Vocational Education for Minority Adults

What is the benefit of vocational education for minority adults?

“An essay explored in light of structural inequality, system thinking, and leadership”

Submitted for Comprehensive Exam Question 1.

 

Christopher Molnar

Fielding Graduate University

May 25, 2009 (Revision 2)

The harsh economic conditions of the current recession are bringing many to “tent cities”, causing millions to loose their jobs, and many to loose their homes, their pets, and everything they worked for. Those that are being hit the hardest are those that have not attended post-secondary schools, those not having finished high school, and those relying on minimum wage jobs to survive. Also affected are those that have completed college and through layoffs and downsizing have been pushed out of their white-collar jobs and must find something else to do. Another entire group that is being affected is the documented and undocumented immigrant workers. One option for many is to learn a trade, or a vocational skill.

Knowledge of a trade or hands-on vocational skill is something that cannot be taken away from a person, the knowledge of a trade lasts forever. It gives a person the ability to work, to earn a living wage for their families, possibly to start a business, and to design their own future. These are all aspects that are important for the minority communities as they are caught in a cycle of poverty that must be broken but with the economic realities is likely to get worse before the cycle is broken.

In this paper I will evaluate the benefits of vocational education for minority adults (though I believe that the value is almost identical for all adults). I will explore this value on the basis of structural inequality, leadership, and system thinking. I am going to share some recent statistics that support the harsh reality of the structural inequality in minority education, earnings, and crime rates. I will then discuss the value of vocational education with respect to crime, and the savings to society based on this education. I will then discuss how this education can bring about leadership for the future generations as well as pride in one’s community.

INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION

In 1903 W.E.B DuBois addressed the problem of education in the African American race when he wrote,

The Negro race, like all other races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the mass away from the contamination and death of the worst, in their own and other races.(1903, para. 1)

While DuBois was initially writing about the Higher Education in colleges and universities his words can be applied to any type of education, such as vocational training. It takes education, and the ability to work to provide jobs, the leadership, and the money to move out of poverty. The words of DuBois and many African American leaders that followed have been heard.

Today we live in a time that the minority enrollment of students in colleges and universities has continued to grow. According to the U.S. Department of Education (Cook & Cordova, 2007) in 1985 82.45 percent of all students completed high school. In the same year only 75.6 percent of African Americans and 62.9 percent of Hispanics had the same accomplishment. These numbers increased in 2005, the last year of the report. In 2005 82.9 percent of all students attending high school graduated. These statistics have been drilled down by race and showed that 79.2 percent of African Americans and 65.9 percent of Hispanics graduated from high school. Just as the number of high school graduates has been tracked the number of students enrolled in college has also been reported on. According to the same report in 1985 only 33.7 percent of the high school graduates enrolled in college. This population was broken down to reflect minority enrollment and in the African American community in 1985 only 26.1 percent of high school graduates attended college. For the same year the Hispanic community had only 26.9 percent of its high school graduates attended college. The numbers improved slightly in 2005 with 41 percent of all African American high school graduates attending college and 37.6 percent of Hispanic high school graduates attending college.

The census also shows some negative trends regarding the post-secondary education of minorities. The bad news is the 59 percent of African Americans and 62.4 percent of Hispanics that graduated from high school in 2005 but did not attend college. What has happened to them? According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (Harlow, 2003) many of them are in and out of prison. In 1997 the federal government reported that 12% of the prison population had not completed 8th grade, 14.5% had dropped out of high school, 22.7% had achieved a general educational development certificate (GED) and 27% had a high school diploma. Only 15.8% of the prison population had any postsecondary school and only 8.1% were college graduates. The state prison systems reported similar results: 14.2% had only completed up to 8th grade, 25.5% of the prison inmates had dropped out of high school, 28.5% had achieved a GED, and 20.5% had a high school diploma. The states also reported that only 9% of the population had some college or postsecondary schooling and 2.4% had earned a college degree. While these numbers represent all inmates regardless of minority status the same report shows that African-American and Hispanic members of the population have a lower level of education when they became incarcerated. Additionally, research has shown that once incarcerated inmates have a greater chance of re-incarceration unless education is provided to them.

