Political science students at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) have already garnered more than 200 responses for their youth employment survey.
Students in the class Pols 320, Canadian Politics and Policy taught by Jason Morris, are conducting an annual survey and this year are researching youth employment in the Prince George area since the pandemic.
“It's a required course for political science majors and it provides a valuable opportunity for undergraduates to gain some experience performing real life political research which is usually more open to graduate students than undergraduates,” explained political science student Sloane Zogas.
“We also expect the results to be of interest to the community of Prince George and hopefully to help inform future policy goals.”
This is the 10th year the course has hosted the annual survey which in the past has focused on topics such ash the privatization of ICBC or electoral reform.
“Last year they did the impact of the pandemic on UNBC students’ educational experiences and our topic is the impact of the pandemic on youth employment in Prince George,” said Zogas.
“We found that personally, the pandemic has definitely impacted our ability to find meaningful employment. The existing literature that we reviewed also pointed to a similar trend.”
Zogas said the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on youth employment, to the point where youth unemployment has been found to have increased by approximately twice as much as unemployment among 30- to 50-year-olds during the pandemic.
She said this could be for several reasons.
“Youth are less likely to have jobs where they can work remotely from home and they're more likely to work in sectors which have been severely disrupted by the pandemic like the service industry,” said Zogas, adding that the shifting labour landscape is going to affect youth who are graduating and how they will enter the labour force.
The online survey is targeted towards youth aged 18 to 29 who live in Prince George. It went live on March 23 and over 200 people responded within the first day.
“I'm excited to be a voice for issues facing local youth in the pandemic environment and eager to see the results and share them with the City of PG,” added Zogas.
The students will also present their research findings at the Prince George Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting (AGM) in April as well as the provincial Chamber of Commerce AGM in June, which will be hosted in Prince George this year.
The survey will close on March 30 and those who take the survey will also be entered into a draw to win one of two $50 Visa Gift Cards for participating.
