Paving the Way through Career Exploration
Societal norms tend to place tremendous pressure on students to declare a college program of study at an early age. It seems that before students even graduate from high school,...
Skills in post-secondary education: Where to now?
The most telling observation made in HEQCO's recent reports is that too few students are graduating with superior literacy and numeracy skills and too many — about one in four...
Degrees for the rich, apprenticeships for the poor – that’s not a world of parity
Somewhere, right now, a 17-year-old is afraid to tell her family she wants to go to university. Even though she achieved the highest results in her school, she knows her...
Preparing Teens to Succeed in the Workplace: A Foundation Initiated Effort
In order to prepare for the future, a seminar was designed to enable teens to answer these two questions: What do I need to do to prepare for career success?...
Why won’t Canada collect data on race and student success?
Although the impact of income inequality and gender on education outcomes is much discussed in Canadian government-level policy debates, factors of race and racism are seldom measured or addressed. However,...
It’s time to stop asking students “what are you going to do next?”
Many of us can identify with the questions students are asked when they graduate from high school. Family, teachers and peers ask, “What are you going to do next? An...
Getting the Most Out of Campus Career Services
Campus career advisors are, by and large, enthusiastic, helpful, and excellent at their job. What’s important to remember, however, is that the career services office is a resource—they’re there to...
Social mobility and careers guidance provision
The last decade has witnessed an erosion of careers provision in English schools. OFSTED reported in 2013 that ‘arrangements for careers guidance were not working well in just over three...
What Straight-A Students Get Wrong
Year after year, I watch in dismay as students obsess over getting straight A’s. The evidence is clear: Academic excellence is not a strong predictor of career excellence. Across industries,...
How colleges are preparing students for jobs that don’t exist yet
Eighty-five percent of the jobs that today’s students will do in 2030 don’t exist yet, the Institute for the Future has predicted. That might seem like a high number to reach in...