Understanding Traditional and Nontraditional Students’ Job Skill Preparation from a Career Capital Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT Using data from the 2014 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), we examined traditional and nontraditional students’ perceived preparation for job skills in terms of the three ways of knowing from a career capital perspective. Results showed that traditional and nontraditional students shared commonalities as well as differences in terms of three ways of knowing. Multinomial regression showed that different sets of predicators were significant in predicting students’ perceived preparation for job skills, depending on the outcome being considered. However, variables that are directly aligned to the work or job preparation – updating job skills as a goal, work-based learning, and using job placement assistance, each representing one way of knowing – had the largest odds ratios in explaining the perceived preparation for job skills. Discussions of findings and implications are provided.