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This study used Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) administrative data within the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform to compare enrolment and persistence in postsecondary education (PSE) among high school graduates in British Columbia with and without special needs across five cohorts from 2010/2011 to 2014/2015 before and after controlling for several sociodemographic characteristics and academic achievement. The use of integrated longitudinal administrative data from the British Columbia Ministry of Education, the PSIS and the T1 Family File and the disaggregation of the special needs categorization were two major strengths of this study. Results show that high school graduates with mental health-related or cognitive needs and those with physical or sensory needs were less likely to enrol in PSE compared with high school graduates without special needs, even after controlling for covariates. Moreover, graduates with mental health-related or cognitive needs were less likely to transition to PSE immediately and less likely to persist in PSE two years after enrolment. These findings suggest that high school graduates with special needs, particularly those with mental health-related or cognitive needs, may encounter different types of barriers in transitioning to PSE.

Generative AI platforms like ChatGPT have exploded into our cultural awareness this year. Across post-secondary institutions, it was immediately apparent that faculty were eager to explore and discuss what this potentially disruptive technology might mean for them, their courses and their students. We wanted to create an opportunity for that discussion and to get a truer sense of initial faculty reactions than what sensational media headlines were offering. This working paper outlines the results of a facilitated online forum, open to faculty and staff from two institutions in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia in January 2023. Our session invited participants to test ChatGPT, reflecting on its strengths and limitations, and then talk through the potential impacts on instructors, our students, and post-secondary education in general of different approaches: ignore it, fight it, and embrace it. Analysis of participant contributions to polls, group discussions and a highly active chat space provide a snapshot of how faculty and staff were feeling and what they were doing in response to ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms. While the data seems to indicate a relatively optimistic take at this early point in the AI revolution, excerpts from discussions and debates do indicate a range of emotions and reactions--a range that will likely only continue to widen with the continuing release of ever more capable AI.

While international alliances among research universities are relatively well established, the challenges for the small liberal arts college to execute a meaningful global collaboration can be much more difficult, due both to the much smaller size of the institution, its more limited resources, and its smaller and more intimate culture centered on undergraduate teaching and learning. A new alliance of liberal arts colleges known as the Pacific Alliance of Liberal Arts Colleges (PALAC) was established in 2021 with the purpose to better articulate the global components of liberal arts education, and to collaborate on key projects that will build collective capacity for student-centered liberal arts education that engages with the world's most pressing problems. PALAC contains nine of the best liberal arts institutions from across the Pacific Region, including institutions in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Canada, and the United States. This essay describes the origins, motivations, and context of the creation of PALAC, its member institutions, and some of the initial projects planned by the new organization, and goals for global impact for PALAC.

In 2020, the federal government implemented the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) to provide financial support to employees, self-employed individuals and students directly affected by COVID-19. The CERB was available for individuals who stopped working or were working reduced hours because of COVID-19, and who met various other eligibility criteria. CERB applicants received $2,000 for an initial four-week period and could reapply for additional periods, eventually extending to 28 weeks, for a maximum benefit of $14,000. The benefit covered the period from March 15 to September 26, 2020. The CESB was available to students enrolled in a postsecondary educational program leading to a degree, diploma, or certificate, who were ineligible for the CERB or EI benefits, but met various other eligibility criteria. The benefit was active between May 10 and August 29, 2020. The CESB addressed a gap left by the CERB, which excluded students who were not employed at the start of the pandemic but would typically be looking for work during the summer of 2020. This paper provides insights into the differences in the rate of receipt of CERB and CESB of postsecondary students who received emergency benefit payments in 2020. Emergency benefit receipt is examined along various educational and socio-demographic characteristics to highlight some of the key differences. The analysis is limited to Canadian citizens and permanent residents who were enrolled full-time or part-time in a public postsecondary institution in the fall of 2019 in a program leading to a degree, diploma, or certificate.

This paper examines how international education (IE) as a tool of government foreign policy is challenged in an era of new geopolitics, where China's growing ambitions have increased rivalry with the West. It compares U.S. and Canada as cases first, by examining rationales and approaches to IE in both countries, second, IE relations with China before conflict and third, current controversies and government policy responses to IE relations with China. The paper concludes identifying contextual factors that shape each country's engagement with IE, but suggests that moving forward, the future of IE in a world of new geopolitics is likely to be far more complex and conflictual.

