Volume 3, (Supplement) 1968
Somers, Gerald G. 1968. "The Response of Vocational Education to Labor Market Changes." Journal of Human Resources 3(Supplement):32-58.
The traditional vocational education system in the United States has been criticized for its lack of responsiveness to the needs of a changing labor market. The Vocation Education Act of 1963 resulted from these criticisms, but it has not satisfied the critics.
This paper evaluates the relationship of vocational education to the labor market from the standpoints of the changing composition of vocational school enrollment, job placement results, cost-benefit evaluation, and the accommodation of the needs of the disadvantaged.
In appraising the sluggishness of response, attention is given to the procedures used in initiating new vocational programs, the adequacy of labor market data available for vocational education planning, and the utilization of these data by vocational educators. It is found that economists and labor market analysts must share some of the blame for the failures in educational response to labor market change.
The author is Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Center for Studies in Vocational and Technical Education at the University of Wisconsin.
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