An important feature in supporting interscholastic athletics is the health care of student-athletes. Athletic trainers (ATs) are particularly qualified to provide health care to this population. They are nationally certified health care providers who help with the prevention, treatment and care, and rehabilitation of injuries. Many schools in the…

Gang-involved children dream of becoming respected members of society through professional careers, educational degrees or credentials, and socioeconomic mobility. This qualitative study used hoped-for selves as the theoretical grounding for exploring the career and college-going aspirations of 28 middle- and high-school gang-involved Latino boys…

New Jersey's Vineland Public Schools formed a partnership with Rowan University's College of Education, in Glassboro, New Jersey, to create a dual-enrollment program in teacher education specifically designed for students in the bilingual program. This program provides Spanish-speaking students with coursework in their native language that leads…

This qualitative study investigated the perspectives of Career and Technical Education (CTE) and non-CTE high school graduates regarding CTE programs. Utilizing an anonymous online survey, data from 51 respondents were analyzed to explore viewpoints on valuable CTE programs, their influence on career trajectories and education, acquired skills,…

The environmental workforce remains largely White, despite calls to diversify. There exists a narrative that environmental education programs can enact change by cultivating Connection to Nature (CTN) among individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). We contend that more work is needed to understand the full range of…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine rural school students' perception of a career in farming following their participation in educational farming activities. Design/Methodology/Approach: We hypothesized that engagement with innovative educational farming activities can influence young people's aspirations for a career in farming and…

The proposed qualitative year-long descriptive study explored how high school teachers who participated in a Professional Learning Community had their school leadership aspirations impacted while serving in the New York City Public School System. Currently, the system has a dire need to fill school and district instructional, supervisory, and…

Background: Despite a well-documented underrepresentation of women in STEM majors and occupations, empirical evidence on whether there really is a "leaky STEM pipeline" is mixed due to a lack of methodological consistency. Studies vary by (1) the definition of STEM, (2) the decision to measure choices alone or to also include…

This study examines whether premature termination of vocational education and training (VET) is more likely when trainees have to make compromises between their realistic occupational aspirations and the occupation for which they are trained in terms of the occupational dimensions of gender type, prestige, and occupational interests. Specifically,…

The purpose of this correlational study was to investigate the relationship of number sense comprehension and mathematics attitudes on mathematics achievement and intention to pursue a mathematics-related career for final-year high school students in Kenya. The sample for the study comprised of final-year high school students from three schools,…

Background: The landscape of education is increasingly recognizing the impactful role of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in preparing students for the workforce. In Delaware, the implementation of CTE programs has been substantial, offering students opportunities to earn college credits, attain industry certifications, and gain…

Creative careers are responding rapidly to new creative practices, new audiences, emerging digital platforms and technologies. These careers are well paid, resistant to automation and permeate all aspects of society. Yet students' and teachers' perceptions and attitudes are not in alignment with the reality of a job in Australia's Creative…

Career and technical education (CTE) and college preparation curriculum in high school are often treated as mutually exclusive options rather than integrated, symbiotic tracks. However, increasingly career fields require some postsecondary education, and access to four-year college degrees are important for long-term earnings and mobility. In this…

The present study aims to identify unrealistic career optimism among Korean high school students and to examine its characteristics. Cluster analysis was conducted to identify the number of groups classified by the reported levels of career aspirations and career preparation behaviors among 420 Korean high school students, and each group's…

In this dissertation study, I aimed to 1) investigate gender patterns in students' career aspirations, in both STEM and non-STEM fields, and 2) identify factors contributing to persistent gender differences within specific STEM disciplines. Drawing on Gottfredson's (1983) model of circumscription and compromise, I examined gender patterns and…