Often, knowledge and quality education is reserved for the elite, where there are systemic obstacles to gaining access to today's leaders. Gender and racial inequities in executive-level positions across North America have been a longstanding debate amongst scholars and policy makers. Research has consistently documented that women are…

Recently, consensus among researchers and professionals has emerged about factors that contribute to postschool success of youth with disabilities. Prominent among these factors are targeted academic preparation, family involvement, youth empowerment, and service collaboration and linkages. Work experience and paid employment have been identified…

Mentorship is empirically related to several desired outcomes in college students including academic success and career development. Yet little is known about how mentorship aids leadership development in college students. This study uses data from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, a national study with more than 110,000 participants…

High school guidance counselors have a tremendous job of balancing their administrative responsibilities and providing students with career and college guidance. However, collaborative efforts that bring together guidance counselors, institutions of higher learning, and local community members can provide students with the guidance needed to set…

This qualitative study explores career counseling and guidance services as provided to students engaged in career and technical education programs at three sites in the United States. The sites, consisting of high schools and community colleges, were part of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education's 5-year studies of…

This report provides a summary of major results of the Illinois Bridge Status Survey, administered online between April and June 2010. The purpose of the survey was to understand the extent to which bridge programs are being implemented in Illinois, as well as to build an online directory of bridge programs. Bridge programs are an emerging…

Adult education services, including education for those lacking basic literacy and numeracy, preparation for the high school equivalency diploma, and English-as-a-second-language courses, play a crucial role in bridging the basic skills gap for Latinos and other workers with limited formal education and training. With recent policy and program…

The New Mexico Next Step Plan, a postsecondary career transition plan for grades 8 through 12, aims to enhance relationships between all educational stakeholders: students, parents/caregivers, community, and administrators. These stakeholder relationships are intended to close the achievement gap among all students, in particular, ethnic youth.…

This project investigated the interrelationships between family expectations and young people's post-school plans. All of the participants were from financially disadvantaged families. The research used interviews to understand these young people's perspectives of their transition experiences: the ways in which young people's school experiences…

The research reported here was funded by the UK Department for Education and Skills to consider the influence of the school on the decision by young people to participate in learning on completion of compulsory schooling. A national sample of 24 schools across England participated in this study. Research methods included focus group interviews…

The present study investigates the career maturity of 1090 high school students in Years 8 to 12 in Australia (n = 656) and South Africa (n = 434). Scores on the Australian version of the "Career Development Inventory" were analysed. While a developmental explanation for career maturity was supported, gender differences between countries…