Why Who Designs the Pathway Matters

In my work across school districts and apprenticeship systems, I’ve learned something simple but often overlooked: The people who design the system determine who the system serves.

We’ve seen a growing interest in dual credit, youth apprenticeships, and career-connected learning. But despite all the energy, too many students are still walking pathways that were never really built with them in mind.

I’m thinking of a young man I met during a school visit. He was enrolled in a CTE course that, on paper, checked every box—industry-aligned, hands-on, part of a recognized pathway. But when I asked what he hoped to do after graduation, he shrugged.

“No idea,” he said. “I’m just in here because my counselor said I wasn’t gonna pass Algebra 2.”

That comment stuck with me. Because that’s not a pathway. That’s a placement.

The Design Problem

Research has consistently shown that CTE access has expanded—but without intentional design, equity remains elusive. In their 2021 systematic literature review, Kim et al. found that most secondary CTE research focuses on access and participation but rarely disaggregates outcomes across race, gender, or disability status. This limits the system’s ability to meaningfully assess equity or target improvement efforts (Kim, Flack, Parham, & Wohlstetter, 2021).

Further, national data indicate that students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities are often concentrated in lower-wage tracks such as cosmetology or food services, while more lucrative and transferable pathways—like IT, engineering, or advanced manufacturing—disproportionately serve white and higher-income students (Advance CTE, 2018; Dougherty, 2016).

None of this happens because educators don’t care. It happens because we design too quickly and listen too late.

Equity is a Front-End Commitment

Equity in career pathways isn’t just about who gets in—it’s about who gets to shape what “in” means.

If we want a system that works for all students, we have to shift the design conversation upstream:

• Bring students and families into the process from the beginning—not just to give feedback, but to co-create pathways.

• Align programs not only to labor market forecasts but to the dreams and dignity of the students they serve.

• Build governance models that make shared ownership possible across sectors.

As I argued in Forging Trustful Connections (Nesmith, 2025), effective CTE and apprenticeship ecosystems require more than technical alignment—they require trust-based collaboration. When programs are built on trust, partners are more likely to share decision-making, co-design competencies, and sustain their efforts beyond pilot funding.

And in The CTE Collaboration framework, I propose a model for shared governance that centers equity not through top-down mandates but through structured relationships between schools, employers, intermediaries, and students themselves. These are not just advisory boards—they are systems of shared accountability.

The Work Ahead

Redesigning pathways with students at the center is slower work. It requires patience, humility, and a commitment to doing more than replicating the status quo under a new label.

But it’s the only way to build systems that serve—not sort.

Because when a student walks into a classroom and sees a program that reflects their potential, their culture, and their future, they don’t shrug. They engage. They invest. They lead.

And that’s what this work is really about—not just getting students to graduation, but building a system where they can walk a path they helped shape.

References

Advance CTE. (2018). The state of career technical education: Improving data quality and effectiveness.

Dougherty, S. M. (2016). Career and technical education in high school: Does it improve student outcomes? Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Kim, E. H., Flack, C. B., Parham, K., & Wohlstetter, P. (2021). Equity in secondary career and technical education in the United States: A theoretical framework and systematic literature review. Review of Educational Research, 91(3), 356–396.

Nesmith, C. R. (2025). Forging trustful connections: A case study on the role of trust in forming inter-organizational relationships for youth apprenticeship programs in career and technical education in Washington State (Doctoral dissertation, Washington State University).