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Pan-Canadian Study of First Year College Students - Report 1 Student Characteristics and the College Experience - August 2007

5. Registration Characteristics of Respondent Students

The demographic and family background of survey respondents confirms that students attending colleges and institutes are diverse on many levels. This section provides an overview of the demographic and family background characteristics of the survey respondents from both the College Entry and End of Term Surveys.

5.1 Age of College/Institute Students

For both the College Entry and End of Term Surveys, slightly less than one-half of respondent students were 19 years of age or younger (47 percent and 44 percent respectively) and roughly one fifth were mature students, defined as 25 years of age or older.

5.2 Gender

Sixty-one percent of respondents from the College Entry Survey were female and 63 percent of respondents from the End of Term Survey were female.

5.3 First Language

Most respondents had English as a first language — 80 percent from the College Entry Survey and 82 percent from the End of Term Survey. Only six percent of respondents at college entry and four percent of respondents at the end of the first term identified French as their first language. In addition, 13 percent of respondents at college entry reported having another language as their first language, and almost the same percentage of respondents from the end of term survey (14 percent), indicated that another language was their first language.

5.4 Family Situation

Four in five respondent students were single, and somewhat more than one in ten had financial dependents, whether children or adults. The vast majority of those in the latter category reported spending many hours caring for these individuals. In terms of living arrangements, only one-half were living with their parents and almost one-fifth reported living with a partner/spouse or children.

5.5 Education Level of Parents

As confirmed in a study released by Statistics Canada in January 2005, family background, particularly levels of parent education, has both a direct and indirect influence on whether young people go on to postsecondary education. Policy and decision-makers responsible for postsecondary education are increasing efforts to support first generation postsecondary students — young people whose parents did not participate in postsecondary education and do not have postsecondary credential including a certificate or diploma from a college/institute, apprenticeship or journey-person certification or a university degree. At the federal level, the Canada Access Grants introduced in 2004 are grants for first time, first year students from low income families. In 2006, the Ontario government announced $5 million in programs aimed at encouraging potential first generation students to pursue postsecondary education and apprenticeships by offering valuable information and advice, as well as $1 million in bursaries for first generation students.

Well over one third of respondents came from families with fathers and mothers who had no postsecondary education — with high school completion as the highest level of education attained.

The survey results provide some insights into the highest levels of education attained by the parents of respondents to the entry and end of term surveys. Figure 3 shows the highest levels of education attained by respondents' fathers and mothers based on entry survey results. In terms of fathers' education levels, well over a third of respondents came from families whose father had no postsecondary education, with less than high school or high school completion as the highest level of education, that is 36 percent of respondents from the College Entry Survey and 38 percent of respondents from the End of Term Survey. The same is true for maternal education of respondents, with 39 percent of College Entry Survey respondents and 41 percent of End of Term Survey respondents reporting the highest level of their mothers' education being high school completion or less.

The College Entry Survey also asked students how important it was to their parents that they pursue further education after high school. Approximately two-thirds of respondents reported that their parents strongly emphasized the importance of continuing education after high school.

Figure 3 Highest Level of Education Attained by Parents of College/Institute Students, 2005

5.6 Students with Disabilities

Nine percent of respondent students from both the entry and end of term surveys reported having a disability. Of those declaring a disability, the results from both surveys were more or less the same with up to 61 percent reported having a learning disability, ten percent had mobility-related disabilities, six percent cited a sensory disability, and 24 percent had disabilities falling within the "Other" category.

5.7 Aboriginal Students

Almost one in ten respondents identified themselves as a person of Aboriginal or Native ancestry, that is: First Nations, North American Indian, Inuit or Métis. More specifically, 1,818 Aboriginal students (seven percent) responded to the College Entry Survey, and 1,005 Aboriginal students (ten percent) responded to the End of Term Survey. As mentioned previously, a more detailed look at the differences in the profile and experiences of Aboriginal students, as well as visible minorities and new Canadians will be provided in the second report in this series.

5.8 Visible Minorities

Visible minorities from a variety of cultural backgrounds were present in the student sample, with 18 percent of entry survey respondents and 19 percent of end of term respondents confirming that they consider themselves to be a member of a visible minority group. In the survey questionnaires, the term "visible minorities" was defined as being those, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are because of their race or colour, a visible minority.

Respondents were also asked to specify the visible minority group they considered themselves to be a part of. The largest percentage from both surveys, almost one-quarter (23 percent of entry respondents and 24 percent of end of term respondents) was Black, an approximately equal percentage was either South Asian (18 and 21 percent respectively) or Chinese (19 and 16 percent respectively), and an additional 17 percent indicated they belonged to a group not listed as a response choice.

5.9 New Canadians

While almost two-thirds (61 percent) of respondents from both the entry and end of term surveys were born in Canada and had Canadian-born parents, 20 percent would be considered second generation immigrants with only one or neither parent born in Canada. A total of 4,744 students (19 percent of respondents) who completed the College Entry Survey were not born in Canada, among these up to ten percent had their Canadian citizenship, just over six percent had landed immigrant or permanent resident status, almost three percent were visa students and .2 percent identified themselves as having refugee status.

Just as many students attending colleges and institutes come from the work-place (29% of respondents) as from high school (30 percent of respondents).

The College Entry Survey also asked students not born in Canada to identify in what year they first came to Canada to live. Of the 4,744 students who indicated that they were not born in Canada, 4,354 responded to the item that asked year of arrival in Canada. Most of these respondents were recent immigrants, as 45 percent arrived in Canada in the year 2000 or later, 38 percent arrived between 1990 and 1999, 15 percent arrived between 1980 and 1989, and only two percent arrived before 1980.

5.10 Main Activity Prior to College

First year college/institute students were asked to identify the main activity during the 12 months prior to attending their current college or institute. The results from the entry and end of term surveys were consistent in confirming that equal numbers of college/institute students are drawn from high school and the workplace. The entry survey results showed 30 percent of students were attending high school full time and 29 percent were working full time, and the end of term survey results were more or less the same, with 28 percent of students coming from high school and another 28 percent from full-time work. Table 3 shows the full range of activities reported by respondents of both the college entry and end of terms surveys, including attending a college or university, working and studying part-time, seeking employment and being a homemaker.

Table 3. Main Activity of Students Prior to College, 2005
Main Activity	Entry Survey Respondents Percent	End of Term Respondents Percent
Attending high school full time	30	28
Attending college full time	13	15
Attending university full time	5	5
Working full time	29	28
Working part time only	6	6
Both working part time and studying part time	6	7
A full time homemaker	2	2
Unemployed and seeking work	3	3
Unemployed and not seeking work	1	-*
Other	6	6
TOTAL	100	100
This activity was not included in the end of term survey. Source:* College Entry Survey, 2005 and End of Term Survey, 2005

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Date Modified:: 2007-08-29

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