EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGED STATUS AND SECONDARY VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ON ADOLESCENT WORK EXPERIENCE AND POSTSECONDARY ASPIRATIONS

Data from theNational Education Longitudinal Study: 1988-94 (1996)was used to examine participation in secondary vocational education, work experiences, and postsecondary aspirations of high school seniors (in 1992) on the basis of disadvantaged status. Nondisadvantaged youth and vocational track participants were more likely to be employed than peers experiencing economic disadvantage and those with limited or no vocational education involvement, respectively. Adolescents who were enrolled in a vocational track or program were more likely to be employed over 20 hours per week than other adolescents. Vocational participants and economically disadvantaged youth with limited or no vocational involvement expressed low educational and occupational aspirations.