‘Bright lights' and ‘twinkies': career pathways in an education market

This paper examines what happens to ‘vocational education' within an education market. We ask the question: how does the policy emphasis on competition and choice fit with the rhetoric of facilitating school-to-work transitions for all students? Findings from interviews with high school principals and representatives from the Edmonton Public School Board in Alberta, Canada confirm that policies which promote parental choice and partnerships with employers and post-secondary institutions create pressures on schools to attract high academic students (the ‘bright lights') while reducing their numbers of low achieving students. Differences across schools in student populations and programming reflect these influences. As a result, what is offered to low achieving students and those without concrete career plans (‘twinkies') to facilitate their transitions is arguably less valuable than what is offered to high academic students. After examining the current situation, possibilities for the development of a high skill, high trust system are discussed.