An analysis of the effects of senior comprehensive schooling on the labour market performance of a sample of vocational and non-vocational graduates in Trinidad and Tobago
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1983
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Abstract
This study sought to determine whether there were perceptible differences between vocational and non-vocational graduates when measured against selected labour market criteria. A mailed questionnaire was sent to a sample of 901 graduates of senior comprehensive schools in Trinidad and Tobago, of which 609 (67.5 percent) were returned. Stepwise regression was used to control for the influence of extraneous variables such as gender, geography, ethnicity, and participation in on-the-job training. It was found that curriculum or stream did not prove to be a significant variable when the criteria job mobility, initial salary, and degree of satisfaction with subject choice were considered. It was also revealed that 62.5 percent of female and 46.3 percent of male vocational graduates found little or no relationship with their in-school training and first jobs. Overall, the background variable "sex" accounted for most of the variability observed, followed by stream and on-the-job training. While vocational graduates generally outperformed other graduates, the weight of the residuals made it difficult to offer more than guarded support for the efficacy of vocational training