This qualitative study investigated the perspectives of Career and Technical Education (CTE) and non-CTE high school graduates regarding CTE programs. Utilizing an anonymous online survey, data from 51 respondents were analyzed to explore viewpoints on valuable CTE programs, their influence on career trajectories and education, acquired skills,…

The general problem addressed by this study was the lack of flexibility in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I student-athletes' schedules for field-specific courses while enrolled in an undergraduate degree program. Student-athletes have schedules that can be very restrictive and could hinder their preparation for…

There is a growing perception in society that people are losing faith in the value of a college education (Craig, 2015; Hart Research Associates, 2018). Declining enrollments at higher education institutions for more than a decade support this assertion (NCH Research Center, 2021). To remain relevant as an industry, higher education institutions…

I examined the relationship between career readiness and academic success among a sample of approximately 500 11th grade students from selected rural school districts in South Carolina. There is limited research regarding the relationship between career readiness and academic success. I used R2W assessments to measure career readiness and the…

If this is the age of innovation why is our educational system still navigating the future from the past? Recounts of industry hiring managers' negative perspectives about recent graduates' soft skills, when will this end and how will it be achieved before the 22nd century? The problem addressed in this study is that industry hiring managers and…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of special education teachers as they relate to teacher preparation programs and how they prepared teachers to work with and lead paraprofessionals. Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership approach and Adult Leadership Theory are the theoretical basis…

Providing students with verifiable 21st-century skills and competencies has become increasingly more challenging for Higher Education Institutions (HEI). This study sought to investigate why institutional data from a college in the northeast reported lower levels of acquiring job- or work-related skills compared to other colleges in the system's…

Soft skill acquisition is a topic of career readiness for high school students. Soft skills are known as noncognitive skills, life skills, or people skills and are important to develop in high school students for career readiness. Organizational leaders understand technical and professional skills without developed soft skills do not achieve…

This correlational research design analyzes the identity development of career and technical education high school students. Adolescents have a choice to make: enter a traditional high school or pursue a high school education in a career and technical education setting. The focus of getting an education in a career and technical education setting…

This study investigates Agile Education and addresses the need for more empirical data on how graduates experience and describe the effectiveness of their Agile Education when applied in the IT workforce. The widespread adoption of agile methods has increased IT employers' demand for professionals with agile experience and created a gap between…

Introduction: Technology is embedded in many aspects of healthcare. This is especially true in nursing, where technology is used daily in charting, medication administration, clinical decision-making, healthcare team communication, and information resource utilization. In nursing programs, students are exposed to healthcare technologies and…

The purpose of this study is to examine how and to what extent an afterschool program for marginalized youth assists in developing workforce readiness skills through a critical positive youth development (CPYD) framework that considers the social contexts of youth. There is little research on afterschool programs that prepare youth for the…

Employers expect to hire college graduates who are prepared for their careers with strong skillsets prior to entering the workforce. The purpose of this action research study is to explore the perceptions of undergraduate engineering students' career readiness competencies and supervisors' expectations to further enhance the skills necessary to be…

This study examined the relationship between leadership style (transformational, transactional, and passive avoidant) and self-perceived career readiness (basic skills, thinking skills, personal qualities, and interpersonal skills) in technical college students. Participants in this study included students enrolled in any technical program at any…

Student employability after college graduation is much debated, as new hires are having trouble not only obtaining a job but maintaining one. Research indicates (e.g., Baird & Parayitam, 2019; Bear & Skorton, 2019) that employers across industries want and need access to a workforce comprised of candidates with a shared knowledge of hard…