Finding the future that fits

Abstract

This article draws on ideas from Pierre Bourdieu to examine high school students’ gendered work experiences in the field of information and communications technology (ICT). Surveys and interviews suggest that three forms of exclusion were operating: First, female students with less valued capitals were subjected to the same selection process; second, they tended to be relegated to less valued positions in the field; and third, their habitus and the social relations in the workplace encouraged them to eliminate themselves from ‘the game’. This paper concludes that such work experience programs are not likely to provide more meritocratic outcomes without explicit attention to these subtle forms of exclusion.

Acknowledgements

This research is part of the Work and Lifelong Learning project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I would like to also acknowledge the help of research assistant Wolfgang Lehmann and staff from the Careers Foundation in the survey part of this research.

Notes

The Careers Foundation (a pseudonym) administered the survey, which we designed. The response rate, while good, might have been better if we had direct access to participants.

Both the public and separate (Catholic) school districts in Calgary were involved in the ICT internship. Both districts are fully funded by the provincial government and follow provincial curriculum. The public school district is almost three times larger in terms of student enrolments than the Catholic district.

The Careers Foundation was established in 1997 because of concerns about projected labour shortages in the trades and related areas. Key players in its establishment were employers in the resource sector. It receives funding from the provincial government and private sector to promote school‐business partnerships that focus on youth transitions from school to work.

At the time of interviews, industry certificates were offered by Cisco, Nortel, IBM and 3 Com in Calgary high schools. For example, the Cisco Certified Networking Associate Program was offered online in four 70‐hour modules in Grades 11 and 12. Fifteen of 120 high schools in Alberta offered the program in 2001 (Personal communication, Cisco representative, November 2001).

Telephone interviews with employers of some of the student interns who were interviewed (Sherry, Paul, Michael, Sunil) were conducted in August and September 2001. Other employers were unable to participate.

This information was found online at www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/nortel/nindex.html.

Industry executives approached CNG to develop the ICT pathway, partly in response to a report suggesting that in order to increase its share of the world ICT market, Alberta required more qualified workers (Alberta Science & Research Authority, 1998).

In reality there were not 60 positions since only 38 interns were placed.

Interestingly, the school district itself employed five interns (including two young women) in 2001.

Although the company reportedly required students to achieve 80%, the school awarded credits to all students who achieved 50% or better.

In 2001 one male respondent answered that he was unsure of his desired occupation and in 2002 one male respondent did not answer this question while another said that his occupation was ‘indirectly’ related to ICT.

Michael’s mother had studied medicine in China but later worked with his father in his accounting practice in Canada.

Graduate numbers by program are available on the Statistics Canada website (CANSIM table 00580602): www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/educ21.htm.