Labor market and educational outcomes associated with participation in high school marketing and distributive education

The study of educational and economic outcomes associa with participation in marketing and distributive education (MDE) was approached by first examining the impact of MDE participation on employment in marketing. Then selected characteristics of MDE students were examined and a determination of the effects those characteristics had on educational attainment, job attainment, unemployment, and wages was made. The selected variables were social background, race, sex, region of the country, community size, aptitude, MDE and cooperative program participation, grade point average, self-concept, career and educational aspirations, educational and job attainment. The data base for this study was the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972.

Participation in MDE had a positive impact on employment in marketing. The proportion of MDE participants employed in sales occupations was higher than expected for all but one year of the 7 year follow-up period. MDE students were employed initially in management positions in a higher proportion than expected but the effect was negative or negligible by the 5th year following graduation. For the category of other marketing jobs, there was no discernible pattern of employment, although in four of the follow ups there was a higher proportion of MDE students employed than expected. There was no effect of MDE participation on educational attainment but higher educational attainment for MDE students was associated with higher educational aspirations, higher aptitude, higher mother's education, not participating in a cooperative program, and being nonwhite. Higher job attainment in marketing was associated with higher educational attainment. being male, participating in MDE and cooperative education, higher grade point average, and higher motherts education. There was no effect of MDE on wages.

The causal model for educational and economic outcomes compared favorably with other studies using similar determinants. However, the model failed to account for 58% the variance in educational attainment, 86% of the variance in job attainment, 94% of the variance in salary, and the model for unemployment: was responsive to the factors included. It was recommended that future research focus on improving the explanatory power of the model. It was also recommended that the outcomes associated with MDE participation be examined for those not employed in marketing and for those who participated in specialized MDE programs, and that the management training component of the secondary curriculum be reevaluated and possibly upgraded. Finally, it was recommended that secondary MDE programs be expanded.