Employability Skills Development in Career and Technical Education: Administrators’ Perspectives

Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in the United States have provided a combination of academic, technical, and employability skills to prepare students for college and careers. Employability skills, also known as soft skills, life skills, or behavioral skills, are developed through multiple CTE program components. This mixed-methods study explored administrators’ perceptions of Oklahoma CTE’s capacity to develop employability skills in students to meet the needs of the local community. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative findings suggest problem-solving, logical reasoning, and critical thinking were the highest-rated skills developed. Qualitative findings identified six themes, including industry relationships, instructor quality, and teaching for real-world environments. Administrators highly valued employability skills, but this value was secondary to technical skills training. Administrators emphasized that instructors are the key to CTE’s success, and industry relationships are critical to developing employability skills.