Analysis of Industry Recognized Credentials That Lead to Quality Employment for High School Graduates

The purpose of this study was to identify to what extent industry recognized credentials (IRCs) earned in secondary school lead to high quality employment for students after high school and which specific IRCs should be integrated into career and technical education (CTE) courses. This author sought to explore if CTE courses in high school could be the vehicle for students to earn IRCs that led to higher quality jobs, higher pay, and a job to support a family. The researcher gathered empirical evidence using existing data from a survey of business leaders in each of the nationally recognized 14 Career Clusters (Advance CTE, 2024b) in a secondary school district in the selected state. An online questionnaire was used for the business owners to inventory and rank credentials of value and create a priority list for CTE administrators and educators. Ranked lists were produced that noted the top three credentials in each of five program areas (agricultural sciences, business and marketing, family and consumer sciences, health sciences, and skilled and technical sciences/STEM). A Pareto analysis was administered for overall IRC results and for each program area, and the results indicated that 80% of the respondents rated IRCs from the health sciences, family and consumer sciences, and agricultural sciences program areas the highest of all credentials. Of the 132 state-level IRCs, no credentials from the business and marketing or skilled and technical sciences/STEM program areas were included in the top 20%, as scored for importance by all survey respondents. Using existing survey data from the Education Research & Data Center (ERDC), 15 years of median earnings reported by year were sorted by subject area and evaluated, compared, and analyzed to determine to what extent IRC attainment led to higher earnings. The review and analysis of the 15 years of longitudinal data following high school graduates who have earned credentials showed that earning a credential that led to employment also led to 16% higher median earnings/salary after high school graduation (n = 164,478) as compared to those with no credential. An unexpected finding was that graduates who became apprentices and continued with their profession had the highest income, even compared to those with graduate degrees, earning 10.95% over a person who had earned a graduate degree.