The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of employers, teachers and graduates of the Oregon Carl Perkins Single Parent/Displaced Homemaker Programs regarding non-technical employment qualities. The Luft "Non-Technical Employment Qualities Survey Instrument" and open-ended questions were used to elicit personal responses from members of each group for the purpose of comparing the results. The research questions addressed the perceived rankings of non-technical employment qualities, the extent to which programs were perceived to have addressed these nontechnical employment qualities, the extent to which graduates were perceived to possess these non-technical employment qualities, the extent to which graduates were perceived to seek and receive feedback regarding these non-technical employment qualities, the specific non-technical employment qualities that were perceived as essential prior to entering the workforce, the perceptions as to why employees were terminated and the perceived reasons why graduates left employment. The findings concluded that the respondent populations were in general agreement as to their perceptions. Employers and teachers agreed more frequently regarding their perceptions as to the extent graduates possessed these non-technical employment qualities and the extent to which graduates sought and received feedback. Graduates agreed more frequently with the employers as to their rankings of the qualities needed, but there was great disagreement between graduates, and their employers as to the number of qualities possessed and the amount of feedback sought. Employers and teachers disagreed more frequently in their rankings as to which qualities were the most important. The principle implication of this research for education with regard to these populations is that a close relationship between employers and the instructors preparing graduates for employment is imperative. The principle research recommendation entails further inquiry into the specific behaviors that demonstrate the possession of these skills and that would prevent employment termination. / Graduation date: 1996