Using Student Agency to Increase Familiarity in a High School Career and Technical Education Engineering Program

Career and technical education (CTE) has existed for over a century involving several legislative transformations, including a name change, to create a positive reputation in the educational community. Although these transformations have deconstructed some negative perceptions, it has caused a lack of awareness among parents and students. This awareness problem guided this concurrent multistrand mixed-method action research study looking to increase familiarity, understanding, and interest in CTE programs at a comprehensive high school. Looking through the lens of critical constructivism, a nested youth participatory action research intervention was implemented where CTE students (i.e., student-researchers) were tasked as change agents to create a public service announcement to increase their peers’ familiarity, understanding, and interest in CTE. In a quantitative survey, coconstructed with student-researchers, familiarity showed a significant increase (t39 = 7.60, p < .05). During the intervention, qualitative data were collected and several themes emerged including students understanding the value of CTE when immersed in CTE and CTE having a concrete value that engages students in the classroom and beyond. Recommendations from this study included exposing students to the benefits of CTE early and often and the positive effect student agency has in raising familiarity with CTE programming.