Career technical education and skilled trades have been the subject of a social stigma that continues to make it a habit of mind that career technical education is inferior to a 4-year college education. This stigma is partially responsible for a shortage of skilled labor. This study aimed to explore how educators describe and understand the stigma of career technical education and their perspectives on the role stigma plays in the shortage of trade professionals. The conceptual framework for this study was based on Mezirow's Transformation Theory. This study was a qualitative study with a descriptive case study design. Teachers at a technical community college participated in artifact-based interviews to explore their perspectives regarding the stigma of their professions. The results of the interviews were analyzed to determine the emergence of themes. Four themes related to the research questions emerged. First, participants' recognition of stigma was not universal. Another theme was that participants' understanding of stigma varied with personal experiences. Next, stigma was perceived to influence student behaviors and performance. Finally, participants perceived that stigma influenced institutional policy and action, impacting student opportunities. Four implications emerged. First, stigma is less prevalent than before the application of education reforms. Second, recipients of a 4-year degree were more attractive to employers if they had practical experience outside of college. Third, the execution of the Jump Start policy is perceived to impact students' performance negatively. Finally, college administrators are perceived as being separated from the realities of the skilled labor workforce. The two recommendations for practice that emerged from this study are to improve the quality of career counseling for students, and administrators must be more familiar with trade programs. Additional research is needed to understand the division between academic and career pathways. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]