Who thrives, who struggles? School-to-work transition among vocational training students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Authors

  • Ibtissem Ben Alaya Université du Québec à Rimouski
  • Marie-Pier Petit Université du Québec à Montréal
  • Kalee De France Concordia University
  • Erin T. Barker Concordia University
  • Dale M. Stack Concordia University
  • Catherine Cimon-Paquet Université du Québec à Montréal
  • Marie-Hélène Véronneau Université du Québec à Montréal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26443/mje/rsem.v60i3.10203

Keywords:

vocational education, emerging adulthood, coronavirus, social support, help-seeking behavior

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic may have increased the challenges faced by vocational training (VT) students. Thus, we examined the moderating effect of support-seeking tendencies on the association between context (pre-pandemic or pandemic) and VT students’ adjustment in the school-to-work transition. Participants (n = 109, M age = 21.59 years) completed a survey during their training (T1, pre-pandemic) and after ending their training (T2). For some, T2 occurred pre-pandemic (n = 77), while others completed T2 during the pandemic (n = 32). Among participants who were reluctant to seek support at T1, those who experienced a school-to-work transition before the pandemic encountered more difficulties in adjusting to the transition, while those who experienced this transition during the pandemic were better adjusted.

Author Biographies

Ibtissem Ben Alaya, Université du Québec à Rimouski

is currently a professor in the department of Education at the Université du Québec à Rimouski, Baie-Comeau campus. This article, however, was written while she was a postdoctoral researcher at UQAM within LÉPSIS, thanks to a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec. She along with Marie-Pier Petit are co-first authors and contributed equally to the writing of this article. This contribution draws on her expertise in socio-emotional competencies, particularly regarding coping processes and help-seeking behavior among young people during educational and career transitions. ibtissem_benalaya@uqar.ca

Marie-Pier Petit, Université du Québec à Montréal

is a scientific advisor at the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ). While she was a postdoctoral researcher, she contributed to the analyses and writing of this article. Her postdoctoral work at the time focused on the family, social, and contextual determinants of academic motivation, psychological well-being, and the transition to the labor market among young people.

Kalee De France , Concordia University

is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. They were completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship (Horizons Postdoctoral Award and Faculty of Arts and Sciences funding) at Concordia University when this project was completed. Dr. De France’s research program focuses on youth emotion regulation and mental health. kalee.defrance@ubc.ca

Erin T. Barker, Concordia University

is a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University where she directs the Lifespan Well-Being Laboratory. She is a developmental psychologist interested in how stress and coping affect mental health and wellbeing during the transition to adulthood. She contributed to revisions of this paper as a member of the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et Culture équipe de recherche Promouvoir la résilience: La compétence émotionnelle en contexte de transition et d’adversité. erin.barker@concordia.ca

Dale M. Stack, Concordia University

was a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University when this study was conducted. She passed away after this article was accepted for publication. Her research focused on the developmental trajectories of infants and children at low and high risk for psychological difficulties, their parents, and the role of emotional competence across human development. She was the principal investigator on the Emotional Competence Research Team, which supported this study through funding from the Québec Research Fund– society and culture sector (Research team support program; 2018-SE-205454). 

Catherine Cimon-Paquet, Université du Québec à Montréal

is a Professor in the Department of Psychoeducation and Psychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. Her research focuses primarily on family relationships and human development. At the time this paper was written, she was a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and received financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (doctoral fellowship, 207–2021-2022-Q1-02294) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec, Société et culture (doctoral fellowship, 2021-B2Z-281986). catherine.cimon-paquet@uqo.ca

Marie-Hélène Véronneau , Université du Québec à Montréal

is a full professor in the Department of Psychology at UQAM. She studies educational success, mental health and emotional competence, in children, adolescents, and adults. She carried out this study with the support of the Quebec Research Fund, Health sector (Research scholar awards 26858 and 266652) and from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Insight development program, 430-2017-01016). As principal investigator, she contributed significantly to the project and the writing of the article. In the name of all authors, she thanks Lisa A. Serbin and Holly Recchia for their preliminary feedback on this study. veronneau.marie-helene@uqam.ca

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Published

2026-09-18

How to Cite

Ben Alaya, I., Petit, M.-P., De France , K., Barker, E. T., Stack, D. M., Cimon-Paquet, C., & Véronneau , M.-H. (2026). Who thrives, who struggles? School-to-work transition among vocational training students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic . McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 60(3), 249–269. https://doi.org/10.26443/mje/rsem.v60i3.10203

Issue

Vol. 60 No. 3 (2026)

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Articles

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