Preparing Urban Youth for Further Study and Careers: An International Study Involving Hong Kong

How well are schools preparing young people for higher education and careers? Hong Kong introduced changes to the education system to better prepare young people for a positive future. This project examines how effective these changes are, and how Hong Kong’s education system compares internationally. This project will track a sample of young people from the beginning of senior secondary schooling through to higher education or employment. The sample will include young people from different backgrounds. Teams of researchers (independently funded) will conduct the same study in cities in Europe, North America and Australia. By studying Hong Kong within this context, we will assess differences and similarities in student transitions and the factors that influence them. The research aims to identify a cohort of young people at the beginning of senior secondary school to provide baseline data on HK students in terms of engagement in schools and learning; 21st century skills; plans for the future; home and family contexts; to identify a representative sample of S6 students to compare intentional destinations and the real destinations for students from different types of schools; to examine how young people’s perceptions and outlooks vary according to the type of school they take in the senior years of secondary schooling and according to their backgrounds; to investigate the range of support structures, programs and activities which schools operate to assist different learners to complete school successfully or to undertake alternative courses, and the ways in which strong learners are challenged and extended in their transition through to the end of school; to compare institutional arrangements in Hong Kong with arrangements in other cities; and to identify the differential impact of these arrangements on destinations for young people in HK and to identify the strategies used by schools to ensure valuable transitions for all their students.

Funding Source: RGC - General Research Fund (GRF)