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


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7. Career Preparation and Certainty at College Entry

Canadian colleges and institutes are typically more career focused in their programming compared to universities. In addition, high school graduates who decide to attend colleges or institutes typically begin the application process by selecting a specific program or two as their top choices (Acumen Research, 2003). While this is best accomplished if one has a clear understanding of the occupational destination upon completion of the program, research suggests that many applicants are making choices based on little information and the results of this study are consistent.

7.1 Career Exploration Activities

The College Entry Survey assessed student involvement in various types of career exploration activities in high school and at home, including courses or workshops, co-op The relatively infrequent participation in structured career experiences, high school guidance services, career exploration activities by students in secondary school is exploration questionnaires, computer programs and exacerbated further by the low level of self-directed career websites and discussions with parents.

Overall, the results indicated that students who attend college have not undertaken significant career exploration activities or, if they have, it is relatively infrequent. Anywhere between 20 and 30 percent have never engaged in career conversations with a high school counselor, completed a questionnaire or visited an internet site to explore job interests or potential postsecondary programming or taken classes in career planning.

Students seem to rely mostly on parents for career guidance and advice.

The most prevalent career exploration activity that occurred during this period was discussions with parents. Over one third of respondents indicated they had done this more than 20 times during high school and very few (less than one in ten) reported they had never done this. However, an analysis by socioeconomic status, defined as highest level of education attained by the father, demonstrated that the frequency of discussions varied dramatically. For example, slightly more than one-quarter of respondents whose fathers had not achieved secondary school graduation had discussed possible careers 20 times or more. In comparison, 40 percent of those whose father held a graduate degree had done so.

7.2 Awareness of Career Expected after Graduation

The relatively infrequent participation in structured career exploration activities by students in secondary school is exacerbated further by the low level of self-directed career exploration activity, especially in younger first-year college/institute students. Overall, one-half of the sample reported spending less than eight hours exploring the specific duties of the occupation they would likely obtain upon graduation. This percentage grew to between 55 and 60 percent for younger students, aged 17 or 18 years, entering a college/institute directly from high school.

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Date Modified:
2007-08-29