Perceptions Held by Vocational Educators Toward Female Participation in Nontraditional Programs

This study investigated vocational educators' perceptions toward female participation in nontraditional postsecondary programs by examining the underlying dimensionality of their perceptions and then determining the relative influence of select variables (gender, ethnic group, age, educational level, and current position) on those dimensions. A self-administered questionnaire containing 22 perception statements was mailed to a systematic sample of 315 vocational educators at 2-year postsecondary technical institutes in Georgia. A 61.58% response rate found a positive perception toward female participation in nontraditional programs. An exploratory factor analysis using a principal components procedure with varimax rotation generated 4 dimensions (promotion of females in nontraditional programs, perceived educators' role in nontraditional programs, female enrollment in nontraditional programs, and barriers for females entering the male's world). MANOVA and post hoc ANOVA procedures revealed that gender and current position had significant impact on educators' perceptions toward female participation in nontraditional programs; female vocational educators' perceptions were more positive than their male counterparts, and counselors were more likely to promote females entering nontraditional programs than administrators and instructors.

Vocational education is part of the solution of the problem of workforce competitiveness ( Buzzell, 1993 ) and is uniquely positioned to prepare students for skilled jobs in today's labor market. However, most vocational occupations remain strongly gender segregated, though there have been countless programs to encourage females to enter nontraditional occupations ( Ehrhart & Sadler, 1987 ). For several decades, females seemed to be the "forgotten half" in vocational education because they have been either prepared for occupations in homemaking or low-pay, dead-end jobs. This ultimately contributes to inappropriate vocational preparation and barriers inhibiting female participation in nontraditional programs. These female participants could otherwise benefit from a wide range of high-tech skills that offer long-term employment and higher wages.

Although more and more vocational educators are aware of this serious situation, females still constitute a small minority in male-dominant programs. It seems that females contemplating entering nontraditional programs face numerous barriers, and one of them is gender stereotype ( McBride-Bass, 1993 ). In this regard, some researchers have cited as problematic the power of educators to insist that students conform to the educators' imposed perceptions and occupational choices ( Snyder, 1988 ). But a general lack of research exists on vocational educators' perceptions toward female participation in nontraditional programs.