Gordon and Weldon (2003) explained the correlation between education and re-incarceration in a study at the Huntsville Correctional Center in West Virginia during 1999-2000. The study tracked 300 inmates that enrolled in the vocational education program. Out of these 300 inmates 169 of them were released and only 8.75% of them violated parole and were re-incarcerated. The same study tracked 50 inmates whom completed both the vocational and GED education program. Out of these 50 inmates 24 of them were released and only 6.71% of them violated their parole and were re-incarcerated. During the same period inmates that did not participate in educational programs had a re-incarceration rate of close to 26%. According to the Virginia Department of Correctional Education (2009) the average cost of re-incarceration is $23,535 dollars per year and the reduction of re-incarceration because of education provides the state with a savings of $2,988,945 annually. Virginia is not alone in needing to consider the cost of education and corrections.

Jaschik (2008) wrote that five states: Vermont, Michigan, Oregon, Connecticut, and Delaware are already spending more on their correctional systems than higher education, impacting other social and educational programs. Research in California showed that in 1998 the appropriations for the California correction system increased 60% while the appropriations for higher education decreased 3% (Taqui-Eddin, Macallair, & Schiraldi, 1998). The California research also linked a decrease in appropriations to health and welfare programs, higher education, and K-12 education to the increase in correction spending. According to this research it costs $22,500 to incarcerate one inmate for a year. If education eliminated this one inmate from the system then the same money could be used to educate five students at the University of California where the tuition was $4,022 for the year. Gordon and Weldon (2003) wrote, “yet when society carefully considers the average cost to provide quality education against the cost of keeping an inmate housed for additional years in a state or federal institution, the question becomes, how can we afford not to educate” (pp. 200-201)? While these studies and reports show the great savings with inmates being released and not re-incarcerated it is more difficult to identify the social and economic savings outside of the correctional system.

Lochner and Moretti (2004) wrote that the effect on education versus crime has great social expense but is also difficult to measure. In their report they evaluated the effects of education and crime in terms of social savings to the communities. Lochner and Moretti estimated that if there were a 1% increase in male high school graduation there would be a $1.4 billion savings towards the community. In addition to this social savings based on reported crime rates Lochner and Moretti suggested further savings based on self-reported criminal activity. In their conclusions Lochner and Moretti wrote:

the estimated effects of education on crime cannot be easily explained away by unobserved state policies that affect both crime and schooling or educational differences in the conditional probability of arrest and imprisonment given crime. Evidence from other studies regarding the elasticity of crime with respect to ware rates suggest that a significant part of the effect of education on crime can be attributed to the increased wages associated with schooling. (2004, p. 183)

The research that Lochner and Moretti completed showed that there is a significant reduction of crime with education. The Department of Justice (Harlow, 2003) report on education and incarceration showed that the largest percentages of those in the state and federal penal institutions had the least education and also the larger numbers were among the minority Hispanic and African American populations. If I accept these conclusions it is safe to say that the more education that is provided to a minority community the lower the crime rate would be. However, there is one more variable that Lochner and Moretti (2004) mentioned that is worth evaluating further, the monetary value of education among the wages of minorities in respect to educational levels.

In the United States the U.S. Census Bureau (2008) measures poverty based on a threshold income that is based on a family’s size, age of the family members, and income. This computation is then compared with a poverty income value that is used as the poverty line. If the families’ income is below this point the family is considered to be living below the poverty line. In 2007 the poverty level for a family of four was $21,100 (U.S. Cens, 2008). For 2008 the poverty threshold was increased slightly so that the same family of four would be considered impoverished if they had a family income of less than $21,910 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). While the Census Bureau increased the amount that a family must earn in order to live out of poverty it takes more in order to survive, in most areas the cost of living is over the poverty rate. In Hartford, CT the median family income is roughly $26,610 per year, which is just above the poverty level while the national average income is $44,450 (Fast Forward, Inc., 2008).

Vocational training can make a tremendous difference in the pay discrepancies of African American and Hispanic graduates. Campbell and Laughlin (1988) completed a study for the National Center for Research in Vocational Education that concluded that vocational training helps to eliminate some of the pay and labor barriers that face minorities. It also evaluated the pay difference between Hispanic graduates from a general studies program and those graduates from a vocational program and found between a 12 and 21 percent increase in pay for those with the vocation training.

The income, the educational, the poverty and the crime statistics show the inequality that exists between the majority and the minorities in this country. By analyzing the crime statistics in respect to education, such as in Lochner and Morretti study, and evaluating the U.S. Census Bureau reports on education and income I can say that the lack of education affects the community through both income and crime. Based on the disparity of High School graduation rates I can say that higher education in the form of colleges and universities may not be the path for most minority adults, a trade or a technical school may be more appropriate.

