AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF CAREER EDUCATION INVOLVEMENT ON THE TRANSITIONAL MOVEMENT OF STUDENTS FROM HIGH SCHOOL INTO THE WORK FORCE

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which exposure and participation in career education activities and related training has assisted post-high school students in the transitional process from school to employment. Sample members for the study were selected from the alumni population on the basis of their career education participation and their ability to demonstrate proficiency in their understanding of career education constructs on a pretest screening device. Employers/supervisors, in turn, were chosen on the basis of their affiliation with sample members. From the analysis of the collected data, the major findings of the study were: (1) Regardless of the major program of study pursued in high school, subjects encountered essentially the same difficulties during the transition and their initial employment. (2) Despite the exposure of career education participants to job and career information during their school tenure, no effort was being made to link such information to a specific goal(s) at the point of transition. (3) The effects of career education exposure on the initial transition of an individual from school to paid employment were limited mostly to career information; very little useful occupational information was available to career education participants regarding local job market opportunities. (4) The career education experiences of sample members had focused exclusively on vocational and postsecondary concerns with little or no input regarding avocational or life-centered instruction. (5) Career education, like its counterparts (academic, general, and vocational courses), often failed to emphasize the value of high school coursework as a foundation for developing job opportunities and or skills. (6) Followup after graduation was virtually non-existent. (7) Despite career education\u27s emphasis on the value of continuing education in enhancing financial and career opportunities, most sample members still lacked the ability to put this value into action. (8) Too much emphasis was often placed on the cognitive nature of job and career while negating the experiential development of participants