Examining career and technical education (CTE) pathways in historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs)

,

Page 2 of 18 Williams et al. Empirical Res Voc Ed Train (2024) 16:11 is a shortage of CTE training pathways in postsecondary institutions that serve Black and African-American students.Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which are often the preferred postsecondary option for Black and African-American students due to the numerous cultural, academic, and social benefits they provide (e.g., Hardy et al. 2019;Harper 2019), represent one such prominent community.The potential value of this connection was the primary motivation for our study, in which we conducted a thorough examination of CTE offerings at HBCUs.Before describing this study in detail, we briefly summarize the benefits of both HBCUs and CTE.

Benefits of HBCUs
HBCUs enroll the largest proportion of underserved students in the U.S. (Abelman and Dalessandro 2009) and provide numerous cultural, academic, and financial benefits to Black and African-American students.Relative to African-American students at other institutions, African-American HBCU students report fewer negative social experiences, experience lower attrition rates, and are more likely to pursue graduate education (Abelman and Dalessandro 2009;Esters and Strayhorn 2013;Richards and Awokoya 2012;Upton and Tannenbaum 2014).Scholars posit that many factors unique to the HBCU experience-including improved psychological adjustment, sense of belonging, and an emphasis on African-American identity and values-may facilitate greater academic success for African-American students (Arroyo and Gasman 2014).Additionally, HBCUs tend to employ more African-American professors than non-HBCUs (Harper 2019), which may enhance the mentorship experience for many African-American students (e.g., Dickens et al. 2021;Dunbar 2018;Lovett et al. 2022).Upon graduation, African-American HBCU students tend to achieve higher lifetime earnings, higher status occupations, and greater job satisfaction than African-American graduates from non-HBCUs (e.g., Esters and Strayhorn 2013).Admirably, HBCUs accomplish these outcomes while possessing fewer resources than non-HBCUs, and despite often enrolling students who are less college-ready than those at non-HBCUs (Harper 2019;Kim and Conrad 2006).HBCUs utilize a variety of successful strategies for increasing Black student graduation and post-graduation success, including academic pipeline programs in STEM (Mason et al. 2021).HBCU programs also assist academically underprepared students by providing a supportive campus climate (Palmer and Young 2023; see also Hale 2006).

Benefits of CTE
Postsecondary CTE training typically includes licensure, certificate, or associate's degree programs, usually provided at community colleges, vocational schools, or trade schools.
Relative to baccalaureate (i.e., 4-year) institutions, CTE institutions provide many advantages.CTE institutions tend to have higher acceptance rates than baccalaureate institutions (Hussar et al. 2020;Williams and Wendler 2020), thus providing greater access for students.The student population at associate's colleges also tend to be more racially and ethnically diverse than those of baccalaureate institutions (Hussar et al. 2020), demonstrating a commitment to increasing inclusion and equity in education.Obtaining a CTE credential also requires a shorter time commitment and less financial burden than a four-year degree (Hussar et al. 2020).Strong collaboration with employers is also a key component of many CTE postsecondary programs (Hirschy et al. 2011).These partnerships help ensure that CTE students learn skills that are valued by employers, which facilitates employment upon graduation (Venkatraman et al. 2018).Notably, many CTE occupations are expected to grow substantially over the next ten years, including those in industries such as healthcare and engineering (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021).
Aside from quicker entry into the workforce, CTE programs often provide a pathway into four-year academic programs that, for some students, may be a desirable alternative to attending a baccalaureate college for the entirety of a four-year program.Research has demonstrated that community college faculty and transfer advisors are important contributors to transfer students' success at four-year colleges (Maliszewski-Lukso and Hayes 2020).Notably, transferring from a community college to an HBCU is particularly associated with greater GPA, college persistence, and degree completion (Umbach et al. 2019).

The current study
We examined the CTE pathways available at HBCUs, which appears to be a novel investigation.This examination is partly motivated by recent findings describing Black and African-American underrepresentation in CTE industries (Kell et al. 2020)

Methods
The primary data source for this study was the 2019 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS; National Center for Education Statistics 2021a).These data provide comprehensive information on 6559 American postsecondary institutions, and were the most updated information at the time of this study.We downloaded the IPEDS data file, which is publicly available, from its authors' website (i.e., https:// nces.ed.gov/ ipeds/).This data file lists each postsecondary institution in the U.S. and their respective features (e.g., number of students enrolled, geographic location, public vs. private, HBCU status, etc.) in a spreadsheet format.A separate data dictionary file is also available, which is necessary to interpret the values in the IPEDS data file.Importantly, the IPEDS data file includes the Carnegie classification of each postsecondary institution (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching 2017).This system places institutions into mutually exclusive categories based on factors such as the level of degree offered (associate's, bachelor's, etc.) and homogeneity of degree fields within the institution.Thus, this data file provided the information necessary to compare HBCUs to a matched sample of non-HBCUs regarding their availability of CTE programs (i.e., RQ1).We also utilized the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020 codes (National Center for Education Statistics 2021b) for this project.This taxonomy classifies fifty areas of study, which may be grouped into "occupational" (i.e., CTE) vs. "academic" categories.IPEDS uses CIP codes to catalogue the programs available at all postsecondary institutions, including the level of the associated credential (associate's, bachelor's, etc.).We downloaded the CIP data file, which is publicly available, from its authors' website (i.e., https:// nces.ed.gov/ ipeds/ cipco de/ Defau lt.aspx?y= 56).The IPEDS data file includes the list of programs offered at each U.S. postsecondary institution, listed by their CIP codes.Thus, we cross-referenced the CIP codes against those provided in the IPEDS data file to identify which specific CTE programs are available at each HBCU (i.e., RQ2).
To compare HBCU CTE program availability to the representation of Black individuals in the workplace, we utilized the results of Kell et al. (2020).This publicly available report describes the representation of Black individuals in CTE industries in the U.S. We cross-walked the industries as described in Kell et al. (2020) to their respective CIP codes.For example, the CTE industry "Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources" listed in Kell et al. (2020) includes the CIP codes for Agriculture and Natural Resources.Thus, we used this integrated data file to determine whether specific HBCU CTE programs were associated with under-or over-representation of Black individuals in the workforce (i.e., RQ3).
To associate HBCU CTE programs to careers, we also utilized the CIP-Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) crosswalk.This data file aligns postsecondary programs with occupations listed in the U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET system.We downloaded the CIP-SOC crosswalk data file, which is publicly available, from its authors' website (i.e., https:// nces.ed.gov/ ipeds/ cipco de/ post3.aspx?y= 56).We used this data file to identify the number of occupations associated with HBCU CTE programs, as a first step in investigating RQ4.As a second step, it was necessary to identify these occupations' labor market characteristics.For this step, we utilized the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)' Occupational Outlook data (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021).We downloaded this file, which is publicly available, from its authors' website (i.e., https:// www.bls.gov/ data/).This data file lists several hundred job titles and their respective features (e.g., median salary, typical educational requirements, projected job growth) in a spreadsheet format.Thus, we used these data to evaluate the job market growth projections and typical salaries of the occupations that align with HBCU CTE programs (i.e., RQ4).

RQ1: HBCU vs. non-HBCU CTE institutions
For RQ1, we identified the institutions designated as HBCUs in IPEDS (N = 100).We also randomly selected a comparison sample of 100 non-HBCUs from this file, matched to the HBCUs on geographic region, public vs. private not-for-profit status, locale, and number of students enrolled for credit (Table 1).For example, if an HBCU was located in a Town: Distant locale in the Great Lakes region, was a public university and enrolled less than 1000 students, we identified non-HBCUs that shared these characteristics and randomly selected one to include in our comparison group.All of the matching variables were included in the IPEDS file.We then compared the HBCU and non-HBCU samples based on their Carnegie classification (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching 2017).Because associate's degrees and non-degree certificates are most commonly associated with postsecondary CTE (e.g., Haviland and Robbins 2021), institutions that emphasize these programs (e.g., community colleges, technical colleges) are particularly relevant.
Results suggest that, relative to non-HBCUs, HBCUs include more graduate and baccalaureate colleges but fewer special focus, associate's, and non-Carnegie institutions (Fig. 1).Based on Cohen's h calculations for quantifying the effect size of differences between proportions (Cohen 1988), the discrepancies in baccalaureate and special

Table 1 Characteristics of HBCU and non-HBCU Samples
Values represent number of HBCUs and non-HBCUs each.It was necessary to match one Rural: Distant HBCU to a Rural: Fringe non-HBCU, otherwise all HBCUs and non-HBCUs were perfectly matched on all variables listed in Table 1 (non-HBCU values in parentheses).Additional eligibility requirements for non-HBCUs included (a) non-Tribal college designation, (b) currently active institution, and (c) open to the public.Further information regarding these variables is available through the IPEDS data file documentation (e.g., National Center for Education Statistics 2021a)

Matching variable Institutions (N)
Geographic region

Mid East 9
Great focus college proportions (h = 0.63 and − 0.51, respectively) were medium effect sizes, whereas the discrepancies for non-Carnegie and associate's colleges (h = − 0.45 and − 0.37, respectively) were small effect sizes.We followed this analysis with an examination of the subcategories of institutions within these broader comparisons.1

Non-Carnegie institutions
Institutions do not receive a Carnegie designation if they are not accredited or are nondegree granting (e.g., vocational or technical colleges).Of the five non-Carnegie institutions in our analysis, all were non-HBCUs (Fig. 1).

Special focus institutions
Special focus institutions are subcategorized based on their two-vs.four-year status and main field of study.All of the HBCU special focus institutions were four-year institutions, compared to 82.6% of non-HBCUs.HBCUs' fields of study were faith-related (66.7%) or medical (33.3%), whereas non-HBCUs represented numerous fields (Fig. 2).
Relative to non-HBCUs, HBCU associate's colleges included a greater proportion of high-CTE institutions, and had similar student mix proportions (Fig. 3).

Baccalaureate colleges
Baccalaureate colleges are subcategorized based on the relative proportion of associate's and baccalaureate degrees conferred, and the available programs of study.Although there were many more baccalaureate HBCUs than non-HBCUs, each sample included a proportionally vast majority of baccalaureate-dominant colleges relative to baccalaureate/associate's colleges (Fig. 4).Of these baccalaureate-dominant colleges, HBCUs and non-HBCUs each included a smaller proportion of arts and science-focused institutions relative to more diverse offerings (e.g., occupational education), but this discrepancy was more pronounced for HBCUs: HBCU baccalaureate-dominant colleges included 64.6% diverse offerings compared to 58.9% of non-HBCUs.Only 6.3% (three out of 48) of HBCU baccalaureate colleges conferred a majority of associate's degrees, and none of these colleges were categorized as associate's-dominant (i.e., confer < 10% bachelor's degrees) (Fig. 5).

RQ2: CTE programs at HBCUs
For RQ2, we examined the HBCU CTE programs based on their Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020 codes (National Center for Education Statistics 2021b).This taxonomy classifies fifty areas of study, which may be grouped into "occupational" (i.e., CTE) vs. "academic" categories.IPEDS uses CIP codes to catalogue the programs available at all postsecondary institutions, including the level of the associated credential (associate's, bachelor's, etc.).Consistent with general definitions of CTE (e.g., Haviland and Robbins 2021), we only considered occupational programs at the associate's level or lower.
The frequency with which the 26 occupational programs were offered across HBCUs ranged from zero to 24 (Fig. 6).The most common CTE programs were business and marketing (24 HBCUs) and health sciences (22 HBCUs).Conversely, six programsarchitecture, library science, military science, military technologies, natural resources, and science technologies-were not available at any HBCU.

RQ3: HBCU CTE programs and African-American workplace representation
For RQ3, we compared the availability of CTE programs at HBCUs against the findings of Kell et al. (2020), who calculated the demographic representation of CTE industries against the broader population using the Equity Index (EI; Hao 2002).EI values above 1.00 reflect overrepresentation, whereas values below 1.00 suggest underrepresentation.Generally, CTE industries with African-American overrepresentation in the workplace corresponded with well-represented HBCU pathways, including three of the four most common HBCU CTE pathways (business and marketing; protective services; engineering technologies; Fig. 7).Conversely, CTE industries with African-American underrepresentation in the workplace contained a combination of relatively common HBCU programs (e.g., computer and information sciences; family and consumer sciences) and less common programs, including five-architecture, library science, military science, military technologies, and natural resources-that are not available at any HBCU (e.g., lower left quadrant of Fig. 7).

RQ4: Connecting HBCU CTE programs to job market growth and salary
For RQ4, we compared HBCU CTE programs to job sustainability as defined by growth expectations and typical salary.The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides data connecting occupations to CIP codes (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021).Thus, multiple occupations may be associated with a single postsecondary program.To maintain relevance with CTE definitions (e.g., Haviland and Robbins 2021), we isolated occupations that explicitly aligned with CTE programs but also typically only require a postsecondary education of an associate's degree or lower, as described in the BLS database.For example, the CIP crosswalk identifies "tool and die makers" and "computer numerically controlled tool programmers" as occupations that typically require a postsecondary credential of an associate's degree or lower, and are associated with the CIP code for manufacturing programs.High-growth industries were defined by the BLS' Employment Projections data (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021).Specifically, "Bright Outlook Occupations" are projected to grow faster than average (i.e., employment increase of 5% or more) or are projected to generate 100,000 or more job openings from 2019 through 2029 (National Center for O*NET Development 2021) across the U.S.After identifying the occupations associated with each CTE program, we calculated the proportion of Bright Outlook Occupations within each program.Then, within each CTE program, we compared the overall number of occupations (i.e., number of job titles) and the proportion of Bright Outlook occupations to the availability of these programs at HBCUs.Overall, 54.2% of the 120 relevant job titles associated with HBCU CTE programs were Bright Outlook Occupations, but there was wide variation across programs, ranging from 0.0% to 100.0%.In Fig. 8, the CTE programs are listed in descending order based on their HBCU availability.That is, CTE programs that are more widely available at HBCUs (e.g., business and marketing; health sciences) are listed at the top of the graph, whereas programs that are less common (e.g., architecture, library science) are listed at the bottom of the graph.The number of HBCU programs is also listed in parentheses.For each program, the combined length of the black and white bars represents the overall number of occupations (i.e., job titles) associated with their respective program.The graph demonstrates that some CTE programs that are relatively common at HBCUs-such as health sciences and engineering technologies-are associated with a high number of occupations.Conversely, other CTE programs that are relatively common at HBCUs-such as business and marketing and protective services-are associated with much fewer occupations.Conversely, most of the less common CTE programs are associated with few or no occupations, though there is some variation.The white and black bars in Fig. 8 represent the number of Bright Outlook and non-Bright Outlook occupations within their respective CTE program.That is, bars with proportionately more white area illustrate programs where the majority of occupations are Bright Outlook, whereas bars with proportionately more black area represent programs where the majority of occupations are not Bright Outlook.For example, two of the relatively more common programs at HBCUs-health sciences and engineering technologies-are associated with a similar number of overall Fig. 7 HBCU CTE Programs by African-American Workplace Representation.Equity Index (EI; Hao 2002) is calculated as the percentage of African-American workers in the respective industry divided by the percentage of African-Americans in the general population (see Kell et al. 2020).EI values above 1.00 represent overrepresentation; EI values below 1.00 represent underrepresentation.Quadrants defined using EI = 1.00 and median value for frequency of HBCU CTE programs (5).CTE industries categorized using the career clusters described in Kell et al. (2020;see AdvanceCTE 2021) and aligned to HBCU programs using established guidelines (e.g., DTI Associates 2021).One CTE industry (Finance) did not correspond to any HBCU programs, and one HBCU program (Engineering) was not represented in Kell et al. (2020) occupations.However, health sciences is associated with a much higher proportion of Bright Outlook occupations than engineering technologies.Some other notable trends emerge from Fig. 8.Although some common HBCU CTE programs included a high proportion of Bright Outlook Occupations, the most commonly available HBCU CTE program-business and marketing-only included four relevant job titles, including only one Bright Outlook Occupation.Conversely, the six industries with no HBCU CTE programs included a combined 13 relevant job titles, 61.5% of which were Bright Outlook Occupations.Notably, military technologies, natural resources, and science technologies included 100.0%, 75.0%, and 57.1% Bright Outlook Occupations, respectively.These results are described in detail in Table 2.The BLS data also include the 2019 median annual wage for each occupation.The salaries for each of the occupations that typically require a postsecondary credential of an associate's degree or lower, and are represented by HBCU CTE programs, are summarized in Fig. 9. Salaries ranged from $25,770 to an upper-end outlier of $122,990.The most common salary band was $50,000 to $59,999, and the median salary across all occupations was $52,550.Although there is some debate regarding the federal estimate of a living wage in the U.S., one calculation suggests that a salary of $68,808 is needed to support a family of four (two adults, two children; Nadeau 2021).Based on this estimate, only 14.8% of the occupations connected to HBCU CTE programs provide a living wage.

Discussion
The academic missions of HBCUs and CTE institutions share much in common, including but not limited to their commitment to improve postsecondary access for underserved groups.Attending a CTE program at an HBCU may be particularly advantageous for many students, especially African-American students, who are underrepresented in most CTE industries.In particular, the unique social, cultural, and academic benefits of HBCUs may enrich the CTE experience for African-American students (Harper 2019).
Additionally, the relatively short-term pathway from postsecondary CTE to employment represents a critical strategy for escaping poverty, which disproportionately impacts African-American individuals (Semega et al. 2020).Our study examined the landscape of CTE programs at all 100 HBCUs, to evaluate one potential explanation for the underrepresentation of African-American workers in CTE.
Carnegie classifications suggested that, relative to a matched sample of non-HBCUs, there are fewer CTE postsecondary options at HBCUs.HBCUs include more baccalaureate colleges and fewer special focus, associate's, or non-Carnegie institutions than non-HBCUs.There appear to be no two-year special focus HBCUs nor any HBCU technical colleges.Although HBCU associate's colleges included a high proportion of CTE institutions, they were still outnumbered by similar non-HBCUs.Only 6.7% of HBCU baccalaureate colleges confer a majority of associate's degrees, and none of them are categorized as "associate's-dominant".These findings suggest that if African-American students possess an interest or proficiency in CTE, but also desire the advantages of an HBCU environment, they may be forced to decide between attending an HBCU for non-CTE study or, conversely, enrolling in a CTE program at a non-HBCU.Further analysis demonstrated that even the most commonly available CTE programs are offered in less than one-quarter of HBCUs, and nearly one-quarter of CTE industries are entirely unrepresented in HBCUs.Developing connections between academic institutions and relevant employers may expand HBCU CTE options.
In examining whether underrepresentation of African-American employees in CTE industries may be influenced by a lack of HBCU programs or, alternatively, a lack of awareness of existing programs, our results suggest a combination of these possibilities.For example, of the industries with the highest underrepresentation, some (computer and information sciences; personal and culinary services) include a relatively high number of HBCU programs, whereas others (library science; architecture; natural resources) have no relevant HBCU programs.Moreover, five of the six CTE industries with no associated HBCU programs represent industries with African-American underrepresentation.These results represent targeted data that may inform the development of specific HBCU CTE programs to enhance equity in these industries.Academic collaborations with CTE businesses that are Black-owned, employ African-Americans in positions of leadership, or champion a clear mandate towards improving diversity, equity, and inclusion may be particularly beneficial.In turn, non-HBCUs may also be able to adopt learnings from HBCUs to improve African-American CTE underrepresentation.
Finally, we examined whether HBCU CTE programs may provide long-term financial sustainability through entry into careers with high projected growth or living wage salaries.The most commonly offered HBCU CTE programs varied widely in the proportion of associated high-growth occupations, with some (health sciences; protective services; computer and information sciences) including a high proportion of high-growth occupations, whereas others (business and marketing; engineering technologies) were much lower.A potentially more concerning finding was the relatively high proportion of highgrowth CTE occupations with no affiliated HBCU programs.These included the natural resources industry, which includes high-growth "green" energy careers such as solar and wind technologies; architecture, which is relevant to the renewed focus on addressing infrastructure challenges in the U.S.; and science technologies, which represents a potential pathway into four-year STEM programs as well as several high-growth occupations.Moreover, despite some debate regarding the definition of a "living wage", the vast majority of occupations connected to HBCU CTE programs fell below this guideline (Nadeau 2021).Although HBCUs may exercise little-if any-control over these job market factors, they may still inform the development of CTE programs at HBCUs.That is, HBCUs may prioritize the availability of CTE programs in response to growth projections and typical salaries.This information should also assist students in identifying postsecondary programs associated with abundant and financially gainful employment opportunities.

