Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Perceptions of graduates and their employers toward high school business education preparation for the workplace
Abstract
American employers are concerned that our schools are continuing to produce an increasing number of graduates who are undereducated, unskilled, and unable to cope with the needs of business in this technological age. Schools are struggling to become accountable and must recognize the problems that affect the performance and success of students in and out of school. This qualitative study focuses on the perceptions that high school graduates have of the preparation they received for entry-level positions, how it affected their performance, and its relationship to the perceptions and expectations of their present employers. A questionnaire was developed and used to guide the interviews of six graduates and their six employers. The data were analyzed and reported in descriptive format. Four specific research questions guided the study. The analysis of the data indicated that the graduates show positive perceptions toward their school training for entry-level positions. All of the participating employers showed positive perceptions toward the secondary school training of their graduates for the entry-level positions they held in the workplace. Variable factors such as knowledge and experience with computers, ability to make decisions, attitude, and responsibility influenced the employers perceptions of the graduates working in their businesses. While employers were satisfied with some aspects of the high school training, the overall majority expressed dissatisfaction with such training they had experienced with other graduates, not included in this study, for the workplace. Data from the study indicate that there is a mismatch between the training students receive in high school and the skills needed for successful entry-level employment.
Subject Area
Business education|Vocational education
Recommended Citation
Cook, Clidie Belle Thomas, "Perceptions of graduates and their employers toward high school business education preparation for the workplace" (1994). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9430162.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9430162