Rural high school girls face a strong home-versus-career conflict stemming from traditional rural values and myths about women. They also face the reality of few local job opportunities, due to rural economic and value structures and to occupational sex-stereotyping. For the most part, rural secondary vocational education maintains its historically sex-stereotyped approach, channeling young women into traditionally female programs which leave them prepared for only the lowest-level jobs or for no paid work at all. Few rural vocational education programs offer a broad range of high level opportunities to all students. Most schools prefer to train students in generalized skills broadly applicable to local markets. Few rural vocational education teachers actively encourage women to compete in the male-dominated vocational programs. Even when women do compete, local employer and peer attitudes frequently exclude them from the labor market. Rural high school girls could benefit from re-education of rural vocational teachers and employers about women's potential and the development of sex-neutral educational programs, and from vocational education courses designed to help them develop realistic career orientations, consider non-traditional occupations, train as entrepreneurs, and use their skills for supplementary income. An appendix describes the methodology of the study. (SB)