St. Jean, NathanielSpangler, Bethany2021-05-032021-05-032021https://hdl.handle.net/10474/3645Currently, the skilled labor industry is facing a huge gap in the number of working laborers. This gap is shown in the quickly declining numbers of workers in the trades and in the 7 million open jobs that are unable to be filled. Unfortunately, this is due to the general lack of interest in the trades, the lack of skills that individuals possess to excel in these fields, and individual attitude towards the trades that influence the decision to learn these skills. This gap affects companies and the amenities that they give to society. With a shortage of workers, many companies are shutting down because they are unable to complete the work needed. High school Career and Technical Education programs are a great way to gain awareness in this issue and begin to help this problem. There are a multitude of personal benefits for students linked to attending CTE programs as well, which in turn enhances their education. Public perception is a huge influencing factor in why the skills gap is so large today. On a refined level, perception directly impacts vocational school attendance, which is arguably the first steppingstone that many take into the trades. With lower vocational school attendance, there are automatically less individuals that enter into the trades which then contributes to the labor gap. In order to help with this issue, we first need to begin with understanding perception. This paper aims to begin to understand this. (Author abstract)en-USAuthor retains all ownership rights. Further reproduction in violation of copyright is prohibitedSouthern New Hampshire University -- Theses (Honors)skilled labor gapcareer and technical educationperceptionThesis