The Effect of Career and Technical Education Participation on College-Going and Employment for Marginalized Youth

• In Event: 16.060 - Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: 16.060-4 - Educating Marginalized Youth in the Current Social Context

Abstract

Little research has been able to estimate the effect of participation in career and technical education (CTE) on high school graduation and college going. Earlier work has explored economic returns to participating in CTE in high school. Only a few studies provide plausibly causal estimates of the effect of CTE on academic outcomes, but findings do not point to a consistent answer. In this paper we use rich administrative data from Arkansas to estimate the causal effect of high school CTE course taking on high school completion, initial enrollment in college, employment and wages immediately after high school. We also provide estimates for students who are disproportionately represented in CTE; youth from lower-income families and students with disabilities.

Authors

• Shaun Michael Dougherty, University of Connecticut

• Michael A. Gottfried, University of California - Santa Barbara