Transition from School to Work: The Role of Career Education.

Teenage unemployment is a critical manpower problem. Youth most severely affected are minority group members and those with limited education. Many barriers stand in the way of their obtaining steady jobs: lack of training and experience, job movement, child labor laws, minimum wage standards, and competition for jobs from veterans and middle-aged women. Special measures are needed, such as a different minimum wage, manpower programs, and most importantly, career-oriented education so that those in the potential work force are trained to meet immediate needs for technological manpower. With the growth of blue collar, white collar, service- and goods-producing jobs, career education needs to prepare all students either to take a job or to enter their next step of educational preparation when they leave high school. The development of a career education system requires the accomplishment of differing objectives at each level of the existing school system. Although vocational education has been the largest source of formal training for occupations not requiring a college education, implementation of vocational education legislation has met with some problems. Career education is more than specific job training and results in improving the transition from school to work, consequently greatly influencing the future employment picture of the country. (SC)