Examining the Gender Gap in Credits Earned in High School Career and Technical Education

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education offers a look at high school students who take career and technical education (CTE) courses. Overall, in 2013, 88 percent of graduates earned CTE credits.

The average number of CTE credits earned by public high school graduates was 2.60. This was down from an average of 3.13 credit in 1992. The most common credits were earned in business, finance, or marketing.

Male students were slightly more likely than women to earn credit in CTE fields. Men earned an average of 2.88 CTE credits compared to 2.34 for female students. In 1992, there was a 0.64 credit advantage for male students compared to women students in CTE courses in business fields. By 2013, women had erased this deficit and held a slight advantage over men in CTE business credits earned. In engineering and design CTE courses, men held a 0.69 average credit advantage over women in 1992. By 2013, this advantage had decreased to 0.42 credits. Women increased the gender gap in credits earned in healthcare fields during the 1992-to-2013 period.

The full report, Public High School Students’ Career and Technical Education Coursetaking: 1992 to 2013, may be accessed here.