What Else Shapes My Choices? Influences, Opportunities and Barriers

Any five: family expectations, peer influence, cultural identity, gender identity and stereotypes, finances, future earnings, work trends, location, systemic barriers, health, role models.

A barrier built into policies, practices or systems that disadvantages some groups. Examples: hiring practices that screen out newcomers, lack of programs or broadband in remote communities, racism or ableism in a workplace's practices.

Help: encouragement, advice, money or connections. Limit: pressure toward a path that doesn't fit the student, or discouraging a career because of stereotypes.

University involves tuition and often living costs before earning; apprenticeship training is mostly paid work, so the apprentice earns while learning. Financial aid and scholarships can reduce the cost of university.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

(a) can't control, (b) can control, (c) can influence.

An oversimplified belief that all members of a group are the same.

OSAP (the Ontario Student Assistance Program), scholarships, bursaries, or grants.

The Government of Canada's Job Bank.

The effect your friends and classmates have on your thinking and choices.

True.

The student may want a career that serves their nation or community (health care, education, land and water stewardship, language revitalization, business), and community role models and supports can help them get there. Culture can give purpose and support.

Factors: peer influence and a gender stereotype. Response: remember that nursing needs all genders, talk to a male nurse or a guidance counsellor, and base the decision on his profile, not on teasing.

Fewer local programs and jobs, long travel distances, higher costs to move away, and sometimes weaker internet. These are systemic and geographic barriers, not differences in ability. Online learning, financial support and community programs can help.

You can influence something by your actions even if you don't decide it alone (family's views, costs through saving and scholarships). You can't control things like the economy or other people's bias, but you can respond (build in-demand skills, know your rights, find supports).

A career with high earnings but shrinking demand may be risky; one with growing demand and fair pay may be a safer choice. A student should check both before deciding.

Sample: barriers for newcomers. The 2026 Ontario rule banning "Canadian experience" requirements in job postings helps. A student can build a network, volunteer for local references, and use settlement and Employment Ontario services. (Any accurate barrier with a real system response and an individual action.)

Sample: parents want medicine; the student loves film. Resolve by gathering information together (Job Bank wages and outlooks, program requirements), finding common values (security, helping people), exploring middle paths (medical illustration, health communication), asking a guidance counsellor or trusted relative to join the conversation, and agreeing on next steps. Look for respect for both sides and use of facts.

Effort matters a lot and is within your control, but outside factors also affect choices: costs, location, family situations and systemic barriers like discrimination. Ignoring them can lead people to blame themselves unfairly. A better view: effort plus awareness of factors, plus using supports and advocating for fair systems.