Stratification, School-Work Linkages and Vocational Education

Building on more classical status attainment and reproduction perspectives, this article examines the extent of class, race and gender inequality in high school vocational education, and the consequences for students' later educational and occupational trajectories. Analyses demonstrate significant class, race and gender disparities in vocational educational placement, even after accounting for prior achievement and educational expectations. The implications of these patterns are striking. Vocational involvement increases the likelihood of dropping out of high school and significantly decreases college attendance. While vocational training does reduce unemployment spells later on, this is less true for non-whites and women, who tend to be placed in service sector vocational training and, consequently, similar jobs. We conclude by denoting, at a more general theoretical level, the need to further explore how occupational stratification and concentration may be fostered prior to labor market entry, and by educational institutional processes often assumed to be neutral.