The long-term affect on the cycle of poverty will be broken through education and work. Once the current generation has the means to support themselves they can begin to provide leadership for the future generations. This road to change can be accomplished through education. Education will lead towards economic equality and is often the solution to low-wage work (Schmidt, 2008). This economic equality leads towards structural equality and structural equality leads to social justice. While colleges and universities can provide this education, the people needing the education the most do not have the primary and secondary education to attend. One of the most effective ways to provide this needed education is through vocational and technical education; it must be made readily available for minority adults.

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES RELATING TO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Returning to DuBois’s (1903) writings he pointed out that leadership and change must come from within a race or community. He felt that it was not possible for outsiders to provide the needed leadership for change. Hersey and Blanchard (1982) defined leadership styles as “the behavior patters that a person exhibits when attempting to influence the activities of others as perceived by those others” (pg. 95). Kouzes and Posner (2007) supported Hersey and Blanchard’s descriptions of leadership as well as DuBois’s idea of leadership from within when they described the principles a leader must follow to be successful. First the leader must be able to model the way, they must have a shared vision, they must be able to challenge the existing process, they must enable others to act, and they must be able to celebrate victories with their followers and recognize achievements. However these leaders from within must be developed, and they must be developed to teach their peers to become leaders as well.

Vocational education teaches people how to work and, how to become self-sufficient because most vocational education teaches the student a trade. However the teachers in most adult vocational schools are not trained as educators, they are trades people themselves. From personal experience a vocational instructor needs to be able to be a teacher, a role model, a mentor, a friend, a disciplinarian, a guidance counselor, an employer, a silent presence, and an administrator. They must also be an expert in their fields and be able to step into the classroom or shop with very little training. The vocational instructor must be a leader. Backes and Ellis (2003) wrote that “a key element in assuming leadership of a classroom is to convey to students that they are important and that the teacher is confident that they can master the material” (pg. 24). DuBois (1903) as well as Kouzes and Posner (2007) discussed transformative leadership as a leadership that comes from within as well as part of a team. Based on these thoughts the question arises: where are we going to train the leaders, and the teachers that we must have to successfully teach a trade, as well as life-skills to the minority communities?

One answer to the problem was found in a construction program at the Six Nations Reserve. This apprenticeship program accepted 75 applicants and the trainees then spent five mounts building a 40-unit townhouse on the reservation. During the course of this period the trainees learned about construction spanning the course of the project. Not only were the students learning a trade they were creating community interest in the program by providing desperately needed housing. Because of this community interest the program was so successful that the tribe was looking to start a carpentry apprenticeship program as well (O’Meara, 1993). A program such as this can continue to grow with community involvement; today’s students need to become tomorrow’s teachers.

Lankard (1994) wrote that minority role models in vocational education are important because they are able to understand the culture and the diversity of their students. However a problem exists with how to attract the minority vocational graduates into teaching rather than moving into the workforce. Martinez (1991) suggested that schools must begin to look at their own students; teachers, guidance counselors, career placement offices need to identify candidate pools of the more talented minority students. Another suggestion is to actively promote vocational training in the schools and to establish scholarship programs for talented minority high school students to attract them to the trades. Lankard wrote that the minority educator could have a greater impact on the minority vocational student because they are able to identify and guide them as members of their own communities and because they understand their culture.

Bond and Boak (1996) explained that leadership is not based on the individual traits of the leader, but rather it is the interaction between the leaders and the followers. Burns (1978) defined two types of leadership. The first type was transactional; in transactional leadership the leader trades a reward for meeting a goal or provides punishment for not meeting one. Freire (Freire, 2000) described traditional schooling as an exercise in transactional leadership when she described the current educational environment as a banking concept. The teachers have everything and the students have nothing if it were not for the teachers. Freire pointed out that this creates a void between the teacher and the student, which creates an ineffective educational system.

The second type of leadership is transformational. Burns wrote that transformational leaders create “a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents” (pg. 4). As in any organization the successful vocational classroom cannot have a single leader; there must be a team of leaders working together to make a difference. These leaders must refrain from using transactional leadership and become involved with the process in order to practice transformational leadership. The team of leaders must work with the students and get to know them in order to become immersed in the process of change. This idea of change must be transformational as well as systemic.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE THROUGH SYSTEMS THINKING

