterized by three stages: “movingin”, “moving through”, and “movingon.” (Schlossberg, Lynch, & Chickering(1989). These phrases have been re-ferred to previously in discussions ofdoctoral student persistence (Cockrell &Shelley, 2011; Gansemer-Topf, Ross, &Johnson, 2006; Polson, 2003) and areconsidered in the development of thegraduate student transition model pre-sented here.

At all levels of the graduate studenttransitions process, it is essential thatresearch on and theoretical models ofundergraduate student transitions beconsidered, for a number of reasons.First, the lack of information on gradu-ate student transitional pathways makesthis unavoidable. Second, many factorsthat influence a student’s decision to at-tend and persist in post-secondary mayalso influence these same decisions atthe graduate level. Thus, the existingliterature on undergraduate transitionsproves a fertile ground for exploring theeducational pathways of the graduatestudent.

Breen and Jonsson (2000) note thatsociological analyses of educationalpathways have long been studied as se-quential transitions between grades orlevels of education; Mare (1980) popu-larized this type of model. They do notea limitation of this model, however, inthat it assumes that students progressthrough the educational system in a uni-linear sequential path, while in fact,

Transitioning into, through, and out ofGraduate School: A Theoretical Model

Melanie J. Greene, Doctoral Candidate Memorial University

Transitioning into, through, and out of Graduate School50


many school systems have “parallelbranches of study” (Breen & Jonsson,2000, p.754). Indeed, education can beviewed as a complex, non-linearprocess. Breen and Jonsson’s (2000) re-search extends on Mare’s model, find-ing that the pathway a student takesthrough the school system influencesthe probability of making subsequenteducational transitions. Hence, themodel presented here assumes a non-linear trajectory of many choices andopportunities as the student transitionsfrom undergraduate to graduate student,and from school to the workplace.

Shifting Demographics- the GraduateStudent as Non-traditional Student

Individuals enter graduate pro-grams with pre-existing attributes andexperiences that ultimately shape theirentrance into and passage through thepost-secondary education system. Insetting out to identify key factors thatcharacterize graduate student transi-tions, it is necessary to consider thechanging demographics of the graduatestudent population. Existing literatureon traditional and non-traditional stu-dents provide some insight into envi-sioning a profile of the contemporarygraduate student.

The early traditional doctoral stu-dent could be described as a twenty-something affluent, single white male,studying full time (Gardner, 2009; Of-ferman, 2011). Offerman (2011) writesthat the contemporary doctoral studentis more likely to meet the criteria of anon-traditional as opposed to the tradi-tional student; in fact he makes the ar-gument that perhaps this term may nolonger be appropriate. While no stan-dard definition of non-traditional stu-dents exists; several can be found in theexisting literature on the subject (Bean& Metzner, 1985; Gilardi & Gugliel-mettim, 2011; Rendon, Jalomo & Nora,2000). Characteristics of the non-tradi-tional student include being older, acommuter, engaged in family and/orwork life, financially independent, stud-ies part time, and may come from alower socio-economic and/or is a mem-ber of an ethnic minority.

If we consider the demographics oftoday’s graduate student, most would besaid to fit the above criteria of a non-

traditional student except for being inreceipt of further educational creden-tials. The median age of doctoral stu-dents in the United States in 2004 was33.3 years; nearly 2 out of 3 was mar-ried or in a common-law type relation-ship, and almost a third were firstgeneration students (Gardner, 2009).Gender is also an important characteris-tic to consider when describing the con-temporary graduate student, as themajority of graduate students today inboth Canada and the United States arenow female (Canadian Association ofUniversity Teachers, 2010; Wendler etal. 2010).

Offerman (2011) notes that whilethe literature addressing the challengesfaced by non-traditional undergraduatestudents is quite extensive, very littleresearch has explored the issues facingnon-traditional students at the graduatelevel. Furthermore, Gilardi and Gugliel-metti (2011) argue that the current uni-versity system does not seem to beequipped to meet the needs of thisgroup, continuing to maintain a systemdesigned for the traditional type of stu-dent.

Research has shown that non-tradi-tional students have a higher rate of at-trition than traditional students (Bean &Metzner, 1985; Gilardi & Guglielmetti,2011). These students face the challengeof finding a balance between their aca-demic and external commitments that

allows for them to sustain a sufficientlevel of engagement; it has been foundthat the most important variables in theretention of non-traditional students arean increased use of learning supportservices and higher levels of perceivedsocial integration (Gilardi & Gugliel-metti, 2011). These and other factors,and their influence on persistence, willbe examined more fully below.

Consideration was given to in-creased enrolments in graduate pro-grams and the changing demographicsof the graduate student body in the de-velopment of the theoretical model ofgraduate student transitions presentedbelow (see Figure 1). This model wasinspired by the current literature andpre-existing models of student persist-ence and attrition and may be seen as anamalgamation of the current research onundergraduate and graduate studenttransitional pathways. The remainder ofthis paper will entail a discussion of thefactors contained within the model thathave been identified from an extensivereview of the literature as influential forgraduate student transitions into,through, and out of the graduate educa-tion system.

Going to Graduate School Individuals enter graduate school at

different stages of their lives and undervarying circumstances. Research has

Leaving Graduate School

Figure 1 Graduate Student Transitions Model

Departure

Transfer

Transition Pathways after

Graduate School

Academic Career

Further Education

Non-Academic

Career

Graduate Student Experiences

Psychosocial Development

Goal Commitments

Going To Graduate School

Educational Expectations

Field of Study

Career Values

Social Identity Development

Cognitive Structural

Development

Decisions

Willingness to Relocate

Job Search

Financial Resources

Family/ Significant Others & Friends

Family Background

Personal Attributes

Age

Personal Goals/Aspirations

Undergraduate Experience & Academic Performance

Ethnicity

Gender & Family Status

Academic Integration

Internal Influences

External Influences

Psychological Outcomes

Degree Completion

Enrolment Status

Social Integration

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examined the role of background fac-tors in the decision-making process ofenrolling and persisting in graduateschool. Tinto (1993) posits that personalattributes, along with educational expe-riences prior to entering graduateschool, help to shape individual goalsand commitments upon entry. The im-pact of these attributes may be indirectbut important from a longitudinal stand-point. Several background factors areincluded in the model here, having beenaddressed in the literature as beinghighly influential to educational enrol-ment and persistence. The inter-con-nectedness of personal attributes andbackground characteristics on graduatestudent enrolment and persistence ismade evident.

Family background. Research on the influence of family

background on graduate school enrol-ment and persistence presents mixedfindings. Mare (1980) and Stolzenberg(1994) found that social background haslittle if any direct effect on the transitionfrom undergraduate to graduate educa-tion. Ethington and Smart (1986) alsofound little direct effect on this transi-tion. Only parental educational levelhad a direct influence on the decision toattend graduate school, but variables as-sociated with the undergraduate experi-ence were found to have a strongerdirect influence. Findings from this re-search indicate that social origins alsohave an indirect effect through under-graduate academic performance.Conversely, Mullen, Goyette and Soares(2003) found that parent’s education hasan indirect effect on the transition fromundergraduate to graduate study, work-ing mainly through the characteristicsof a student’s undergraduate institution,academic performance, educational ex-pectations, and career values, factorsexamined in more detail below. Mas-tekaasa (2006) also found considerableeffects of social origins on the transitionfrom the masters to the Ph.D. level.DiMaggio and Mohr (1985) found aslight correlation between cultural capi-tal and graduate school attendance.Parental educational attainment isclosely linked with, and even includedas a measure of, a student’s cultural andsocial capital (see Perna, 2004). A more

recent quantitative analysis of culturalcapital and graduate student achieve-ment (Moss, 2005) found that neitherparental socioeconomic status nor cul-tural capital had a statistically signifi-cant relationship with graduateacademic achievement. At best, familybackground appears to have an indirectinfluence through a number of othervariables, and is included in the modelhere as a factor in graduate student tran-sitions.

Personal attributes.Age. Mullen, Goyette, and Soares

(2003) included this variable in theiranalysis of graduate school enrolmentas family background is believed to in-fluence the age at which students com-plete their undergraduate degrees. Toreturn to the earlier discussion of gradu-ate students as being classified as ‘non-traditional’, age is certainly a factor toconsider in an examination of thechoice to enrol in graduate level educa-tion, particularly as it exerts an influ-ence on a students’ goals, whether theybe at the personal, educational, or careerlevel. These factors will be discussed inmore detail below.

Personal goals/aspirations. Whilethis variable may be linked with educa-tional expectations and/or career values,it may also drive one’s decision to enrolin a graduate program as an independ-ent variable. As has been noted, somestudents return to study at the graduatelevel despite having or having had a ful-filling career. Attaining an advanced de-gree may be a goal in and of itself.Aspirations may also be linked to fam-ily background (see Hayden, 2008 for adiscussion of this connection).

Undergraduate experience and ac-ademic performance. Research hasfound grade performance to be the mostimportant factor in predicting persist-ence in college (Tinto, 1975). MullenGoyette and Soares (2003) found thatcollege performance was also found tohave a strong effect on the decision toattend graduate school. Ethington andSmart (1986) found that the extent of astudent’s involvement within the under-graduate institution impacts strongly onlater educational decisions. They con-cluded that the successful integration ofa student within the social and academic

systems of the undergraduate institutiondirectly and indirectly enhances thelikelihood that the student will persist todegree completion and continuing on tograduate education. These findings em-phasize the importance of academic andsocial integration, discussed in more de-tail below.

Ethnicity. Bean and Metzner(1985) report that studies examining therelationship between undergraduate stu-dent’s ethnicity and persistence ismixed; it is hypothesized that ethnicitymay have an indirect effect on persist-ence through a negative influence onGPA as a result of the comparativelypoorer education provided for minoritystudents at the secondary level. There isa lack of literature addressing the expe-riences of international students, partic-ularly at the doctoral level (see Le andGardner, 2007). More recent researchcould provide further information of thepossible effects of ethnic origins ongraduate enrolment and persistence.

Gender and family status. Womennow account for the majority of bothenrolments and degrees awarded inCanada at the Bachelor’s and Master’sprogram levels, and just under half atthe Ph.D. level (Canadian Associationof University Teachers, 2010). Whilewomen outnumber males in terms ofgraduate enrolment and degree comple-tion, Offerman (2011) acknowledgesthat women may struggle more inachieving a balance between study andpersonal time constraints and responsi-bilities; degree completion may be de-layed due to such factors. Bean andMetzner (1985) anticipates that genderis likely to have indirect effects on attri-tion through family responsibilities andopportunity to transfer. Ehrenberg,Zuckerman, Groen, and Brucker (2010)found that there were no gender differ-ences in attrition and completion amongstudents who were single upon entryinto doctoral studies; interestingly, mar-riage and motherhood were not found tobe detrimental to women. Gender is in-cluded in the model presented here as abackground variable as it is believed tohave an impact on persistence, both interms of gaining entry at the graduatelevel, as well as degree completion.



Financial resources.Ethington and Smart (1985) found

that, along with degree completion, re-ceipt of financial aid has the greatestimpact on enrolment in graduate school.Tinto (1993) notes that a lack of finan-cial resources in the first two stages ofdoctoral persistence may result in alengthened time to candidacy, as stu-dents may attend school part-time orwork while enrolled in school to helppay expenses. Thus, it was concludedthat the impact of financial resources onpersistence is indirect- the longer thedegree takes, the less likely students areto finish. At the later stage of persist-ence, however, the primary effect oflimited financial support on persistencemay be mostly direct, in that one’s abil-ity to devote the necessary time to thecompletion of the research may be re-duced.

Educational expectations. Mullen Goyette and Soares (2003)

found that family background continuesto influence student’s educational at-tainment through their expectations.Bean and Metzner (1985) discuss edu-cational goals as a background variablein their model of non-traditional studentattrition; numerous studies have demon-strated a connection between pre-enrol-ment educational goals and persistence.Tinto (1975) includes a discussion ofeducational expectations in a factor hetermed an individual’s educational ‘goalcommitment’ in his model of collegedropout, and noted that the extent towhich one is committed to an educa-tional goal is directly related to persist-ence. Assuming that students continueto be influenced by these goals as theycontinue on to educational pursuits atthe graduate level, it is included here asa background factor.

Field of study.Tinto (1993) writes that doctoral

persistence is more likely to be a reflec-tion of the normative and structuralcharacter of the field of study “and thejudgments that describe acceptable per-formance than a reflection of thebroader university” (p.232). Tinto alsonotes that doctoral persistence is morelikely to be reflective of, and framed by,the particular types of student and fac-

ulty communities that reside in the localdepartment, program, or school. Tintoproposes that “Doctoral students, inseeking entry to a profession or field ofwork, are likely to orient themselves to-ward the norms that they perceive asdetermining success in that field ofwork” (p.233). It is speculated that thisis the case for Master’s students as well.A graduate students’ choice of field ofstudy is also likened to be influenced byone’s family background (Goyette &Mullen, 2002).

Career values. Career values may arise from per-

sonal attributes or goals. Non-tradi-tional graduate students may have verydifferent career aspirations than tradi-tional students (Weidman, Twale &Stein, 2001); many are already estab-lished in a career at the time they enrolin graduate studies, and for the majority,an advanced degree, and the additionalcredential and ascribed status that ac-companies it, is seen as a necessarystepping stone in career advancement.Indeed, for some, further education isseen as a means of transitioning into anew career (Offerman, 2011). Risinggraduate enrolments, particular at theMaster’s level, may in fact reflect ahigh degree of career commitment onthe part of individuals returning to up-grade their credentials. Many of thesestudents have no desire to persist be-yond the level of education deemednecessary for their desired career or ad-vancement within one’s current occupa-tion. Other graduate students arefollowing the traditional pathway to theprofessoriate; their persistence is reflec-tive of high goal commitment as it per-tains to their academic careeraspirations. Stolzenberg (1994) foundthat the choice of entering a graduateschool program is influenced by one’sattitudes and values about work. Suchvalues may be influenced by a student’sfamily background.

Family/significant others andfriends.

Research emphasizes the influenceof peers in explaining differences be-tween institutions in student persistence(Astin, 1993; Berger & Milem, 2000;Titus, 2004; Weidman, 1989). Peers

may have an indirect influence on per-sistence through measures of integra-tion; this assumption is supported by thefindings of a study conducted byThomas (2000). This may very well bean important factor to consider at thegraduate level, as smaller cohorts typi-cally interact routinely through thecompletion of coursework and otherprogram requirements. Sweitzer (2009)looks at the role of doctoral students’personal communities or what sherefers to as ‘developmental networks’and their influence on professionalidentity development. A more recentstudy explores the experiences of fe-male graduate students and the effectsof a lack of marital/social support(Williams-Tolliver, 2010). The influ-ence of others is included in the modelhere as a indirect factor due to the beliefthat the decisions of graduate studentsare impacted to a large extent by exter-nal influences, a fact that is explored inmore detail below.

Willingness to relocate.Willingness to relocate is included

here as an indirect influence under theassumption that location of a program islikely to have a larger impact on stu-dents at the graduate level than at theundergraduate level, as it is probablethat these students have outside respon-sibilities that extend beyond their aca-demic pursuits and may conflict withtheir studies (Sweitzer, 2009). These re-sponsibilities may make moving an un-desirable option, if an option at all.Consideration need also be given to theimpact of technology and the role ofdistance learning. The increasing num-ber of graduate programs being offeredby correspondence and/or online war-rants such a discussion; the flexibility ofsuch programs is certainly an incentivefor potential students who are less will-ing or able to relocate due to family, ca-reer or other external commitments. Thegraduate student experience in distanceeducation has been a relatively unex-plored area as of yet (see Hildebrandt,2011; Park, Perry, & Edwards, 2011)and further research is needed.

Enrolment status.Tinto (1975) notes the difference

between part time and full time stu-



dents, and the extent to which one isable to be involved in the academic andsocial life of student and faculty com-munities. Bean and Metzner (1985) in-clude this variable in their model ofnon-traditional student attrition to referto the number of academic credits forwhich a student is enrolled; used to de-fine a student as having part-time orfull-time status. It is considered here asa possible factor in graduate studentpersistence as it is speculated to have anindirect effect through goal commit-ments on the extent to which studentsare able to integrate, both socially andacademically, within the program and/orthe institution.

