High school students are eager for a chance to explore careers and gain skills before graduating. But do all students have equal access to those opportunities?
About 71% of K-12 educators say student interest in career and technical education has increased in the past five years, according to an EdWeek Research Center survey conducted last year. As schools offer more CTE courses to meet the demand, advocates say it’s important to ensure that students from diverse backgrounds have access to the full range of career pathways.
Of the 11.8 million students participating in CTE programs in 2019, 5.8 million were students of color and 5.3 million came from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, according to research from the American Council on Education, a higher education association. More recently, in the 2023-24 school year, about half of high schoolers in CTE programs came from economically disadvantaged families, and about 10.8% were students with disabilities.
“Rather than offering CTE as a trades-only focus, we now have areas such as engineering, education, cybersecurity,” said Jamie Molina, assistant professor of family consumer sciences education at New Mexico State University. “The ultimate goal is to offer opportunities so students can find a job in a high-skills, high-wage, and in-demand occupation, whether they go straight to work out of high school or they continue into college with the path they’ve already taken.”
But these programs aren’t always accessible to all students, said Mark Emerick, assistant professor of education at Vassar College. In particular, English learners often face barriers.
“If your parents didn’t grow up and work in the United States, you’re in a new environment, in a new economic system that’s different,” said Emerick. “Understanding what the economic or the workforce outcome is for a program is hard to imagine for a lot of students, especially English learners.”
In addition, the communication between schools and English learners and their families can be lacking at times, he said.
Why accessibility is important when creating CTE programs
Without intentional outreach from schools, some English learners and their families might not understand what CTE is or the opportunities and skills they could learn that could lead to career paths.
“Those labels are sometimes hard to interpret for families who have lived [elsewhere] their entire lives,” said Emerick.
For example, some English learners may default to pathways they’re familiar with, instead of exploring other interests. During his research, Emerick came across a student who was interested in healthcare, but she didn’t pursue that pathway in school because it didn’t seem like a viable option.
Instead, “she picked something that she was familiar with, that she felt she could be successful in, and ultimately had to start fresh when she went to college,” he said.
Also, CTE programs are not always located on campus, requiring students to go offsite for courses—which can be a barrier for families without reliable transportation.
Finally, the application process to CTE programs can be complicated and require parental approval, which can deter some English learners, Emerick said.
One simple but effective change is making CTE programs’ marketing material available in multiple languages, he said.
How CTE programs can be developed with diversity in mind
Molina, of New Mexico State University, has experience working in districts across Texas as a CTE director. Those programs were created with the goal of reaching underrepresented students, she said.
“We want[ed] to promote [the programs] to get more women in welding or more women in STEM, and so as a CTE administrator [with] CTE teachers, we [were] working together to think of ways we can do that,” said Molina.
The most important part of creating diverse CTE programs, she told Education Week, is building partnerships with the local industry, colleges, schools, and families in the community.
Industry partnerships are especially important because businesses can invest in the district, Molina said. One of the partnerships she developed was with Toyota Manufacturing, which helped build STEM labs in one district.
“We’re not talking about just engaging high school students; we’re engaging students from an early [age],” said Molina.
It’s also critical, she said, for educators to show younger students that their older peers, who come from a similar background, can successfully apply and complete a variety of CTE programs.
“The biggest marketing piece is students that are in the program, the ones that are going through it and getting their certifications,” said Molina.