This fact sheet explores the association between parental income and the pathways of young adults in postsecondary education for students who began their studies in the 2012/2013 academic year. Students from low-income families have previously been shown to have lower rates of educational access and attainment. This fact sheet focuses on persistence and graduation indicators, which are now released annually, and furthers the analysis of these indicators by adding a parental income quartile dimension. Overall, the findings provide the following insights: (1) Students in the highest parental income quartile remained enrolled (persisted) and graduated at higher rates than students from the lowest parental income quartile for all selected educational qualifications and groupings. The differences in indicators by the level of parental income were more notable for the graduation rates than for the persistence rates; and (2) For students who graduated, those in the highest parental income quartile graduated as fast or faster than students in the lowest parental income quartile for all selected educational qualifications and groupings, though these differences were generally small. These findings are consistent with similar studies regarding postsecondary experiences of students by socioeconomic status.

When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into fruition in the early 1990s, there were high hopes and expectations on what this emerging economic block could achieve. Although the agreement involved extensive conversations that led to regulations that facilitated trade across the region--the main intent of NAFTA--the same was not true for the higher education environment. Critics have argued that NAFTA's heavy focus on trade left little room for similar harmonization on issues like higher education. From this perspective, it is evident that if efforts to improve higher education are to gain traction in the trilateral relationship, they must be linked with regional trade and competitiveness. Yet even though NAFTA was not the vehicle for further cooperation on higher education, colleges and universities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States did embrace the opportunity and enthusiastically engaged in conversations that prompted trilateral collaboration. This article follows the key agreements that influenced and guided the early stages of NAFTA collaboration among higher education institutions, as well as developments that kept engagement across the three countries active. It also provides an initial list of areas in which future collaboration might focus. [The report was published in partnership with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. This working paper will be published as a chapter in the forthcoming book, "North America 2.0: Forging a Continental Future."]

This study combines information from British Columbia administrative school data, the Postsecondary Student Information System, and the Registered Apprenticeship Information System to analyze the postsecondary and apprenticeship enrolment rates of high school graduates with and without special education needs, in the six years following graduation. The report answers four questions: (1) Are high school graduates with certain types of special education needs less likely to attend postsecondary education than graduates without special education needs? (2) Are graduates with certain types of special education needs more likely to delay entering postsecondary education? (3) If so, does the gap in enrolment close over time? and (4) Are graduates with certain types of special education needs more or less likely to follow certain programs of study (e.g., apprenticeships versus undergraduate degree programs) than graduates without special education needs? Although gifted status is considered to be a special education need in British Columbia, graduates with gifted status are excluded from this analysis. Preliminary analysis suggested that graduates with gifted status generally have different patterns of postsecondary enrolment than graduates with other special education needs.

In Canada, immigrants represented more than half of the population in the prime working ages with at least a bachelor's degree in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields of study in 2016. They accounted for three-quarters of engineering and computer science graduates with a master's or doctorate degree. This paper examines the skill utilization and earnings of employed STEM-educated immigrants by field of study and degree level. Compared with the Canadian-born with similar levels of education and in similar fields of study, immigrants with a bachelor's degree had considerably lower skill utilization rates and earnings outcomes than those of doctoral degree holders. This is mostly because immigrant doctoral graduates are more likely to be educated in a Western country. By field of study, immigrant engineering graduates, particularly at the bachelor's level, had relatively weaker skill utilization rates and earnings outcomes; immigrant computer science graduates did somewhat better. The slightly more than half of STEM-educated immigrants who did not find a STEM job had the weakest skill utilization rates and earnings outcomes. Much of the gap between the earnings of immigrant and Canadian-born graduates was associated with differences in country of education. STEM immigrants educated in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom or France had outcomes similar to the Canadian-born.

This article looks at the labour market outcomes of 2015 postsecondary graduates three years after graduation. Specifically, it examines their employment status, job permanency, relatedness of their job or business to their 2015 educational program, the degree to which graduates feel qualified for their job, their employment income and their job satisfaction. This article answers the question: How are graduates of 2015 faring in terms of their integration into the labour market?

This study uses longitudinal data combining information from the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) with data from personal income tax (T1 Family File) to analyze the impact of short-duration credentials (certificates and diplomas from colleges and universities), completed after an undergraduate degree, on the outcomes on the labour market of graduates from Canadian public universities.

The rapidly growing supply of university-educated workers from both immigration and domestic educational institutions, coupled with relatively slack demand for educated labour, has raised concerns about skill use in the Canadian economy. This study uses census data from 2001 to 2016 to compare trends in over-education among recent immigrants and Canadian-born youth. The study showed that only about one-half of the growth in university-educated workers over this 15-year period was matched with growth in jobs requiring a university education. University-educated recent immigrants became more concentrated in jobs requiring less than a university education. In comparison, Canadian-born youth with a university degree became less likely to work in jobs requiring high school or less education.