Graduate Student Experiences College attrition research has his-

torically been framed within one of twotheoretical models (Titus, 2004). Tinto(1975) hypothesizes that a lack of socialinteraction with others and ‘insufficientcongruency’ with the values of the col-lege will lead students to have a lowcommitment to the social system andthus increase the chance of dropout.Tinto (1993) later extended his theoryof undergraduate persistence to includedoctoral persistence. His model impliesthat successful socialization results inpersistence. Bean (1980) presents acausal model of student attrition at theundergraduate level. While the findingssuggest that men and women drop outof university for different reasons, insti-tutional commitment- a variable thatwill be explored below, was the mostinfluential in explaining dropout forboth sexes. Research indicates that thatboth theories “are correct in presumingthat college persistence is the product ofa complex set of interactions amongpersonal and institutional factors as wellas in presuming that Intent to Persist isthe outcome of the successful match be-tween the student and the institution”(Cabrera, Castaneda, Nora, andHengstler, 1992, p.158).

Goal commitments. Several models of student attrition

have included goal commitments as avariable (Bean, 1980; Cabrera et al.,1992; Cabrera et al., 1993). In thesemodels, goal commitments have re-ferred to the completion of an academic

program and the attainment of a degree.In the model presented here, it is ac-knowledged that graduate students haveother goal commitments that are tied topersonal, institutional, and career val-ues, and may or may not be in congru-ence with educational goals orexpectations, though their connection toother variables is acknowledged.

Job search.This variable is included in the

model presented here as being directlylinked with career values and goal com-mitments, and is seen as an essentialcomponent of the transition pathwaythrough graduate school. As has beennoted above, graduate students may re-enter the system after many years ofworking and may already have estab-lished a career. In this case, the choiceto return to school may be for the pur-pose of career advancement, a careerchange, or indicate a desire to meet apersonal goal. Other graduate studentsmay be aiming to complete an advanceddegree that will make them more com-petitive in the job market. Ultimately, itis assumed that graduate school islinked in some way, to employment.The job search may be ongoingthroughout graduate education or be ini-tiated near the end of the program, inthe “moving on” phase, as the studentprepares to transition out of graduateschool and into a career (Polson, 2003).

Psychosocial development.Psychosocial theories of develop-

ment look at “the important issues peo-ple face as their lives progress, such ashow to define themselves, their relation-ships with others, and what to do withtheir lives.” (Evans, Forney, & Guido-DiBrito, 1998, p.32). It is noted that en-vironmental conditions such as aninstitution’s size and type, articulationand adherence to mission, and teachingstyles are also factors in psychosocialdevelopment (Chickering & Reisser,1993; Dunn & Forney, 2004). Gardner(2009) acknowledges that psychosocialdevelopment is at work throughout allphases of the doctoral student experi-ence, as the student gains competencein the subject matter and establishes aprofessional identity. The same may besaid of Master’s degree students.

Social identity development.Social identity development looks

at “what students think about their spe-cific social identity and how they thinkabout it”, and includes notions of iden-tity related to gender, race/ethnicity,sexual orientation, social class, abilityand disability, and religion, as well ashow these identities intersect (McEwen,2005, p.13). The direct link between so-cial identity development and back-ground factors, including personalattributes, can thus be seen, and is indi-cated in the model presented here.

Cognitive structural development.According to models of cognitive

structural development, student successconsists of the acquisition of advancedcapacities, including critical thinking,decision-making, and conceptual under-standing (Strange, 2010). Gardner(2009) notes that graduate students ex-perience cognitive development as theycomplete their coursework and gain re-search experience. A direct link isdrawn in the model presented here be-tween cognitive structural developmentand academic integration.

Internal influences.Astin (1984) notes that increased

rates of undergraduate program comple-tion may be attributed to increased lev-els of student involvement. Gardner andBarnes (2007) examine the role of grad-uate student involvement in socializa-tion and as preparation for aprofessional career. They refer toTinto’s (1993) model of doctoral per-sistence, and his focus on academic andsocial integration. These factors havebeen discussed by numerous researchersin the context of student attrition andpersistence at the graduate level (seeEthington & Smart, 1986; Mullen,Goyette, & Soares, 2003) and are in-cluded as essential factors to be consid-ered in the development of a transitionmodel of graduate students.

Academic integration. Mullen,Goyette, and Soares (2003) define aca-demic integration as a student’s aca-demic involvement in his or herinstitution. This involvement may beformal or informal, and includes activi-ties such as courses and seminars, con-



ferences and presentations, and schol-arly writing. At the doctoral stage, thestudent may be most academically in-volved with his or her supervisor anddoctoral committee members, and lesswith one’s peers and colleagues. Theadvisor or mentor role has been linkedin previous research to student satisfac-tion, success, and persistence (Golde,2005; Zhao, Golde & McCormick,2005).

Social integration. Social integra-tion refers to the extent of a student’sinvolvement in relationships with peersand college faculty (Mullen, Goyette,and Soares, 2003). It may include activ-ities such as orientation, ‘socials’ andinformal writing or thesis supportgroups. Tinto (1993) acknowledges thatat the graduate level, social integrationis closely linked with academic integra-tion. Interestingly, there is no evidenceto suggest that social integration affectsthe institutional commitment of olderstudents at the undergraduate level(Braxton & Hirschy, 2004; Gilardi &Guglielmetti, 2011). Further researchshould reveal whether this holds forgraduate students as well.

External influences.Tinto (1993) acknowledges that stu-

dents also belong to other “externalcommunities”, such as family and work;these external influences can also affectintegration and may also play a role in astudent’s decision to either stay in col-lege or dropout. Demands of externalcommunities may result in limited in-volvement in communities of the de-partment. With reference to Bean (1983;1990), Titus (2004) refers to these exter-nal influences as environmental pullvariables, such as a lack of financial re-sources, relationships, opportunities fortransfer, employment and family re-sponsibilities, and acknowledges thatthese may affect a student’s decision toleave a college. These variables mayhave a particular influence at the gradu-ate level, as an increasingly number ofstudents may be described as non-tradi-tional, and as Bean and Metzner (1985)discovered, these students seem to bemore affected by the external environ-ment than by a lack of social integra-tion, which is known to affect

traditional student attrition.Conversely, external factors may

have a positive influence on graduatestudent persistence. Sweitzer (2009) ex-amined the positive effects of relation-ships established outside of theacademy on professional identity devel-opment. Cabrera, Nora, and Castaneda(1993) find support for Bean’s sugges-tion that environmental factors (such assupport from significant others) be con-sidered in studies of persistence; henceit is included in the model presentedhere.

Psychological outcomes.In their conceptual model of non-

traditional student attrition, Bean andMetzner (1985) include psychologicaloutcomes (utility, satisfaction, goalcommitment, and stress) as being mostdirectly influenced by academic and en-vironmental (described here as external)variables, as well as by background anddefining variables. They draw a possi-ble link to social integration. In themodel presented here, a direct link isdrawn between psychosocial develop-ment (itself arising as a result of bothacademic and social integration andsupport) and psychological outcomes.These factors play an important role instudents’ decision-making process ofwhether to stay or to go.

Decisions. While an extensive body of litera-

ture has attempted to explain the stagesin students’ post-secondary decision-making (Hossler & Gallagher, 1987;Perna, 2006; Ross, 2010), these studentchoice models focus exclusively on un-dergraduate students and limit theiranalysis to entry into the post-secondarysystem and not departure from it. Fur-ther research in this area is needed, atboth the undergraduate and graduatelevels.

Leaving Graduate School Departure from a graduate program

may arise under a myriad of conditions,as we have seen, but we must be carefulnot to assume that all departures are afailure- of the student, the department,institution, or the system. Certainly, anynumber of outcomes may accompanythe transition out of graduate school.

We consider below three of the mostlikely outcomes.

Degree completion.Graduation is recognized as an im-

portant transition, often described withritualistic connotations. Retention ratesat the graduate level, however, are dis-appointingly low in the United Statesand Canada. In the United States, onlyabout half of all doctoral students enter-ing their programs will complete the de-gree (Council of Graduate Schools,2008; Gardner, 2009). It is important tonote, however, that not all institutionscompile information on attrition rates,and due to a lack of a universal graduatestudent tracking system, it cannot easilybe determined how many of these ‘non-completers’ are actually incorrectly la-belled as such, such as those whotransferred to another program or insti-tution or interrupted their studies, suchas through an extended leave of ab-sence, only to return at a later date (seeGolde, 2005 for a discussion of such at-triters). The number of graduate stu-dents who actually complete theirdegree may thus be higher than statis-tics indicate.

Transfer.The tracking of graduate student

persistence and attrition at either the de-partmental or institutional level has notbeen well documented in Canada or theUnited States, and it is difficult to spec-ulate the number of graduate studentswhose educational careers are charac-terized by path diversions and alterna-tive pathways, such as program,department, and institutional transfers.There is an emerging literature on un-dergraduate transfer (see Junor &Usher, 2008), and as Ehrenberg, Zuck-erman, Groen, and Brucker (2010) ac-knowledge, it has long been known thatmany students who initially enrol as un-dergraduates transfer and complete de-grees at other institutions. Critics ofhigh PhD attrition rates note that thismay also be the case for doctoral stu-dents. This emphasizes the importanceof institutional commitment and inte-gration in persistence, as well as the im-portance of considering academictransfers when studying graduate stu-dent attrition.



Departure. About half of those students who

enter a graduate program in the UnitedStates will not finish (Council of Gradu-ate Schools, 2008). Chances are onlyslightly better for those students en-rolled at a Canadian university.Prompted to explore the issue as a resultof her own experiences and departurefrom two doctoral programs, Lovitts(2001) brought to the forefront the myr-iad of factors that influence the decisionto drop out, many of which have beenaddressed here in this discussion.

Transition Pathways After GraduateSchool

Several models have been devel-oped detailing various stages throughwhich doctoral students pass en route toacademic and professional careers(Gardner, 2009; Sweitzer 2009; Tinto,1993), but Master’s students remain ab-sent from much of this literature. Con-sidered below are three pathwaysavailable to those who depart from grad-uate students, regardless of outcome.

Academic career transitions.Traditionally, the pathway of the

doctoral student typically culminatedwith an academic appointment as a uni-versity professor or researcher. As a re-sult of a recent economic downturn, andan arguable over-supply of new Ph.D.graduates, the chances of these graduatesactually securing a tenure-track facultyposition are not as promising as theyonce were; in some disciplines, particu-larly humanities, the situation is ratherbleak (Benton, 2009; 2010; Conn, 2010;Leach, 2011). Nonetheless, the road toan academic career continues to be thechosen path of many graduates, and isencouraged by faculty. While a doctorateis typically required for most tenuretrack positions, an increasing number ofABD’s (those doctoral students whohave completed all program require-ments except for the dissertation) seekand find employment as college and uni-versity lecturers and administrators.

Non-academic career transitions. The transition to a non-academic

career is a likely outcome for those end-ing their educational journey with a

Master’s degree, and increasingly thecase for those exiting with a Doctoratein hand (Association of Universities andColleges of Canada, 2002, as cited inElgar, 2003). It has been argued thatmore support is needed for those headedfor this career path (Lehker & Furlong,2006; Polson, 2003). Those who aspireto, and are encouraged to seek an aca-demic position may be being led astray,and many graduate students and facultyhave an unrealistic view of the job mar-ket (Golde, 2005).

Further education.For some, the transition out of grad-

uate school may be delayed, or followedby re-entry into the post-secondary sys-tem, as a result of the desire or need (de-pendent on career goals andexpectations) to acquire further creden-tials. The educational pathway may thusbe longer for some than others. Thosewho complete or leave a Master’s or pro-fessional degree program may opt tocontinue on to a Doctoral program orenrol in continuing education or profes-sional development courses to attain cer-tifications that may complement thegraduate degree and provide a practicalcomponent to their training.

SummaryA theoretical model of graduate stu-

dent transitions has been presented here,based on an extensive review of the lit-erature and an adaptation of models de-veloped to explain undergraduatestudent experiences of access, persist-ence, and attrition. The model proposedin this paper aims to contribute to thediscussion of graduate student transi-tions, with the hope that as further re-search continues, a better understandingof the various educational pathways stu-dent take will be reached.

The model depicted here includesfactors believed to be most influential inthe decision to enrol in graduate school,outlines the transitions and componentsof socialization that characterize thephases of graduate study, including fac-tors that may effect decisions of whetheror not to persist, and concludes with abrief discussion of the possible outcomesthat may result as students transition outof graduate school and on with theirlives. While it is acknowledged that the

factors identified here are in no way ex-haustive of the many concerns and issuesgraduate students face in gaining entry,persisting and departing from their stud-ies at the highest levels of post-sec-ondary education, it is hoped that thismodel will stimulate further discussionand prompt examination of the most in-fluential factors that help to shape theirexperiences and decisions.

This paper, and the model accompa-nying it, may be seen as a preliminaryexploration of the graduate student expe-rience, and as such, is limited in scope tothe findings of previous research, muchof it based on undergraduate students.Further research is thus needed to ex-plore whether the factors identified hereare indeed influential in enrolment andpersistence in graduate education, and todetermine whether these factors differ bylevel of program and/or discipline. Con-textual differences between countrieswith regards to graduate education mustalso be considered and acknowledged.As undergraduate and graduate programenrolments continue to rise, more infor-mation is needed on student demograph-ics, as well as the factors that work bothtogether and separately to steer studentsonto and through the various educationalpathways that come to shape their futurecareer decisions and ultimately, theirlives.

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Abstract

Job Developers and Career Practi-tioners promote job seekers to employersin order to help them find meaningfulemployment. Because of today’s com-plexity in the labour-market and speci-ficity of job requirements, the task of jobdevelopers is getting more complicated.So, a sector specific approach may helpJob Developers understand the needs ofthe labour market and lead them towardssuccess in assisting job seekers find jobs.In order to build effective client promo-tion strategies, Job Developers need toclearly understand the current trends inthe labour market, and then try to matchtheir clients’ skills with the requirementsof the vacant jobs. Once this match issuccessfully made, they can start pro-moting job seekers to the employers.This article has been prepared on thebasis of experience obtained as a Job De-veloper and Project Coordinator of abridging program for internationally edu-cated engineers called “EngineeringConnections”, which ACCES Employ-ment has been running for over 4 years.This article reveals how a sector-specificjob development approach can help JobDevelopers match job seekers’ skillswith the labour market requirements, andeventually promote them to the employ-ers.

Every year embraces a large num-ber of immigrants who eventually inte-grate into Canadian workforce andcontribute to the economic growth ofthe country. greeted 247,202 permanentresidents in the year 2008 which waswell inside the government’s intendedrange of 240,000 to 265,000 new per-manent residents for the year. Further79,459 foreign students and 193,061temporary foreign workers resulted in acollective total of 519,722 newcomersin for the year 2008 (Citizenship andImmigration Canada, 2009). It is pre-dictable that will greet between 240,000to 265,000 new permanent residents in

2011 (Canada Immigration Plan 2011,2010). It is often challenging for manyof these immigrants to find professionaljobs in the Canadian labour market be-cause of various barriers including cul-tural shock, language, lack of labourmarket information, inability to promotemarketable skills, unrecognized foreigncredentials etc.

A number of not-for-profit organi-zations are delivering various govern-ment funded programs to helpinternationally educated professionalsfind meaningful jobs in Canada. WhileEmployment Consultants in the not-for-profit industry are providing employ-ment preparation services to thesenewcomers, Job Developers are contin-uously promoting their clients as well astheir services to local employers - whichoften results in helping internationallyeducated professionals find jobs in spe-cific sectors. Traditionally job develop-ment involved a general approach ofoffering services to newcomers withoutfocusing on occupational specifications;however, with an increased number ofclients demanding access to specificsectors, it has become imperative that asector-specific approach should be for-mulated for job development. Respond-ing to this need, a number ofnot-for-profit organizations in the GTAhave launched sector specific bridgingprograms for internationally educatednewcomers. This involves skilled immi-grants’ completing in-class training andwork placements to bridge their prioreducation and work experience so theymeet the requirements to practice withintheir professions in (hireimmigrants.ca,2010). To name a few - ACCES Em-ployment, Skills for Change, Mi-croskills, JVS and also somecommunity colleges and universitieslike Humber, Seneca, Ryerson are offer-ing bridge-to-work programs for inter-nationally educated professionals invarious sectors including engineering,finance, accounting, HR, sales and mar-keting etc.

Successful job development needsto be comprised of a structured, step bystep approach. To succeed, the profes-sional development should be integratedin a progressive approach that is well-structured. It’s a true/real reflexive prac-tice because a combination of technicalknowledge and basic scientific princi-ples apply to the activities of vocationsassessment and evaluation, job analysis,and contract development (Bissonnette,1994). For promoting internationally ed-ucated newcomers to local employers,the JD (Job Developer) must first deter-mine necessary steps or the process, andthen formulate strategies for promotingclients in the local market.

