The Persistence of Plans for Professional Careers Among Blacks in Early Adulthood

Abstract

The underrepresentation of Blacks in high-status professional occupations is well documented.' As a corrective measure, much attention has focused on the need for aggressive recruitment of nonWhites to existing positions in high-status fields. Such affirmativeaction efforts are designed to reverse the exclusionary processes of past discrimination which historically have denied non-Whites' entry into many professional fields. However, to improve the long-term prospects for increasing non-White representation in such professions as engineering, medicine, and law, the focus on affirmative action alone may not be sufficient. We must also gain a better understanding of the early occupational socialization experiences of non-Whites which influence career decisions prior to their entry into the labor force. For example, some evidence has suggested that, at an early age, Blacks are channeled toward occupational careers that are the least challenging and lowest in pay and presfige.2 In spite of recent efforts to address issues related to the occupational socialization of Blacks, most longitudinal studies have not followed respondents through late adolescence and early adulthood to assess changes in occupational expectations over an extended period nor have they examined the impact of social background and other factors on the development and maintenance of occu-