Proximity, Prosperity, and Participation: Examining Access to Postsecondary Education among Youth in Canada's Provincial North

Abstract

Despite increased proportions of students attending some form of postsecondary education (PSE), some social groups continue to face significant barriers and encounter difficulties making the transition. Previous research suggests that proximity to postsecondary institutions may have a positive impact on PSE participation rates, even more so for lower-and middle-income families. We know comparatively less, however, about how these processes operate for social groups in varied social and economic contexts. In Canada, many highly ranked, prestigious universities and colleges (with greater arrays of fields) tend to be clustered in large, urban centers, and in the southernmost parts of Canadian provinces, but it is not clear whether these differences impact PSE outcomes. Drawing on cycles 1 to 4 of Statistics Canada's Youth in Transition Survey (YITS2Cohort A), our findings reveal that individuals from the northernmost parts of Canadian provinces do experience difficulties accessing various types of PSE (and in the timing of doing so). Moreover, our results suggest that much of these location effects are attributable to not only economic differences in terms of parental income but also cultural and dispositional differences related to parental education and their aspirations for their children's education.Proximity, Prosperity, and PSE Participation -Zarifa et al.

Will They Stay or Will They Go? Examining the Brain Drain in Canada's Provincial North

“…2019; Looker and Naylor 2009; Zarifa et al. 2018), researchers are also finding that youth's own education levels may influence whether or not they will return to their hometowns. Net of other factors, as rural youth's level of education increases, so does the likelihood they will settle in an urban area (Clemenson and Pitblado 2007; Dupuy et al.…”

“…Although northern communities may have several characteristics in common (e.g., resource‐based economies, smaller populations), they are not necessarily homogeneous across Canada (Coates, Holroyd, and Leader 2014; Zarifa et al. 2018). Second, there is little consideration of important predictors found to be influential in youth migration patterns in the rural‐urban migration research outlined below.…”

“…While many of the extant studies of youth migration underscore the importance of reducing out‐migration in rural areas, researchers have yet to understand the nature and scope of Canada's north‐south migration patterns. Canada's northern regions differ in their available resources, demographics, size, and infrastructures, but they commonly share high levels of skill and youth out‐migration (Newbold and Brown 2015; Zarifa, Hango, and Pizarro Milian 2018). Moreover, securing stable employment, and employment commensurate with one's field or level of education, is becoming ever more difficult in northern economies, and may be contributing to higher out‐migration rates among youth aged 15 to 30 (Andres and Licker 2005; Dupuy, Mayer, and Morrisette 2009; Hango et al.…”

“…2019; Zarifa et al. 2018). Yet, there is a dearth of research examining northern youth's migration trends in Canada and more importantly the factors that predict youth's decisions to leave or stay.…”

“…2019; Pizarro Milian, Seward, and Zarifa 2020; Zarifa et al. 2018; Zarifa, Seward, and Pizarro Milian, 2019). Moreover, these regions continually struggle to maintain local human capital levels to promote economic development, market stability, and often lack representation beyond the municipal level and sufficient autonomy and authority to engage in economic diversification (Coates and Poelzer 2014; Wilson and Poelzer 2005:12).…”