A Sector-specific Job DevelopmentProcess

In order to be able to promote inter-nationally educated newcomers to theCanadian labour market a JD needs tofollow the below outlined process:

A. Steps so that the training/educa-tion given to professionals trained outof the country has support/help froma sector-based approachprovides/gives results

Following are two essential steps ofjob development for promoting an inter-nationally educated professional in aparticular sector:

1. Identify clients’ sector-specificskills

• Internationally educated profession-als bring a variety of hard and softskills specific to different sectors.Each Canadian sector looks for spe-cific hard skills. Following aresome examples of sector specifichard skills:

• Engineering: Design skills usingAutoCAD, Solid Works, PLC pro-gramming, Primavera

• Accounting: ACCPAC, Simply Ac-counting, Quick Books

Job Development for Today - A SectorSpecific Approach

Habib UllahACCES Employment

Job Development for Today - A Specific Approach60


• Information Technology: C +, .Net,SQL, SAPClients’ skills can often be identi-

fied in workshop settings, through one-on-one counseling, resume reviews, etc.Mock interviews, technical presenta-tions, and role playing can also be usedfor identifying clients’ skills. For exam-ple – a Workshop Facilitator or JD maysimply ask the clients to introducethemselves focusing on their profes-sional experience and technical skills.During mock interviews, the interviewermay ask questions about hard skills, ormay provide opportunities for clients todescribe their relevant skills duringtechnical presentations or role playing.A JD may also learn about clients’ skillsby asking questions relating to specifichard skills.

2. Match clients’ skills with jobrequirementsAt this stage the JD needs to

demonstrate some knowledge and un-derstanding of the specific sectors formatching clients’ skills with job require-ments. Before beginning the matchingprocess, the JD should already be awareof the skills that comprise the clientpool, so this process can start only afterthe clients’ skills have been identified.

Understand the labour market: TheJD also needs to understand the labourmarket, industry standards, and currentsituation in terms of trends of the spe-cific industry, and most importantly –vacancies with employers in the sectorin order to be able to start matchingclients’ skills with position require-ments. While researching jobs for Me-chanical Designers, the JD shoulddetermine demand for this role in thelabour market. The JD needs to knowwhich industries are looking for design-ers, for example – automotive, aero-space, metal fabrication, manufacturingetc. Again, the JD needs to take intoconsideration other relevant factors interms of how the automotive industry isdoing, whether there are any aerospacecompanies operating in the GTA, and fi-nally – whether these industries are hir-ing or not. The JD should also checkwhat type of mechanical designingskills are in demand in the industry, forexample whether the employers arelooking for Solid Works, Catia, Pro En-

gineering or other similar skills.Obtain information: Details relating

to job requirements can be obtained bychecking job postings and companywebsites, reading professional journals,newspapers and periodicals and also bydirectly contacting employers. However,in order to do the latter, the JD shouldwork to build an effective relationshipwith the employer first.

Understand clients’ experience: TheJD requires understanding that in addi-tion to hard skills, the employers lookfor relevant experience andeducation/training. Usually the employ-ers tend to be specific in terms of rele-vant experience. They not only ask forsimilar experience, but also experiencein the same industry. Sometimes theyask for experience in using a particulartype of machine or software. For exam-ple, when an employer is looking for anengineer with piping design experience– they may get very specific by indicat-ing that the candidate needs to have ex-perience in the oil and gas industry andskills in P & ID (Piping and Instrumen-tation Design). Similarly, sometimes anemployer may look for an electrical en-

gineer with experience in using PLCprogramming either in Allan Bradley, orSiemens.

It is very important that prior tosending any resumes the JD confirmsthat the candidate fulfills all the aboverequirements. Sometimes it is easier topromote clients whose skills are in de-mand, but in low supply in the Canadian

labour market. For example – someAsian countries are ahead of in the fieldof telecommunications. So, candidatescoming from those countries tend to bein great demand in Canadian telecomcompanies. Similarly, lacks engineerswith transportation background. So, in-ternationally educated civil engineerswith experience in transportation mayhave great potential in .

B. Build a Client Promotion StrategyOnce a JD finds suitable clients for

any particular organization, the nextstep will be to formulate a strategy forpromoting the clients effectively to theemployer. It is very important for the JDto interest employers in respective pro-grams (for example – bridging pro-grams) and also to interest employers inthe programs’ clients. With the wordswe speak we must inform, educate, in-spire, communicate value, express en-thusiasm and demonstrate goodjudgment (p. 165, Bissonnette, 1994).The picture/design/image of figure 1below can help to understand the neces-sary tasks associated with successfulpromotion:

1. 1. Promote clients as professionals,not as job seekers: We know thatemployers have needs for skilledprofessionals and we have clientswith necessary education, skillsand experience. Now we need toconnect these clients with thelabour market. When promoting

Figure 1. Successful Client Promotion

Point out the additional qualities the clients can bring to the employer

Promote clients as professionals, not as job seekers

Focus on clients’ relevant skills, experience and achievements

Client Promotion Strategies

1. SgureiF

on iotrom Pntei Clulffulssecuc 1. S

on

Job Development for Today - A Specific Approach61


clients, we need to address clients’professional competence ratherthan promoting them as interna-tionally educated professionals.For example, when we promote anaccounting professional, we needto focus on the client’s profes-sional qualities as they match jobrequirements, rather than tellingthe employer that the client had agood career in their home countryand now she/he is looking for arelevant job in . Fortunately alarge number of internationally ed-ucated professionals now hold im-portant positions with variousCanadian organizations, and theyare quite aware of the competenceof internationally educated profes-sionals. They tend to be open tothese types of candidates despitethe fact that these candidates don’thave Canadian experience.

1. 2 Focus on clients’ relevant skills,experience and achievements:This refers to the common themeof targeting and customizing aclient’s resume, but can also beused for promoting the client tothe employer. The employers al-ways want the client to have expe-rience in the same industry, in asimilar environment, and with in-dustry-specific software/technolo-gies. For example, if we have aclient who we are promoting to aconstruction firm for a GO transitextension project, we can say thatour client has civil engineeringproject management experience,combined with past experience inrailway construction projects.

1. 3. Point out the additional qualitiesthat clients can bring to the em-ployers: Employers are ap-proached by many people fromprograms like ours in the course ofa year, so it is crucial to tell theemployer what will be differentabout working with you (p. 177,Bissonnette, 1994). We can try topromote clients to employers em-phasizing the additional skills thatthe clients hold. For example –when an employer is looking for atelecom professional with someexperience in wireless networking,

we can also highlight other rele-vant experience. Moreover, whena client has experience with ad-vanced technology in anothercountry – the experience may ben-efit the Canadian employer. Thereis a common theme in sales andmarketing literature: People do notbuy features, they buy benefits (p.178, Bissonnette, 1994). Althoughover-qualification is considered abarrier for foreign trained profes-sionals in , sometimes this canalso be promoted as an additionalqualification. For example - a me-chanical engineer may have bach-elor level education in mechanicalengineering, but a specialized edu-cation in Computational Fluid Dy-namics during master level studiesmay benefit some employers.In 2008, 42% of immigrant work-ers aged 25 to 54 had a higherlevel of education than their jobrequired, while 28% of Canadian-born workers were similarly over-qualified. Regardless of period oflanding, immigrants had highershares of over-qualification(http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/091123/dq091123b-eng.htm, Study: Quality ofemployment in the Canadian im-migrant labour market). This over-qualification can be presented tothe employer in a way whichviews it as an additional strength.

A sector specific job developmentapproach will not only be effective forbridging programs, but for any pro-grams dealing with internationally edu-cated professionals. All the JD needs todo is determine the professional affilia-tion of each client, research the labourmarket and finally, follow through thesteps of promoting internationally edu-cated professionals. This approach willnot only help the JD learn more aboutthe labour market and industrial detailsof different sectors, but also help gainemployers’ trust. The JD will talk theirlanguage as a result of becoming famil-iarized with the sector through thisstrategic job development process.

References

Bissonnette, D. (1994). Beyond tradi-tional job development: The art ofcreating opportunity. : Milt Wright& Associates, Inc. Publication.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada(2009, February), How many peoplewill immigrate to in 2009? Re-trieved November 12, 2010, fromhttp://immig-canada.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-many-prople-will-im-migrate-to.html.

Hireimmigrants.ca (2010), Finding linksto programs that familiarize new-comers with the workplace. Re-trieved November 15, 2010, fromhttp://www.hireimmigrants.ca/how/5

Immigration to (2010), immigrationplan 2011. Retrieved November 19,2011, from http://immig-canada.-blogspot.com/2010/11/canada-im-migration-plan-2011.html

Statistic (2010), Study: Quality of em-ployment in the Canadian immi-grant labour market. RetrievedOctober 28, 2010, fromhttp://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quo-tidien/091123/dq091123b-eng.htm

CERIC (Canadian Education andResearch Institute for Counselling) isa charitable organization that advanceseducation and research in careercounselling and career development.

Le CERIC est un organismecaritatif voué à la progression del’éducation et de la recherche en matière d’orientation professionnelle et de développement de carrière.

CERIC funds both research as well aslearning and professionaldevelopment projects that advancethe body of knowledge in careercounselling and career developmentin Canada. For more informationabout our current funding prioritiesand project partnership details,please visit ceric.ca.

Le CERIC finance à la fois des projets de recherche et des projets pédagogiques et de développement professionnel qui promeuvent l’ensemble des connaissances dans le domaine de l’orientation professionnelle et du développement de carrière au Canada. Pour de plus amples renseignements sur nos priorités de financement et nos partenariats de projets, visitez le site ceric.ca.

ProjectPartnershipsPartenariatsde projets

Canada’s bilingual National CareerDevelopment Conference promotingthe exchange of information andinnovative approaches for careerdevelopment and counselling.Ottawa, January 28 - 30, 2013.

Cannexus est un congrès national bilingue favorisant l’échange d’informations et d’initiatives novatrices dans le domaine de l’orientation et du développement de carrière. Ottawa, du 28 au 30 janvier 2013.

ContactPoint is a Canadian onlinecommunity program providing career resources, learning and networking for practitioners.

OrientAction est un programmecommunautaire canadien en lignedestiné aux praticiens(iennes), qui fournit des ressources sur le développement professionnel, l’acquisition de connaissances et le réseautage.

The CJCD is a peer-reviewedpublication of career-relatedacademic research and bestpractices. cjcdonline.ca.

La RCDC est une publication évaluée par les pairs qui porte sur la recherche universitaire et les meilleures pratiques. rcdcenligne.ca.

GraduateStudents

Étudiants(es) aux cycles supérieurs

Graduate Student EngagementProgram and Graduate StudentAward. For information,visit ceric.ca.

Programme de mobilisation desétudiants(es) aux cycles supérieurs et Prix des études supérieures. Pour obtenir plus d’informations, veuillez visiter ceric.ca.

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Sondage des spécialistes de l’orientation professionnelle du CERICDownload report at ceric.ca

Career Centre Evaluation: A Practitioner Guide

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Emerging Green Jobs in Canada

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Research in MotionCreating Hope, Opportunity, and Results

for Disadvantaged YouthCarolyn Acker and Norman Rowen

Co-Founders, The Pathways to Education Program

Abstract

This paper recounts the development ofthe Pathways to Education Programfrom its origins in the Regent Park com-munity of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.The Program was conceived in 2000 asa response to the seeming intractableand longstanding problem of highschool dropouts in one of Canada’smost economically disadvantaged andculturally diverse communities. In thefirst section, the authors recount the de-velopment of the Program. Section Twodocuments the Program’s remarkablesuccess in significantly reducing thedropout rate and increasing post-sec-ondary participation through the provi-sion of comprehensive, community-based supports. The final section offerslessons first about the Program itselfand, second, about possible implicationsfor other social innovations. The Pro-gram’s success has led to its replicationin other low-income communitiesacross Canada.

As Pathways to Education (Path-ways) enters its second decade, itseemed like an appropriate time to re-flect on its origins, achievements andlessons. As one of two founding fun-ders, the Counselling Foundation ofCanada helped unleash a powerful so-cial innovation which has the ability tochange the lives of youth in our lowestincome communities; youth whose lifechances have historically been so se-verely limited. Over the course of thecreation of the Pathways program alongwith implementation and replication, wehave had precious little time to publishsome of the key findings, both resultsand lessons. This is an important mo-ment to do both as Pathways developsin new ways and takes new directions.

The following paper is organized inthree broad sections. The first describesthe background and context for the de-

velopment of the initial Pathways to Ed-ucation Program in the Regent Parkcommunity of Toronto. The second partoutlines the principal results andachievements of Pathways young people,providing data covering the past decadeincluding both Regent Park as well as thesecond generation communities whichhave replicated the Program. The finalpart offers some lessons learned fromPathways’ first decade focusing on les-sons regarding the Program itself (andrelevant to other youth development ini-tiatives), as well as offering some lessonsfrom our experiences with Pathways as asocial innovation which, hopefully, willbe of value to those considering other in-novations to address similarly complexchallenges in other communities.

Part I: Background, Context andDevelopment of Pathways

The Canadian Council on Learning(2006) tells us that by 2013, up to 70%of all jobs will require post-secondaryeducation. Therefore, a major challengeis how to ensure that capable youngpeople from poor communities, “firstgeneration” youth and aboriginal Cana-dians can access post-secondary educa-tion.1 The Canadian MillenniumScholarship Fund (2009) has shown thatthese are the groups who have histori-cally lacked access. This challenge waswell understood in 2000 in developingthe Pathways to Education Program inRegent Park. The high school drop-outrate for the wealthiest communities inToronto is 5% to 13% (e.g. TDSB 2009)while youth in Canada’s lowest incomecommunities are dropping out of highschools at outrageous rates in excess of50% to 60%. Since the 1960s policymakers, educators and governmentshave struggled to solve this problem.The Pathways to Education Program hashad some important success in address-ing this seemingly intractable problemthrough social innovation.

Pathways to Education is a commu-nity-based, youth-at-risk initiative de-veloped in one of the poorestcommunities in downtown Toronto,Canada which helps youth in low-in-come, urban communities complete andsucceed in high school by providingvarious forms of academic, social, fi-nancial and advocacy supports.

The origins and development of thePathways to Education Program stemfrom the experience of failure for themajority of young people in the commu-nity. Regent Park is the oldest andlargest public housing development inCanada and continues to be one of themost economically disadvantaged com-munities in the city of Toronto. Thechallenges faced by this community aremany: low incomes, (the 2001 CanadianCensus revealed that the median house-hold income for Regent Park was ap-proximately $17,000 -withneighbouring Moss Park the lowest inthe GTA - compared to approximately$54,000 for Toronto households as awhole), high unemployment rates, loweducational attainment, and a large pro-portion of single-parent families.2 Inparticular, the challenge of the experi-ence of failure was at the root of com-munity concern dating from the 1960s.Indeed, a high rate of youth dropoutsand a growing achievement gap amongminority and low income youth was andperhaps continues to be viewed as an in-tractable problem comparable to thelongstanding challenges of Aboriginalcommunities in Canada.

While working at the Regent ParkCommunity Health Centre (RPCHC),we [authors Carolyn Acker, ExecutiveDirector and Norman Rowen, DirectorPathways to Education] founded thePathways to Education Program. At thetime we didn’t think of ourselves as so-cial entrepreneurs. We were workinghard to break the cycle of poverty andimplement the Centre’s vision of “com-

Creating Hope, Opportunity, and Results for Disadvantaged Youth64


munity succession”: that the young peo-ple growing up in the community wouldbecome the future doctors, nurses, so-cial workers, community developmentworkers and administrators of the Cen-tre. Ten years later, we reduced thedropout rate by 70% and increased post-secondary participation four fold.

In 1992, the RPCHC primarily of-fered medical, dental, and nursing serv-ices. It was during the early nineties thatthe Board of the Health Centre ex-pressed its desire to be more than “aclinic”. They believed that, in order toimprove the health of the community,they needed to engage in health promo-tion and community development strate-gies. After development of a strategicplan in 1993, the next few years werespent growing the Health Center’s ca-pacity in health promotion and commu-nity development. It was also duringthis period that we began to witness therapid deterioration of the Regent Parkcommunity. Through the nineties, theHealth Centre’s budget grew from ap-proximately $2.5 million to $6.5 mil-lion. Our services and programsexpanded to meet the changing needs,encompassing everything from a strongEarly Years program to growing com-munity gardens, working with the com-munity and police on safety issues,fostering community development andcapacity-building and advocacy onhousing issues and shelter for the home-less. Yet, as we were struggling to meetthe needs of the community, the vio-lence continued to increase. We wit-nessed young men involved in gangs,along with drug dealing, assault andmurder from the increasing use of handguns. The atmosphere in the communitywas one of hopelessness and the youthinvolved in these activities were gettingyounger and younger. We knew weweren’t getting at the root cause and wefelt as though the services of the HealthCentre were more of a community bandaid rather than a strategy to break thecycle of poverty. We were desperate tofind a solution to the distress and de-spair engulfing the community.

