3.3. Program Effectiveness

SSA scholarship winners were asked various questions regarding their satisfaction with the program and the benefits they gained as a result of participating in SSA. Questions asked of SSA scholarship winners were directed to the following areas:

• to what extent did respondents feel they received adequate support from employers, teachers and their SSA counsellor;
• to what extent were SSA scholarship winners satisfied with their program;
• in what ways did participation in SSA help or benefit them;
• did respondents have any suggestions with respect to how their program could be improved?

SSA scholarship winners reported high levels of satisfaction with the support they received. For example, the vast majority of SSA scholarship winners indicated that they were adequately informed about their program (82.8%).

Respondents were also asked to indicate their level of agreement with various statements regarding the support they received from various people, including school staff, their employers and their apprenticeship counselor. As highlighted in Chart 3-3A, over eight in ten (range, 80.4% to 85.1%) of SSA scholarship winners agreed or strongly agreed with the following:

• that their teachers supported their work experience activities (85.1%);
• that their work experience/SSA coordinator or teacher was available when they needed help or support (81.6%);
• that they received helpful feedback from their employers regarding their job performance (80.4%).

A somewhat smaller majority (64.3%) felt that their apprenticeship counselor was available when they needed help or support.

Chart 3-3A
Agreement with Various Statements Regarding Feedback and Support

n=87

SSA scholarship winners reported very high levels of overall satisfaction with their program. As depicted in Chart 3-3B for example, the vast majority of respondents (range, 89.6% to 97.0%) reported positively with respect to the following general satisfaction measures:

• SSA should be continued (96.6% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed);
• have or would recommend SSA to others (96.6% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed);
• overall satisfaction with their SSA experience (89.6% or respondents agreed or strongly agreed).

Chart 3-3B
Respondent Agreement with Various Statements Regarding Program Satisfaction

n=87

SSA scholarship winners reported various benefits gained through their SSA program. As highlighted in Chart 3-3C, respondents were most likely to agree or strongly agree that as a result of SSA experience they benefited in the following ways:

• SSA helped them to map out their future educational plans (85.0% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed);

• SSA helped them to strengthen their career choice (85.0% respondents agreed/strongly agreed);
• SSA helped them to be a better student (65.5% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed).

Over half of SSA scholarship winners (range, 52.9% to 58.6%) also felt that – as a result of their SSA program – their self-esteem improved, their grades generally improved, and their high school courses became more relevant.

Chart 3-3C
Students Agreement with Various Benefits Gained Through SSA

n = 87

Workplace knowledge/experience as well as the opportunity to get a "head start" in their career were reported by scholarship winners as the key benefits of SSA. When asked to indicate in their own words what they felt to be the key benefits received as a result of participating in SSA, scholarship winners most commonly reported the following:

• approximately 30% of respondents reported that the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience gained in the workplace was one of the key benefits of the program;

• a similar proportion of respondents (27.6%) indicated that SSA provided them an opportunity to get an early start in the trades;
• many scholarship winners (18.4%) also reported that one of the best things about SSA was the opportunity for paid work experience.

Other key benefits of SSA reported by scholarship winners included career exploration opportunities (11.5%), getting school credit for their apprenticeship activities (4.6%), that SSA made school more relevant (4.6%) and that SSA motivated them to improve their grades (2.3%).

SSA scholarship winners’ suggestions for improvement included better communication and an increase in the profile of the SSA program. When asked if there was anything they would like to see changed about the SSA program, most scholarship winners (55.2%) indicated they would not make any changes to SSA.

Of those who had suggestions for improvement (44.8%), the most commonly reported items included the following:

• better/more communication, either between students and apprenticeship counselors, or between employers, students and apprenticeship counselors (34.2%);
• efforts to increase the profile of SSA so that greater awareness of the program would be generated (26.3%);
• change to the required number of work experience hours (13.2%).

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