Educational and Occupational Aspirations of High School Seniors with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Using the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, this study investigated the educational and occupational aspirations of high school seniors with and without learning disabilities. Effect sizes showed practical differences between the aspirations of young people with learning disabilities and their peers without disabilities, with the latter holding higher aspirations—-for both educational and occupational outcomes. No practical differences were found for female versus male adolescents with learning disabilities. Adolescents with learning disabilities who aspired to a high school diploma or less, and those who aspired to an advanced college degree, espoused lower occupational aspirations than did their peers without disabilities.