In 1995 Carolyn, and two othersfrom the RPCHC, attended the first In-ternational Community Health CentreConference held at the Centre forHealth Care Reform in Montreal, andheard a presentation by Dr. H. Jack

Geiger. Dr. Geiger presented on a com-munity health centre he was instrumen-tal in founding in rural Mississippi. Thecommunity was steeped in racial segre-gation. A video presentation showedpeople picking cotton, living in sub-standard housing with inadequate waterand little hope for the future. Geigerlaunched a community health centrethere in 1965 under the sponsorship ofTufts Medical School in Boston. Alongwith the primary care clinical servicesthey were providing, he and his team in-troduced a variety of programs, includ-ing after-school programs, college anduniversity preparation courses, as wellas economic development initiativesthat ultimately provided youth with em-ployment opportunities to break out ofpoverty and some became health careprofessionals serving their communityfrom the community health centre.3After listening to the story unfold wewere told that a young woman whogrew up in the community obtained herMaster’s degree and she was now theCEO of this Health Centre and that fouryoung boys from this community werepoised to graduate from medical schooland were going back to their communityto provide health services. Needless tosay we were awed by this experienceand brought the idea back as a way ofactually breaking the cycle of povertyand handing over ownership of theHealth Centre to the community. Staffand board were galvanized by the ideaand, during the 1996 board/staff strate-gic planning retreat, we were inspired tocreate our own audacious vision of“community succession”.

RPCHC is grounded in an under-standing of the importance of commu-nity ownership. In fact, communityownership is a fundamental value of theRPCHC. Nothing was more importantto the achievement of the vision of“community succession” than engagingthe community. The Centre’s missionstatement commits it to involving com-munity members in decision-makingand in designing and running programs.In 1996-97, the RPCHC began a processof exploring with the community whatachieving the vision of “communitysuccession” would mean. How couldthe community help its children becomethe leaders and professionals of the Re-gent Park of the future? It’s important to

remember that at this stage we had noidea that we would create the high im-pact, social innovation, we named Path-ways to Education. We wanted to breakthe cycle of poverty and knew that theidentification of the obstacles and solu-tions must be driven by the community.It took about three years before the con-cept for the Pathways to Education Pro-gram was fully developed. The vision isnot a vision about program implementa-tion or reform of the education system.The point may seem obvious, but manyprogram models are driven by purposesthat are more relevant to the profession-als involved in delivering them. TheHealth Centre’s vision flowed from thecommunity, and the Pathways programwas developed and implemented withthe youth of the community as its focus.

In 1997, the vehicle or structureused to engage the community in the vi-sioning process was the CommunitySuccession Task Force. Later, based onthe work of the Task Force, a SteeringCommittee was formed. Residents fromthe community played a major rolealongside members of the RPCHCBoard and staff, including the ExecutiveDirector. There was also representationfrom other local agencies and organiza-tions. Records from one of the early“community succession” focus groupsin 1999 indicate that residents werekeenly aware of the need for peoplefrom Regent Park to feel respected andpart of the process. They were askedhow to ensure that non-resident mem-bers would not dominate the project’sdevelopment. Among their suggestionswere: facilitation of discussions; puttinga resident in the chair’s role; invitingyouth to participate; and coaching forresident participants so they would notbe intimidated by the language and styleof professionals. All of these sugges-tions became part of the subsequent ac-tivities and processes from which thePathways to Education Program grew.

A number of strategies were used toengage in a community dialogue in Re-gent Park, but it is important to under-stand the context in which the HealthCentre was operating. Throughout theearly nineties the RPCHC had demon-strated a long-term commitment to thecommunity by developing communitystrengths, working hand-in-hand withresidents who had taken leadership and



staff roles in the organization, recogniz-ing and building upon community assetsand bringing in resources from outsidethe community, collaborating and part-nering with other community agenciesand institutions to build community ca-pacity, and advocating for the commu-nity. Some specific strategies used bythe “community succession” project inRegent Park included: a survey of com-munity residents to gather information,meetings with people who are seen asrole models for Regent Park youth,focus groups with parents from a varietyof linguistic and cultural backgrounds intheir first language, interviews andfocus groups with young people whohad graduated, who were still in school,or who had dropped out of high school,a staff survey at the Regent Park Com-munity Health Centre, informal commu-nity soundings, and meetings with stafffrom local elementary schools and localagencies. To support some of thesestrategies, people who spoke languagesother than English were needed to com-municate with some residents; therefore,members of the community were hiredand received training on how to conductfocus groups and had input into their de-sign. We needed seed funding to pursuedevelopment of the vision because staffat the RPCHC did not have time on topof their normal duties to do this work. In1999, a major milestone for the “com-munity succession” project occurredwhen RPCHC received seed fundingfrom the Counselling Foundation ofCanada to further develop its ideas andcreate a multi-year funding proposal.

By engaging the community andsharing the vision of “community suc-cession” with them through focusgroups, and by working in a collabora-tive process with community membersand other community based agencies,we elicited the community’s input so wecould develop a proposal to realize thevision. One thing that became very clearfrom the focus group data was howdeeply parents cared about their chil-dren’s future, and how interested theywere in actions that would help theirchildren succeed in the school system,and ultimately the workforce. Focusgroups and interviews with youth re-vealed that a significant number ofyouth in the community had lost hopefor the future. Even those who were

doing well in high school had very lowexpectations of being able to obtain stu-dent grants or loans and go on to post-secondary studies. The funding proposalthat was developed through this processrepresented a variety of activities to im-plement the vision. The proposal wasalso the culmination of a great deal ofwork on the part of Centre staff, boardand a consultant in nurturing funderconfidence. The main components con-sisted of a number of mentoring activi-ties and supported access to education,training and volunteer opportunities foradults and for older youth who haddropped out of high school. At this stagewe were looking at a symptom - youthand adults without skills or preparationfor employment - though we thought wewere looking at the problem. We werestill not clearly seeing the systemic is-sues contributing to the problem. Theaction research process that followed in2000 illuminated the systemic issueswhich needed to be addressed as theroot of the problem

At the end of 1999, after a year anda half of negotiations with two founda-tions, the Counselling Foundation ofCanada and the Ontario Trillium Foun-dation, we were granted funding basedon a proposal comprised of the previ-ously articulated program ideas that webelieved could achieve the vision, noneof which were the Pathways to Educa-tion Program. Achieving this vision wasa daunting challenge we gladly took onbecause we were propelled by our pas-sion for social justice. This was just thebeginning of financial support to realizethe community’s vision, but without theinitial support of these two foundingpartners, the Program would never havebeen developed and implemented.

Throughout the process of designand implementation many people toldus we would be unsuccessful. An inno-vative approach to tackle the intractableproblem of high school drop outs in lowincome communities was imperative.Not only was this extremely difficult be-cause of the complexity and intransi-gence of the problem, but we also had todeal with resistance from many cynicsand naysayers as we developed Path-ways and fund-raised to sustain thework. Another complication arose whenOntario elected the Harris Conserva-tives in 1995. The cuts made by that

government included a 22% reductionin social assistance to families, effectiveloss of transportation subsidies for lowincome students in the former City ofToronto (after the amalgamation of theseveral school boards), loss of rent con-trols, and more psychiatric bed and hos-pital closures. We revisited our fundersto explain that the floor had been pulledout from under the families we wereworking with which would make the vi-sion that much harder to achieve.

By early 2000, job descriptionswere being drafted, including one forDirector of the Community SuccessionProject who was hired in the spring. (By2001, the innovation was developed andthis role evolved into the Director ofPathways to Education). In 2000, theyear we began to research how wemight implement our vision which re-sulted in the creation of Pathways to Ed-ucation, there were nine murders in thecommunity, and there was a palpablesense of despair. The parents in thecommunity, of all cultures, feared fortheir children’s safety, and feared fortheir future. Yet they wanted the samethings for their kids as middle class par-ents. And they knew what our researchwould bear out; that we had a seriousproblem with young people whoweren’t finishing high school. Our re-search uncovered a dropout rate of 56%,fully twice the City of Toronto average.And for the children of single parents,and immigrants it was more than 70%.4On seeing these data, we were over-whelmed. It strengthened our resolve toaddress the tragic underachievement ofso many of our young people.

Launched in September 2001, theProgram was developed in the preced-ing year using an “action research”framework to elicit the community’s ex-periences and perceptions of barriersfaced in education and employment,coupled with a review of best practicesfrom related programs. The process wasguided by and built upon the solid foun-dation of community development out-lined above, an action researchmethodology, a results-driven focus, anda passion for breaking the cycle ofpoverty and hopelessness that had en-gulfed the community for so long. Wecreated Pathways by engaging the com-munity in this action research process,along with community based agencies



and local schools. After listening to par-ents, schools, agencies and dozens ofyoung people themselves, graduates anddropouts alike, we learned that the barri-ers to success were not things that couldbe addressed solely within the schools.The Pathways program was designed toovercome many of these risk factors, themost serious of which are clearly basedin the community including poverty,lack of academic and social support, anda longstanding culture of failure.5

Challenges Pathways Needed toAddress

There are a number of barrierswhich were initially identified throughthe development of the Pathways to Ed-ucation Program. Additionally, the Pro-gram’s evolution over the past decade,coupled with more recent research, en-abled us to address additional chal-lenges faced by Pathways’ youngpeople.

Initial UnderstandingsFour main barriers were identified

in 2000 through extensive focus groupdiscussions, individual interviews andresearch on best practices leading to thedevelopment of the four key Pathwayssupports.

Poverty.As a principal feature ofRegent Park, the reality of low incomeasserts itself for residents and their fam-ilies in multiple ways. Related to Path-ways, the lack of transportationsubsidies, coupled with the lack of alocal high school, necessitated consider-ation of a direct financial support. Thishas taken the form of transit tickets forRegent Park Pathways youth based ontheir school attendance. The cost of thissupport, however, may be seen to be“offset” by the Program’s design whichutilizes this direct financial support toensure contact with Program staff andthe development of more direct account-ability by the students.

A second aspect of the effects ofpoverty as an obstacle to success wasthe deeply held conviction that, if youngpeople were to graduate high school,they believed the cost of post-secondaryeducation was clearly beyond theirreach. The Pathways scholarship wasdesigned to directly address this barrier.

Beginning in 2005, the Provincial gov-ernment amended the processes and re-quirements under the Ontario StudentAssistance Plan (OSAP) to providegrants, rather than only loans, for thosewith the lowest family incomes, for firstyear tuition and half of second year tu-ition. This has allowed Pathways morelimited financial support to be appliedto costs not covered by the tuition grant(e.g. ancillary fees, books, residencecosts outside Toronto, etc.), or simplyapplied to tuition in second and lateryears.

Perhaps the more striking aspect ofthe longer term financial support is itsprofound effect on high school achieve-ment. This positive effect is specificallythe change in perspective which resultsfrom the logic that many young peopleidentified prior to Pathways; namely,that if you don’t believe you can go onto college or university, it doesn’t matterif you finish high school. Therefore, thepromise of support at the post-sec-ondary level allows young people to ad-dress their internalized pessimism – anattitude which was regrettably rein-forced by others’ perceptions (thestigma of the community) and whichwas itself exemplified by individual andcollective failure to complete highschool.

Poverty and risk. There is muchevidence concerning the factors whichplace students at risk, and considerableagreement that risk is far from a randomoccurrence.

The deleterious effect of poverty oneducation has been well known forcenturies. Thirty years of carefulsocial science has provided over-whelming evidence that socioeco-nomic status (SES) has been andcontinues to be the best single pre-dictor of how much schooling stu-dents will obtain, how well theywill do at their studies, and whattheir life prospects beyond schoolare. Much Canadian research con-firms poverty’s negative influenceon students’ behaviour, achieve-ment, and retention in school(Levin 1995: 212)SES continues to be the strongestpredictor of educational outcomes,as it has been since it came into

prominence as a research issuemore than 30 years ago. Almost alleducational outcomes, such as ini-tial reading achievement, referralsto special education, discipline andbehaviour problems, years of edu-cation completed, and gradesachieved are strongly correlatedwith family income… ChildhoodSES is the strongest single predic-tor of long-term income and educa-tional achievement. Other majorlife outcomes such as longevity,health status, criminal activity,propensity to political involvement,and so on have also been linked tochildhood socio-economic status. Inevery case, low family income isstrongly associated with poorer out-comes, a finding that has remainedextraordinarily robust in the re-search and applies in the UnitedStates, Canada, Australia and theUnited Kingdom… (Levin and Rif-fel 2000:184)

Commissioned research on Ontariodropouts (Fergusson et al, 2005) con-cluded that the determinants of risk in-clude both school-based and non-school(i.e. community-based) factors which, initself, suggests that school-based inter-ventions by themselves are extremelyunlikely to be effective, a conclusionsupported in a review of Canadian re-search (Levin, 2005).

While the extent – and consistency– of the relationship between educa-tional attainment and SES is clear, thecontribution of other factors is far lessso. Some of the risk factors identifiedby Ferguson et al (2005) as “non-school” factors are strongly associatedwith poverty and its concentration incommunities; for example, immigrationand settlement, moves/interruptions, so-cial isolation, assumption of adult roles,and minority status are all present in themost impoverished and challenged com-munities and, more important, are thelived experience of the youth in thesecommunities.

Given the above, there is also rea-son to ask the relative role of schoolfactors. While there is somewhat moreconflicting evidence, it is clear that suchfactors, after controlling for back-ground, account for much less of thevariance in educational attainment. This



understanding is augmented by findingsfrom several studies. For example, in areview of research, Raptis and Fleming(2003) noted that community and back-ground factors have a far greater impacton achievement than school-based fac-tors, citing work showing 50-60% of thevariance in achievement is based onbackground factors compared to 5-6%from school-based factors.

None of the above discussion is of-fered to suggest that efforts to improveschooling are irrelevant; rather, it is tonote that “the negative impact ofpoverty on all education and life out-comes is well known, yet the issue doesnot seem to occupy as important a placein educational policy or practice as itseffects would suggest.” (Levin and Rif-fel 2000:183). It is, rather, that educa-tional policy and programs, to beeffective, would appear to require atten-tion to poverty and to “community-based” rather than solely “school-based” approaches. As Levin noted:“One of the striking aspects of educa-tion reform, however, has been the lackof attention to the most important singledeterminant of educational outcomes —socio-economic status (SES) of fami-lies” (ibid.184). Pathways was inten-tionally designed to shift the lens from asingular focus on the school environ-ment, to a broader focus on the commu-nity as a whole, inclusive of its schools.This was a driving force behind the de-sign of the Pathways program.

The need for academic supportand the challenge of the curriculum.Pathways addresses several aspects ofthis challenge directly through the aca-demic support provided, of which tutor-ing is the major, but not the only,component. However, the need for suchsupport must be understood as havingseveral elements.

First, through the many focusgroups (particularly those with parentsin their first languages); it was clear thatthe limited English language skills ofmany parents precluded their direct sup-port of their individual children’s aca-demic endeavours. Second, even wherelanguage skills were not a barrier, thereare many parents whose own educationwas not at a level where they could sup-port high school subject knowledge.

Third, even where a parent’s back-ground might include subject knowl-edge, a very clear difference wasidentified between the methods of in-struction and expectations of the highschools (and teachers) attended by Path-ways youth and the experiences of theirparents. This is also a challenge formany tutors who “learned it differently”than what students are experiencing;and today’s high school students are ex-pected to demonstrate concretely thesedifferent understandings of many sub-jects (including math, but also science,history, geography and others). Thesedirect needs for subject support are metlargely through Pathways tutoring fiveevenings each week in the community.

