Date of Award

Spring 2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

STEM Education & Professional Studies

Program/Concentration

Occupational and Technical Studies

Committee Director

Michael F. Kosloski

Committee Member

Christopher R. Glass

Committee Member

Petros Katsioloudis

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the factors influencing students’ decisions to enroll in IVET lyceums in Tajikistan. The researcher administered a paper-based survey to collect data from a stratified random sample of n = 541 students in IVET lyceums. Data were analyzed by performing descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, chi-squares tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and principal axis factoring (PAF). The findings showed that IVET students are mainly male (70%), from rural areas (60%), economically disadvantaged (60%), and enrolled after 9th grade (68%). There was a strong relationship between gender and program enrollment, meaning female and male students made traditional program choices.

With regard to influencing students’ decisions in choosing IVET lyceums, parents (53%) were the most influential factors followed by other factors, including hands-on experience, siblings, finding a job, and friends. School staff and marketing efforts were among the least influential factors. The result of PAF loaded twenty factors to five latent constructs labeled lyceum suits my needs, lyceum marketing, people with close relationships, school staff, and economic situation. As for choosing IVET programs, parents were at the top with fathers being more (55%) influential than mothers (50%), followed by interest in the occupation, job opportunities, siblings, friends, and prior experience. School staff and marketing were the least influential factors. The result of PAF loaded sixteen factors to four latent constructs labeled program interest, school staff, people with close relationships, and program marketing.

Finally, the findings showed that in choosing IVET lyceums, out of 20 factors, only school teacher, school director, IVET is easier, and hands-on experience were statistically significantly different, while the remaining 16 showed no difference in influencing 9th and 11th grade students’ decisions. Regarding choosing programs of study, school teacher, class supervisor, and opportunity for small business were statistically significantly different, while the remaining 13 showed no difference in influencing 9th and 11th grade students’ decisions.

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DOI

10.25777/afbx-ta48

ISBN

9781085623346

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