Career and college advice to the forgotten half: What do counselors and vocational teachers advise?

This article examines the career and college advice that high school counse lors and vocational teachers give to the "forgotten half," students who are unlikely to seek a 4-year college degree. Using interview data from 12 Mid western high schools we found that most counselors tend to encourage all st udents to attend college, regardless of the students' interests or plans. V ocational teachers, on the other hand, showed evidence of a more nuanced vi ew of the need for college. We found that vocational teachers in our sample fit in to four broad categories in terms of their advice and opinions abou t college: the college-for-all advocates, who push college regardless of ci rcumstances; the diplomats, who try subtly to tell students that their plan s are unrealistic; the straightforward, who try to make sure that students have realistic information; and the hands-off, who disavow any role in help ing students make future plans. After an examination of these approaches, w e conclude with a discussion of the implications of the various approaches for guiding students' choices.