Fourth, the structure and organiza-tion of the secondary school curriculumis extremely challenging even for par-ents well educated in Ontario. Courses,with vastly different destinations (not tobe called “streams” any longer), areoften not well understood by students ortheir parents. The result of this appearedto be inappropriate placements; mostnotably, students in courses at the wronglevel of instruction or with a destinationwhich did not correspond to their aspi-rations and/or abilities.6 Assessment forspecial needs is both difficult to access,particularly for second language learn-ers, and frequently supports which aremandated through the assessmentprocess are not well understood, even ifthey are available. Support to under-stand choices and to advocate for appro-priate placements was, therefore, a clearneed. Pathways directly addressed thisneed through the staff position of Stu-dent Parent Support Worker (SPSW), aswell as the unique “program facilitator”position. Created in the Program’s thirdyear, the facilitator position providedmore specialized support to parents andstaff needing to focus on particular stu-dents with special needs. This expertiseis crucial to incorporate into the Pro-gram if the numbers of such youth areto be able to access the support theschools are mandated to provide forsuch learners.7

Finally, with respect to academicsupport, young people at this stage ofadolescent development typically havechallenges in organization, study skills,etc. exhibiting instead traits of procrasti-nation, and disorganization, all of which

suggests that on these dimensions aswell, Regent Park youth are more “nor-mal” than they are different. What isquite different, however, was the lack oforganized support to help these manyyoung people through this phase in theirdevelopment. Therefore, Pathways staffand volunteers work directly with youngpeople to help develop these skills be-ginning with recognition of the need forsuch competencies if they are to suc-ceed academically. For some students,one-to-one support is needed from timeto time, and at key junctures (“teachablemoments”), while for others, they areable to develop more successful workhabits through positive identification ingroup environments (e.g. tutoring ormentoring). Pathways offers both indi-vidual and group support for theseyoung people to see themselves as ableto succeed in academic terms; and suchsupport must not be isolated from theiremerging self-images and images oftheir community – a community which,following the initial years of Pathways,has begun to develop a strong ethic ofsuccess for all youth.

Self-image and community image.A third set of barriers was also identi-fied in the action research/communityengagement work leading to the devel-opment of the Program. Somewhatmore difficult to define, there appearedto be deeply felt obstacles related to thestigma of the community which hadbeen, unfortunately, internalized bymost young people in the community.Related to what Sennett and Cobb(1972) termed “the hidden injuries ofclass”, in the absence of a vision ofthemselves as “successful”, many youngpeople in the community had turned toalternative venues for “inclusion”; someto gangs as a focal point for acceptanceand support. Yet others, perhaps the ma-jority from our initial work, learned the“skill” of becoming “invisible”; that is,of neither drawing attention to them-selves or their challenges, nor makingdemands of the adults in their lives whowere unable (often for basic materialreasons) of providing support.8

These internalized self-images are,of course, intimately woven within thefabric of the community and the educa-tional system as typified, for example,by the response of a vice-principal to



the initial description of the goals of thePathways to Education Program prior toits inception who unashamedly re-sponded with the question “whybother?”(see sidebar). While her partic-ular expression was not typical, the un-spoken message communicatedconsistently to Regent Park youth wasfelt nearly universally by those dozensof young people we listened to in de-signing the Program; and this view hasbeen echoed in other communities intheir own community engagement workprior to their implementation of Path-ways. Most important, this attitude onlyserved to further strengthen our resolve;it could not go unchallenged. The bestrefutation would be our students’ suc-cess.

The depth of feeling of individualdoubt was complemented by a furtherobstacle, that of the community’s de-spair which reached its zenith in theyear we developed the Program. Havingendured the murder of nine young men,many felt their vision of a future shiftfrom one of struggle, perhaps to beovercome, to one of fatalism for them-selves and their children.

Additional challenges related toself-image are more specifically relatedto the transition from elementary to sec-ondary school – a focal point of Path-ways efforts – and include students’own concerns with the “loss of status”and anxiety about their academic abili-ties and performance. In recountingthese and related concerns, Tilleczek(2007) notes that they are normal ado-lescent experiences, though we wouldnote that their effects are exacerbated bythe social context of “risk” that existsfor those young people from disadvan-taged communities such as Regent Park.

Pathways was deliberately designedto address these internalized images inseveral ways. First, the design of thegroup mentoring program specificallytries to address the need for young peo-ple through a group, rather than as indi-viduals, to experience pro-social andpositive activities where they can fur-ther develop age appropriate socialskills (including problem-solving, teambuilding, communication, negotiation,etc.). As the literature on mentoring in-dicates, the content of such relationshipsis far less important than the relation-

ships themselves. In the case ofPathways, we deliberately structuredthis aspect of the Program to encouragethe development of relationships notonly with adults, but among the youththemselves.9

The second major focus for ad-dressing these needs is in the develop-ment of the specialty and careermentoring elements of Pathways.Specifically, as the young people movedfrom grade 10 to grade 11, it was clearthat an alternative approach would beneeded for them to view themselves asmore successful, as capable – with sup-port – of developing their talents and in-terests. Our understanding of thepractical obstacles they faced included alack of role models in the communityrepresenting the range of possible occu-pations, the lack of parental networks toaccess professionals or skilled workersin a variety of organizations, etc.; inshort, the absence of the social capitalrequired to imagine and experience pos-sible futures which had heretofore beenclosed to them. Pathways response – thespecialty and career mentoring elements– has evolved to include a variety ofgroup and individual experiences whichwould otherwise not be available toyouth in the community. These include,for example, a Steps to Universitycourse (Sociology 101) offered by UofTin the community, a post-secondarycredit course in business by Ryerson,and a college general education creditcourse by George Brown; a mentoringopportunity (for Pathways youth tomentor younger children from similarcommunities) through the Youth Tech-nology Mentoring Program, group proj-ects with Soulpepper, CanStage, andothers, one-to-one mentors from JuniorLeague of Toronto for young women in-terested in business and professions; de-velopment of internships with lawfirms, unions, and other employerswhich would be otherwise unavailableto our youth, career nights involvingprofessionals from a variety of occupa-tions drawn from similar backgroundsto Pathways’ youth (e.g. Black LawyersAssociation, or teacher candidates inYork’s “urban diversity” focus), to namea just a few. Each of the Pathways pro-grams in other communities have devel-oped their own menus of opportunities

for specialty and career mentoringthrough the development of local rela-tionships with a range of individualsand organizations.

Each and every one of these oppor-tunities is broadening and allows eachyoung person to develop a practical andconcrete understanding of a field ofstudy or work. And each requires, aspart of specialty mentoring require-ments, “reflection” which enables theyoung person to consider their experi-ence and how it has helped them clarifynext steps, even if those include a deci-sion to pursue a different path.

Third, the obstacles of negativeself-image are also directly addressedthrough several staff roles, most impor-tantly, the SPSWs. The development ofthis support arose directly from twosources: the experiences of the youth re-counted by groups and individuals indesigning the Program, and the litera-ture on best practices in youth develop-ment programs. Specifically, there is theneed to demonstrate to each and everyyoung person that they are indeed capa-ble of achievement beyond that whichwould be “pre-determined” by their cir-cumstance. Hence, the focus on ensur-ing that each young person feels theyare capable of higher achievement byproviding the supports necessary to seethem actually meet higher expectations.This process – the everyday relation-ships of both expectations and support –begins with their initial registration inthe Program and continues through thesupport provided for their post-sec-ondary transitions.

Fourth, the community image chal-lenge has also been addressed throughthe basic design of the Program.Throughout the research leading to thedesign of the program, many individualsand groups in the community spokepoignantly of what needed to be doneand presented two conclusions. First, tohave the positive impact on the commu-nity which everyone wanted it was in-cumbent on us to include all youth –neither targeting nor creaming, as is donein virtually every other similar interven-tion.10 Second, that to be successful weneeded to provide the supports for thefull duration of their high school careers;i.e. not merely in grade 9 or 9 and 10, butthroughout their time in high school.



Fifth, unspoken, but of great conse-quence, were the significant barrierswhich existed in the transition fromhigh school to post-secondary activities.These barriers include financial chal-lenges (the application fees and the needfor a credit card to complete on-line ap-plications for both universities and col-leges), and academic counsellingsufficient and appropriate to support thestudent to apply and be accepted by theinstitution and program most able tomeet their needs, and the need for post-secondary institutions to provide sup-port required (in some cases) forPathways graduates to succeed. Thesebarriers have been addressed by Path-ways in very specific ways.11

The financial support providedthrough Pathways scholarship has beenused for application fees and deposits.Pathways has facilitated the post-sec-ondary on-line application processthrough use of credit card and, eventu-ally, arrangements with the Ontario Uni-versities Application Centre (OUAC)and the Ontario Colleges ApplicationService (OCAS) for direct payment ofapplication fees for Pathways students.12

More important, the support re-quired for students to envisage them-selves in different programs andinstitutions has been provided throughPathways career mentoring. While pub-lic policy (to be discussed furtherbelow) has traditionally viewed fundingand academic preparation as the princi-pal obstacles to high post-secondaryparticipation for low-income students,our experience suggests that two otherfactors play more prominent – and re-lated – roles. In particular, while Path-ways supports both their academic andfinancial preparedness, there is an ele-ment of “psychological” preparednessthat is evident from the Program and is,of course, related to self-image. Thesuccess of students in high school has,hopefully, been internalized and gonesome distance in demonstrating to stu-dents their worthiness to pursue post-secondary education. However, thesteps beyond high school are similarlyanxiety producing and many young peo-ple from the community are still ex-tremely hesitant to accept their abilitiesat face value. Working with staff, the se-lection of programs and institutions toapply to provides the space to voice

such anxieties and for staff to situatethese in the context of the youth’s tra-jectory; that is, the sum total of their ex-periences over the previous severalyears which have brought him/her tothis juncture. The success of students intheir transitions to post-secondary pro-grams is a testament to the centrality ofthe relationships built throughout theyoung person’s years in the Program.That they are psychologically prepared– as well as academically and finan-cially prepared – to attend college oruniversity and that they have the dispo-sition to do so is a function of these re-lationships with Pathways staff.

In addition, Pathways staff in Re-gent Park worked with staff at severalpost-secondary institutions to developcollege and university supports for “firstgeneration” students which built on thesupports provided through Pathways.

There is no substitute for studentshaving supportive relationships withSPSWs, with mentoring staff, with vol-unteer tutors and mentors over theiryears in the Program. The ability to pro-vide these relationships and to providefor the availability of a variety of adultswas deliberately designed into the Pro-gram and follows from lessons learnedover many years by youth developmentprograms in a variety of jurisdictions.For example, the need for a “sustainedadult contact” (what we have termed a“constant adult presence”) is a charac-teristic of successful initiatives whichfeatures prominently in the evaluationof programs for youth from disadvan-taged communities (see, for example,Long 1996 for HRDC), and is embodiedin the SPSW role. Other commentatorson youth development programs havenoted the related need for “multiple sup-portive relationships with adults andpeers” (Connell, Gambone and Smith;2001).

Continuing to learn for programimprovement. Finally, with respect tobarriers, the research component ofPathways has played, and continues toplay, an important role. Specifically, it iscrucial that there be on-going monitor-ing of results and an ongoing commit-ment to research necessary for programimprovement. These are serious com-mitments which have enabled the Pro-gram to ensure that the young people,

their parents, the volunteers and staffare all able to provide the feedbackabout whether or not the obstacles are,in fact, being addressed by the Program.Procedurally, annual surveys of stu-dents, focus groups with students, par-ents, tutors and mentors, as well asannual program planning with staff, allinform the Program as to whether theyoung people are benefiting from thesupports provided and whether they areable (and willing) to take advantage ofthese supports. In addition to these for-mal vehicles, staff are responsible for(informally) monitoring participation inschool and the Program, with a view toidentifying challenges that students faceto increased participation. These dataare crucial to ensuring that the Programcontinues to evolve to respond to theneeds identified through the actual ex-perience of our young people.

The principal feature of the “actionresearch” approach out of which Path-ways grew is its ability – and the practi-cal necessity – of engaging in ongoingprogram improvement based upon ac-tual data including outcomes and per-ceptions of participants. Kemmis andMcTaggert (1990) have noted that“Linking the terms action and researchhighlights the essential feature of thisapproach which involves the testing outof ideas in practice as a means of im-provement in social conditions and in-creasing knowledge.”

Obviously, the social conditionsneeding to be improved included the un-conscionably high dropout rate in Re-gent Park and, by extension, in othersimilar communities. As well, however,are the conditions of intergenerationalpoverty which is both a major factor inand the result of the historical and per-sistent poor educational outcomes forlarge numbers of inner-city youth. Thepractices and factors which producedsuch a situation were expressly to be ad-dressed through the Program; as Grundyand Kemmis (1981) noted, the featuresof action research include that:

the project takes as its subject-matter a social practice, regarding itas a strategic action susceptible toimprovement;(and the) project pro-ceeds through a spiral of cycles ofplanning, acting, observing and re-flecting, with each of these activi-



ties being systematically and self-critically implemented and interre-lated.

This approach to program develop-ment and improvement, consciously ori-ented to change in social conditions, butalso to improvement in and develop-ment of the Program itself, is congruentwith several other approaches to pro-gram development more recently de-scribed including “community actionresearch” (Senge and Scharmer, 2006),“developmental evaluation” (Gamble2006; Patton 2002), and “applied dis-semination” (Pearson 2006); and “emer-gent learning” (Darling and Perry2007). That Pathways’ approach to pro-gram improvement and ongoing pro-gram development has been consistentwith these frameworks is not coincident.Rather, the Program has developed froman understanding of the need to respondto the “ground” while also consideringthe systemic nature of the challengesbeing addressed.

Program ElementsIf the extensive community consul-

tations outlined earlier were the catalystfor understanding the types of supportwhich would be required, it was a prac-tical challenge to determine the specificsupports and how they might best be de-livered. Two key processes were used toaddress these questions.

First, a series of focus groups wereheld with a variety of stakeholders per-haps most importantly, with young peo-ple and parents from a variety ofcultural groups, as well as with key in-formants from a range of institutions in-cluding the Health Centre, the localelementary schools, and several com-munity agencies. Second, it was crucialto determine the experience of otherprograms which had, to that time, triedto address similar challenges amongsimilar populations.

A third and key element in thebackground work was facilitatedthrough the Toronto District SchoolBoard; namely, to determine the actualgraduation/dropout rate for young peo-ple from the community. While thisability to generate data by neighbour-hood may be taken for granted today,more than a decade ago, this was not

part of the repertoire of school board re-search departments. Therefore, whileresidents, both young people and theirparents, had a clear sense that the youngpeople in the community were not beingsuccessful, there was a profound lack ofdata from which to determine both theextent of the challenge and possible fac-tors which led to the poor outcomes. Atthe time Pathways was being developed,no such data by community was avail-able. While it might be assumed that wecan now take for granted that localschool authorities can – and will – pro-vide data on the outcomes of studentsby community, this has proven to be asignificant challenge in many prospec-tive Pathways communities.13

Based on this further research, sev-eral conclusions became clear:

Pathways started to take shape as aprogram that would support youngpeople to complete high school, ad-dressing the high dropout rate ofRegent Park youth. It was madeclear that the negative image of thecommunity, the fear (and in manycases hopelessness) experienced bymany parents, and the despair iden-tified by youth themselves, wasrooted in the challenges of the tran-sition to high school and lack ofsuccess of young people from thecommunity. (Bales 2004:31)It cannot be stated too strongly that

the components of Pathways were de-signed to specifically address some ofthese important challenges. In particu-lar, in addition to the challenge of directacademic and financial support, thementoring and Student/Parent SupportWorkers (SPSW)/advocacy componentswere specifically designed to addressthe internalized hopelessness and de-spair that had come to dominate theemotional landscape of the community among both parents and young people.

The program is voluntary and opento all students within the defined geo-graphic community, and since inceptionin 2001, over 90% of Grade 9 RegentPark youth have registered. Of the manythings we learned from the communityin the development of the Program, twoin particular stand out: first, that to ef-fect major changes we needed to in-clude all the young people, neithertargeting or creaming; and, second, that

to have the impact we sought, weneeded to support the young people forall their years in high school, rather thanfor just one or two years as many otherprograms had done. Pathways focuseson school attendance and grades to en-sure students accumulate the creditsneeded in each year of secondaryschool, in combination with social sup-ports such as advocacy and mentoring.Students and their parents’ sign a con-tract in which they agree to comply withthe program requirements related toschool attendance and program partici-pation in exchange for Pathway’s sup-port for the duration of secondaryschool enrolment. In partnership withparents, community agencies, volun-teers, local school boards and secondaryschools, Pathways provides four typesof support.

Initially, program staff contactedstudents and parents through their gradeeight classrooms where teachers andschool administrators cooperated to helpcontact prospective students and parentsby hosting information sessions. Overthe years, the Program’s reputation andthe community’s support have meantthat grade eight students gravitate to theProgram and registration of each suc-cessive cohort became more routine,with students and their parents contact-ing Pathways to ensure their registra-tion.

