Book Club: The Decade After High School: A Parent’s Guide

By Carole MacFarlane

Cathy Campbell, Michael Ungar, Peggy Dutton
CERIC (Canadian Education and Research Institute of Counselling), 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9687840-6-8

Due to complexities facing parents with how to help their children make career choices in the 21st century, it cannot be assumed that they are aware of all the relevant knowledge and career information available. The Decade After High School A Parent’s Guide by Cathy Campbell, Michael Unger and Peggy Dutton is a unique publication as it provides first hand and current information gleaned from combining research and information acquired from interviewing groups of youth ages 23 – 30 from several Canadian communities.

The introduction sets the scene by explaining some of the complexities and reasons why young people may follow a complex and sometimes unpredictable and circuitous transition into postsecondary education and the workforce. Many parents watch, worry and feel helpless as their children make what in many parents’ eyes “used to be” a linear transition to a reasonably secure future as opposed to what is now more like a roller coaster ride through a maze of post-secondary options and current labour market information.

Many young people either often do not have plans when leaving high school or experience changed plans as time, personal growth and experience intervene. Campbell, Unger and Dutton explain that young people are facing a completely changed world, and career pathways really are different than those available to their parents. They explain that “the only constant in the lives of emerging adults is that their plans keep changing”.

A valuable Career Pathways Quiz offers information and Canadian statistics to give parents insight regarding youth career decision-making. The authors make the point that no matter what impression youth may give from the outside, most really are trying to figure out where they belong in the whole scheme of the work world. Information gathered enabled the authors to categorize (while also admitting it is difficult to oversimplify complexities of lives) participants into three categories: Navigators, Explorers and Drifters. Regardless of which category a young person was part of in the early 20’s, many reached a point in the late 20’s where they became “Committers” or “Settlers.” Many “Committers” found a place of contentment with a career but it was also acknowledged that the commitment may change and evolve over time. The “Settlers” are in a category which may be only moderately satisfying but necessary due to the person’s life and family responsibilities being paramount. The reality is that there tends to be quite a bit of turbulence in the early years of adulthood and in many cases this turbulence continues until the latetwenties at which point most young adults have some idea of where they are headed.

This publication is invaluable for parents as it describes the forces, including both personal attributes and those forces outside of a young person’s control, that may help or impede his/her progress along a career path—everything, including self awareness, education credentials, exposure to a range of options, financing post-secondary options, the labour market, soliciting guidance and support from others, expectations and messages, and chance events. Becoming your child’s career guide is a difficult job and this publication offers a variety of suggestions for helping youth in as many ways as you feel competent and comfortable.

The resource section of the publication is also invaluable as it includes resources that contain useful information and tools for comparing post-secondary programs, occupational research, and information meeting notes.

In summary, The Decade after High School: A Parent’s Guide is a very readable, informative and well organized publication that is an invaluable resource for any parent who is grappling with how to best help their children with transitions to post-secondary education and/or training or entry level employment.

Carole MacFarlane is currently Career Programs Coordinator for the Vancouver School Board in British Columbia. She began as a classroombased career preparation teacher in 1985, was a secondary school-based career coordinator from 1995- 2000, and has been in her current position since that time. As Career Programs Coordinator, she is responsible for coordinating Career Preparation Programs, Secondary School Apprenticeship, Career Technical Programs and the provincial Industry Training Authority Accelerated Credentialed Education in Industry Training (ACE IT) Programs in 18 secondary schools. She has been a member of the British Columbia Education Society since 1995, served as a director for Metro West for four years, and is currently treasurer of CES.