Intended to raise race and sex compliance issues to be addressed by the National Institute of Education (NIE) in its congressionally mandated study of vocational education, this paper defines Title VI (Civil Rights Act of 1964) and Title IX (Education Amendments of 1972) compliance issues regarding the level of minority (black Americans) and women student and staff participation in vocational schools. An introductory section briefly reviews the history of Federal vocational legislation with reference to equality of opportunity. In Section I the three barriers that black and female students encounter to their attending the best vocational schools are discussed: geographical location of schools, segregation within school districts, and admission criteria. Section II suggests the need for more evidence to document discrimination in federal and state funding of vocational education. Section III examines to what extent vocational training perpetuates, and how counselors contribute to, sexual and racial stratification in the labor market. While Sections IV and V compare the number of blacks and women who participate in work-study, cooperative education, and apprenticeship programs to their number enrolled in vocational schools, Section VI explores their underrepresentation as teachers in these schools. The recommendations in Section VII for vocational school research by NIE focus on the five areas of finance, construction, governance structure, cooperative education and work study, and admission criteria. (EG)