The Four Supports14

“It is the scope of the program, its em-brace of the whole child and child’sfamily, school and social environmentthat is its genius.” (Michael Valpy, Edu-cating Adna, The Globe and Mail, Jan.24, 2004)

This section describes the four sup-ports provided by the Pathways to Edu-cation Program: academic, social,financial and advocacy supports. The in-novative blend of supports provided byPathways helps to redress the effects ofliving in a disadvantaged communitywhere expectations of success in schoolhave traditionally been low. Pathwaysraises the expectations of successamong students, their families, theirschools and their community, and pro-vides the supports young people need tomeet those expectations.



The four supports make up an inte-grated package that addresses a varietyof barriers that youth from disadvan-taged communities face. The experienceof Pathways in Regent Park, as well asresearch from other programs (e.g. Jer-ald 2007), suggests strongly that offer-ing two or even three of the supportswill not create a strong enough programto change the expectations and achieve-ments of a community of youth. Path-ways’ success demonstrates that lowincome youth, particularly those whomay be struggling with educational,family, peer or personal issues, benefitfrom a critical mass of supports thatprovide sustained adult contact, moni-toring, encouragement and incentives tosucceed.

The following description of thefour supports provides an introductionto what Pathways does. These supportswill not necessarily look exactly thesame in other communities as they do inRegent Park. But the core of what isprovided will be the same – tutoring,mentoring, financial support and advo-cacy.

Academic SupportStudents receive tutoring in nearly

all academic subjects and guidance tonavigate through the complex highschool curriculum at all levels and forall grades. They learn study skills andgain general knowledge. There is tutor-ing available in language and literacyskills for those who need it. There isalso a computer lab developed in part-nership with another local agency. Thissetting provides an opportunity to re-ceive tutoring in computer literacy, sup-port to work on computer-basedresearch and projects, and an opportu-nity to explore technology-related ca-reers. The goal is to provide qualityacademic tutoring to all students on aregular basis within the community, ad-dressing different learning styles andmeeting a variety of course expecta-tions.

Volunteer tutors are matched withstudents who can benefit from theirknowledge and who can relate easily tothem in terms of learning style, back-ground or interests. The tutors are a di-verse group including universitystudents, professionals and community

members. Tutoring is provided fourevenings a week in safe community set-tings, supervised by staff. There are twomain tutoring sites in the community inspaces provided for a nominal rent(largely to cover the cost of utilities).

Tutors work one-on-one or withsmall groups of (up to four) students.Textbooks and other resources are pro-vided for use during tutoring. Followingfeedback in the Program’s first year, theinitial “optional” tutoring was – at thestudents’ request – revised to includespecific expectations. All students arerequired to attend tutoring when theyenter Grade 9, and all are encouraged tocontinue. Students whose marks arebelow the Pathways standards (60% inGrade 9, 65% in Grade 10 and 70% inGrades 11 and 12) are required to attendtwice a week. Students in special educa-tion programs or taking English as aSecond Language (ESL) are advised toattend tutoring regardless of theirmarks.

Attendance is monitored. Tutorsand students fill out log sheets afterevery session documenting what wascovered and how well the student isdoing. Program Facilitators for Tutor-ing, who are part of the Pathways staffteam, are responsible for ensuring a safeenvironment and effective tutoring.They help the volunteers develop theirskills in engaging students and identify-ing special needs and learning styles,and matching suitable tutoring tech-niques to each student. Pathways alsofound that many students who are doingwell in school appreciate having a placeto study that offers a safe and positivelearning environment. High-performingstudents also choose to attend tutoringbecause they have developed a mentor-ing relationship with a volunteer tutor orstaff person and want to maintain thatcontact and support.

One of the important lessons overthe years has been that it is importantfor the tutoring space to include bothhigh achieving and struggling students.While some might think there might beembarrassment for some of these youngpeople, experience has shown that,while they know that they are receivingdifferent kinds of specific academicsupport, it is a central tenet of the Pro-gram that all youth are receiving thesupport; that whether you are working

on calculus or struggling with fractions,whether you are critiquing Shakespeareor struggling with literacy, Pathwayswill support every young person. Aswell, all students can benefit from studyand organizational skills during thesehigh school years.

Teachers from the high schools at-tended by Pathways youth are encour-aged to provide advice on the studyareas where tutoring could help theirstudents the most. They provide feed-back to the staff Student/Parent SupportWorkers (SPSWs) who spend time inthe schools; and who ensure that infor-mation from teachers is passed alongthrough comments to the Program Facil-itators at tutoring. This communicationcan take a variety of forms but is funda-mental to the ability of the Program tohelp students focus on their specific ac-ademic challenges and make the bestuse of the tutoring support.

Social SupportMentoring is about relationships

that affirm who the young person is andhelp promote positive choices aboutwho they can become. The goal is tohave all students engaged in mentoringrelationships and programs suitable totheir age, interests and abilities duringeach of their years in Pathways.

Group mentoring.Young people are connected with

adult mentors who develop supportiverelationships with them through groupmentoring activities for the youngerteens (Grades 9 and 10). The mentoringgroups, which meet every two weeks,help to reduce isolation, promote devel-opment of group and personal identity,provide adult role models and encour-age both learning and fun.

There are 12 to 15 in a group, withtwo or three mentors. The mentors arevolunteers who, like the tutors, comefrom different walks of life and back-grounds. The focus and intent of men-toring in Pathways differ from manyother mentoring programs, which are di-rected at youth engaged in specifichigh-risk or anti-social behaviours andwhich try to change those behaviours.Pathways group mentoring is intendedto create a positive sense of belongingto a peer group and to a caring commu-



nity, to break down isolation, and tocontribute to the development of a rangeof social and communication skills in-cluding problem solving, team building,and leadership development.

The groups meet in safe settings,supervised by staff. In Pathways’ firstyear, the groups initially met once amonth, but both students and volunteersprovided feedback that they wanted tomeet more often. The groups subse-quently met every other week as of theProgram’s second year. (Many Path-ways participants have said they wouldlike to meet weekly, but there was sim-ply not the space available in the com-munity or the program capacity tohandle weekly group meetings.) Ap-proximately half the sessions are from amenu of Pathways-generated activities;the other half determined by the groupitself.

A Program Facilitator (Pathwaysstaff) is responsible for ensuring that thegroup mentoring experience is safe andeffective. The Facilitator develops vol-unteer mentors’ skills in engaging stu-dents using a variety of techniques andactivities that are age-appropriate andsuitable for students from a variety ofcultural backgrounds. In addition, thestaff facilitates a regular “debriefing”discussion following each session toelicit feedback from volunteers and toprovide volunteer mentors with the op-portunity to share their experiences andlearn from each other.

Specialty and career mentoring.Specialty and career mentoring ac-

tivities are developed for the older stu-dents, based on their interests andaspirations. All Grade 11s and 12 areexpected to participate in specialty orcareer mentoring. By Grade 12, the em-phasis is on planning for life after highschool, whether that is post-secondaryeducation oremployment.

Specialty mentoring opportunitieshelp youth explore their educational andcareer interests and make progress to-wards their goals. The experiences arematched to the talents, interests andstrengths of individuals or small groups.The experience must involve relation-ship-building and some skill develop-ment or personal growth. The specialtymentoring experience may involve a

specific learning opportunity, volunteeror work experience. Mentoring may bearranged by Pathways or by the student.A number of students are involved inactivities at their high school. Participa-tion is monitored by their SPSW. Theemphasis is on the quality of the experi-ence because the opportunities are all sodifferent.

Students have regular contact withtheir SPSW, who keeps track of whatstudents are doing for specialty or ca-reer mentoring. Students and theirSPSWs are expected to discuss planningfor the student’s educational and careerchoices on a monthly basis. Students areencouraged to document and reflect ontheir skills in preparation for post-sec-ondary education and employment andbe able to discuss what they are gettingout of the mentoring experience andhow it supports their personal and ca-reer goals. A form for recording stu-dents’ and SPSWs’ reflections on theirlearning and progress has been devel-oped.

A Program Facilitator organizes ac-tivities and helps students crystallizetheir plans. The Facilitator also conductscareer interviews and provides coun-selling on course selections and post-secondary and employment options andissues. S/he helps students make appli-cations for mentoring experiences andfor post-secondary education programs.

The impetus for the career mentor-ing element of the Program was the spe-cific feedback from several grade 12students in the first Regent Park cohortwho requested support when they wereapplying for post-secondary programs.A quick informal survey of that first co-hort showed that only two of 87 stu-dents had received such help fromschool guidance staff. As with otherPathways supports, the career mentoringelement was developed directly in re-sponse to the experience of the youngpeople themselves.

In addition to visiting universityand college campuses to see what theylook like and feel like, and to meet rep-resentatives who talk about post-sec-ondary education, the career mentoringstaff also facilitate student visits toworkplaces to provide that direct experi-ence, as well as information on differentoccupations through “Career Mondays”which began as informal meetings of

adults with groups of students poten-tially interested in different fields. Net-works of staff and supporters ofPathways are used to identify peoplewho are willing to come and talk aboutwhat they do and how they got there.

Pathways students are involved in arange of different specialty mentoringexperiences. Some examples includestudents taking a university or collegecredit course, participating in a commu-nity-based media arts program, dramaand music programs, etc. organized byPathways but provided by a range ofcommunity partners. And, as notedabove, Pathways students have increas-ingly been involved in specialty mentor-ing through their participation in extracurricular activities at their secondaryschools, something very few young peo-ple from Regent Park did prior to Path-ways given that many felt stigmatizedand “uninvited” by those schools.Clearly, this increased level of participa-tion is an important positive impact ofPathways (and a variety of other fac-tors); that is, the culture of many sec-ondary schools has become moreinviting to young people from disadvan-taged communities.

Financial SupportPathway provides both immediate,

practical financial assistance to highschool students and their families, and alonger-term financial incentive to en-courage students to stay in the Program,graduate from high school and pursuepost-secondary studies. In Regent Park,students receive transit tickets to get toand from school because there is nolocal secondary school in the commu-nity. (Pathways programs in other com-munities use a combination oftransportation and lunch voucherswhere transportation is provided.) Theyare also given some school supplies atthe beginning of each school year.

The practical impact – and benefit –of the immediate financial help is im-portant. Toronto Transit Commission(TTC) fares are not cheap. Even with astudent discount, a Metropass costs over$100 a month (up from $80 at the be-ginning of the Program). At $5 per day,lunch vouchers in other Pathways com-munities are an equivalent benefit. Thefinancial support provides an incentive



for students to stay in the Program andstay at school. It eliminates some of thefinancial stress experienced by families– the cost of transit fare to get their chil-dren to and from school – and it givesthe students confidence that they won’tbe denied the opportunity for post-sec-ondary education because the familylives on a low income.15

The transit tickets (or lunch vouch-ers) also provide a degree of leveragefor the Program. They are only to beused for school, and usage is closelymonitored. Tickets are reduced forevery day a student does not go toschool. If a student starts skippingschool altogether or does not attendPathways program activities (tutoringand mentoring), staff will make everyeffort to find out why and to encourageparticipation. But if the student does notshow any interest or improvement, thetransit tickets may be withdrawn or sus-pended until attendance improves. Andthe withholding of the immediate finan-cial support provides an important mo-ment of accountability for students andoccasion for connection with Pathwaysstaff, as well as an important opportu-nity for parents to connect with theirchildren and their challenges in meetingprogram requirements.

The scholarship provides a longer-term incentive. Upon graduation, stu-dents can receive up to $4,000 ($1,000for every year they are in the Program),to be paid to a publicly supported post-secondary institution on their behalf.The assistance is held in trust and iscontingent on the ability of Pathways toraise the necessary funding. This sup-port also serves as an opportunity forPathways to provide important informa-tion to both students and their parentswith respect to financing post-secondaryeducation, serving as a moment for dis-cussion of “financial literacy” and thedetails of provincial financial supportschemes. Pathways’ role in this area be-came quite practical; for example, sincefew parents in Regent Park have creditcards, on-line applications for post-sec-ondary programs were facilitatedthrough the use, in the initial round ofapplications, of the Program Director’scredit card. This immediate challengeled to the Program developing a rela-tionship with both the college and uni-versity application services which

enabled Pathways students to apply withfees billed directly to Pathways. TheProgram, in turn, paid such fees fromthe scholarship funds set aside for thispurpose. Similar arrangements weremade with several colleges and univer-sities for direct payment of scholarshipfunds upon enrolment of Pathways stu-dents. Such processes developed as a di-rect result of the Program’s commitmentto provide the practical support that stu-dents from low income communities re-quire to avail themselves of theopportunities more privileged familiestake for granted.16

Advocacy SupportStudent/Parent Support Workers

(SPSWs) provide a human and personallink between the student, the school, thefamily and the Program. This is a staffrole. They monitor the young person’sprogress and intervene to remove barri-ers, where possible. They track studentattendance at school and at tutoring andmentoring. They help the student dealwith problems at school, and liaise withteachers and other school staff. Theyprovide a channel for information-shar-ing within the Program.

The SPSWs meet at least every twoweeks with their students when theyouth collect their immediate financialsupport. This is an opportunity to talkdirectly to students. The SPSWs provideinformal counselling, and refer studentswho need additional services to otherprograms or agencies. They keep in reg-ular contact with parents, encouragethem to be involved in their child’s edu-cation, and keep them informed aboutthe program. The role may be seen as aform of active case management (withthe emphasis on “active” when needed).Pathways research shows that approxi-mately half the young people connectwith their SPSWs at least once a weekand more frequently when necessary toaddress an immediate challenge.

The average ratio of students toSPSWs is 50 to one. The pressure onSPSWs depends on how the students ontheir roster are doing at school and inthe Program, and how many schools theSPSW works in. Some have suggestedthat this ratio is too high to be effective.However, unlike many other social serv-ices, Pathways is predicated on the as-

sumption – clearly validated by the Pro-gram’s results – that the young peoplewho participate are not, by definition,“ill” nor in need of intensive interven-tions (though a few may have suchneeds at a particular time). Rather thanpathologizing the young people of lowincome communities, it is fundamentalthat Pathways views these youth as“normal”. While some may have moreserious challenges, the vast majorityshare the need for support to address thechallenges of poverty, rather than imme-diate physical or mental illness. The evi-dence clearly suggests that most youngpeople in the most impoverished com-munities can succeed with the appropri-ate supports.

In schools where there is a largecluster of Pathways students, the Pro-gram negotiates space on certain daysand times for the SPSWs to be on site(usually in an office which is used atother times by the school social workeror nurse). Even in the schools wherePathways has a number of students, theyoung people from the Program are justa fraction of the total student populationat the school. That means the SPSWshave to work to make their presence feltand their concerns heard to advocate fortheir students.

The SPSWs go to school staffmeetings to introduce themselves andtalk to teachers about what their role is.In addition to meeting the principal andvice-principals, they get to know atten-dance secretaries and other office staff,guidance counsellors and social work-ers, and other staff in the schools. Thereare a variety of ways in which SPSWsand teachers develop relationships in-cluding a letter which they distribute tointroduce themselves and the Program,and offers to meet teachers and discusshow the particular teacher prefers tocommunicate about the progress of stu-dents (e.g. feedback form, e-mail, phoneor personal conversations). This is im-portant information that SPSWs needfor the Program to work more effec-tively with students, including informa-tion on students’ subject challenges orspecific assignments, behaviour, com-munication challenges with parents, etc.This feedback from teachers goes intothe communications loop at Pathways.SPSWs also are the conduit for feed-back, in turn, from tutors or mentors to



the schools and/or to individual teach-ers.

SPSWs usually meet first-time Path-ways parents in person at an Open Housefor Grade 9 parents. They also meet par-ents at registrations and re-registrationsfor returning students. In October, theSPSWs contact parents to make surethey have received the information theyneed about where and when their child issupposed to be at tutoring and mentor-ing. The SPSWs keep in contact withparents generally once a month, althoughthis is often difficult due to parents’ workschedules and other responsibilities. Ifthere are issues to be resolved involvingtheir child, the contact with parents canbe more frequent.

