Youth making school-to-work transition are as diverse as the general population in Canada. In terms of education, they fit broadly into four categories:
Those who have left school prior to graduating have significant barriers to finding employment. Of all 20-24 year-olds, this population represents approximately 11 percent (de Broucker, May 2005). About 75 percent of this population live with their parents and have parents with high school or higher education (de Broucker, May 2005). More young men than young women leave high school without graduating. The employment rate gap between those with a high school diploma and those without is about 20 percentage points (de Broucker, May 2005).
In Canada, the high school graduation rate is 75 percent which is below the OECD average of 82 percent (Taylor, 2007). Nine percent of secondary school students expect to work after they leave secondary school, yet 64% of secondary students actually do go to work before any other career destination (Jarvis, 2001). While youth with a high school diploma have a better employment rate than those who do not, in Canada, a high school diploma has little impact on finding a skilled job.
According to the Post-secondary Education Participation Survey (PEPS), close to two-thirds of young Canadians aged 18-24 in 2002 had taken some form of post-secondary education after leaving high school (Barr-Telford, et al., 2003). Sixty-four percent of these youth began their post-secondary studies within 12 months of finishing high school (Barr-Telford, et al., 2003). The rest delayed starting PSE by a year or more. Sixteen percent of those who started PSE in 2000 had dropped-out (Barr-Telford, et al., 2003).
The factors that influence PSE attendance for youth include: the economic status of parents, the educational attainment of parents, the level of parental awareness of PSE options and overestimation of the cost of PSE education (Canadian Youth; Looker and Lowe, 2001; CCDF, 2003). Most parents want the best for their children and best in terms of education is seen as a university degree. Parents from all backgrounds have this expectation. This expectation increases with educational attainment. More parents with university degrees (97%) expect their children to go on to university than parents who have not complete high school (70%) (de Broucker, 2005). Youth tend to follow parental expectations: sixty-seven percent of those whose parent has this expectation go to university compared with thirty-four percent of those whose parent did not have this expectation (Barr-Telford, et al., 2003).
More young women (67%) than men (57%) went on to PSE in 2001 a trend that continues to grow (Canadian Youth). While young women and immigrants tend to have higher academic aspirations than other youth; they face many systemic, cultural and social barriers preventing the realization of their aspiration. Young immigrants, in particular, face barriers such as lack of information and non-eligibility for scholarships and awards (Looker and Lowe, 2001). The employment rate is better for PSE graduates and best for those with a university degree.