Abstract
Nearly nine million students attend public schools in rural areas but limited research has examined the aspirations of rural youth in the early years of the 21st century. This study presents a contemporary profile of rural youth’s educational and vocational aspirations and examines the educational alignment of reported aspirations. Using multinomial regression procedures, the study also examines the role of multiple contexts (family, individual, and school) in explaining variations in rural youth’s aspirations. The results indicated a majority of rural youth wanted to obtain a two- or four-year college degree, and they aspired to adulthood occupations requiring college degrees. More than half of the sample reported misaligned educational and vocational aspirations and patterns of alignment were predicted by family income, student background, geographic isolation, and school-related experiences. The results highlight the need for additional research on high school programs to prepare rural youth for the transition to adulthood.
Highlights
Youth’s aspirations are significant predictors of postsecondary educational attainment, occupational attainment, and successful early adulthood transitions (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastoerelli, 2001)
Limited research has examined the contemporary aspirations of rural youth as they prepare for the transition adulthood
Extending the research of Schneider and Stevenson (1999), the current study examines whether the educational aspirations of rural youth are aligned with their vocational aspirations
Summary
Youth’s aspirations are significant predictors of postsecondary educational attainment, occupational attainment, and successful early adulthood transitions (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastoerelli, 2001). The transition to adulthood is often challenging for most youth (Eccles, Brown, & Templeton, 2008; Zarrett & Eccles, 2006), many rural communities, schools, and families have unique features and challenges that can constrain youth’s postsecondary aspirations and attainment. These educational and occupational barriers include geographic isolation, few local postsecondary educational and occupational opportunities, a narrow school curriculum, and social and cultural expectations that do not support postsecondary education (Elder & Conger, 2000; Farmer et al, 2006; Hardré, Sullivan, & Crowson, 2009; Roscigno, Tomaskovic-Devey, & Crowley, 2006). Using survey data on nearly 5000 rural youth, this study addressed the following questions: (1) What are the future educational and occupational aspirations of contemporary rural youth? (2) What contextual factors (family, individual, school) shape rural youth’s educational and occupational aspirations? (3) Do rural youth hold educational goals that are appropriate for and aligned with their intended career path? (4) What contextual factors (family, individual, school) explain variations in the alignment of rural youth’s educational and vocational goals?
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