Understanding the Educational Aspirations of African American Adolescents: Child, Family, and Community Factors

Abstract

The current study examined the association between multiple systems of influence (adolescent, family, and community) and the educational aspirations of African American adolescents. Guided by ecological and integrative models of child development, in the current study the authors examined the association between the educational aspirations of 130 socioeconomically and educationally disadvantaged urban African American adolescents (mean age = 16.76 years) and factors within the adolescent (attitudes toward education and school self-esteem), family (perceived parental/guardian educational involvement and educational expectations), and community (number of community resources present and the average utilization of community resources). A hierarchical multiple regression indicated that both the adolescent and the family systems were related significantly to educational aspirations and explained a significant proportion of the variance. A test for moderation by gender indicated that African American males’ average utilization of community resources was related significantly and positively to their educational aspirations. The findings suggest that by targeting both micro and macro levels of influence, interventions can be designed to foster higher aspirations among at-risk African American youth.