Does Gender Moderate the Intention to Attend Vocational College among High School Students in Northwestern China?

Abstract

On a global scale, vocational education is widely recognised as a cornerstone for economic growth and a key solution to industry skill gaps. As part of the national agenda to inculcate more skilled and technical talents to boost the economy, China has created the most extensive vocational education in the world. Yet enrolment for vocational higher education is still relatively low, and this can derail its national agenda. This study aims to explore the intention to attend vocational college among general senior high school students in Northwestern China of Ningxia using the Theory of Planned Behaviour and to investigate the role of gender as a moderator in this intention. Data was collected from 432 senior three high school students in Ningxia, China, using a survey instrument which contains four variables with 28 items. The independent variables are attitude towards attending vocational college, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control; while intention to attend college is the dependent variable. SmartPLS was used to analyse these relationships and the moderating effect of gender on these relationships. Analysis showed that attitude  had a positive and significant relationship with intention while subjective norms and perceived behavioural control did not.  Gender was found to moderate the relationship between attitude and intention where the effect is stronger for males. Gender also moderates the relationship between subjective norm and  intention where the effect is stronger for females. This study is significant as it sheds more light into what factors contribute to the intention to attend vocational college. Finally, based on the findings of this study, recommendation were put forward for policy makers to increase enrolment for higher vocational education to meet the country’s demand for skilled workers.