Vocational Training for Indian Migrants: Correlates of “Success” in a Federal Program

Abstract

Ten hypotheses were tested concerning their relationship to successful completion of a Bureau of Indian Affairs sponsored adult vocational training program. The data were collected from the case records of all participants in the Adult Vocational Training Program (AVT) in the Portland Area Office (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington) for the period 1964-1966. "Success," the dependent variable, was defined in two ways: first, as completion of training program versus noncompletion, and second as the percent of training completed (number of months of training completed divided by the total number of months required for completion of that training program). This second definition of success permitted the utilization of fairly powerful statistics, including multiple regression analysis. The records of these 316 participants revealed that males were significantly more likely to complete training than were females. After controlling for sex, the results for males revealed that employment experience was the single most important factor associated with successful training. Marital status, off-reservation living experience, and the BIA field interviewer's assessment also emerged as weak correlates for males. For females, off-reservation living experience was the strongest factor, followed by Indian ancestry, interviewer's assessment, and employment experience.