Abstract

The study aimed to identify the factors that lead students to avoid joining Vocational Education (VE) in Jordan. A pilot study was conducted, then a 39-item questionnaire was developed, and its validity and reliability were ensured. The reasons included were divided into personal, social, economic, educational and vocational domains. The questionnaire was administered to 1050 students of the 10th basic grade. Results showed that the factors included in the questionnaire contribute at a medium level to students’ avoidance of VE. The highest contributing factors were the vocational factors of which the most contributing factor was the nature of the jobs that they had to take up. The second was the domain of personal factors, the highest of which was the discrepancy between students’ academic ambitions and the nature of vocational work. The third was the social factors, the highest of which was the effect of peers and their academic orientations. The fourth in level were the economic factors with the fluctuating nature of the income for the prospective careers of those who join VE being of the highest influence. The least contributing domain was the educational domain with the negative image of vocational schools being of the highest influence. The study produced some recommendations to mitigate avoidance of VE.

Key words: Avoidance of vocational education, vocational education, career choice.