Linking Occupational Concentration to Hourly Wages for Non-College Going Individuals

Abstract

One of the stated goals of career and technical education (CTE) is to improve the labor market outcomes of participants. One population of students for which concentration CTE may be particularly beneficial is those who determine they will not pursue postsecondary education. By exploring how occupational concentration-defined as earning three or more credits in a specific CTE cluster-relates to labor market outcomes for non-college participants, this study adds to a growing body of research on the benefits of CTE participation. In an effort to gain a more nuanced understanding of these labor market benefits, the current study further disaggregates these potential benefits across different CTE categories. Using a nationally representative dataset to explore the CTE concentration association with eventual earnings, results indicated that occupational concentration in general links to increased wages. However, these benefits are limited to a few specific CTE categories: health sciences, trades, and agriculture and natural resources. Implications for individual students, practitioners, and policymakers are discussed.

Does High School STEMM Career Coursework Align With College Employment?

“…Given these realities, this study asks how the increased share of each of these benefits through greater shares of STEMM CTE courses (as a proportion of total STEMM coursetaking) links to students’ college employment. Ongoing work suggests that high levels of investment in a specific CTE field, including STEMM CTE, are associated with higher probabilities of post–high school employment in those fields, though this has not been examined for those in college (Plasman, 2019).…”

Investigating the Relationship Between Career and Technical Education High School Course‐Taking and Early Job Outcomes

“…Previous examinations of the link between course‐taking and occupational outcomes (e.g., Plasman, 2019) have been framed in terms of human capital theory (Becker, 1964). This model primarily features knowledge and skills as the main human attributes affected by schooling and posits that they are the major determinants of posteducational outcomes.…”

“…More recently, Dougherty (2016) found that CTE concentration (defined as students taking three or more courses in CTE programs) was associated with increases in both probability of employment after graduation and wages. Plasman (2019) similarly found that, among noncollege‐going individuals, CTE concentration in health science, trades (comprising concentrations in manufacturing, architecture and construction, or transportation and logistics), and agriculture and natural resources was beneficial in terms of earnings 3 years after graduating from high school.…”

“…Generally, CTE courses provide students with skills and knowledge tailored to “middle skills jobs” (Dougherty, 2016; Imperatore & Hyslop, 2017), those occupations that are often defined as requiring education and training beyond high school but not a 4‐year degree (Carnevale et al, 2012). Consequently, research investigating the benefits of CTE course‐taking has focused not only on proximal academic outcomes (e.g., grades; Dougherty, 2016, 2018) but also on distal job outcomes (e.g., employment status, income; Dougherty et al, 2019; Plasman, 2019).…”

“…Prior research examining the differential effects of CTE versus college preparatory course‐taking (e.g., English, math, science, social science, foreign languages) on proximal and distal outcomes has included diverse covariates, including demographics (e.g., race/ ethnicity, sex), contextual influences (e.g., SES), test scores, and personal characteristics (e.g., goals, motivation; e.g., Plasman, 2019). Such studies treat course‐taking as their primary predictors and educational and occupational criteria as their primary outcomes, and they statistically control for the influence of contextual factors and personal characteristics, implicitly treating them as potentially confounding variables.…”