This study compares the differences in the mismatch between the education and occupations of immigrants in Canada and the United States, operationalized by over-education. It further explores how the cross-country differences may be related to the supply of and demand for university-educated immigrants and the way they are selected. Using comparable data and three measures of over-education, this study found that university-educated recent immigrants in Canada were much more likely to be overeducated than their U.S. peers. The over-education rate gap between recent immigrants and the native-born was much more pronounced in Canada than in the United States. In addition, while labour market demand was associated with a lower level of over-education in both countries, a greater supply of university-educated recent immigrants was positively associated with a likelihood of over-education among recent immigrants in Canada, but not in the United States. Furthermore, in Canada, the over-education rate was significantly lower among immigrants who were admitted through some form of employer selection (e.g., immigrants who worked in skilled jobs in Canada before immigration) than those who were admitted directly from abroad. Overall, this study provides insight into how the immigration system interacts with broader aspects of the labour market to shape the labour market outcomes of immigrants.

The number of temporary residents that hold a postsecondary study permit in Canada has increased rapidly in recent years, going from 201,186 in 2009 to 294,020 in 2015--a 46.1% increase. The purpose of this study is to describe the postsecondary experience and early labour market outcomes of study permit holders (international students). The study found that about two-thirds of postsecondary study permit holders actually enrolled in postsecondary programs in 2015 (up from about half in 2009). International students were somewhat more likely to graduate from their postsecondary program than Canadian students within five years of initial registration. However, international postsecondary students were less likely than Canadian students to combine school and work. Furthermore, only about one-third of international students who graduated from a postsecondary program remained and worked in Canada six years after graduation. Among those who remained and worked in the country after graduation, former international students earned slightly more than Canadian students (and slightly less than permanent residents). However, international students generally possess more characteristics associated with higher earnings than Canadian students. When international and Canadian students with similar demographics, educational qualifications and pre-graduation work experience were compared, it was shown that international students earned less than Canadian students six years after graduation.

Occupations related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are generally associated with high pay and contribute to the development of new technology. Continued growth is expected for STEM occupations, which would provide STEM-educated workers with additional labour market opportunities. However, less is known about the extent to which STEM graduates enter into and remain in STEM occupations in Canada. This study uses data from the 2006 and 2016 longitudinal census files to examine the occupational pathways of women and men with postsecondary credentials in STEM fields. Generally, male STEM graduates were more likely than female STEM graduates to be employed in a STEM occupation. The occupational pathways of male and female STEM graduates also differed. Among STEM graduates who were employed in a STEM occupation in 2006, women were more likely than men to have moved to a non-STEM occupation by 2016. Younger STEM graduates were more likely to exit a STEM occupation than older graduates, and men and women with college-level STEM credentials were more likely to leave a STEM occupation than their counterparts with a bachelor's degree. Some differences in the occupational mobility of men and women with STEM credentials were associated with their field of study. For example, men who studied mathematics or computer and information sciences were less likely than their counterparts who studied engineering or engineering technology to exit a STEM occupation between 2006 and 2016. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the likelihood of leaving a STEM occupation among women who had studied in these two fields. Lastly, the wage growth of male and female STEM graduates who persisted in a STEM occupation between 2006 and 2016 was not significantly different from the wage growth of their counterparts who had moved from a STEM occupation to a non-STEM occupation. [This study was funded by the Department for Women and Gender Equality.]

Traditionally, four-year bachelor's degree programs have been available only at universities. More recently, they have been offered at some community colleges--particularly in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Using linked administrative postsecondary graduate and personal income tax data, this study finds that college bachelor's degree (CBD) holders earn about 12% more per year, on average, than university bachelor's degree (UBD) holders two years after graduation. Almost all of this gap can be explained by the different field of study choices made by the two groups of students. Compared with their university counterparts, CBD holders were more likely to take programs in business, management and public administration or health and related fields (fields generally associated with higher-than-average earnings), and less likely to take education, humanities or social and behavioural sciences and non-professional law programs (fields generally associated with lower-than-average earnings). The remainder of the earnings gap could be explained by the fact that CBD holders were more than two years older than UBD holders, on average. The study also showed that UBD holders registered faster earnings growth between two and five years after graduation and were more likely to enroll in graduate studies than their counterparts from colleges. Moreover, CBD programs were generally concentrated in colleges that were situated near a university and associated with above-average earnings (compared with other colleges) among their diploma holders.

It has been well-documented that postsecondary graduates, on average, earn considerably more than others. Consequently, increasing postsecondary enrollment among youth from lower-income families--through targeted student aid or community outreach programs--may constitute an effective mechanism for promoting upward income mobility. However, there currently exists no evidence of the benefits of a postsecondary education (PSE) for youth from lower-income families per se. Using postsecondary administrative records and income tax records, this study bridges this information gap by estimating the association between earnings and PSE by level of parental income among a cohort of Ontario postsecondary graduates and a comparison group of Ontario youth who did not enroll in a postsecondary institution. The results suggest that the estimated earnings premiums associated with PSE are large and positive for youth from families across the income distribution. In relative terms, the premium is considerably larger for youth from the bottom income quintile than for their counterparts from the top income quintile. Supplementary analyses suggest that these results are not likely due to biases arising from omitted cognitive and noncognitive skills, or to differences in the choice of field of study between youth from different levels of parental income. [This project was funded by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO).]

The Canadian literature on postsecondary access has identified many of its key determinants including parental education and income, academic performance, and sex. However, relatively little work has investigated the independent role of disability in postsecondary enrollment. This study fills that gap by estimating the relationship between mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions diagnosed in childhood (available from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth [NLSCY]) and postsecondary enrollment during early adulthood (available from the tax credits on the T1 Family File [T1FF]). The study is possible as a result of the recent linkage between the NLSCY and T1FF. The findings suggest that 77% of youth who were not diagnosed with any long-term health condition in their school years (the comparison group) enrolled in postsecondary education (PSE) by their early 20s. In contrast, 60% of youth diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental condition (NDC) enrolled in PSE in the same time frame (a gap of 17 percentage points), while only 48% of youth diagnosed with a mental health condition (MHC) enrolled in PSE (a gap of 29 percentage points compared with youth in the comparison group). Youth diagnosed with both an NDC and an MHC were even less likely to enroll, with only 36% going on to PSE (41 percentage points behind youth in the comparison group). Differences in sex, academic performance and family background (e.g., parental income and education) explain only about one-third of these gaps. Among the MHCs, the most common diagnosis was Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Youth with an ADHD diagnosis were less likely to pursue PSE than youth diagnosed with other types of MHCs such as emotional, psychological or nervous difficulties. These findings suggest that youth diagnosed with NDCs and MHCs in their school years face barriers to enrolling in PSE that are distinct from those confronting other youth.

Given the time and money invested in higher education by students, parents and governments, there is considerable interest in the economic outcomes of postsecondary graduates. Most assessments of recent graduates have focused on their short-term, early labour market results. As new entrants to the labour force, recent postsecondary graduates may be particularly vulnerable to the economic cycle. Consequently, comparisons of short-term outcomes across graduating cohorts may be highly dependent on prevailing economic conditions and may not reflect the longer-term returns on investments. This is the first study to compare the long-term labour market outcomes of two cohorts of young postsecondary graduates using linked census and tax data. Specifically, graduates who were 26 to 35 years old in 1991 were followed from 1991 to 2005 (when they were 40 to 49 years old) and compared with a similarly aged 2001 cohort, which was followed from 2001 to 2015. The results suggest that median cumulative earnings were higher among members of the more recent cohort of male and female postsecondary graduates. Increases were observed across all postsecondary levels and across most major disciplines where sample sizes were large enough to permit analysis. Also, no discipline registered a decline in cumulative earnings. Although the economic conditions faced by the 2001 cohort over the 15-year study period were generally more favourable, this cohort also registered higher earnings than the 1991 cohort during the latter portion of the period (i.e., when the 2001 cohort was faced with an economic recession). Furthermore, the initial labour market conditions upon graduation (an important determinant of career earnings) were similar for both cohorts. The improvements in long-term earnings for postsecondary graduates are important in light of the significant increase in the number of graduates over the period. However, the results also indicate that the number of years of union membership declined or remained steady across cohorts of male and female postsecondary graduates. Furthermore, while women with postsecondary qualifications registered increases in the number of years of employer-sponsored pension plan coverage, their male counterparts experienced mixed results depending on their level of postsecondary studies.

Since its inception almost 30 years ago, BC Student Outcomes has looked at the outcomes of students who have taken associate degree, diploma, and certificate programs. Subsequent study or further education has always been considered an important outcome for the students who leave these programs. Each year for the last two decades, between 40 and 48 percent of respondents have taken some form of further studies. These studies range from continuing education courses for personal interest to credential programs in baccalaureate and postgraduate programs. The information for this paper comes from the Diploma, Associate Degree, and Certificate Student Outcomes Survey, which is conducted annually, approximately one and a half years after students leave their programs. Unless otherwise noted, the information comes from the 2016 survey. The paper looks at who took further education (demographics, program and credential, over time), what their pathways to continued learning were (previous education, location, destination studies, over time), and what their experience was (satisfaction with education, transfer credits, prepared for further studies). Lastly, it provides a portrait of those who were studying at the time they were surveyed. [The BC Student Outcomes surveys are conducted with funding from the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, the participating British Columbia post-secondary institutions, and the Industry Training Authority.]

Faced with job loss, displaced workers may choose to return to school to help them reintegrate into the labour force. Job losses in a given local labour market may also induce workers who have not yet been laid off to pre-emptively enrol in postsecondary (PS) institutions, as a precautionary measure. Combining microdata and grouped data, this study examines these two dimensions of the relationship between layoffs and PS enrolment over the 2001-to-2011 period. Using individual-level longitudinal microdata and controlling for the unobserved heterogeneity of workers in a flexible way, the study finds that laid-off male and female workers are 2 to 4 percentage points more likely than other men and women to transition to PS education in the year of the layoff or the following year (from a baseline rate of about 3%). For both sexes, fulltime PS enrolment accounts for most of the increase in enrolment. Statistically significant correlations between layoffs and full-time PS attendance are detected between two years before job loss and two years after job loss. The study also takes advantage of the fact that the 2008-2009 recession increased layoff rates in a differentiated way across Canada and, thus, generated exogenous variation in layoff rates at the regional level. Using grouped data models that allow economic regions to display distinct trends in their rates of transition to PS institutions, the study finds that for every additional 100 adult men laid off in an economic region in a given year, there is an additional 2 to 6 men who enrol in PS education institutions on a full-time basis in the following year. The study also detects a positive relationship between regional layoff rates and regional PS transitions for unmarried women. In line with the notion that some non-laid-off workers may pre-emptively enrol in PS institutions, the study finds evidence that movements in regional layoff rates are positively correlated with short-term transitions to PS institutions for adult male workers aged 35 to 44 who have not been laid off yet.

Through a historical and comparative analysis of international education policy development in Canada and the U.S., this paper will map the similarities and differences in the two countries. It will highlight the contributions and challenges of the government's involvement in international education (IE) in the two federal states and in particular, explore the implications of the changing contexts, rationales and approaches for international education to the federal role in higher education. It will conclude with observations on the differential impact of the federal government's role in international/higher education on the higher education systems of the two countries and thus contribute to our understanding of how national specificities and characteristics outweigh the commonly stated policy rationales, approaches and outcomes for international education. [A bibliography is included.]

In 2011, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) founded the Center for Community College Advancement to provide training and resources to help community colleges build and sustain effective fundraising, alumni relations, and communications and marketing programs. A goal for the center is to collect data on best practices at community colleges. This white paper summarizes the results of a survey on foundation operations at community colleges across the United States and Canada. The purpose of the survey was to help community college staff benchmark their foundation experiences and programs with their peers. Participation in the survey was strong, with representatives from 122 foundations in the United States and Canada having contributed data (approximately 10 percent of the universe of institutions). Their responses revealed that foundations have evolved into significant contributors at community colleges through consistent positive results, service to a variety of stakeholders and leveraging of political capital--all while maintaining a low staff count and limited expenditures. Two appendices provide data tables and the survey questions.

Students often express surprise at their grades on papers. This gap between expectation and achievement may stem in part from lack of facility with revision strategies. How, then, can teachers work with their students to foster more effective revisions? This question in teaching and learning has inspired an interdisciplinary collaboration: one of us is a management and leadership professor (Sharen), and the other is an English/communication professor (Feltham). In this essay, we describe a research study from winter 2013 in which we explored how a series of interventions improved students' mindsets about the process of drafting and revising reports for a second-year-university course entitled "Women and Leadership." After outlining key aspects of this study that we feel are of general interest, we then present a series of reflective suggestions about how to teach revision derived from both our experiences and a selective survey of the literature on both revision and self-regulation.

