Abstract: Transitioning from high school to postsecondary education or the workforce is an important step in becoming an adult. Ensuring that youth are equipped to make a successful transition increases their chances of attaining financial means and fulfillment through work in the future (Chiang & Hawley, 2013). Nevertheless, this transition can be remarkably challenging for youth from low-income and marginalized backgrounds due to prevailing structural inequities (Sousa, 2022). Students from low-income families have almost twice more chances of canceling or changing their post-secondary education plans, and enrollment rates in colleges are lower for Black, Latinx, and Native American students than for their White peers (Reyna & Norton, 2020). This scenario raises concerns about workforce development and individuals' ability to access decent work – i.e., work that provides survival, self-determination, and social connection (Randev & Jha, 2022). Increasingly, access to decent work demands some level of education or vocational training (Chiang & Hawley, 2013; Reyna & Norton, 2020). From a social perspective, enabling individuals through training and education to attain decent work is critical to promoting social mobility and an equitable society. From an economic development perspective, having a pool of professionals with the necessary skills is vital to the sustainability of businesses and nations (Randev & Jha, 2022). This study reports results from a multidisciplinary project with a non-profit community organization that aims to support youth from low-income and diverse backgrounds to transition successfully into the workforce or higher education. Researchers from the Human Resources Development (HRD) and Social Work fields partnered with this community organization to identify effective evidence-based school-to-work transition practices that could be incorporated into their youth programs. To this end, a literature review was conducted using “transition from high school” and “low-income” as keywords in Academic Search Premier, Business Premier Source, ERIC, Education Source, and Web of Science. The search was limited to peer-reviewed studies from 2015-2022 and focused on discussing elements that support the transition process. In total, 22 articles were reviewed. The review indicated three themes that were critical to support the transition from high school into the workforce or higher education for youth with marginalized identities: cultural capital, social capital, and critical consciousness. When students enhance their cultural and social capital, they are able to build and sustain social connections, access resources in their communities, and learn how to navigate the rules and expectations that come along with new employment or postsecondary environments (Parnes et al., 2020; Reyna & Norton, 2020; Richards, 2022). Critical consciousness empowers youth to recognize situations of discrimination and confront structural inequality (Flores et al., 2017). For adults supporting youth transition, critical consciousness enables them to acknowledge how existing systems of oppression shape students' transition to college and the workplace (Hagler, 2018; Sousa, 2022). The literature also suggested actionable strategies to enhance youth’s cultural and social capital and develop critical consciousness in youth. These strategies include a combination of career orientation, mentoring, work-based learning, dual-enrollment education, and summer transition programs (Altstadt et al., 2020; Hagler, 2018; Masdonati et al., 2022; Ober et al., 2020; Sousa, 2022). Lastly, the presence of trusted adults, and a safe and fair environment are critical elements for the quality of youth transition programs (Gliske et al., 2021). The outcomes of this study were consolidated into a research brief that will be used by the community organization practitioners, and shared with partners and funders. Our findings underscore the importance of collaborative efforts between the government, policymakers, community organizations, employers, practitioners, and researchers from various disciplines to address workforce development challenges of low-income and marginalized youth (Cheng et al., n.d.; Solberg, 2017). The findings also call attention to important ways the Human Resources Development (HRD) field can contribute through Sustainable-HRD practices (Randev & Jha, 2022). HRD scholars could investigate how existing career theories apply to the context of youth from marginalized groups transitioning to the workforce and possibly advance these theories. Scholars could also collaborate with practitioners and youth organizations to create training and development strategies that integrate the labor market's needs while promoting career exploration and skills building for these young students. HRD practitioners in turn could partner with the education system to promote alignment between organizations' demands and educational offerings, and with governmental programs and community organizations, to support youth career development, offering training and apprenticeship programs targeting these youth groups. The findings of this review contribute to recent discussions on Sustainable-HRD and the field's role in fostering decent work and developing a more equitable workforce, while partnering with other disciplines and key community stakeholders.
