The Qualifications and Occupational Structures of Selected Regulated, Applied, and General Professions in Canada

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: Division I. Education in the Professions: Poster Session

Abstract

This paper reports for Canada the types and fields of qualifications of those employed in selected regulated, applied and general professions. It reports data at three skill levels: A. professions that usually require university education, B. occupations that usually require college education or apprenticeship training, and C. occupations that usually require secondary school and/or occupation-specific training. While there are many expected outcomes in the occupational outcomes for the different occupational levels, we found strikingly different occupational structures between different fields linking qualification levels: business forms a conventional pyramid, computing is an inverted pyramid, engineering’s occupational structure is shaped like a vase, and nursing’s is like an hour glass. The paper considers the implications of this for occupational and educational progression.

Authors

• Gavin Moodie, University of Toronto

• Eric Lavigne, University of Toronto

• Leesa Mary Wheelahan, University of Toronto - OISE

• Lindsay Coppens, University of Toronto