Students from historically marginalized groups face worse labour market outcomes, even with supports: Study

A recent study by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario has found that students from historically marginalized groups face worse labour market outcomes, despite their engagement with services designed to support their school-to-work transition. HEQCO found that some bachelor’s degree graduates—including BIPOC students, LGBTQIA2+ students, those with disabilities, and/or those from low-income backgrounds—were more likely to experience unequal outcomes even though they used transition supports to the same degree or more than their peers. The findings showed that early labour market outcomes differed depending on graduate identity characteristics and that these students did not necessarily equally benefit from their participation in school-to-work transition activities. HEQCO calls for the collection of system-wide demographic data to understand these labour market inequities.