Over the years, several specificquestions have been asked about theSPSW role. First, some have wonderedif it is a role that could be effectivelyprovided by school staff. A longer dis-cussion of the respective roles ofschools and communities is necessary toanswer this question, and is found in ourdiscussion in the third part of this arti-cle. However, a short answer is that,while there are some school staff whohave played such roles for some stu-dents, there is considerable evidencethat a school-based approach to the roleis neither more efficient nor more effec-tive than having the role vested in acommunity-based agency. Secondaryschools lack the resources to ensure thissupport. More important, many in theschools feel this is not a priority since itcan be provided by other agencieswhereas school staff must focus on theirprincipal instructional mandate. This iscoupled with an understanding that theadvocacy function would suffer if at-tempted by school staff and that schoolstaff would be in a difficult position iftheir advocacy put them in conflict withother staff members or school board em-ployees (including school principals orsuperintendents) as has sometimes beenthe case.

In addition, the reality of schooltransfers strongly suggests that, for themany students who change schools for avariety of reasons, such support organ-ized through a particular school wouldlack the continuity the SPSW providesthrough Pathways.

Perhaps most important, was thejudgment that the “distance”, both lit-

eral and figurative, between the schooland the community, coupled with theneed to address community-based riskfactors, works against the likelihood ofsuccess were this function vested in aparticular school-based role. That judg-ment was based on the long experienceof the young people, their parents, olderyouth and adults, and a range of practi-tioners; it was not simply a reaction thethen current government17

This is not to suggest that the rela-tionships between Pathways and localschools (and school districts) are notimportant; quite the contrary. Pathwayssuccess is predicated on having solidand respectful relationships between theProgram and the schools. Such relation-ships are, in fact, a function of the clar-ity of roles which Pathways has helpedto bring to the support of at-risk stu-dents.

Second, some have wondered aboutthe backgrounds of SPSWs. One of theinitial decisions was to have a diversegroup of staff. Diversity is sometimesunderstood to mean cultural diversity;and Pathways has always strived to en-sure that the major cultural groups arerepresented among staff; that the youngpeople of the community see themselvesand their cultures represented in thosewho are often role models. The diversityof staff, however, also includes a diver-sity of education and employment back-grounds. Some SPSWs have beencertified teachers whose knowledge ofthe educational system is crucial to sup-port our young people. Others havetraining as professional social workers,and child and youth workers, wheretheir background and experience ap-proaches the challenges of adolescentdevelopment with a repertoire of itsown. Still other staff have little profes-sional training, but a wealth of practicalemployment experience in youth serv-ing programs or in community develop-ment, bringing yet other experience andknowledge to the challenges at hand.While such diversity of professionalbackground has made the developmentof a common Pathways culture some-what difficult, it is also crucial for theProgram’s ability to meet the diverseneeds of our young people.

Third, some have wonderedwhether, in a world of social media andtechnology, the role might be possible to

provided through a technologically-me-diated relationship, and whether thismight allow for higher ratios and, there-fore, at a lower cost. There is much evi-dence on the importance of establishingmeaningful relationships as part of anarray of otherwise comprehensive sup-ports to at-risk youth. There is little evi-dence, however, that such relationshipscan be effective in the absence of face-to-face interaction. The trust needed isunlikely to develop in the absence ofsuch face-to-face relationships. Proof ofthis proposition may be the fact thatmany (if not most) Pathways youngpeople are themselves using a variety ofsocial media and its place in their livesis likely little different from their moreeconomically privileged peers. How-ever, despite this fact, their preferencesare clearly and overwhelmingly to meetwith their SPSWs, for support, for prob-lem-solving, for encouragement, for therelationships they require to thrive.While technologically-mediated rela-tionships may be effective for someyoung people, there is good reason tobelieve that the necessary relationshipsfor Pathways youth are those whichhave a personal character and are face-to-face.

Finally, and as noted above, withrespect to the SPSW role, perhaps themost consequential decision in the de-velopment of Pathways was that of hav-ing the “advocacy” and informalmentoring support provided throughpaid staff, rather through volunteers.This decision was coupled with a purpo-sive decision to have the mentoring pro-gram focus on group, rather thanindividual, activities through the devel-opment of a range of social, communi-cation, and problem-solving skillsaimed at breaking down isolation, asmuch as more traditional “skills build-ing”. The result was that the role of theSPSW became a crucial link to each ofthe other Pathways supports while, atthe same time, meeting the need for a“constant adult presence” to support theindividual needs of Pathways youngpeople. This decision was consistentwith both the available best practices inyouth development programs and the in-formal, but clearly consequential experi-ences – the lived experiences – of manysuccessful young people in the commu-nity. Unfortunately, there were few ex-



amples of how to “institutionalize” suchrelationships.

A Brief Note on ResearchWhile a longer discussion of the role

of research in Pathways and its relation-ship to both accountability and programimprovement appears in Part III, a num-ber of points may be useful at this junc-ture. Specifically, the program wasconsciously designed to include a re-search function from the outset thatcould provide simple and clear measuresof success; in particular, two interimmeasures (or “leading indicators” welldocumented in the literature: the compar-isons of attendance and credit accumula-tion of Pathways young people withthose of pre-Pathways students from thesame geographically defined communi-ties. After four years, these data weresupplemented with comparative data ongraduation rates and post-secondary par-ticipation. Those supporting the Pro-gram, including so many long-termprivate individuals, foundations and cor-porations, and continuing to include bothprovincial and now Federal govern-ments, have often noted the importanceof strong and consistent results on thesemetrics as a factor in their decisions togrant multi-year funding.18

Some have suggested that these met-rics are far too simple and that they havecome to dominate the Program’s orienta-tion. It can be stated unapologeticallythat there are at least three reasons whichjustified a focus on such metrics. First,without positive and easily conveyed re-sults few of the initial and now long-standing funders and donors wouldcontinue to provide financial support.Second, in the absence of positive re-sults, Pathways is frankly too complexand difficult an undertaking; the time andenergy, as well as funding, for the Pro-gram could be better spent in finding amore effective approach. And, third, iffrontline staff have the relationships withthe young people that Pathways expects,the results will, in fact, be forthcoming.While the first two of these rationaleshave been continually affirmed (since theresults over the past decade have beenconsistently strong), the third has beenwell understood, not only in the initialsite in Regent Park, but now in each ofthe newer Pathways sites as well.

These interim indicators, however,are not solely important to assuage theconcerns and inspire the confidence ofstudents, parents, or funders. Rather,they are the basic data from which pro-gram staff are able to begin to unpackthe relative benefit (or lack) that theProgram is fostering in its participants;and, further, it provides the basis for ad-ditional and more detailed analyses ofthose effects. For example, it wasthrough a more detailed analysis ofthese basic indicators that the need foradditional special education supports forsome youth who were not receivingthem was discovered; as well, these dataprovided important insight into the like-lihood of dropping out for students bystream (academic, applied, locally de-veloped) and by gender. Therefore,these data are absolutely essential for anongoing examination of effects which,in turn, spurred efforts at specific pro-gram improvements, e.g. more intensivesupport by SPSWs to address those stu-dents with serious attendance problems.

Perhaps more important is that theresearch capacity of Pathways from theoutset has included a broader under-standing of the purpose of the research.Specifically, the Program emerged usingan action research approach which hasbeen sustained, in large measure, overthe past decade. This approach is rootedin an understanding of, and in valueswhich began from, the knowledge andaspirations of the community; and,through a disposition to engage manytypes of participants, continues to holdexisting practices (of both the schoolsystem and the program itself) up toscrutiny. The orientation and use of anaction research approach, therefore, hasbeen purposeful: the social purposebeing the amelioration of the numerousdisadvantages that confront these youngpeople and the community (leading todemonstrably greater educational attain-ments), as well as the more located pur-pose of first determining and,subsequently, building upon and im-proving the specific program elementswhich have come to be Pathways.

Several lessons from the researchapproach adopted by Pathways are dis-cussed in Part III, following the moredetailed presentation of some of theProgram achievements in Part II.

Funding the ProgramWhen Pathways launched in Sep-

tember 2001, aside from the two grantswe received from the Counselling Foun-dation of Canada and the Ontario Tril-lium Foundation, we had only raised$2,000 and two weeks’ worth of transittickets. Funding the Program meantadding additional funders. BecauseRPCHC had no prior history of longterm fundraising, the Counselling Foun-dation of Canada supported the work oftwo consultants to assist with fundrais-ing and building the fundraising capac-ity of the Health Centre. They facilitatedlinks between the Health Centre, thebusiness world, and other institutions,and helped create new funding opportu-nities. In the fall of 2001, we hired aManager of Development. A projectstructure was agreed to and two boardcommittees were created. The newstructure would provide the board withclear oversight of Pathways and the po-tential to sustain the Program, or at leastget it going. The responsibilities of thetwo board committees were: (1) thePathways Committee of the RPCHCBoard, consisting of board members andcommunity representatives, was respon-sible for effective trusteeship of thePathways to Education Program, ensur-ing clear lines of accountability, as wellas setting policy and processes to ensuresystems for monitoring and evaluatingthe project; and (2) the DevelopmentCommittee, consisting largely of peoplefrom outside the community, especiallybusiness leaders who could supportfundraising efforts. This latter commit-tee was responsible for overall develop-ment functions, fundraising, project-related marketing, and public relations.Existing board committees simply didnot fit the needs of Pathways. Its scalewas too great and its demands unique.Getting the reporting relationshipsworked out took time, and this was an-other major milestone in the life ofPathways. The reporting relationshipsmeant that the RPCHC Board wasclearly in an oversight role. Hiring aManager of Development was also amajor step. This resulted in a greaterability to focus fundraising efforts andlink with potential and existing funders.

Fundraising for Pathways was verydifficult. In particular, during the first



year we hadn’t as yet produced any re-sults; however, we managed to makeour annual goals by the “skin of ourteeth”. The fundraising was very time-consuming for us as Executive Directorand Director of Pathways and it wasn’tuntil we produced hard data on the firststudent outcomes that we had a realvalue proposition to offer. Our strategiesincluded (a) targeting corporations,foundations, high net worth individuals,and the provincial government, and (b)always asking for multi-year commit-ments. We developed a five year busi-ness plan and made some initialovertures to the Ontario Government.Our first major grants came from thebanks. Then another major milestonewas reached when we received a multi-year grant from the Canadian AutoWorkers Social Justice Fund. The vol-unteer members of the DevelopmentCommittee became more committed tofundraising for Pathways as they beganto see the results which showed thehuge differences in attendance andachievement between students in Re-gent Park before the Program and stu-dents in Pathways. This allowed peopleto see we were on the right track andmulti-year commitments became morefrequent. They knew no similar programhad tried to include all young people inthe community, to attempt so quickly toimprove the achievement of so many.The fact that more than 90% of the eli-gible parents and young people had vol-untarily joined Pathways was but one ofthe many achievements that helped sus-tain Pathways.

Gala events and golf tournamentswere organized annually; we created anewsletter and started getting recogni-tion, but it was never easy. Each year wemade our budget thanks to some veryspecial “angel donors” who intuitivelyunderstood we were “on to something”which could potentially impact thou-sands of low income youth in Canadaand beyond. In 2004, we finally re-ceived an initial, one time grant fromthe Ontario Government. In 2004/05,after four years of work, Pathways fund-ing was composed of 17% from govern-ment, 37% from individuals, 30% fromfoundations and 15% from corporations.Each year as a new cohort of youthjoined Pathways increased funding wasrequired and it was consistently rein-

forced to us, by each kind of donor(governments, individuals, corporations,and foundations), that the tracking of re-sults and the results themselves werewhat mattered to them. The reason Path-ways was having this significant impactwas because of two primary commit-ments underpinning the design of theProgram: (a) a shift in the “lens”, from asingular focus on the school environ-ment to a broader focus on the commu-nity as a whole and (b) ensuring acomprehensive community-based ap-proach to the provision of the necessarysupports.

Our marketing efforts were finallypaying off and the Program and its re-sults were beginning to be recognizedand disseminated, primarily throughnewspaper articles. By 2005, interest inreplicating Pathways to Education wascoming from other communities anddonors. Other communities were com-ing to visit Pathways more frequentlyand expressing interest in the Programfor their community. Interest in seeingthe Program in other communities wasalso being increasingly expressed bydonors. RPCHC wanted to share itslearnings with other communities inorder that other low income youthwould have a fair chance at achievingtheir potential. We also determined thatto sustain Pathways in Regent Park wehad to replicate the Program. These ex-pressions of interest led to the creationof a public foundation called Pathwaysto Education Canada in 2005, anothermajor milestone in the life of Pathways.

Pathways Canada’s primary pur-poses would be transferring knowledge,ensuring program quality and outcomes,supporting the community agencies andtheir staff who would deliver the Pro-gram locally, and raising the consider-able funds needed for replication. TheChairman of the Pathways CanadaBoard was an exceptional fundraiserand he was committed to replicatingPathways as far and wide as possible.By 2005, Pathways to Education had re-duced the dropout rate from 56% to11% and increased post-secondary par-ticipation for the first cohort from 20%to 80%.19 Because of the large impactPathways was having, a major Canadiancorporation decided to invest in replicat-ing Pathways to Education and provideda start-up grant in 2006. After successful

start-up, along with the developmentand design of a process for replication, agenerous two year grant followed alongwith multi-year grants from otherdonors including the Counselling Foun-dation of Canada, the Ontario TrilliumFoundation, the Ontario Governmentand several individual donors. The repli-cation process proved successful in fiveadditional low income communities inOntario and Quebec.

Another milestone was reached in2007 when the Boston ConsultingGroup did a pro bono economic analysisof Pathways. BCG undertook a detailedstudy of the Program to determine thesocial return on investment (SROI). Thefinal analysis showed the Program’sSROI is high and positive. The specificcalculations include that every dollar in-vested in Program generates a $25 re-turn to society in terms of decreasedsocial costs and an increased tax base,$400,000 is the cumulative life-timevalue for each graduate, $50,000 is thepositive net present value for each stu-dent, and there is an internal rate of re-turn of 9.4%. The SROI includes moreeasily identifiable “hard” benefits suchas incremental tax receipts and lowertransfer payments, and it includes a veryconservative estimate of savings fromother key benefits such as a lower crimerate, lower teenage pregnancy, healthieryouth, etc., as well as “second genera-tion” effects. The BCG study leveragedour fundraising ability immensely as wenow had hard data proving Pathwayswas an incredibly cost effective pro-gram. Questions such as “can society af-ford Pathways?” changed to “we can’tafford not to replicate Pathways”.20 TheDevelopment Committee and staffworked hard at meeting our annualfundraising goals which we never failedto do. The beginning of PathwaysCanada and the development of aprocess for replication opened up newfunding opportunities and we receivedmulti-year funding from the OntarioGovernment, the Manitoba Governmentand, most recently, the Federal Govern-ment.

The replication of Pathways in thefive second generation communities is astory that goes beyond the scope of thispaper. Suffice it to say there are noweleven Pathways programs from Halifaxto Winnipeg with students getting re-



sults that mirror those reported in Part IIof this paper for Regent Park. In addi-tion, Part III will discuss some of theprincipal learnings from the develop-ment of the Program.

In Part II, we present a detailedlook at Pathways results, what Pathwayshas achieved, both in Regent Park overthe past decade, and in the second gen-eration communities.

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1 “First generation” refers to thoseyoung people who are the first genera-tion of their family to attend a post-sec-ondary program.

2 The 1996 census data available atthe time included that the RegentPark/Moss Park communities had over

40% single parent families, fully twicethe City average, more than half the res-idents were immigrants, and nearly 80%visible minorities.

3 The roots of Jack Geiger’s initia-tive drew on his own studies of healthcentres in South Africa. Geiger first pro-posed a medical school-sponsored com-munity health centre in 1958 as part ofhis senior thesis as a medical student.“Along with the residents … Dr. Geigerworked to establish a center that wouldcombine local resources with federalfunds to empower this economicallydevastated community of the Missis-sippi Delta. By establishing a networkof aggressive outreach and education ef-forts, and developing multiple healthemployment opportunities, the DeltaHealth Center and its participants be-came an engine for social reform.” (Chu2006: 139).

4 The original data referenced herewas produced by Dr. Robert Brown ofthe Toronto District School Board as aspecial tabulation in the Fall of 2000.We are indebted to him for his contin-ued support of Pathways and, more im-portant, for his longstandingcommitment to the issues of studentsuccess.

5 Fergusson et al 2005 offered amore complete overview of factors,both school-based and non-schoolbased, in work for the Ontario Ministryof Education five years after we de-signed the Pathways program

6 This is not a recent phenomenonas evidenced by the consistent results ofthe Every Student Survey conducted bythe former Board of Education for theCity of Toronto, which showed thatyoung people from poor and immigrantcommunities were often “streamed” intovocational, rather than academic, pro-grams. As Pathways results stronglydemonstrate, this need not have been thecase since the distribution of ability isclearly “normal” in a community thesize and diversity of Regent Park.

