A study of factors influencing the selection of vocational teacher education by undergraduate students at Oregon State University

Graduation date: 1984The purpose of this study was to ascertain the factors which\ud influenced undergraduate students in the School of Education at Oregon\ud State University to select vocational teacher education as their\ud major. Data were collected from 315 vocational, practical arts, and\ud non-vocational undergraduate teacher education majors who were\ud enrolled in teacher education professional courses during Spring Term\ud 1983. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. Discriminant\ud analysis was used to relate group membership to selected variables.\ud Nine unique characteristics of vocational teacher education\ud students were identified: (1) sex; (2) total work experience;\ud socioeconomic status in terms of (3) father's education and (4)\ud father's occupation; influence of significant others in terms of (5)\ud major influence of peers, (6) media, (7) non-educational personnel,\ud and (8) relatives; and (9) grade point average during high school.\ud The respondents tended to come from middle-class homes, to be "B"\ud students in high school, and to work in skilled and technical\ud occupations before enrolling in their current majors. Maturation\ud either through aging or work experience in business, industry, or both\ud seemed to provide career options for these subjects. The only\ud significant others who had important influence on the selection of the\ud subjects' major were their peers in the same vocational teacher\ud education major. Male friends in the work place also influenced these\ud students' career decisions.\ud It was concluded that vocational teacher education students are\ud identifiable on three factors. Two variables, father's occupational\ud prestige and educational attainment, comprise one factor:\ud socioeconomic status. The other factors are work experience related\ud to majors and grade point average in high school. Peers seem to\ud influence the decisions of these students to pursue careers. Other\ud college and university students in the same majors as vocational\ud teacher education students, as well as male friends in the labor\ud force, either in business or industry, have significant influence on\ud the career decisions of these subjects and, therefore, are important\ud sources through which information about vocational teacher education\ud programs should be disseminated to potential students