Why Career Education Matters

The Need For Training

What Is Career Education & Training?

Career and Technical Education (CTE) provides students the opportunity to gain the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for success in a career field of interest. Programs are available in a wide range of career fields based on RAZ-32 shared CTE programs and stand-alone CTE programs at participating high schools. High quality CTE education and training programs provide high school students opportunities to earn industry recognized credentials in their chosen field, earn dual college credits and participate in relevant work-based learning experiences.

Why Is Career Education & Training Important?

Career Education Is Good For Students!

Students become more motivated, self-directed learners when they understand the relationship between academics and utilization of their knowledge and skills to specific career fields and the workplace. Career education provides unique experiences that permit students to identify their own career goals. Career training allows individuals to discover who they are, what they like to do, and what they do best.

Graduation Requirements

Career education provides options for students for meeting Indiana Graduation Pathway requirements and the future Indiana New Diploma and Readiness Seals requirements.

Exploration & Preparation

The idea behind this type of CTE specialization in high school is twofold. First, it gives students a chance to explore a career they might be interested in pursuing. Second, it helps prepare them for a postsecondary degree, credential, apprenticeship, or job in that field.

Future Career Success

The average student will experience many job changes, several company changes, and even a few career changes in his/her lifetime. What will remain constant for these students and for all students in the future is the need to be prepared for these changes. This requires academic and technical skills but also critical thinking, collaboration, problem solving, innovation, communication, and teamwork skills that are the foundations of career education and training.

Entering The Workforce

The workplace of tomorrow will be vastly different from the past. Thanks to advancements in technology, automation, and Artificial Intelligence, the jobs of tomorrow will demand different knowledge and skills. In the future jobs market, it will pay for graduates to have skills that are in demand. Those skills ranked in order of importance by employers between now and 2030 include: technology skills, critical thinking and problem solving, teamwork and collaboration, professionalism and strong work ethic, oral and written communications skills, and leadership.

RAZ-32 shared Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are an important bridge between K-12 education, higher education, industry, and workforce development. Cutting-edge, rigorous CTE programs prepare youth for a wide range of high-wage, high-skill, in-demand careers.