Friday, May 15, 2015

Stratification, School-Work Linkage and Vocational Education

Abstract:
Building on more classical status attainment and reproduction perspectives, this article examines the extent of class, race and gender inequality in high school vocational education, and the consequences for students' later educational and occupational trajectories. Analyses demonstrate significant class, race and gender disparities in vocational educational placement, even after accounting for prior achievement and educational expectations. Implications of these patterns are striking. Vocational involvement increases the likelihood of dropping out of high school and significantly decreases college attendance. While vocational training does reduce unemployment spells later on, this is less true for non-whites and women, who tend to be placed in service sector vocational training and, consequently, similar jobs. We conclude by denoting, at a more general theoretical level, the need to further explore how occupational stratification and concentration may be fostered prior to labor market entry, and by educational institutional process often assumed to be neutral.


  • School-Work Transitions: Status Attainment and Reproduction Perspectives
  • Vocational Education and Stratification
  • Vocational Education as Tracking
  • Educational and Occupational Outcomes
  • Class, Race and Gender
  • Family Structure
  • Macro-Level Controls
  • Educational Expectations and Prior Achievement Controls
  • Analytic Strategy and Results
  • Vocational Training and Class Race and Sex Stratification
  • Consequences of Persistance in High School and College Attendance
  • Implications for Occupational Outcomes and Unemployment


No comments: