Educational and employment outcomes for students who complete a high school career and technical concentration

Participating in career technical education has been associated with increased completion of secondary and postsecondary educational programs among other positive effects for students. Selected academic and vocational outcomes were examined relating to the curricular concentration students engaged in during high school and various demographic characteristics. There was no significant effect for curricular concentration on job satisfaction as reported by survey respondents eight years after completing high school. Neither was there any significant effect for gender, ethnic identity, or socioeconomic status on job satisfaction, or for the prediction of future educational attainment. Non-career technical education concentrators scored significantly higher than career technical education concentrators on their judgment of how much they liked high school. Implications for educator practice, training, and funding were discussed