Determinants of Career Pathways for Specialized High School Graduates

The purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of the type of career path of specialized high school graduates, The specific research objectives are: first, to identify the types of career paths of vocational school graduates (further education, employment and non-further study/non-employment), Second, to identify differences in the in-school characteristics of specialized high schools graduates by transition type, Third, to identify the characteristics of specialized high school graduates that significantly predict the type of career transition (further education,employment - non-further study/non-employment, further education - non-further study/non-employment, employment - non-further study/non-employment). The data for the analysis were 1,454 graduates of specialized high schools in 2018 (3rd year) from the Korea Education and Employment Panel II (KEEP II), and the main research methods were ANOVA, Scheffe's post hoc test, chi-square test, and discriminant analysis. In particular, characteristics showing differences by career transition type were input into discriminant analysis. The main results are as follows: First, the types of career transition chosen by specialized high school graduates are, in order, further education, employment, and non-further study/non-employment; and second, the characteristics of students while enrolled that differ depending on the type of career transition chosen by specialized high school graduates are gender, major field(demographic characteristics), level of communication with parents(family characteristics), academic achievement in specialized subjects, class attitude, class atmosphere, level of satisfaction with school life(school life characteristics), career maturity, acquisition of certificate, experience in after-school classes or private education related to further education, career-related experiences and employment-related guidance(career characteristics). Third, among the types of career transitions of specialized high school graduates, the characteristics of students that determine further education and employment or non-further education and non-employment are, in order, academic achievement in specialized subjects, satisfaction with school life, class attitude, gender, acquisition of certificate, and career-related experiences. The determining factors between further education and non-further education and non-employment are, in order, academic achievement in specialized subjects, calss attitude, career maturity, satisfaction with school life, conversation with parents, and after-school classes or private education experiences related to further education. The determining factors between employment or non-further education and non-employment are, in order, gender, satisfaction with school life, career-related experiences, academic achievement in specialized subjects, acquisition of certificate, and class atmosphere, employment-related guidance. Based on this, suggestions were made for supporting the further education and employment of specialized high school students and for follow-up research.