Shut Out: High School Students Learn About Careers — But Can’t Try One That Pays

Industry,

By  

Jubei Brown-Weaver knows he was lucky to land a rare apprenticeship with IT and consulting giant Accenture when he was a junior at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C.

He won one of 20 available slots in a new high school apprenticeship program —  just one of three at Accenture — in a city of 20,000 public high school students. 

Three years later, Brown-Weaver, now 19, has become a full-time employee, earning more than $20 an hour as a package app developer at Accenture.

But a good friend who missed out on the apprenticeships is struggling. 

“Because of the luck of the draw that I had (I’m working) … in the field that I want to be in,” Brown-Weaver told a recent Brookings Institute panel on youth apprenticeships.

His friend, he said, “works part time at Target, making minimum wage.”

“It’s sad to see that I simply just got lucky that day,” Brown-Weaver said.

Providing high school students like Brown-Weaver a chance to try out possible careers has become a growing focus for families, public officials, schools and even businesses the last several years. 

But all work opportunities aren’t created equal. 

There’s a hierarchy of experiences that rise in commitment, intensity and benefit for students and providers —  with career days and job fairs at the low end. At the top end are internships, where students work with adults; and apprenticeships, longer programs where students are paid to work and earn career credentials.

Schools and communities routinely boast of making great efforts to better connect students with real work opportunities, but the reality is these efforts rarely go beyond career exposure events like career days or job shadows.

“The ultimate internship…a paid experience…we still have a long way to go to provide more opportunity for young people to experience those,” said Julie Lammers, senior vice president of American Student Assistance, a non-profit connecting students to career training.

The best estimates available suggest five percent of students or less have the chance for the gold standard of work experiences —  apprenticeships or internships.