Information from the BC Diploma, Associate Degree, and Certificate Student Outcomes (DACSO) Survey can be used to look at the impact of increasing post-secondary education costs on student borrowing and the use of other funding sources. For many years, the DACSO Survey has been asking former students about how they paid for their studies: what sources of funding they used, whether they borrowed, and how much they borrowed. The information for this paper came from the DACSO Survey, from the years 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2015. Some financial information was collected every year; however, every third year a more extensive set of questions was asked. Respondents were asked what sources of funding they used and if they borrowed for the program they just finished. There are a number of sources of funding that help students pay for their education, and the former students surveyed chose the two sources most important to them. The most important sources of funding have been consistent, with the exception of government student loans. They have declined as an important source, although remain among the top four sources reported. Personal savings, employment while studying, and support from family and friends were also among the most important sources of funding. In spite of some slight indication that more support is needed, it appears that most respondents were able to finance their education without borrowing at all or by borrowing moderate amounts. Over the last dozen years, those who borrowed relied less on the government student loan program as loans from other sources became more readily available. Regardless of the source, the amounts have increased, allowing borrowers to cover increased costs due to inflation. [The BC Student Outcomes surveys are conducted with funding from the Ministry of Advanced Education, the participating British Columbia post-secondary institutions, and the Industry Training Authority.]

This paper examines the personal and societal choices that will shape the kind of country Canada will become. It is argued that Canadian policymakers' current approach to work, family, and urban life is based on patterns and associations that were developed in an earlier time and no longer reflect Canadians' experiences in the 2000s. Recent trends in Canadian home and family life, workplaces, and cities are analyzed, and policy challenges resulting from significant social changes in each of these areas are identified. It is argued that policymakers must address the following sets of choices when formulating the policies that will shape education in Canada in years to come: (1) striving for work-life balance or crafting policies based on the belief that life is only at work; (2) sharing responsibilities for intergenerational well-being needs with families or adopting policies based on the belief that families are solely responsible for meeting those needs; (3) accepting the notion that life "without work" matters or basing policies on the principle that everybody must work; and (4) acting as if "space matters" (spending on physical and cultural infrastructures, investing in public services, deciding land use and housing policies, redesigning local, province and federal governance, enabling democracy). The consequences of selected policy decisions based on each of these choices are explored. The bibliography lists 46 references. Five reference tables are appended.(MN)

A defining characteristic of current U.S. educational policy is the use of data to inform decisions about resource allocation, teacher hiring, and curriculum and instruction. Perhaps the biggest challenge to data-driven decision making (DDDM) is that data use alone does not automatically result in improved teaching and learning. Research indicates that translating raw data into useable information and actionable knowledge for teachers requires not only adequate technical and social supports, but also an awareness of how educators in real-world settings actually use information to make decisions. Yet, little is known about DDDM in higher education, in general, and how postsecondary faculty make sense of and use data in their instructional decision-making processes, in particular. In this paper, we use naturalistic decision-making theory to generate practice-based descriptions of how 59 STEM faculty at three large public research universities used data as part of their course planning. Interview transcripts and notes taken while observing planning meetings were analyzed using an inductive approach to content analysis. In practice, respondents used different types of data and other information obtained from, for example, student assessments, end-of-semester evaluations, and conversations with colleagues. Results indicate that faculty generally collect and analyze data in informal, ad hoc scenarios ungoverned by institutional policy. Exceptions include disciplines with accreditation pressures and team-taught courses where structured (and supported) opportunities exist for faculty to collect, analyze, and reflect upon data about student learning. Thus, while numeric data are clearly viewed by this population of faculty as the most rigorous, in practice, even those that use quantitative data also use other sources of information. These results suggest an opportunity for educational leaders to design policies and professional development initiatives that facilitate a more formal collection of and reflection on data by faculty. In pursuing such technical solutions, however, policymakers and educational leaders must carefully negotiate the tension between rigor and relevance, and learn from the challenges experienced in the K-12 sector regarding DDDM.

In 2011, CASE founded the Center for Community College Advancement to provide training and resources to help community colleges build and sustain effective fundraising, alumni relations and communications and marketing programs. This white paper summarizes the results of a groundbreaking survey on alumni relations programs at community colleges across the United States and Canada. The purpose of the survey was to help community college staff members benchmark their experiences and programs in alumni relations with their peers. The survey was conducted by the CASE research office in conjunction with CASE's Center for Community College Advancement. Survey questions are appended. [For the follow up White Paper, "Benchmarking Alumni Relations in Community Colleges: Findings from a 2015 CASE Survey. CASE White Paper," see ED571307.]

