Work-Based Learning and Social Support: Relative Influences on High School Seniors' Occupational Engagement Orientations

This stu dy examined t he efforts of a l arge, urban s chool dis trict t o redu ce future occupational disengagement risks by requiring all high school students to complete 60 hours o f work-based i nternships. T he hypothesis was t hat so cial s upport fr om adult supervisors and mentors positively affected students’ occupational engagement orientations over and above the i nfluence that programmatic experiences provided. The survey data for this study were collected from all seniors in the district’s 17 high schools (N = 1,7 41). Ordinary Leas t Squares (OLS) was a pplied in a h ierarchical regression in four stages. The fi ndings indicated that opportuni ties to receive social support, especially having a mentor, contributed most to seniors’ future dispositions toward occupational engagement. D istrict c areer and tec hnical e ducation ( CTE) students als o exp erienced grea ter s ocial su pport than n on-CTE stud ents. Th e recommendations fo cused on t he n eed for co mprehensive hi gh schoo ls to p rovide more access to supportive adults and personalized supportive learning environments.