​About th​e ETS

Welcome to the Edmonton Transitions Study (ETS)!
This program of research includes three studies that tracked the school-work transitions of three cohorts of Alberta youth. With the involvement of almost 5000 participants, and support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Alberta government, and the University of Alberta, the ETS has provided insights into the education, career, and life paths of Alberta young people as they moved from school to work and into young adulthood and midlife in a rapidly changing social, economic, and political environment. Learn more about project 1, ​project 2, and project 3.

Thank you to all participants over 32 years of the ETS!

In 2017, the ETS research team interviewed 404 participants for phase 8 of project 1, bringing the study into its 32nd year! This reconnected us with the high school class of 1985. 
Click here to learn more. 
Get recent ETS publications here:

Primary Projects

Project 1 surveyed almost 1,000 Edmonton teens the year they completed high school in 1985 and seven more times: 1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1992, 2010, and 2017/18. ​
Project 2 examined the transition experiences of almost 600 participants who received University of Alberta degrees in 1985; they were surveyed six times from 1985 to 1999.
Project 3 compared the transition experiences of Generation X (Class of 1985) and Generation Y (Class of 1996); almost 2,700 Alberta high school seniors surveyed in 1996 and 2003. 
This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the University of Alberta, and the Alberta government.
Data from 1985 to 2010 were collected by the Population Research Lab at the University of Alberta.
Photo credits: City line (City of Edmonton); Books (Pixabay); Briefcase (Pixabay); Growing up (GoodFreePhotos)