7 It should be noted that, over thefirst several years of Pathways in Re-gent Park the actual proportion of desig-nated special needs learners (i.e. thoseformally assessed) is no greater in Re-gent Park than in the province as awhole (approximately 12.5% of second-ary students). While there are undoubt-edly others requiring focused supports

but not yet assessed, this is a challengeacross the city and province. However,there is some suggestion that studentsfrom low income areas are more likelyto have difficulty accessing such serv-ices and assessments. Even if this is thecase, it is still doubtful that the resultwould change the basic finding: that Re-gent Park youth as a whole are moresimilar to learners across the provincethan had been assumed based on theirpast performance; which suggests thattheir challenges were not primarily cog-nitive. Through the data collected over alonger time period, and which now in-cludes Pathways students in other com-munities, it seems clear that there is agreat variation in the proportions of stu-dents with identified special needs; vari-ations both within and across the initialfive Ontario Pathways communities,ranging from just 2% (RP Cohort 4) tofully 30% (Rexdale Cohort 1). Thisvariance itself is cause for concern.

8 Jonathan Kozol, the well-re-spected chronicler of inner-city educa-tion in the U.S., has written extensivelyabout the phenomenon of “invisibility”in, for example, his book Ordinary Res-urrections (Vintage, 2000).

9 It should be noted that “groupmentoring” was called “one of fourmodels for the 21st century” by a leadingexpert on mentoring (Jaffe in Grossman1999; Herrera et al 2002) in reviewingpromising practices in the U.S. How-ever, at the time there were no empiricalstudies of group mentoring with highschool students. Indeed, Pathways canreasonably be understood as a pioneerin this area, as well as several others.

10 The programs identified as mostsimilar to Pathways by Boston Consult-ing Group (2007) include, for example,I Have A Dream, Sponsor a Scholar,Quantum Opportunities Project, to namea few, some of which have been demon-strably effective, but none of which hashad as broad a reach as Pathways; andeach includes both a smaller numberand a more select (even if self-selected)groups of students. See also the evalua-tions of these initiatives in Kahne andBailey (1999) for I Have a Dream,Johnson (1998) for Sponsor-A-Scholar,and Hahn et al (1994) and Maxfield etal (2003) for Quantum OpportunitiesProgram. The findings, while positive,suggest that Pathways’ results have sur-



passed those of each of these programs,and has done so for more students, amore heterogeneous group of students,and at lower overall cost per student.See Boston Consulting Group (2007).For example, Johnson notes that Spon-sor-A-Scholar, the program BCG sug-gested is closest to Pathways in scope,served a total of 180 students in fouryears, which is a similar number foreach Regent Park cohort, and Pathwaysserves four to five cohorts at any giventime. The Sponsor-A-Scholar number ofstudents compares to nearly four timesthat number involved in Pathways in itsfirst four years.

11 The involvement of Pathways insupporting post-secondary applicationsarose from direct feedback from stu-dents in the first cohort who, in the Fallof their fourth year, asked for such sup-port. It evolved as a response to an in-formal poll which showed that only twoof 87 students said they had receivedany such help from their school guid-ance counsellors. This support eventu-ally developed into the “careermentoring” component of Pathways.

12 Supplemental fees for particularprograms at particular institutions stillmust be paid directly via credit card tothe specific institutions, and Pathwayshas developed procedures for this, aswell. These agreements were developedduring the initial years and for the Pro-gram in Regent Park and mechanism fordoing this in other Pathways communi-ties are still being worked out.

13 The challenge of providing suchdata today is not a function of the tech-nology which it was, to some extent, adecade or more ago. Rather, the imme-diate and ongoing challenge for someschool boards has become the lack ofresearch staff with the ability and inter-est to pursue such questions.

14 Much of these descriptions arebased on a Guidebook prepared in 2006for internal Pathways use with prospec-tive communities. The authors wish toacknowledge the contribution of CherylHamilton to the preparation of the initialGuidebook.

15 It should be noted that, since theProgram’s inception, the subsequentGovernment in Ontario re-instated aprogram of tuition grants, rather thansolely loans, to post-secondary studentsfrom the lowest income families. The

future of such grants is unknown, giventhe current fiscal challenges facing theProvince.

16 A story often told, and confirmedseveral times, recalled the loss of a post-secondary space by a Regent Park stu-dent who simply lacked the funds for a“deposit” following their acceptance tothe university. Unable to “hold” thespace, the opportunity to pursue a post-secondary education was effectively lostfor that young person. This was a com-mon occurrence in the community.

17 A part-time staff member, a for-mer long-time teacher in the commu-nity, suggested in the second year of theProgram that all had been fine (or atleast better) for these young people be-fore the school board amalgamationwhen the former Toronto Board of Edu-cation funded projects and specialschool designations which yielded addi-tional staffing in the schools; and which,coupled with a political commitment,had offered a modicum of hope for suc-cess to both parents and youth. Rowen’sresponse was that “the ‘good times’were not very good to the young peopleof Regent Park.” This exchange offersboth a view of the good intentions ofmany educators and a reminder of theunspoken distance between the percep-tions of some professionals and thosethey were genuinely working to serve.Pathways development was purpose-fully designed to bridge that distance.

18 The origin of the two interim in-dicators – attendance and credit accu-mulation – en route to more definitivemetrics of dropout and graduation ratesowe their use to the long history of re-search conducted by the Board of Edu-cation for the City of Toronto (now theToronto District School Board). Inshort, the studies conducted over manyyears and for many cohorts demon-strated the clear relationship betweeneach of strong attendance and credit ac-cumulation, and graduation; and, con-versely, between poor attendance andcredit accumulation and likelihood ofdropping out. Pathways to Education,and the authors personally, are indebtedto Dr. Robert Brown, Research Coordi-nator at the Toronto District SchoolBoard, for his abiding commitment toevidence-based practice leading toschool success. Not only did he producethe original custom tabulation which

provided the first community-basedtracking of students, and which showedthe baseline dropout rate for RegentPark, Dr. Brown has consistently pro-vided Pathways with additional tabula-tions, analyses and insights into therelationships between community fac-tors and school performance. While theability to continue to provide data onprogram results has benefitted frommany at the TDSB, the consistent dataanalyses which have informed Pathwaysover the past decade is a direct result ofhis support. On the specific item of at-tendance, credit accumulation and grad-uation data, see his numerous reports onsecondary school indicators (e.g.Brown, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2008).

19 More detailed and extensive re-sults are the subject of Part II of this ar-ticle which includes nine Regent Parkcohorts and four cohorts from four Path-ways “second generation” communities.However, at this juncture it should bementioned that the dropout rate for theinitial Regent Park cohorts have in-creased as a result of students who re-mained in secondary school longer thanthey might have without Pathways, butstill did not graduate (to 14% to 19% forthe first three cohorts). We did not knowthat this would be the case in 2005, as-suming that the “holding” of students insecondary school would ultimately leadto their graduation. That said, the reduc-tion in dropouts remains quite impres-sive compared to the 56% prior to theProgram.

20 In 2010, with more students andsites to study, BCG undertook anotherround of analysis to refresh the three-year-old study. These most recent re-sults, once again, confirm the enormoussocial return that is generated from aninvestment in education: $24 is the so-cial return for a $1 investment in Path-ways to Education, $600,000 is thelifetime cumulative benefit to societyfor each graduate.



“WHY BOTHER?”

“Why bother?” has become a shorthand expression based on a true story told by Program Director Norman Rowen at thefirst Pathways graduation (June 2005) in Regent Park as follows:

“On a grey Thursday afternoon at the end of April of 2001, I was in the office of the vice-principal of one of the high schoolsthat Regent Park young people had historically attended. While there was encouragement from the school board when wefirst talked about the idea of Pathways, I was told we had to get the cooperation of individual schools if we wanted to bethere. I described to the vice-principal how the idea came about, what we were thinking about doing, and the relationshipwe hoped to have with her school among others. But I was there to convince her to cooperate with a program which was un-known; we had neither students nor staff yet. And while we had heard skepticism from some people we spoke with, I wasn’tprepared for her directness and honesty when she asked “why bother?”

You can understand that four and a half years ago we couldn’t answer her question with results about reduced absenteeismor increased credits. We didn’t yet know that more than 95% of high school youth in the community would participate, orthat, four years later, over 90% would still be in school.

But what she was telling us in her question was serious. And it’s not only about one person. It was – and perhaps still is –about many people who believe that the stereotypes of this and other similar communities are the only reality, and who letthose stereotypes deny opportunity; that not so subtle disrespect that so many young people experience every day”.

Following the graduation ceremony, the then TDSB Director of Education asked about the particular administrator, stating inno uncertain terms that “we don’t want that kind of person leading our schools”. Rowen’s reply to her at the time still holdstrue: “The problem isn’t the ones who say it, it’s the ones who don’t”. While this attitude is likely held by far fewer schoolstaff, the lived experience of many Pathways young people and others in similar communities is that such “why bother” sen-timents continue to present challenges to them.

Replication Principles1. Engage the community in a process which expresses aspirations, identifies barriers and solutions, and creates owner-

ship of the program.2. Start with a credible community-based organization and build an accountable governance structure.3. Include all the community’s children in the program and support participation proactively. 4. Set program standards to ensure program integrity and encourage youth responsibility.5. Develop a staff team to manage, fund, coordinate and deliver a high quality, cost-effective program, with volunteer tu-

tors and mentors who meet diverse needs. 6. Take an integrated and holistic approach to enabling students to achieve their educational and career goals. 7. Build and maintain quality relationships with partners, supporters and donors/funders.8. Measure and report outcomes.9. Learn from best practices, experience and feedback. Keep improving program implementation. 10. Sustain a long-term commitment to Pathways and its values.

WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING• Boston Consulting Group reports that $1 invested in Pathways generates a $25 return to society in terms of decreased

social costs and an increased tax base.• McKinsey Company report on student retention and success in Quebec identifies Pathways as one of four programs

most likely to reduce poverty and dropout rates in the Province of Quebec. • Monitor Group partner and author of the book “Forces for Good”, Heather McLeod Grant, says “never before have we

seen such impressive results”.• United Nations independent expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall, highlights Pathways as one of the most out-

standing educational models seen during her 2009 visit to Canada.



The Regent Park Community

Regent Park is a community not far – yet a world away – from the glass and steel towers of the downtown condos andbusiness district of Toronto, Ontario. Regent Park is among Toronto’s poorest communities, economically. The picture mostoutsiders have traditionally had of the place is unremittingly negative. But for those who know it better – and there are moreof them since Pathways has raised the community’s profile in a positive way – Regent Park is a community with a greatspirit and a determination to help itself. The Regent Park Community Health Centre estimates that there are approximately26,000 residents in its catchment area.

In 2004, Poverty by Postal Code: The Geography of Neighbourhood Poverty 1981-2001, reported on trends in povertyin Toronto from 1981 to 2001 and highlighted just how economically disadvantaged Regent Park is and how entrenched itspoverty is (United Way of Greater Toronto 2004). The Report mapped the highest poverty neighbourhoods in the city byeconomic family* and by Census tracts. Of the 428 Census tracts in 1981, there were just four neighbourhoods with veryhigh family poverty rates, and they included Regent Park. Very high poverty means a rate of at least 40%, which is morethan three times the national poverty rate (13%) in 1981. (ibid: 10)A brief history of the community sheds some light on itschallenges. As the oldest and largest public housing development in Canada, the housing project was built in two phases, be-tween 1948 and 1959, as a place for the city’s underprivileged to live. It covers 69 acres. While it was considered a fine proj-ect in its day, with its emphasis on green space instead of vehicle traffic, the design – without streets running through it andvirtually no storefronts – created an isolated island of poverty disconnected from the surrounding neighbourhood. The layouthas been blamed for creating an area that attracts criminal activity because it is cut off from the normal ebb and flow of citylife. Because the site is considered private property, even though it is comprised almost exclusively of publicly-owned hous-ing, it does not have regular municipal services going through it, like police patrols and garbage pickup. The housing hasalso deteriorated over the past half-century, adding to the impression of urban decay.

The catchment area of the Regent Park Community Health Centre takes in Regent Park and an adjacent section of MossPark. The Moss Park community as a whole includes an old industrial area, gentrified housing, redeveloped heritage build-ings and expensive retail services. The poorer side of Moss Park, which is in the catchment area, is known for the number ofhomeless people who roam its streets. A number of emergency shelters and other services that seek to help the homeless indowntown Toronto are located in Moss Park.There is no denying that Regent Park is a community whose residents suffer many hardships. But this community also hasimportant strengths and assets. Over the years, the residents of Regent Park have demonstrated their resilience, and theirlove of their children.

Regent Park has a history of community organizing and standing up for its own interests. Community activism emergedstrongly in the 1960s. For example, tenants formed the Regent Park Community Improvement Association to represent resi-dents in the housing project, and spearheaded development in 1969 of an integrated social service delivery unit on site in thecommunity. A review of the experiment published in 1979 concluded that the project was a success largely because of thedetermination of the local residents, who persisted in spite of the obstacles. (Barr 1979)Around the same time, a group known as the Trefann Court Mothers advocated on behalf of their school children. They feltthe education system had given up on their kids before they got started in school. In particular, they objected to the stream-ing of low-income and racial minority children into vocational and other non-academic high school programs. The schoolboard implemented new policies to try to redress the situation and provide more support to children in inner city schools. It took nearly five years of local organizing before the Regent Park Community Health Centre opened its doors in a store-front location in 1973. The President of the Regent Park Community Improvement Association, Neil Tanner, spoke at theopening ceremony of how hard a group of tenants worked to turn the dreams of the community into a reality. (RPCHC 2003:2) The population has changed over the years. Today, Regent Park reflects the diversity of one of the most internationalcities in the world. Some 80 languages are spoken. Nearly 60% of residents are immigrants. Almost two-thirds of those im-migrants came to Canada since 1996. Almost 80% of residents are visible minorities.

The diversity of its people is a real source of strength. Many immigrants are living in Regent Park on low-paying jobsbecause their education credentials and work experience in other countries are not recognized in Canada. The communityhas had more than its share of struggle, mixed with remarkable community resilience.*The “economic family” is defined by Statistics Canada as a group of two or more persons who live in the same dwellingand are related to each other by blood, marriage, common-law or adoption.

The Canadian Journal of Career Development is a peer-reviewed publication of multi-sectoralcareer-related academic research and best practices from Canada and around the world.

La Revue canadienne de développement de carrière est une publication revue par un comitéde lecture, qui présente des recherches universitaires et des meilleures pratiques multisectorielleset ayant trait aux carrières, provenant du Canada et du reste du monde.

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This Journal was made possible through the generous contributions ofThe Counselling Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Education andResearch Institute for Counselling and Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Cette Revue est rendue possible grâce aux généreuses contributions deThe Counselling Foundation of Canada, l’Institut canadien d’éducation et de recherche en orientation et de l’Université Memorial de Terre-Neuve.

In this Issue / Dans ce numéro 1Vol. 1 / No. 1

GENTIANE BOUDRENGHIEN, MARIANE FRENAY, ETIENNE BOURGEOIS, STUART A. KARABENICK,AND JACQUELYNNE S. ECCLES

59 Job Development for Today - A Sector Specific Approach

HABIB ULLAH

Career Planning In Ontario - Grade 10 Students: Counsellor PerpectivesDR. PETER DIETSCHE

Antecedents of Educational Goal Commitment: An Experimental Investigation ofthe Role of Goal Abstraction, Integration, and Importance

International Students' Views of Transition to Employment and ImmigrationNANCY ARTHUR AND SARAH FLYNN

Relationships Among Career Thoughts, Career Interests, and Career Decision State

ASHLEY K. CHASON, EMILY BULLOCK-YOWELL, JAMES P. SAMPSON, JR., JANET G. LENZ, AND ROBERT C. REARDON

Transitioning into, Through, and out of Graduate School: A Theoretical ModelMELANIE J. GREENE

Creating Hope, Opportunity, and Results for Disadvantaged YouthCAROLYN ACKER AND NORMAN ROWEN

RESEARCH IN MOTION

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The Canadian Journal of Career Development


Access this journal online / Accédez à cette revue en ligne à l'adresse suivante


Revue canadienne de développement de carrière

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Goodbye ContactPoint, Hello CareerWisecontactpoint.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/cjcd-vol12-issue1-full.pdf · CJCD Journal cover Nov 2012_Layout 1 12-12-04 11:05 AM Page 1. The Canadian