How career academies can help high school students thrive

A study shows the positive impact of a close-knit, supportive learning community on student success.

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Are high school students more likely to succeed—both in school and in the workplace—if their studies are more closely linked to real-life careers? Although statistics have shown that students in career academies are less likely to dropout of high school and more likely to earn their high school diplomas than those in traditional tracks, the benefits of these academies might come largely as a result of the longer-term personal connections forged between students, teachers, and academy coordinators in these small communities.

That is one of the primary findings of a new study of career academies published in American Educational Research Journal, authored by Michael Lanford, postdoctoral research associate at the USC Pullias Center of Higher Education, and Tattiya Maruco, a project consultant for the Pullias Center.

The authors studied several career academies—smaller learning communities with a career theme located on high school campuses—and found that these academies encouraged close-knit relationships that created a sense of solidarity among its members. Faculty and students bonded more closely—and for multiple years—which led to more academic and personal support for students outside of the classroom, and correspondingly, more student engagement.

“We were impressed by the dedication shown by many teachers in career academies, even though their teaching workloads increased substantially and many were taking on administrative roles for the first time,” explained Lanford. “By developing a deep understanding of their students’ individual needs, strengths, and aspirations, teachers were able to provide personalized advice on college options. Schools that don’t have a career pathway model could think about how a similar learning community environment, with high levels of teacher engagement, might help students persist in high school and enroll in college.”

For this study, Lanford and Maruco focused on academies in a single urban school district in California, conducting 52 interviews with academy coordinators and teachers and six focus groups with 41 students between 10th and 12th grade.

Did the career-related features of these academies play a role in the students’ success? Perhaps, but the authors point out that career academies routinely had difficulty providing real-life work experiences for their students. Internships were especially difficult to broker, with many companies unable or reluctant to provide meaningful working opportunities to minors, and many students unable to find the transportation to get to, or the financial wiggle room to take on, unpaid employment.

“Some schools had academy coordinators and teachers with great pre-existing industry contacts and could get students hands-on opportunities, but others with fewer connections struggled to make those connections,” said Maruco. “At times, career academies didn’t strongly connect the students’ studies to real-life vocations, which watered down the vocational focus of these programs.”

This study continues Lanford’s and Maruco’s work in educational equity. Lanford uses qualitative research methods and a multidisciplinary theoretical perspective to study institutional innovation, globalization, educational equity, and the impact of educational policy on student development; Maruco works with the Pullias Center’s Digital Equity in Education team, developing and researching digital games and tools to engage students in learning about college, and studying the real-life impact these tools have on students’ lives.

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Lanford, M., & Maruco, Tattiya. (2018). When job training is not enough: The cultivation of social capital in career academies. American Educational Research Journal, 55(3), 617-648. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831217746107

The research for this study was funded by a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation.