Exit survey of 1998 Wisconsin youth apprenticeship graduates

The Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship (YA) program arose in response to demands for educational reform aimed at increasing emphasis on students' transition from school to postsecondary employment and education. It is a two-year, work-based learning program which offers high school students the chance to gain work experience which directly relates to their school curriculum. Four hundred and eleven YA graduates completed the program in 1998, with demographic data indicating that 59% of program participants were male, 41% were female, and 93% of the total were white. An exit survey was sent to these students and achieved a response rate of 59%. The survey was designed to: (1) better understand the impact participation in the program had on students' high school experience; (2) determine graduates' plans for employment and enrolment in postsecondary education; (3) evaluate the extent to which the YA experience influenced graduates' career plans; and (4) assess how the youth apprentices valued the various components of the program. Key findings from the survey indicate that: program participation increased by 20% from the previous year, but that this was due solely to an increase in male participation, with female participation decreasing; available programs became increasingly gender specific in 1998, with 81% of females graduating from the Health and Finance programs, while males were spread much more evenly across the programs; 94% of graduates indicated that they were either satisfied or very satisfied overall with their experiences in the YA program; 73% of respondents indicated that they intended to enroll either in some form of postsecondary educational institution, take up an apprenticeship or enlist in the military; two-thirds of all respondents indicated that their postsecondary plans had not changed with participation in the YA program; 75% of all respondents were offered either full- or part-time employment from their youth apprentice employers, and 62% accepted these offers. The report concludes with several recommendations concerning the future of the program, one of which is that new curricula be developed in areas that would attract more females and minorities.

A follow-up survey to this document is indexed at TD/TNC 81.270.

The Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship (YA) program arose in response to demands for educational reform aimed at increasing emphasis on students' transition from school to postsecondary employment and education. It is a two-year, work-based learning program which offers high school students the chance to gain work experience which directly relates to their school curriculum. Four hundred and eleven YA graduates completed the program in 1998, with demographic data indicating that 59% of program participants were male, 41% were female, and 93% of the total were white. An exit survey was ...  [+] Show more