Learning from Youth: Using Positive Outcomes to Evaluate Summer Youth Employment Programs

Autor/inn/en	Greene, Jordan; Seefeldt, Kristin
Titel	Learning from Youth: Using Positive Outcomes to Evaluate Summer Youth Employment Programs
Quelle	In: Journal of Adolescent Research, 38 (2023) 5, S.876-910 (35 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Greene, Jordan)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0743-5584
DOI	10.1177/07435584211043295
Schlagwörter	Adolescents; Young Adults; Employment Programs; Summer Programs; Career Exploration; Job Skills; Program Evaluation; Individual Development; Social Capital; Social Networks; Mentors; Professional Development; Transitional Programs; Michigan + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Adolescent; Adolescence; Adoleszenz; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; Young adult; Junger Erwachsener; Employment program; Employment programme; Employment programmes; Beschäftigungsprogramm; Sommerkurs; Berufserkundung; Produktive Fertigkeit; Programme evaluation; Programmevaluation; Individuelle Entwicklung; Sozialkapital; Social network; Soziales Netzwerk
Abstract	Summer Youth Employment Programs (SYEPs) help connect youth to opportunities for career exploration, skill development, and mentorship. Despite heightened investment in SYEPs, research regarding positive impacts is limited. Most of the common SYEP evaluation strategies are rooted in deficit thinking and focus on outcomes such as reducing violent crime, risk behaviors, gaps in unemployment, and increasing educational attainment. Despite recent shifts toward approaches that acknowledge structural oppression in adolescent research more broadly, evaluations of SYEPs often perpetuate a discourse of deficiency about marginalized communities by emphasizing disparities without acknowledging the systemic forces that create them. In this article, we utilize the Five Cs of Positive Youth Development to present an alternative set of outcomes identified from focus groups and surveys with youth ages 16 to 24 who participated in SummerWorks, a 10-week SYEP located in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Specifically, we find that SYEPs may help youth make the transition to adulthood, build community and increase their social capital, and access knowledge, resources, and opportunities. Through this approach, we hope to expand the literature on the impacts of SYEPs and encourage antiracist evaluation strategies that build on these findings and challenge deficit thinking. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01