33 TABLE 10 Training-Relatedness of First Jobs Obtained by Graduates Source: Kaufman, Jacob J., The Role of the Secondary Schools in the Preparation of Youth for Employment. Pennsylvania State University, February 1967, pp. 6-20. 12 50 comprehensive and 50 vocational and technical high schools after intervals of two, six, and eleven years found the latter with higher hourly earnings after two and six years. However, the earnings progression of the comprehensive high school graduates exceeded those of the vocational graduates by the sixth year and the hourly earnings had caught up by the eleventh year. Throughout the eleven years, the vocational graduates remained more steadily employed making it possible for their annual earnings to remain higher. The Kaufman nine-city study found no significant differences in hourly earnings on first jobs for vocational, general and academic students. However, the three-city study which followed graduates over a six-year period found vocational-technical graduates to have been employed seven percent more of the time and to have earned an average of $500 12Max Eninger, The Process and Product of Technical and Industrial High School Level Vocational Education in the U.S., American Institute for Research, Pittsburgh, 1965. 34 13 per year more than academic graduates. However, by the sixth year the magnitude of the differences were growing smaller, suggesting that in the long run the generally higher capability would prevail over the initial training advantage. Interestingly, an initial large employment and earnings advantage of white over nonwhite graduates had reversed by the sixth year, giving some support to the stereotype that vocational education was a "creaming" program for the nonwhites and a "dumping ground" for whites.14 Neither the Eninger nor the Kaufman study controlled for ability and socio-economic differences. Project TALENT data indicated little difference among the earnings of vocational, general and academic graduates as a whole. However, vocational students had a significant advantage when adjusted for differences in ability (Table 11). TABLE 11 Comparative Weekly Earnings Per 100 Persons- Benefits cannot be realistically appraised without costs. Given more expensive equipment and lower student-teacher 13 Jacob J. Kaufman, et al., An Analysis of the Comparative Costs and Benefits of Vocational vs. Academic Education in Secondary Schools, Institute for Research on Human Resources, The Pennsylvania State University, October 1967, pp. 129-130. 14Ibid., pp. 135-136. 15 35 ratios, per pupil costs of vocational education have been estimated by various studies to exceed those of academic programs from $200 to $600 per year.' However, these costs vary widely from the minimal per pupil costs of home economics to the high costs of some trade and industry and technical courses. Corazzini concluded that continuance for four years of the initial wage differential in favor of Worcester, Massachusetts vocational high school graduates would justify the $500 per year cost differential. However, with foregone earnings added, post-secondary vocational training in Worcester was concluded to be an unfavorable investment. A North Carolina study of post-secondary education turned out more favorable on the basis of a four-year differential maintained over high school graduates with similar grades." 16 17 Taussig, also on the basis of an initial wage rate differential between vocational and academic graduates, concluded that the added costs of separate vocational high schools were not justified. 18 Controlling for various demographic and social characteristics and applying different methodology to data from another city, the Kaufman study found the returns to vocational technical education to justify reallocation of educational expenditures in that direction. 19 Given differences and limitations in data and methods, 15Michael K. Taussig, An Economic Analysis of Vocational Education in the New York City High Schools, paper prepared for the Conference on Vocational Education, The Brookings Institution, April 17-18, 1967; A. J. Corazzini, Vocational Education: A Study of Benefits and Costs (a case study of Worcester, Massachusetts), Project No. 295, Bureau of Research, Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, August 1966; American Institute for Research, An Analysis of Cost and Performance Factors for the Operation and Administration of Vocational Programs for Secondary Schools, The Institute, Pittsburgh, May 1967 (mimeographed). 16Corazzini, op. cit., p. 61. 17 'Adger B. Carroll and Loren A. Ihnen, Costs and Returns of Technical Education: A Pilot Study, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Manpower Policy, Evaluation and Research, July 1966. 18 Taussig, op. cit., pp. 37, 42, 50, 57-58. 19 Kaufman, et al., An Analysis of the Comparative Costs and Benefits of Vocational vs. Academic Education in Secondary Schools, p. 148. 36 cost-benefit comparisons merit only restrained endorsement. The consistency of the overall conclusions adds confidence, however. In summary, the type of high school training in general appears to make little difference in employment and earnings. Vocational graduates tend to have an initial advantage which is overcome and surpassed in time by the more broadly trained academic student. However, when the lower average ability and relatively unfavorable socio-economic backgrounds of the vocational graduates are considered, they do appear to retain a net advantage from their training. This does not mean that present vocational education methods are the best derivable, however. It justifies only the conclusion that, for those not continuing beyond high school, preparation for employment is better than no preparation for employment. INNOVATIONS IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION 20 Consideration is merited of those projects at the cutting edge of vocational education development. Their location, nature and sponsorship vary widely, but they tend to have a number of characteristics in common: (1) they are most often financed by foundation or general education rather than vocational education funds; (2) they tend to opt for an earlier introduction to occupational concepts but to delay provision of specific occupational skills; (3) they endorse a blending of basic, general and vocational education, flexibly shaped to individual interest and need; (4) they seek to broaden the range of occupations for which an individual is prepared; and (5) they assume change and the need for adaptability and continuous refurbishing of skills. Each of these characteristics reflects a major contemporary issue in vocational education. Enrollments in postsecondary education are rising rapidly. High school students have limited experience upon which to base vocational choices. School hours are limited, and valuable general preparation for life is often sacrificed in order to gain specific preparation for a job. As pointed out, vocational education is expensive and losses are considerable when it is not used. The skills 20 In addition to the Report of the Advisory Council on Vocational Education, this section draws heavily upon Curriculum Programs in Action, report of a conference sponsored by San Francisco State College and University of Wisconsin, San Francisco, California, February 1967. |