Lived experiences of Latino students in CTE high school programs

Abstract

With projections over the next decade suggesting that two thirds of future jobs will require some college or advanced technical training, the United States' ability to educate its students will determine its success in global economic competition. Latinos are increasingly an integral part of the labor market, as it has become the largest minority group in the country. The United States is contending with how to best educate and train the Latino workforce as research literature illustrates a trend of declining high school degree completion. Consequently, Latinos enter the workforce unprepared to attain higher paying jobs. Traditional vocational education has evolved over the past 20 years through education-reform initiatives. The approach of providing students with workforce entry-level skills has been supplanted by the wider perspective of career technical education (CTE), which incorporates increased academic preparation to enable a wider range of career choices. Through a Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis approach focusing on the lived experiences of Latinos involved in CTE, the data from the research question "What are the lived experiences of Latino students in CTE programs in Massachusetts, and how do these students make sense of their experiences in the context of their future aspirations" proposes new solutions to address Latino career readiness. By understanding students' experiences through use of a social constructivist framework that listens to students' own voices, stakeholders can provide targeted student support. Major findings from the study revealed the CTE learning environment requires reconsideration and CTE classrooms need to be more flexible to Social Constructivist principles.