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Health Human Resources and Education in Canada
From Aspirations to Career Choices: Youth Pathways to Health Occupations
From Aspirations to Career Choices: Youth Pathways to Health Occupations
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In high school, young people begin to make plans for their future by considering occupational options. They first develop aspirations, then make choices regarding postsecondary studies and finally, enter the labour market. This fact sheet compares the pathways of two cohorts of youth from their aspirations to an occupation in health in 2000 to their postsecondary education and employment outcomes six years later.
Postsecondary education choices are the first concrete steps in pursuing aspirations
Of the 15% (54,100) of 15-year-olds interested in a health or health-related occupation in 2000, 19% reported being enrolled in a corresponding field of study in 2006, at age 21, and 8% had graduated from a health or health-related program (Chart 1). An additional 5% had enrolled in a health or health-related program but had left the program without completing it.
Perhaps not surprisingly, 18 to 20 year-olds were more likely to follow through on their aspirations: of the 11% (130,300) of 18 to 20 year-olds who reported an interest in a health or health-related occupations in 2000, 7% reported being enrolled in a health or health-related program in 2006, when they were 24 to 26 years old, and 44% had graduated from such a program. About 9% indicated that they left such a program without graduating (Chart 1).
In addition, some young people who had not indicated an interest in health or health-related occupations at age 15 or even at age 18 to 20 in 2000 opted for a program of study in this field: 8% of each of these two cohorts were either graduates of, or enrolled in, a health or health-related program six years later, in 2006.
Following graduation, retention in health occupations is high
About one-third of 21 year-olds who had graduated from a health or health-related program reported being employed in a health or health-related occupation in 2006. Employment in a health or health-related occupation was higher for the older cohort, who were 24 to 26 years old in 2006, with about half of those graduating from a health or health-related program being employed in a related occupation in 2006 (Chart 1). Those not working in a related field in 2006 could still have been students or, being relatively recent graduates, may not yet have found a job in their field of study.
Chart 1
From aspirations to an occupation in health to postsecondary education and employment outcomes six years later
Source: Statistics Canada. Youth in Transition Survey, Cycle 4, 2006.
Health human-resource planning information needs
Although there is a great deal of interest in health occupations among youth in Canada, more research is needed to fully understand the factors influencing changes in young people's interest in such occupations over time. This would assist health-care planners in designing effective recruitment strategies to attract young people to the field.
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