Every year, former post-secondary students who left diploma, associate degree, or certificate programs in B.C. are asked to participate in a province-wide survey. Respondents are asked a number of questions about their employment outcomes, and those who are employed are asked to describe their occupations. The information they provide is used to code their jobs using the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system, which is used to describe occupations and to aggregate them into occupational categories and to assign a skill level. Data for this paper came from the Diploma, Associate Degree, and Certificate Student Outcomes (DACSO) surveys, 2009 to 2013. Throughout these years, 76 percent of respondents had graduated from their programs, and of these graduates, 80 percent were employed at the time of the survey, 9 to 20 months after they left their programs. Of the employed graduates, 98 percent (45,760) gave enough information on their jobs to allow them to be coded using the NOC system. In 2013, 15,853 former students responded to the survey; there were 9,850 employed graduates. Unless otherwise noted, the percentages in this paper are based on employed graduates who submitted occupational information. The survey revealed the following: (1) Graduates were skilled in occupations; (2) There were differences by age, gender, and credential; (3) Education graduates were in high-skilled positions; (4) Labour market conditions influenced results; (5) There were trends for older respondents and Education graduates; and (6) Differences in occupation skill level were related to program and labour market.

With the tuition cost of traditional colleges and universities soaring and education technology advancing, online courses and degree programs are becoming more common. Some critics argue that an online degree cannot provide all the important features of a traditional college education, from extracurricular activities to new professional networks, but the evidence disputes much of that criticism, especially for certain groups of students. Indeed, some aspects of online education may provide a better experience than a traditional brick-and-mortar college for some students. (Contains 49 footnotes.)

Growth in mixed-sector institutions offering both vocational and higher education qualifications is expected to increase given recent and predicted policy changes. This issues paper focuses on the provision and management of higher education in technical and further education (TAFE) institutes. Issues raised for discussion include the governance of mixed-sector institutions as well as ensuring access and maintaining progression to higher education without sectoral division in the institution. Implications arising from the Bradley review of higher education are canvassed and the authors are inviting discussion on a range of questions related to the nature of policies and practices influencing the provision of higher education in TAFE. A section listing the TAFE institutes that have been registered to offer higher education qualifications and their accredited higher education qualifications, at February 2009 is appended. (Contains 5 tables and 3 footnotes.) [Funding for this document was provided through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.]

There is growing evidence that students throughout the world no longer see the US as the primary place to study; that in some form this correlates with a rise in perceived quality and prestige in the EU and elsewhere; and further, that this may mean a continued decline in the US's market share of international students. There clearly are a complex set of variables that will influence international education and global labor markets, including the current global economic recession. Ultimately, however, we think these factors will not alter the fundamental dynamics of the new global market, which include these facts: the international flow of talent, scientific or otherwise, is being fundamentally altered as nations invest more in educational attainment and human capital; the US will continue to lose some of its market share over time--the only question is how quickly and by how much; and without a proactive strategy, nations such as the US that are highly dependent on global in-migration of talented students and professionals are most vulnerable to downward access to global talent, with a potentially significant impact on future economic growth. This study provides data on past and recent global trends in international enrollment, and offers a set of policy recommendations for the US at the federal, state, and institutional level. This includes our recommendation of a national goal to double the number of international students in the US over the next decade to match numbers in a group of competitor nations, and requires recognition that the US will need to strategically expand its enrollment capacity and graduation rates to accommodate needed increases in the educational attainment rate of US citizens, and to welcome more international students. Attracting talent in a global market and increasing degree attainment rates of the domestic population are not mutually exclusive goals. Indeed, they will be the hallmarks of the most competitive economies. (Contains 6 figures and 41 endnotes.)

This paper is part of a research paper series that the Applied Research Branch of Human Resources Development Canada commissioned in 2001 to contribute to the development of a research strategy for young Canadians completing their education and starting their careers. The series focuses on various elements of the school-work transitions of Canadian youth. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the literature on the transitional experiences of young women. Research has documented that gender differences exist in educational and occupational choices, experiences, and attainments and that these differences have special characteristics. The additional dimensions of marriage and family can also generate differences in transition pathways between women and men. Two key impressions emerge from this review: how much we know and how little has changed. Female inequality, whether in reference to participation in mathematics and science, different fields of study at post-secondary institutions, employment status, family responsibilities in relation to work, or the income earnings gap, has been remarkably stable over time in the research literature. However, the accounts of persistent stability mask the educational and occupational, and earnings outcomes for certain groups. The least advantaged continue to be female lone parents and low income families. Several recommendations for further research emerge from the studies reviewed in this paper. Further research is needed, especially using longitudinal research designs, to document changes in attitudes, course selection, post-secondary field chosen and eventual occupational attainment. In addition, policies for access to and participation in education and labour market require monitoring. (Contains 17 figures and 5 footnotes.)