Recommendations for research
Future research may examine other factors that could inform HBCU CTE policy, including student interest and proficiency, and the number of current job openings in relevant industries.Successfully implementing CTE programs at HBCUs is also contingent upon attitudes towards CTE within this community.CTE programs continue to be stigmatized (Gauthier 2020), and although there is some speculation that these negative attitudes exist within HBCU communities (Green 2018), this topic would benefit from systematic investigation.
Additional methodological avenues also exist for this research.Because we analyzed postsecondary institutions (HBCUs) located across multiple U.S. states, we included federal job market projections in this study; future research may examine job market needs at more local (e.g., state) levels.This methodology could also be replicated to examine CTE pathways at other types of institutions, including Tribal colleges, Women's colleges, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions.These efforts may prove influential in improving academic and occupational equity for underrepresented groups by increasing access to key postsecondary pathways.

Conclusions
Our results suggest fewer CTE pathways are available at HBCUs relative to non-HBCUs.This finding poses a dilemma for students who possess an interest or aptitude towards CTE occupations but also desire the unique academic, cultural, and social benefits provided by HBCUs.Increasing the availability of HBCU CTE programs could not only address this dilemma, but also provide academic options that lead to high wage occupations in in-demand industries if properly informed by labor market data.Moreover, such programs may serve a much needed and critical role in improving racial equity across CTE industries.Informed by these findings, HBCUs may wish to expand CTE program offerings by developing programs that address Black worker underrepresentation, align with high-wage and high-growth occupations, and facilitate transfer opportunities into four-year postsecondary programs.Ideally, these programs may be developed in partnership with local, national, and international employers, especially Black-owned businesses and organizations who follow a clear mission of addressing social and financial inequities for Black students and workers.These efforts may be funded by government grants such as the Workplace Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and in partnership with state government Departments of Education, CTE, and Labor.

Fig. 2 Fig. 3
Fig. 2 HBCU vs. Non-HBCU Special Focus Institutions.N = 6 HBCUs and 23 non-HBCUs.For further information regarding Carnegie Classifications, see Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching(2017)

Fig. 4
Fig. 4 HBCU vs. Non-HBCU Baccalaureate Colleges.N = 48 HBCUs and 19 non-HBCUs.For further information regarding Carnegie Classifications, see Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2017)

Fig. 5
Fig. 5 HBCU vs. Non-HBCU Graduate Colleges.N = 35 HBCUs and 28 non-HBCUs.For further information regarding Carnegie Classifications, see Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2017)

Fig. 6
Fig. 6 HBCU CTE Programs by Industry.N = 100 HBCUs.Programs categorized based on Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020 codes (i.e., Occupational Education programs; National Center for Education Statistics 2021b)

Fig. 8
Fig. 8 Bright Outlook Occupations Aligned with HBCU CTE Programs.Numbers in parentheses represent number of HBCUs with respective CTE program.CTE programs presented in descending order by number of HBCUs

Table 2
Bright outlook and non-bright outlook occupations associated with HBCU CTE programs Bright Outlook Occupations are projected to grow faster than average (i.e., employment increase of 5% or more) or are projected to generate 100,000 or more job openings from 2019 through 2029 (National Center for O*NET Development, 2021) across the U.S Distribution of Median Annual 2019 Wages for Occupations Associated with HBCU CTE Programs.Source for Wage data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021).Chart includes occupations that typically require a postsecondary credential of associate's degree or lower (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021)