How Career Coaches Employed by Community Colleges Shape Students’ Postsecondary and Professional Pathways in North Carolina Public High Schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT Community colleges have long responded to local workforce needs through assembling programming and alliances aimed at reducing workforce gaps while concurrently training the next generation of industry professionals. The emergence of the North Carolina Community College System’s NC Career Coach Program, stemming from North Carolina General Statute 115D–21.5, is one such illustration. Through situating career coaches – community college staff – in local high schools to provide students with resources and opportunities for academic and professional growth, the NC Career Coach Program is meeting the needs of the state and its stakeholders. The purpose of this study is to explore how North Carolina career coaches use career capital to support high school students’ career and college goals. This study proposes a conceptual framework grounded in social and career capital. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, we drew on surveys, interviews, focus groups, and documents to understand how coaches serve students in their professional and/or postsecondary pursuits. Findings indicate that career coaches serve as a connector among students, the college, and industry employers, forming relationships with each group, and importantly, developing trust with students and their families to support students’ college and career goals. In so doing they bolster students’ social and career capital, as well as honor the NC Career Coach Program’s mission to serve under-resourced communities across the state. Finally, we offer implications for research and practice that highlight the capacity of community college career coaches to support high school students with career and college objectives.