With the North American Free Trade Agreement and today's knowledge-based economy, there is a premium placed on post-secondary education and the need to retain graduates in Canada. The share of graduates in the Canadian and the United States labour pools are key to competitiveness. This paper examines Canada's performance relative to the U.S. in terms of post-secondary education (PSE) attainment in the population in the latter half of the 1990s. In particular, it responds to two questions: (1) Does Canada have a higher rate of overall PSE attainment compared to the United States? and (2) Does the United States have a higher rate of university attainment compared to Canada? Findings show that as of 1999, Canada did have a higher rate of PSE attainment compared to the United States. Yet, the gap in attainment between the two countries was not as large as it appeared to be prior to 1997 when a different system of classifying international educational program data was used. Additionally, findings show that by the end of the decade the U.S. had a higher rate of university attainment in the population compared to Canada. However, the difference between the two countries in university attainment is smaller for younger individuals than older. Thus, while a larger percentage of the U.S. population had obtained a university degree, the gap between the two countries may be narrowing. (Contains 1 footnote, 2 tables, and 3 figures.) [This paper is available in French under the title: "Niveau d'etudes postsecondaires au Canada et aux Etats-Unis dans les annees 90."]

This study provides an overview of the return on investment to post-secondary education in Canada, by gender. In it, three time series are developed respectively on the cost-effectiveness of non-university post-secondary diplomas (1981-1996), bachelor's degrees (1989-1996) and university degrees (1981-1996), including bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. The method used is based on a calculation of internal rate of return (cost-benefit approach) and is applied to the data from the Consumer Finance Survey. The results as a whole indicate that rates of return to post-secondary education are positive and vary by gender and level of education. The results are also consistent with those of Canadian studies on rate of return to education over a single year. In addition, the analysis indicates that rates of return are sensitive to the state of economic activity, and there is a positive correlation between rates of return and unemployment rates. Lastly, after screening the data to adjust for the effects of the economic cycle, the authors identified a slightly positive trend in rates of return to university degrees. According to their estimates, the trend rates of return increased by approximately one percentage point between 1981 and 1996. The structure of this paper is as follows. Part 2 examines the conceptual questions related to the rate of return to education and considers various definitions. Part 3 discusses the main methods used to measure the rate of return to education. Part 4 provides a brief review of empirical studies on the question. Then the methodological approach, assumptions and basic concepts used are discussed in Part 5, and the authors' findings are set out in Part 6. Lastly, in the conclusion, the authors summarize study highlights and make some suggestions for future research. Two appendixes include: (1) Table of Main Findings; and (2) Technical Aspects. (Contains 12 footnotes, 4 tables, 6 charts, and a bibliography.)

A survey of 1,500 Canadian adults looked at the full range of adults' learning activities, including informal learning related to employment, community volunteer work, household work, and other general interest. Findings indicated those in the labor force, or expecting to be in soon, participated in informal learning related to current or prospective future employment such as the following: informal learning projects to keep up with new general job or career knowledge, informal employment-related computer learning, and learning new job tasks, problem-solving and communication skills, occupational safety and health, and new technologies. Those involved in community volunteer work participated in related informal learning on interpersonal, communication, and organizational or managerial skills, and social issues. Those involved in household work participated in related informal learning on home renovations and gardening, home cooking, and home maintenance. Most people participated in informal learning related to their general interests, such as health and well being, environmental issues, finances, hobby skills, social skills, public issues, computers, and sports and recreation. Participation in all forms of schooling and continuing education increased dramatically over the past two generations; educational attainment of the active labor force increased accordingly. Major barriers to course participation were inconvenient times or places; no time; family responsibilities; and expense. (YLB)

A study analyzed the schooling, further adult course participation, and informal learning of organized and unorganized workers in different occupational classes across Canada. Data were obtained from the first Canadian national survey of 1,562 adults' informal learning practices, conducted in 1998, and field notes and interview transcripts drawn from participants in the auto plant case study of the Working Class Learning Strategies project conducted at five union locals in southern Ontario in 1995-2000. The study found that unionized and non-unionized industrial and service workers in Canada are increasingly highly educated, increasingly participating in adult education courses and devoting substantial amounts of their time to informal learning activities outside organized education and training programs. In addition, the study found that working people are generally engaged collectively and individually in an extensive array of employment-related and other informal learning activities that are neither fully recognized by most employers or union leaders nor given prior learning credit by educational institutions. The study concluded that underestimation of the current range and depth of workers' knowledge and skills by union leaders represents a significant barrier to further growth of the labor movement. Recommendations for strategies to facilitate union growth are suggested, based on what has worked most effectively in these locals of differing general organizational strength and demographic profiles. (KC)