Dreams of the Future: The Pursuit of Education and Career Possible Selves Among Ninth Grade Latino Youth

Abstract

To better inform educational policies for Latino students, this study explores the relations between Latino students' conceptions of their futures and their risk status for school dropout. Using the theory of possible selves, the study examines students' hoped-for, expected, and feared selves, the power of those selves to predict risk status for school dropout, and the content of their specificity and ideological beliefs. Four hundred fifteen ninth grade Latino students were surveyed, 30 who also participated in interviews. Results indicated that Latino students' possible selves differed significantly, with hoped-for selves representing the highest levels of educational and occupational attainment. Although hoped-for and expected selves did not predict students' academic performance, feared selves did. The interviews indicated that the specificity and ideological beliefs housed within possible selves might be integral to the mechanisms through which those selves influence academic performance. The implications of the study's findings for school reform policies, specifically those advocating standardized assessments, are discussed.