Vocational Education: Separate But Not Equal.

Overview & Synopsis

Vocational education, reflecting society at large, has been and is guilty of sex discrimination. Currently, individual program areas are predominantly one sex or the other, with the exception of distributive education. Females comprise approximately 55 percent of all vocational education enrollments, but half of this number exit from the system without specific skill training. Agriculture/technical education/trade and industrial programs contain only limited numbers of females. While females account for 45 percent of the total distributive education enrollment, their employment is concentrated at the lower levels of retail trade. Under Education Amendments of 1972, vocational education will have from one to three years to eliminate any sex-based course requirements, both written policy or attitudinal constraints. Priority areas for vocational education include: (1) a recruiting and informational plan conducted with guidance personnel to encourage males and females to enter non-traditional vocational programs; (2) a focus in home economics courses on examining male/female role expectations and their limitations; (3) units on discrimination in the work world; and (4) additional training and education programs for mature women, especially in skilled trades and apprenticeable occupations. (EA)