Connecting Partners: Promoting Access Across Education, Skills, and Employment Pathways
About the Project
Canadian youth are applying to postsecondary programs at unprecedented rates to acquire the skills needed to thrive in an evolving society and labour market. Students from traditionally underrepresented populations in higher education (e.g., persons with disabilities, lower socioeconomic groups, immigrants to Canada, visible minorities and Indigenous people) are key groups pursuing postsecondary opportunities. However, despite expansion efforts, significant inequities exist, which hinders access to postsecondary education and leads to inequitable employment outcomes. Empirical research that identifies barriers to access while assessing the outcomes of historically underrepresented groups as they navigate pathways from high school through postsecondary programs and into the labour force is therefore highly warranted.
This project will provide a substantive exploration of the potential barriers experienced by many youth as they pursue postsecondary education and employment. Our research team will take advantage of recent data liberation initiatives by Statistics Canada that allow us to link Toronto District School Board (TDSB) data with postsecondary administrative, survey, and tax data. Few school boards in Canada have linked secondary to postsecondary data, and through our exclusive data linkage contract with Statistics Canada, this will be the first project to assess the diverse range of postsecondary pathways and labour market outcomes of 13 cohorts of recent students of the Toronto District School Board, regardless of which city or province they pursue their postsecondary schooling and/or employment. The partnerships and new data linkages will allow us to accomplish the following four key objectives: 1) Identify the programs and skills required to succeed in the Canadian labour market; 2) Understand the changing barriers and challenges experienced by various student groups as they transition from high school through postsecondary education and into the labour market; 3) Assess the effectiveness of programs and strategies available to high school students to improve their chances of admission to and completion of postsecondary programs; and 4) Enable the mobilization of new knowledge stemming from this research with relevant government and non-government stakeholders.
The partnership will establish a new network of knowledge and expertise among academics, universities, and federal, provincial and municipal boards and agencies. The partnership consists of a multidisciplinary team of researchers from five universities with primary expertise in sociology, education, school-to-work transitions, and at-risk groups. Our knowledge mobilization partners include key stakeholders with applied research experience in secondary and higher education, as well as organizations with mandates related to skill development, improving access to education, and enhancing youth employment outcomes in general and for underrepresented groups.
Our wide array of partners will foster an unparalleled springboard for knowledge mobilization and transfer among numerous stakeholders, including academic, administrative, and policy audiences. Knowledge mobilization activities will engage school boards, government, postsecondary institutions, skill development organizations, and other organizations that advocate on behalf of underrepresented groups. The partnership will contribute to the development of diverse skills among highly qualified personnel and serve as a model for future data creation opportunities. This initial partnership will increase our capacity to attract additional researchers and organizations to participate in a future partnership with a national scope.