Student Stories, Employer Priorities

COVID-19 altered the nature of WIL and continues to have disproportionate impacts on students from equity-deserving communities, especially as they transition from school to work. This series reflects what we heard during conversations with students and EDI leaders about how to build quality, inclusive WIL pathways.

We spoke with close to 100 equity-deserving students and recent graduates from post-secondaries across Canada about their experiences accessing and completing WILs. We also spoke with non-profit leaders whose organizations support workplace equity, diversity, and inclusion and educational and employment achievement for equity-deserving students and youth.

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Key Findings

To learn more, download our Key Findings overview.

Together these consultations paint a picture of lived experiences and expert perspectives that call out complex, systemic challenges in WIL but also underscore priorities for employers, post-secondaries, and practitioners to build equity and inclusion into each phase of the WIL lifecycle.

Address Canada’s biggest people challenges by keeping global talent from heading elsewhere

Access &
Awareness

Many students are unaware of the WIL opportunities out there, unable to access them, or just don’t see themselves in WIL. In this resource we share stories and insights about challenges and opportunities for how practitioners and employers can work together to increase student awareness and make WILs more accessible.

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Recruitment & Onboarding

Systemic barriers and discrimination are common in recruitment, while onboarding in a remote world make the transition to work especially tough for equity-deserving students. In this resource we share stories and insights about priorities for WIL practitioners and employers to debias recruitment and improve onboarding experiences.

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The WIL
Experience

Building a more equitable and inclusive WIL ecosystem is not just about increasing representation. It’s about what happens through the entire WIL lifecycle. In this resource we share stories and insights for WIL practitioners and especially employers to develop inclusion and belonging to support quality WIL experiences.

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