About College & Career Lab

CCL is guided by education equity research that highlights best practices to support students most impacted by systemic inequities, with the goal of helping to ensure their future economic mobility and success. Through our model, students develop essential skills and learn to effectively navigate barriers to college and post-secondary opportunities, while capitalizing on their interests and lived experiences to explore careers they may never have considered.

Mission

Nurture the high aspirations of underserved students by showcasing the diversity of post-secondary education and career pathways.

We provide students the tools to navigate systemic barriers by facilitating awareness, access, and support to translate goals into meaningful, concrete pathways for educational and career advancement.

Goals

CCL operates towards the goal that all underserved youth will have unfettered access to post-secondary opportunities to pursue their passions and goals.

Awareness

Revealing the entire academic and career landscape

Supporting Research

Preparing underserved youth for successful careers must begin as early as possible, as “restricted patterns of career aspirations” often begin as early as middle school. (Turner & Lapan, 2003)

Historically-excluded youth have high academic aspirations; they are often unaware of the breadth of careers available to them and, as a result, often aspire to a limited array of occupations. (Austin, 2010; Gushue & Whiston, 2006)

Access

Navigating post-secondary pathways and gaining social capital

Supporting Research

Students note that they often do not “see” themselves in certain careers due to lack of access to professionals from similar backgrounds, and closely adhere to “career myths,” internalizing the belief that certain careers are only meant for people from specific racial and SES groups. (Seyan, 2004)

By helping low-income youth navigate career trajectories, academic achievement increases, as many youth do not see the value or purpose of applying themselves educationally if they do not see a career at the end of it. (Kenny, Blustein, Haase, Jackson, & Perry, 2006; Daniels, 2017)

Support

Providing sustained support through advisors, mentors and role models

Supporting Research

Research shows the importance of mentors and role models in the development and success of youth, as they often have very limited access to working role models. (Austin, 2010; Fouad, Kantamneni, Smothers, Chen, Fitspatrick, & Terry, 2008; Gushue & Whiston, 2006)

Having access to role models increases students’ sense of career self-efficacy. (Bounds, 2013)

Curriculum

A unique approach to post-secondary pathways and career readiness

Each component of the CCL curriculum is designed to help students develop concrete pathways to educational and career success. To uniquely support every student in the program, the curriculum is deeply rooted in notions of individualized development to help students not only contextualize their own personal identities, backgrounds, and experiences, but also to understand how those elements may influence their passions and interests, and ultimately shape their academic and professional trajectories.

Impact

Self-reported aspirations and gains in knowledge measure early impact

The College & Career Lab has served 489 students since 2018, with a current cohort size of 215 students.

86% attend public school in NYC
54% would be the first in their family to attend college

Preparedness for applying to and going to college

90%

Preparedness for pursuing a career matching their interests and abilities

70%

The first CCL cohort began the program in 2018. Of these, 15 students (60%) completed the program, graduating in June 2023. These talented students are attending Cornell, Boston University, Morgan State, New York University, Berkeley Sciences Po, Hunter Honors College, and more as the class of 2027!
Scholars gained an increase in career confidence and knowledge related to post-secondary pathway options.
Scholars targeted a wider variety of occupations than they did prior to the start of the program (notably, medicine and law).
Scholars reported an increased or new interest in pursuing a business technology program in college (75%).