Article 2024

Linkage Between Fields of Focus in High School Career Technical Education and College Majors

XZ
Xu, Zeyu
 BB
Backes, Ben
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
Journal · Vol. 46 · Issue 3 · pp. 435-457
Abstract

This study examines the extent to which students obtain postsecondary credentials in the career technical education (CTE) fields of focus they choose in high school. Using school fixed-effects models, we find that focusing on a particular CTE field in high school is associated with an increased probability of enrolling and obtaining a postsecondary credential in that field. The secondary–postsecondary relationship varies across focus areas, and it is strongest in health (increase of 12.5 percentage points), which is disproportionately chosen by females. Across all fields of focus, however, most students enroll and obtain a postsecondary credential in fields that are different from what they focused on in high school. © 2023 AERA.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Higher education career development postsecondary education correlational analysis longitudinal studies regression analyses

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
American Institutes for Research, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Funding & Acknowledgements
American Institutes for Research, AIR
Funding text 1: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A160188 to the American Institutes for Research and the Kentucky Department of Education.; Funding text 2: We thank Karen Dodd, April Piper, Aaron Butler, and Hannah Poquette from the Kentucky Department of Education and Barrett Ross from the Kentucky Center for Statistics for their support. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute, the U.S. Department of Education, or the Kentucky Department of Education. Any errors are attributable to the authors. We thank James Cowan, Dan Goldhaber, and anonymous referees for helpful comments. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A160188 to the American Institutes for Research and the Kentucky Department of Education.
U.S. Department of Education, ED
Funding text 1: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A160188 to the American Institutes for Research and the Kentucky Department of Education.; Funding text 2: We thank Karen Dodd, April Piper, Aaron Butler, and Hannah Poquette from the Kentucky Department of Education and Barrett Ross from the Kentucky Center for Statistics for their support. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute, the U.S. Department of Education, or the Kentucky Department of Education. Any errors are attributable to the authors. We thank James Cowan, Dan Goldhaber, and anonymous referees for helpful comments. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A160188 to the American Institutes for Research and the Kentucky Department of Education.
Institute of Education Sciences, IES
Grant: R305A160188
Funding text 1: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A160188 to the American Institutes for Research and the Kentucky Department of Education.; Funding text 2: We thank Karen Dodd, April Piper, Aaron Butler, and Hannah Poquette from the Kentucky Department of Education and Barrett Ross from the Kentucky Center for Statistics for their support. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute, the U.S. Department of Education, or the Kentucky Department of Education. Any errors are attributable to the authors. We thank James Cowan, Dan Goldhaber, and anonymous referees for helpful comments. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A160188 to the American Institutes for Research and the Kentucky Department of Education.
Institute of Education Sciences, IES
Funding text 1: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A160188 to the American Institutes for Research and the Kentucky Department of Education.; Funding text 2: We thank Karen Dodd, April Piper, Aaron Butler, and Hannah Poquette from the Kentucky Department of Education and Barrett Ross from the Kentucky Center for Statistics for their support. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute, the U.S. Department of Education, or the Kentucky Department of Education. Any errors are attributable to the authors. We thank James Cowan, Dan Goldhaber, and anonymous referees for helpful comments. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A160188 to the American Institutes for Research and the Kentucky Department of Education.
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