Dual credit: Creating career and work possibilities for Canadian youth

Abstract

In this article, I investigated the problems that educators are addressing with dual credit initiatives and consider tensions that have limited the seamless implementation of dual credit programming. Stakeholder representatives clearly identified common resources and support required to sustain their dual credit programs. Study participants noted the need for strong partnerships for dual credit initiatives, for government policies to allow for articulation of credits between secondary and post-secondary and, in particular, for the means to fund these programs. Findings from individual interviews and focus groups conducted in British Columbia and Ontario with individuals who had formal work-related involvement (e.g., industry associations, government, organized labour, high schools, school boards, colleges, and industry) in dual credit initiatives suggest that access to dual credit options provide secondary students valuable opportunities for future career and post- secondary education, giving support for policies to support stakeholder partnerships to advance the effectiveness of dual credit models. However, with partnerships, tensions exist because stakeholders compete to gain and maintain control of their institutional terri-tories and established standards. Questions arise – “who is going to pay?” and “who is going to benefit?” – that suggest concerns about student access and who is allowed to make use of the resources allotted for these initiatives.