Vocational education and training - VET

This fact sheet provides metrics on how young Canadians move from largely compulsory secondary education, into and through their postsecondary experiences and finally onto the labour market. It brings together the latest indicators that can provide insight into these pathways.

Interest in the field of career and technical education (CTE) has experienced a resurgence over the last decade, as the global economy has grown increasingly competitive while students have continued to leave school underprepared for well-paying twenty-first century jobs. Together and separately, the education and workforce sectors have sought to address these challenges and better prepare students for viable economic futures. The results have been many new, innovative programs at both the secondary and postsecondary education levels that seek to give students technical training for specific careers, general training to prepare them for the workplace, and work-based learning opportunities where they can develop connections to employers and the workforce. While there are still many under-researched areas in CTE, this paper attempts to capture the evidence that has emerged—identifying areas where there is more evidence as well as areas where gaps in evidence still exist. The studies that have been conducted on CTE have demonstrated that it shows promise, but it is imperative to continue building evidence, particularly where there is policy interest and momentum but little data. Doing so will help demonstrate how those programs and models serve students and ensure that the continued scaling up of CTE is supported by a rigorous evidence base.  

This paper begins with an overview of the issues in the education system and the labor market that have led to the current revival of CTE. It argues that the skills today’s employers need are not the ones schools are providing. The paper continues with a description of how various policies have fostered the growth of CTE. In the next section, it provides details on the types of programs and institutions that offer CTE, and the evidence base to support each of them. The paper provides evidence on the effectiveness of CTE at different educational levels, and for specific subgroups, including students with disabilities, and by gender. Further, the paper provides an overview of the available evidence to support different kinds of programs offered at both secondary and postsecondary education levels, touching on the amount of evidence available in each area and the level of rigor used in the studies that generated that evidence. 

The paper concludes by suggesting that while CTE instruction at the secondary and postsecondary levels could bolster students’ economic mobility by helping them gain postsecondary credentials and obtain higher-paying jobs, there are challenges involved in turning that promise into reality. Investments in evidence-based practices can give CTE programs a better chance at success.

What will it take to ensure that all students, especially those furthest from opportunity, are on a path to promising and fulfilling careers?

Schools are increasingly engaging in career-connected learning to increase career exposure and skill development. But focusing on skills alone will fall short, particularly if schools hope to address long-standing opportunity gaps. Awareness of possible careers and access to jobs depends not only on learning and achievement, but on personal and professional relationships that serve as gateways to career opportunities. Opportunity sits at the intersection of students’ human capital—what they know and can do—and their social capital—who they know and can depend on for support and access. To launch a career, students need more than skills—they also need people willing to take a bet on their potential.

Challenges and uncertainty many young adults experience while making the transition from school to work, focusing on what we’re learning about how to best support and provide opportunities to young people in their journeys.

The school to work transition sounds easy right? You finish Year 12, get a qualification of some description and jump into the workforce…right? Wrong.

This report presents initial findings about the employment and educational experiences of bachelor’s degree recipients 1 year after they completed their degrees.
These findings are based on data from the first follow-up of the 2016/17 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:16/17), a nationally representative longitudinal study of students who completed the requirements for a bachelor’s degree during the 2015–16 academic year. The study addresses questions related to bachelor’s degree recipients’ education and employment experiences. The first follow-up, which was  conducted in 2017, one year after their graduation, explored both undergraduate education experiences and early post baccalaureate employment and enrollment.

olleges and universities can leverage technology to overcome the roadblocks that often keep learners from clearly connecting their educational experience to their career.

This learning bulletin explores in greater depth the challenges and uncertainty many young adults experience while making the transition from school to work, focusing on what we’re learning about how to best support and provide opportunities to young people in their journeys.

The report provides valuable insights and recommendations to bridge the gap between education and employment. ESSA conducted the research in partnership with The Education Collaborative at Ashesi University and Kepler University in Rwanda, with financial support from Dubai Cares. 

The report was unveiled during an Industry Roundtable event in Accra on Tuesday, 27 June 2023. It addresses the issue of youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa, emphasising the significant skills gap between universities' offerings and the labour market demands. 

It presents a three-step approach to address this gap and improve employability outcomes for African students: 

Step 1: Understand employer demand for skills. 

Step 2: Take a holistic approach to career services. 

Step 3: Measure progress. 

Based on the findings, the report offers evidence-based recommendations for universities, colleges, and employers: 

Recommendations for universities and colleges: 

Collaborate with industry to assess the labour market and understand required skills. 

Engage students in career service initiatives from the beginning. 

Recommendations for employers: 

Proactively seek partnerships with universities. 

Share skills requirements with universities and establish a digital platform for industry data sharing. 

The "What Next? Enhancing African Students' Transition to Employment through Effective Career Services" report serves as a valuable resource for universities, colleges, educators, employers, and policymakers seeking to address graduate unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Roughly 350,000 young Canadians graduate high school each year. How many of them go on to postsecondary studies? How many of them go directly to the labour market? How long does it take to complete their postsecondary studies? How well do they do once they join the labour market? A new fact sheet entitled

We are the first to estimate the impact of relative age (i.e., the difference in classmates' ages) on both speed and quality of individuals' transition from education to the labour market. Moreover, we are the first to explore whether and how this impact passes through characteristics of students' educational career. We use rich data pertaining to schooling and to labour market outcomes one year after graduation to conduct instrumental variables analyses. We find that a one-year increase in relative age increases the likelihood of (i) being employed then by 3.5 percentage points, (ii) having a permanent contract by 5.1 percentage points, and (iii) having full-time employment by 6.5 percentage points. These relative age effects are partly mediated by intermediate outcomes such as having had a schooling delay at the age of sixteen or taking on student jobs. The final mediator is particularly notable as no earlier studies examined relative age effects on student employment.

Roughly 60% of U.S. high school graduates are not fully prepared to take college-level coursework, and racial gaps in college readiness measures have changed little during the past decade. In response, many states have introduced some form of high school-to-college transition interventions. Zeyu Xu, Ben Backes, and Dan Goldhaber review the efficacy of these programs.

Many young people across Australia are struggling to find full-time work after completing full-time education. Our research shows that completing 5,000 hours of relevant, paid work experience can speed up the transition by up to 12 months. Read our five tips for making work experience work for young people.

As technology and automation sweep through our workplaces, enterprise skills are the skills which current and future workers need to thrive in their future careers.