Aspirations of Canadian youth for higher education

This paper examines the educational aspirations of 15-year-old Canadian youth, using data from cycle one of the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). It profiles the range of youth's educational aspirations, examining key influences on these plans. Identifying these influences constitutes the main research focus of this analysis. It also sets the stage for long term analyses of the life course trajectories of Canadian youth as additional phases of the YITS are undertaken. The major findings show that Canadian youth continue to aim high. Almost all want to go beyond high school, and most want to attend university. Gender has an effect on educational plans: girls perform better in school and have higher educational aspirations. Parental socio-economic status affects the youth plans, but has less of an impact than parental encouragement. There are some community size differences, with youth attending schools in smaller communities having lower aspirations, particularly being less likely to plan to attend a university. Francophones in Quebec have a different pattern of educational aspirations than other youth. Academic performance, and program of study have pronounced effects on youth plans, as does academic effort. Other experiences, in and out of school, have less of an effect, including: participation in extracurricular activities; attachment to school; academic self-confidence; and bending or breaking rules in the home or the school. Those who frequently use information technology for educational purposes have higher aspirations, net of other effects.

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