The Impact of Job Shadow on America’s Youth

An Evaluation of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth conducted by the Kravis Leadership Institute, Claremont McKenna College for the Groundhog Job Shadow Day Coalition

The Study

  • The Kravis Leadership Institute conducted an evaluation of the impact of Job Shadow on young people age 12-16.
  • The study was conducted for the Groundhog Job Shadow Day Coalition, comprised of Junior Achievement Inc., America’s Promise, the National School-to-Work Office and the American Society of Association Executives.
  • The Institute analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a survey conducted to collect data on youth labor force and educational experiences.
  • 384 students who participated in Job Shadow were compared to a group of non-participants.

The Results

  • Teens who have Job Shadow ed are one-third more likely to seek employment* during their high school years (44%) than students who have not Job Shadow ed (33%).
  • Job Shadow teens are five percent more likely to believe they will obtain a college degree (79.1%) than are students who have not shadowed (74%).
  • A significant percentage of shadowing students expect to finish high school (98.4%) compared to teens without Job Shadow experiences (94.6%).

The Impact

As the study indicates, students who Job Shadow will be more positive about their future and more likely to complete high school, attend and graduate college, and be productively employed.

*Employment refers to part-time, 20 hours a week or less.