By taking a systemic look at some of the causes of poverty and inequality one of the conclusions can be that vocational education makes a difference in a very short period of time. The best example of this can be found at Porter and Chester Institute, Inc. in Rocky Hill, CT. In 2003 I began to teach the night HVAC/R program after a number of years in the field as a tradesman. One of my first students was James (name changed). James was an African American student with the goal of learning the trade and making a better life for himself and his family. Because of poor secondary schools in his town, as well as the need to work and support himself and his family, there was not any chance of him going to a four-year college. After James had been in the program for about three months another student with the same last name enrolled as well. The new student, Tim, was James’s nephew and had heard James talking about the great program and the possibilities that awaited him and he began to take classes and fast became one of my top students. James graduated and went into the field. Three months prior to Tim graduating he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and had a very difficult time finishing, but with the support of his classmates did complete the program. After six months I needed a new instructor and hired Tim back to teach. Tim is now a mentor to many of the minority students in the program. Additionally Tim has convinced many of the teenagers that he used to play basketball with from his community to return to school and he constantly reminds them that they are creating a future for themselves as well as learning something no-one can ever take away.

A system is a cycle. A system can be a rainstorm that creates a stream that provides water to the fish, the plants along the side of the stream and the forest. The stream will continue to feed a pond that relies on the water for the fish to grow and prosper. If the rain does not fall, the stream dries up; the plants wither away and die. The pond will evaporate and the fish will eventually die. The stream, the plants, the fish are all dependent upon the rain and then each other piece of the system for survival.

Poverty and prosperity are also systemic. The U.S. Department of Education (Cook & Cordova, 2007) has tracked minority educational achievement; the U.S. Census Bureau (2008) has tracked poverty and income as well as the relationship to education. The Justice Department has tracked education and criminal activity. But they are not listening to each other or evaluating the information that is being collected.

The system is not working to help those it is meant to. It is working against them and it is setting our younger generation up for failure. Children attend school for a minimum of 10 years before they are allowed to choose not to continue. Those that are bored, or have had problems with the educational system will leave and take minimum wage jobs being barely able to support themselves. Those that continue will graduate after their 13th year of school and either enter the workforce making low wages or continue onto college. Those that enter the workforce will soon find themselves in a pattern of survival, barely able to make it and find that they are unable to pay for the training that they need to grow. They are unable to take care of their family; they are unable to provide leadership for their children and their communities. The next generation sees this struggle and gives up before they begin. The poverty, crime, and education cycles continue.

The educator who is able to look beyond the classroom and understand this interaction between education, the students life and, the community could be labeled a system thinker because they are practicing a behavior known as system thinking. Senge (2006) described the importance of system thinking in any business, school, or organization when he wrote:

Business and other human endeavors are also systems. They, too, are bound by invisible fabrics of interrelated actions, which often take years to fully play out their effects on each other. Since we are part of that lacework ourselves, it’s doubly hard to see the whole pattern of change. Instead we tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system, and wonder why our society’s deepest problems never seem to get solved. System thinking is a conceptual framework, a body of knowledge and tools that has been developed over the past fifty years, to make full patterns clearer, and to help us see how to change them effectively. (pp. 6-7)

Just as Senge explains the system in businesses and life, our students are also parts of the system. The students are connected to their communities, their prior education, their cultures, their friends, their financial means, and their classmates. What happens at home will affect their education; what happens at school will affect their home; and their success in the classroom will affect their future. The student is a part of their own system and it is up to us as educators to help them change or alter the system for the better. It is up to our leaders to make this change possible.

When our leaders recognize how everything is connected as it relates to the issues I’ve been describing, then they will see how important vocational education opportunities can be. The solution begins with education and change. More thoughtful and inclusive education in high school will produce more graduates and will reduce the numbers of minorities in prison. Offering reasonable and affordable post-secondary education will capture those that do not have the skills to continue in a college or university and will teach them a trade that is their own for the rest of their lives. Those with a trade will enter an apprenticeship and become masters of the trade. Some will run businesses for themselves; some will continue to work for others. Those that run businesses will eventually hire more members of their communities and provide jobs. They will donate time and money to making their communities better, and they will be noticed. The most talented or the “talented tenth” of those receiving this vocational training will return to pass the skills on to the next generation. This education will elevate those receiving it out of poverty and provide the much needed income and pride in themselves and their communities. The remainder of the community will observe the success of the educated and realize that they too can attain these goals. The communities, the minorities will begin to prosper. The system becomes successful.

While vocational education is not the whole answer, it is one piece of a much larger system. The current system is a failure, it does not deliver. If we can create jobs, we can create pride in oneself, we can create leaders, and we can create success. In my daily life I provide training that I know no one can take away from my students. I know once they practice it they will retain the skills. I know that no matter how many years down the road, how many different avenues they have taken, the skills that they have learned in the 12 or 18 months they are in my class will not be forgotten and will always give them something to fall back on. This is why vocational education must exist and must be provided to minority adults.

References