The transition out of high school and into young adulthood is often fraught with challenge and uncertainty, especially for youth of color and first-generation students. Since late 2018, our project has focused on understanding the transition out of high school and into young adulthood. This project has taken the form of two distinct and related studies: the first study investigated the obstacles young adults faced in making this critical life transition. As a result of hearing several stories about the important role that Out-of-School (OST) programs played in some young people’s transition out of high school, we launched a second, follow up study. This second study looked specifically at the impact that OST programs have on young adults during their transition to young adulthood, and what elements of this programming made them successful in supporting youth.
In Summer 2021, our team published a journal article detailing our process and findings: Youth Participatory Action Research on How Out-of-School Programs Can Support the Transition Out of High School: Moving Beyond “Getting Stuck”
For a short summary of our findings, click here.
In addition, our team conducted a small-scale impact evaluation to assess what youth researchers took away from the experience of participating in a YPAR project. You can explore these impacts here.