Attitudes about Youth Apprenticeship: Focus group findings from parents, recent and current high school students

• In Event: Context Matters: Opportunities and Lessons from Adapting and Scaling Apprenticeships Across Service Environments

Abstract

Apprenticeship is a promising earn-while-you-learn model that may be a viable alternative post-secondary pathways to young adults who do not want to engage in traditional post-secondary pathways. However, many young people and their families remain unaware about apprenticeship and have questions about it compares to a traditional 2- or 4-year college education. As a part of New America's Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship initiative, we explored youth and parental perceptions of apprenticeship. We asked, "How do young people and their families think about youth apprenticeship--and how have those perceptions shifted over time?" This report presents findings from focus groups conducted in November 2025 by New America's Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship, revisiting research originally conducted in 2017 with parents, students, and young adults in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Denver, Colorado.

Longitudinal findings were especially interesting. Eight years after the first set of focus groups, the context in which both parents and youth think about apprenticeship has changed in several noteworthy ways. Concerns about college costs and debt have deepened, and families are actively searching for pathways that feel practical, financially responsible, and connected to real opportunity. Against that backdrop, youth apprenticeship has gained ground, not as a replacement for college, but as an increasingly credible complement.

The focus groups explored how participants understand and evaluate apprenticeship relative to other postsecondary options for youth, what barriers and misconceptions remain, and what framing most effectively shifts perception. Key findings include growing openness to earn-and-learn models across all audiences, persistent but softening stigma around apprenticeship as a trades-only pathway, and strong positive response once participants understand the structure, flexibility, and range of outcomes these programs offer. Concerns about time commitment and workload and the social dimensions of high school remain and deserve direct attention in program design and communication.

The research reveals practical solutions for how apprenticeship programs and advocates can design and position these pathways to resonate with the families they are trying to reach, prioritizing breadth, flexibility, and apprenticeship as a "both/and" choice rather than an either/or tradeoff with college.

Author

• Taylor White, New America
  Presenting Author