4.30 Training

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Training questions have been fielded in each survey year.  In 1968, respondents were asked a series of questions on their plans for more education or training.  The survey also asked about past training, including whether they had ever been enrolled outside of regular schooling in a full-time (two weeks or more) company training course sponsored by an employer, in any other vocational training (such as typing, nursing, or cosmetology) other than on-the-job training, or in additional general courses (e.g., English, mathematics, science, or art) since they stopped attending full-time school.

For each training experience, information was gathered on the type of training (technical/professional, managerial, clerical, skilled manual, semi-skilled manual, other technical, or other training [including basic or general courses]); number of months and hours per week spent in the training; whether the program was completed and if not, the reason; and whether the skills acquired in the training program were used on the respondent’s current/last job.  Respondents also reported whether they had ever obtained a certificate needed to practice a profession or trade, the type of certificate (e.g., professional [teacher, nurse, etc.] or trade [beautician]), and whether the certificate was currently valid. 

Two variables were created from these 1968 data.  The first, ‘# of Years of Occupational Training Outside Regular School, 68,’ summarizes the duration of time spent in training by number of programs in which the respondent had participated.  The second is ‘Type of Longest Occupational Training Program Taken in Past Year, 68.’

Surveys administered during 1969–78 updated the information collected in the initial survey year.  For those respondents who had participated since the last interview in a training course or educational program of any kind, either on the job or elsewhere, data were gathered on the type of training, type of organization providing the training (e.g., business college/technical institute, company training school, correspondence school, regular school, and other [including federally funded MDTA or Title V programs]), duration and intensity, completion status, reason for engaging in additional training, and use of the training on the respondent’s current/last job. 

For those who had obtained a certificate since the last interview, updated information included type of certificate (i.e., professional or trade), occupational code, and whether the certificate was valid.  The 1971, 1975, and 1978 questionnaires included only one certificate question; the 1972 survey provided retrospective information on certification back to February 1970.  Beginning in 1977, the coding categories for the type of certificate included certificate, license, journeyman’s card, or other. 

Variations present during the 1969–78 fieldings included the following:  (1) Beginning in 1972, regular school as a training provider was differentiated into high school, area vocational school, or community or junior college.  (2) Regular 4-year college, university or graduate school; nursing school, hospital, or medical school/college; and government program or agency (federal, state, or local) were added to the training provider series in 1975.  (3) During 1972, 1973, and 1978, questions were fielded on the respondent’s plans to enroll in additional training or educational programs.  (4) Finally, sales and service were added to the type of training categories beginning in 1978.

Beginning in 1980, the training section was restructured to include two series of questions, one dealing with on-the-job training (OJT) courses in which the respondent had participated since the last interview and the second on other training courses or educational programs other than OJT or college courses in which she had enrolled.  The OJT series included questions on duration and intensity of the training and whether the respondent was still attending or had completed the program.  Beginning with the 1985 survey, two additional OJT questions were regularly administered:  (1) specification of the job for which the respondent was being trained and (2) the reason that the respondent decided to take on-the-job training. 

The second training series for the 1980–2001 surveys continued the core set of questions asked during the 1968–78 interviews.  From 1980 to 1991, there was an additional regularly fielded question on whether the training program was part of an apprenticeship program.  Beginning with the 1985 survey, three new questions on the respondent’s other training were added that included the collection of information on (1) the kind of work for which the respondent was being trained; (2) whether the respondent’s employer required the training; and (3) for those whose employer did not require the training, the reason for taking the training.  A new provider type, community organization (e.g., church, temple, synagogue, YMCA, Red Cross, neighborhood association), was added in 1985 as a permanent coding category for the training provider series.  Certification information, i.e., whether a certificate had been received as a result of this (other) training and if so, the type of certificate, continued to be collected during the 1980–88 interviews.

Beginning in 1983, respondents identified on the Information Sheet as having been enrolled in a training program at the time of last interview were asked for information on whether they had completed the training and the number of weeks they had been enrolled.  These variables, ‘Did R Complete Occupational Training Program Enrolled at Last Interview’ and ‘Duration of Occupational Training Program Enrolled at Last Interview,’ are available for the 1983–2001 survey years.  The 1995–2001 surveys included an additional question that asked whether the respondent’s employer required the training.  Table 4.30.1 presents by year and race the number of respondents participating in on-the-job and other vocational training programs since 1980.  Because the universe of respondents asked these questions was different in 1999 and 2001, those years are not included in the table.

Table 4.30.1 Numbers of Respondents Participating in Training Programs by Type of Training and Race: 1980-97

Related Variables: The 1968 “CPS” section included a question comparing the amount of skills required on the respondent’s current job to those needed on the job held one year ago.  The 1982 “CPS” section included a set of questions on the training methods used by the respondent to learn her current/last job; for those reporting more than one method, the most helpful method was specified.  Coding categories included college courses, vocational school, company training, Armed Forces, apprenticeship, on-the-job training, promotion, relative/friend, informal training, etc.

Survey Instruments & Documentation: The “Education & Training” or “Education” sections of the questionnaires include the training questions.  “Attachment 2:  1960 and 1980 Census Industrial & Occupational Classification Codes” in the Codebook Supplement provides the occupational codes used for the professional/trade certificate and the post-1983 on-the-job occupation and/or kind of work for which the respondent was being trained variables. 

Reference

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