An Analysis of the Enrollment and Completion of Nontraditional Vocational Programs of Study by Females

108 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002.This present study investigated the enrollment in vocational education, orientation and training level programs, and completion of traditional and nontraditional training level programs by females with and without disabilities in grade 9 through 12 during the 1996--97 school year in Illinois. In particular, it focused on whether or not certain student and school characteristics influenced a female's successful completion of nontraditional training level programs of study. We sought to expand and add to prior research on the enrollment and completion patterns of females by examining their participation in nontraditional training level programs. The findings indicated that African American females were more likely to complete a nontraditional program than were the other ethnic groups. However, in comparison to the dominate group (i.e., European American) their frequency were very small, as were the other ethnic groups (i.e., Hispanics, Asian American, and Native American females) and, this was particularly true for females with disabilities. In addition, females continue to complete traditional training level programs significantly more than they did nontraditional training level programs. Finally, females were more likely to complete their traditional programs at area vocational centers, but no meaningful association was detected between type of school and completion of nontraditional programs. Of the two student cohorts, females with disabilities comprised the smaller proportion of vocational education enrollees and completers in traditional and nontraditional training level programs. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD