Dive Brief:
- A resurgence in vocational training for blue-collar jobs in some high schools may leave female students behind when they enter the workforce, according to a study by researchers at the Cornell Population Center and UT-Austin.
- The Cornell Chronicle reports high schools in blue-collar communities that shift from a college prep focus to training for blue-collar jobs leave women less likely to get any jobs at all after high school, and compared to their peers who grew up in non-blue-collar communities, they earn far less.
- While both genders were less likely to go to college out of such high schools, men often did fine in the labor market, while women suffered from large employment and wage gaps that are less severe in non-blue-collar communities.
Dive Insight:
With the high cost of college and rising national student debt making some believe higher education is not worth it, a number of high schools are coordinating with local industries to prepare students for available manufacturing jobs in their communities. When schools develop a more vocational focus, leaving college prep as secondary, it helps guarantee the futures of some students while leaving others behind. When students do not take advanced classes, they are less likely to go to college. This new research might make administrators reconsider the impact of policies that, on face value, seem good for communities and students.