DATA & STATISTICS This page contains the most recent public data available that specifically deals with Portuguese Canadians and their apparent under-investment in education. Although this information has been the source of many disputes within the community, we strongly believe that the content is both credible and objective.   We ask our visitors to treat this data with an appropriate level of sensitivity, and focus their attention on identifying the key insights that can be extrapolated. We sincerely hope that at no time is this information misinterpreted as an attack on the community and/or its values, either from the original authors or any of the individuals associated with this effort.  1997 Every Secondary Student Survey This survey was published by the TDSB, which accounts for over two-thirds of high school students in the City of Toronto, and is publicly available at the Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library. It is thorough: every student across all of its schools participated. Our team has aggregated the results by student ethnicity. Our analysis is divided amongst the following areas of focus: (Click title to view) Introduction Post-Graduation Plans School Experience Student Abilities Time Management Support Network Student Aspirations Parental Influence Computer Influence   What are the key factors that prevent Portuguese-Canadian students from pursuing post-secondary education? THE PROJECT DIPLOMA SURVEY Our team identified 29 factors that influence a student's decision not to pursue higher education. This information was collected by conducting over 40 personal interviews and 5 focus groups within the community. The Project Diploma survey was then created to help prioritize these decision factors by asking respondents to rate the importance of each factor independently. A total of 788 surveys were completed, of which 420 were from current high school students. The purpose of the survey was not to influence nor reinforce any pre-determined beliefs. We want to stress that participants never received any external influence or pressure from Project Diploma team members in responding to the survey. SURVEY FINDINGS The survey results are revealing and surprising.  They challenge certain beliefs that are prevalent in the Portuguese community, and confirm the issue's underlying complexity. It is impossible to isolate one or two specific factors that explain the community's under investment in higher education. Two important insights have been made. First, there is a significant discrepency between what adults and current high school students consider and perceive to be important decision factors. Second, several important decision factors have been historically dismissed by the community and are not being currently targeted.  We welcome individuals in the community to review these findings and draw their own conclusions. The survey results can be downloaded below. Survey Findings (Powerpoint) Survey Findings (Excel)       Click here to return to Project Diploma home page