With a greater emphasis on vocational education in high school, we would expect a slight decline in the number of students going on to college, and we would expect students on the average to attend college for a few months less. Some policymakers might find this decline in college attendance unsettling. Others might not find it troubling. They might argue that vocational programs are not meant to increase the likelihood of college enrollment and that their success should be measured by other standards. Graduates of vocational programs are more satisfied than other high school students with their jobs.
Vocational graduates express more satisfaction with their jobs than other high school graduates do.
Although this difference in job satisfaction appears in five out of six studies, it is a fairly small difference. In addition, no sweeping conclusions can be drawn from the study findings because most studies of job satisfaction are limited in goals and methodology. The studies are single-variable investigations that do not probe beneath surface appearances. They show that there is a relationship between high school curricular program and job satisfaction, but they do not show what lies behind it. Differences in satisfaction might be attributable to high school curricula or to the characteristics of the students who opt for the different curricula.