Gender, Career and Technical Education (CTE) Nontraditional Coursetaking, and Wage Gap

The two main objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between high school student (9th – 12th) gender and nontraditional career and technical education (CTE) course taking, and the combined effects of gender and program area on estimated future wage earnings for male and female CTE completers. A Midwestern state CTE database (143,510 male and 125,562 female students) designed to fulfill the data collection requirements mandated by the Perkins IV legislation was utilized to answer the two research questions. Findings from logistic regression showed that gender was a statistically significant predictor of nontraditional course taking pattern, with males taking more nontraditional courses than females. Findings from factorial analysis of variance indicated that the effect of gender on estimated future wage earnings measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was largely dependent on program area. These findings collectively suggest that although gender pattern in CTE course taking still exists, gender wage gap may be decreasing. Implications of these findings as they relate to educational policy and occupational gender segregation perspective are discussed.