New research defines youth career success in Windsor-Essex to support ProsperUs initiatives
Windsor, ON – Today, Workforce WindsorEssex, in partnership with ProsperUs, launched their new report, Defining Career Success in Windsor-Essex.
The new report details what defines career success for youth. This brand-new research fills a gap in the region, as a definition of this measure did not previously exist for Windsor-Essex. This report includes a data collection methods and costing analysis section, with recommendations moving forward, so that future tracking of youth career success in Windsor-Essex can be completed to support the initiatives of the ProsperUs Cradle to Career Initiative.
The Cradle to Career Initiative aims to create a directional plan for the Windsor-Essex community to help individuals making life-changing decisions. The initiative aims to support Windsor-Essex children and youth from a pre-natal stage, all the way through to landing their first job as an adult. To support this initiative and to measure success over the long term, ProsperUs community partners recognized that a wide range of community level data would need to be collected.
Defining Career Success in Windsor-Essex is the culmination of a six-month research process where Workforce WindsorEssex collected data, conducted a literature review of past career success research and best practices for defining career success, surveyed youth aged 19-29 in the Windsor-Essex region, hosted focus groups with various demographics, and consulted employers, educators, and service providers on how they define career success.
Through this research, youth career success in Windsor-Essex was defined as: having a stable job that is enjoyable and provides opportunities for growth, but is also able to support a young adult financially. More detailed survey, focus group, and consultation analysis can be found in the main report.
The Defining Career Success in Windsor-Essex report can be accessed at www.weunlockpotential.com/careersuccess.
QUOTES:
“There are many different factors that will affect the outcome of a child and youth’s life in Windsor-Essex, and perhaps one of the most important decisions a child will make in this regard is selecting a career path. Career path choices will have a large effect on whether or not youth in Windsor-Essex believe they are able to reach their true potential and become successful.”
- Corey Shenken, Project Coordinator & Researcher, Workforce WindsorEssex
“This research is critical to ProsperUs’ Cradle to Career strategy. It helps us ensure that we are giving young people, particularly those facing barriers to education and employment, the opportunity to unlock possibilities for a positive future in Windsor-Essex County. We need to clearly define career success so we can measure how we’re going to move the needle on youth unemployment in our community.”
- Janice Kaffer, CEO and President, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Co-Chair, ProsperUs
“Defining Career Success helps support children and youth in Windsor-Essex County to make informed decisions about future career paths and education, helping ensure they succeed and thrive when making the transition into the labour market. Defining what young people see as success can help ensure that young people stay in our community and that our region remains economically competitive.”
- Jim Inglis, Regional Vice President Personal and Small Business Banking, Windsor Essex Chatham, BMO Bank of Montreal, Co-Chair, ProsperUs
QUICK LINKS:
- Workforce WindsorEssex’s Defining Career Success in Windsor-Essex report is available online now, view the report here.
- To learn more about ProsperUs and the Cradle to Career program, visit weunlockpotential.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Lindsey Rivait
Executive Assistant & Researcher
Workforce WindsorEssex
lrivait@workforcewindsoressex.com
About Workforce WindsorEssex
Workforce WindsorEssex is a workforce and community development board whose mission is to lead regional employment and community planning for the development of a strong and sustainable workforce.
We are an experienced leader in the development of regional labour market tools, research, guides, and events that create positive change in the local labour market while saving others time and effort. These resources, created in close coordination with employment, education and industry partners, are designed to help job seekers, employers, students & educators, as well as the community, make more informed labour market decisions using locally-responsive, data-rich and unbiased resources.
About ProsperUs
ProsperUs is a collective of non-profit, government, health care, education, labour, business, and inspired residents with a shared vision of a prosperous Windsor-Essex County where every young person has the opportunity and support they need to thrive.
ProsperUs is a partnership between:
BMO Financial Group, CIBC, City of Windsor, Collège Boréal, Conseil scolaire catholique Providence, County of Essex, Erie Shores Healthcare, Erie St. Clair LHIN
Greater Essex County District School Board, Green Shield Canada Inc., Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada, Laidlaw Foundation
Leamington & District Chamber of Commerce, Libro Credit Union, Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services, New Canadians’ Centre of Excellence, The O’Neil Foundation, Ontario Provincial Police, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Radix Inc., RBC Royal Bank, South Essex Community Council, St. Clair College, Tepperman’s, TD Canada Trust, United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County, University of Windsor, Windsor and District Labour Council, Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board,
Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society, WindsorEssex Community Foundation, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation, Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, Windsor Police Service, Windsor Regional Hospital, and Workforce WindsorEssex.