CPR Seminar Series: Brian Jacob

Brian Jacob, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy and professor of public policy, economics, and education, University of Michigan, will present “Why Choose Career Technical Education? Disentangling Student Preferences from Program Availability” as part of the CPR Seminar Series.

Abstract:

This paper presents the first evidence of how students make career technical education (CTE) course-taking decisions. Among the universe of Michigan high-schoolers we find large disparities in CTE access and participation by gender, race, and income. We decompose participation gaps between supply (access) and demand (preferences) with a simple discrete choice model. We find that student preferences for CTE content drive participation gaps by gender, inequities in access drive gaps by income, and school-level supply and demand factors combine to create the gaps by race. Policy simulations highlight the importance of accessible CTE delivery models within comprehensive high schools.