Exploring the Trajectory of Job Satisfaction among CTE High School Graduates Employees and Influential Factors

The purpose of this study is to examine how the job satisfaction of CTE (career and technical) high school graduates (hereafter referred to as high school graduates) changes over time and to explore the factors that influence the trajectory of job satisfaction. To this end, Korean Education and Employment Panel 2 (KEEP2) data from the third year (2019) to the sixth year (2022) is used to explore the trajectory of job satisfaction and identify the factors affecting this trajectory by applying multilevel growth modeling, which is suitable for identifying changes in job satisfaction during this period. The results of the analysis are as follows. First, job satisfaction among high school graduates did not change over time. Second, the factors that influenced the initial value of job satisfaction were wage, personal advancement potential, benefits, stability, workplace location size, workplace size, work―major congruence level, work skill congruence level, and self-concept. The factor that influenced the rate of change in job satisfaction was personal advancement potential. Third, the study analyzed the trajectory of job satisfaction by school type and found that employees from Meister vocational high schools had a higher initial level of job satisfaction than employees from specialized vocational high schools and maintained a higher level of job satisfaction afterwards. Finally, the implications of this study and directions for future research are discussed.