○ Due to public policies promoting the employment of vocational high school graduates, their employment rate continued to rise and reached the 50% range by 2017 before falling to the 20% range in 2021.
○ On the other hand, their college enrollment rate continued to climb, posting the 40% range by 2021 after hitting the bottom at 30.9% in 2017.
○ The percentage of vocational high school graduates who are undecided between college or career has steadily risen from about 8% in 2008 to almost 30% in 2021.
○ Unlike college graduates, the employment rate of vocational high school graduates shows a low correlation with macro-economic indicators, indicating that their employment is more impacted by public policies facilitating the employment of high school graduates than by macro-economic factors.
○ Vocational high schools should also be evaluated based on the number of graduates who are enrolled in college with same major as well as the rate of employment in order to expand career pathways that graduates can explore. It is imperative to redesign career policies for vocational high school students to lower the rate of undecided students.