A first look at provincial differences in educational pathways from high school to college and university - ARCHIVED

Between the ages of 15 and 19, youth have three decisions to make: first, whether or not to graduate from high school; second, whether or not to go to postsecondary education; and finally, the type of institution in which to pursue that postsecondary education. Using data from the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS), this article examines these pathways to see if there are any differences between the provinces in the choices made by boys versus girls and by youth from lower-income backgrounds versus those from higher-income backgrounds. The target population for the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS), cohort A includes all 15 year-old students enrolled in an educational institution in Canada on December 31, 1999. Students were initially interviewed in April or May of 2000 and re-interviewed in February to May of 2002 and again, between February and June of 2004. Youth were questioned about their school and work activities for the two-year period directly prior to the interview date. Thus, the high school dropout and postsecondary participation rates presented here refer to the youth's schooling status as of December 2003, the last date for which data were collected. These results are representative of Canadian youth who were 15 years old as of December 1999.