As the work force becomes increasingly culturally diverse, vocational educators must concentrate more on multiculturalism in order to prepare students for the world of work and to help them meet employers' needs. Negative stereotypes held by various culturally diverse groups influence their decision not to enroll in vocational education courses. When they do enroll, students from diverse cultural backgrounds tend to choose occupational preparation programs for lower-wage occupations than do white students. Multicultural education should help students of diverse backgrounds to develop competence in the predominant culture while retaining a positive group identity. It also helps students of diverse backgrounds to get along better with each other. Efforts to recruit and retain students from diverse cultural backgrounds into vocational education must be made, and successful role models should be provided by recruiting vocational education teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds. Staff development activities should be carried out to ensure that teachers make efforts to treat all students equitably. Culture-fair testing should be ensured. Vocational education must accept the challenge of preparing students for a culturally diverse work force. (Contains 29 references.) (KC)