CTE Gateway to Equity

Although Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming has the potential to improve one’s career, economic, and overall life circumstances, there are still groups who remain relatively underrepresented and underserved in terms of accessing these opportunities. There are apparent inequities in terms of who gets access to certain fields and the requisite CTE training that leads to economic and lifelong advancement. In the state of Illinois approximately 32% of those participating in postsecondary CTE programs are members of a racial minority group, and between 2010 and 2014 there was a slight increase in CTE participation and completion across all racial minority groups, with the exception of Pacific Islander (ICCB, underrepresented report). However, nationally Black and Latinx workers are still more likely to be situated in low-paying fields such as community services and arts, and food and personal services, whereas, White and Asian workers are more likely to work in higher-paying, growth sectors like STEM and healthcare and technical occupations (Carnevale et al., 2012). CTE can be a gateway to achieving equity, but there are still gaps in opportunity that hinder pursuing this goal nationally and at the state level. Hence, OCCRL is conducting an exploratory case study of CTE programs that are making noticeable gains in supporting underrepresented and underserved students and what structures and practices they have implemented in order to strive for equity.