Bridge-building underway to help marginalized students

By Cathy Carlyle

Carol Lynn Wallace, right, consulting with graduate assistant Shokoufeh Sakhi, who is working on the project

The Bridging the Solitudes pilot project received $600,000 in funding by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, $300,000 from York and Seneca and other financial aid from labour union partners. It operates through York's Centre for Research on Work and Society.

What happens to students who are postsecondary education material, but who feel excluded from that world and cannot believe that they will find work even if they have such an education?

Some are single young parents supporting a family; others are newcomers to the country - people who have left conflict-ridden homelands and, perhaps are not eligible yet for the Ontario Student Assistance Program; and a few are from families where they might not have been strongly encouraged to pursue their education goals. Although those students face a variety of obstacles, despite their financial situations they all aspire to attain a postsecondary education.

Is there anything to give them hope for their future? A new pilot project, underway jointly at York University and Seneca College since August 2000, aims to do so by helping them meet their academic and career goals.

Called Bridging the Solitudes, the three-year project is endeavouring to span the gap between those students and the labour market. The project organizers recognize that there are barriers that make postsecondary education seem like an insurmountable goal for many of these young people. They intend to build bridges over the barriers.

"We are working with selected students in the Greater Toronto Area who would not be attending postsecondary educational institutions if not for the support and unique opportunities offered by the project," explained Carol Lynn Wallace, coordinator of CURA, under whose auspices the project operates.

She said the program works this way: high-school guidance counsellors and/or community and labour partners may nominate young people to take part, bearing in mind that the students must be motivated, have the minimum entrance requirements and possess leadership abilities. Once a student is accepted into the project, he or she must be committed to taking part in a research program.

Carl James, one of the team members involved in the research study, said, "We have developed a longitudinal study to track the students throughout their postsecondary program. Our team is interested in documenting and observing the process, so we can see if the project has helped them attain their educational and occupational aspirations."

Research assistant Leanne Taylor has already started to interview and work with the first intake of students this fall, initially focusing on their backgrounds and expectations regarding postsecondary education and the project. Through ongoing interviews and weekly sessions, the students will have a chance to discuss their experiences with their peers and generally voice their opinions.

The next plank for Bridging the Solitudes committee members will be getting job placements lined up. Community groups and labour unions have been partners since the start, and openings for on-the-job experience will take place through them. By the time the Bridging the Solitudes pilot project is over, from 30 to 40 students will have taken part. The research undertaken through the project will help inform the post-secondary institutions and the academic, community and labour partners involved on how to improve access to education and the work force for marginalized young people.

Carla Lipsig-Mummé, director of the Centre for Research on Work and Society, is the principal investigator of the project. While she is on leave in Australia, Robert Drummond, dean of the Faculty of Arts, is acting project director. Several professors from York and Seneca sit on the steering committee alongside community group workers and labour union members.