A study examined cultural factors affecting the participation of black people in vocational education. Analysis of the way in which black people process information suggests that, unlike white people, blacks tend to view things in their environment in their entirety rather than in isolated parts. Furthermore, they seem to prefer intuitive rather than deductive or inductive reasoning and tend to approximate the concepts of space, number, and time rather than to aim at exactness or complete accuracy. Finally, they prefer to respond to people stimuli rather than nonsocial stimuli and tend to rely on nonverbal as well as verbal communication. Examination of the status of black participation in vocational education reveals that the largest share of black enrollment is in consumer and homemaking and home economics education while the smallest percentage is in agricultural and technical areas. Thus, black people are overrepresented in the lowest quality programs and in courses that equip them with few labor market skills leading to low-wage, low-demand jobs. If vocational teachers are to encourage increased black participation in vocational education, they must first develop more realistic attitudes toward black culture and ethnic diversity. In addition, they must design curricula and select instructional materials to include an emphasis on black culture and role models. (MN)