INFLUENCES AFFECTING URBAN, SECONDARY STUDENT ENROLLMENT IN NONVOCATIONAL HOME ECONOMICS (SIGNIFICANT OTHERS, MIDDLE SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL, FUTURE VALUE)

Scope and Method of Study. This study was undertaken to assess the influences perceived by urban, secondary school students on enrollment or not in nonvocational high school home economics. A questionnare was administered to the study sample, comprised of the 3,046 students enrolled in three of the 10 high schools in the Oklahoma City Public School system. Completed questionnaires were received from 84 percent of this sample. Questionnaires from students enrolled in special or remedial education classes (30% of the respondents) and a small number (2.4%) with missing information were excluded. The analysis sample of 582 enrollees in high school home economics and an equal number of nonenrollees was coded, entered on computer magnetic tape, edited and verified. Vocational home economics students (4.3% of total home economics enrollees) were excluded from subsequent analyses, based on the purpose and objectives of this study.;Findings and Implications. The difference between enrollees in high school home economics versus nonenrollees in respect to each factor included in these hypotheses was highly significant, when analyzed by the chi-square test. Consequently, each of the four null hypotheses was rejected. With the exception of significant others, which were found to have a low acknowledged level of influence in enrollees and nonenrollees in high school home economics, the findings suggest that all other factors might serve as key elements in efforts to develop and market home economics more effectively.;The home economics curriculum and, to a lesser extent, the teachers, at both the middle and high school levels, were perceived as strong influencers of student enrollment in high school home economics. The perception of future value of the high school home economics curriculum also had a major influence on enrollment in these courses.;Four hypotheses were tested concerning the perceive influence of significant others (peers, parents/guardians, counselors), high school home economics image (teachers, curriculum, female image), middle school home economics (length of enrollment, curriculum, teachers), and future value (usefulness of information acquired) on enrollees versus nonenrollees in high school home economics.