Dear Mr. Benjamin – Non-Traditional Students in CTE and Stem

My name is Courtney Benjamin and I teach Automotive Technology to high school seniors at Broome-Tioga BOCES in Binghamton, NY.  Some people reading my name and job title in text assume that I am a man; I get a lot of “Dear Mr. Benjamin” emails!  I am indeed a woman and I have embraced a gender non-traditional technical field since I was a CTE student myself in high school in the very same program that I now teach.  

 

Since high school I have earned a BS Degree in Automotive Technology and an MS Degree in Education and have also worked at various levels of the automotive industry ranging from service technician to manufacturer’s rep.  My interest in CTE/STEM and education does not stop there: I am currently a Doctoral Candidate in Educational Theory and Practice at the State University of New York at Binghamton.  My dissertation is probing postsecondary schooling and labor market outcomes for students that were CTE concentrators in high school using a nationally representative data set.  I am also looking at outcomes for students that were involved in work-based learning programs.

Much to the credit of the technical knowledge that I have amassed through my experiences as a CTE student and teacher, I have managed to teach myself to script a complex statistical programming language called ‘R’ to quantitatively analyze this complex survey data about CTE student outcomes.  In my opinion, one of the most effective ways to involve more gender non-traditional students in CTE and STEM is to showcase successful gender non-traditional teachers and industry professionals as well as provide related mentorship opportunities for students in middle school and elementary school.  

We also need to focus on changing societal perceptions of traditional gender roles as the family exerts the greatest influence over the career path of students.  Another aspect of teaching CTE and STEM that I feel is critically important to student outcomes is work-based learning.  My Automotive Technology program is located at Gault Toyota, a local car dealership.  There is no way to match real-world learning and experiences students get through work-based learning, especially the affective skills.  We need to get more aspects of CTE programs located in actual work settings.

 

Courtney Benjamin

Broome-Tioga BOCES

Automotive Technology II Teacher

Located at Gault Toyota

Doctoral Candidate-Educational Theory & Practice

State University of New York at Binghamton