Lower Educational Aspirations Research Articles

Cultural conflicts and problem behaviors of Latino adolescents in home and school environments

This empirical study examines the behavioral sequelae of acculturation strains among Latino adolescents in home ans school settings. Two theoretically derived hypotheses are tested. First, low acculturation Latinos experiencing strains associated wsith rapid cultural and language transitions will have more behavior problems reported by their parents and teachers. Second, highly acculturated Latinos reporting more acculturation strains. associated with perceptions of prejudical treatment and internalization of inority status will have more behavior problems reported by aprents and teachers. The data were taken from the self-reports of 2,360 adolescents in the greater Miami (Florida) area, ans their teacher ans parent reports. problem behaviors were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist and the Teacher Report Form. Strain measures included language conflicts, acculturation conflicts, perceived discrimination, and perception of a closed society. Results indicated general confirmation of both hypotheses. Among immigrant adolescents only language confilicts were associated with reported behavior problems reported by teachers and parents. Among the U.S. born, language conficts, perceived discrimination, and perceptions ofa closed society were associated with behavior problems reported by teachers but not by parents. The central finding is that both immigrant and nonimmigrant Latino adolescents are likely to experience a variety of acculturative strains in the school setting that may affect role performance and lower educational aspirations.

Adolescent Sexual Activity: An Ecological, Risk-Factor Approach

Understanding the factors that influence an adolescent's decision to have sexual intercourse has important implications for theory, policy and practice. Because sexual intercourse is the single most important determinant of pregnancy, a fuller understanding of the factors related to heterosexual sexual activity is central to addressing the issue of teenage pregnancy. In addition, the current AIDS epidemic, along with the proliferation of other diseases that can be transmitted through sexual contact, make early sexual intercourse a potentially serious health hazard. Over the past two decades there has been a steady increase in the number of teenagers who are sexually active (Moore, 1992). In 1988, 52% of females aged from 15 to 19 had had premarital sexual intercourse, compared to only 29% in 1970. The birth rate among 15- to 17-year-old teens increased by 19% from 1986 to 1989. In addition, of the 12 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases that are estimated to occur annually, adolescents account for one quarter of those infected (Moore, 1992). In recent years a growing body of research has reported on the antecedents and correlates of sexual intercourse during the adolescent years. Numerous factors have been identified as being related to heterosexual adolescent sexual activity. They include poor school performance and low educational aspirations, alcohol and marijuana use, early pubertal development, low SES, living in a single-parent family, low religiosity, frequent dating with the same partner, and having a mother who was an early childbearer (Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1989; Flick, 1986; Hayes, 1987). Other factors that have been less extensively studied but have been linked to early sexual activity are a history of sexual abuse (Butler & Burton, 1990), a lack of positive experiences in school (Quinton & Rutter, 1988), poor neighborhood characteristics (Moore, Peterson, & Furstenberg, 1986), and a perception of poor employment prospects (Dash, 1989). The relationship between some variables and early heterosexual sexual activity remains ambiguous. For example, parental supervision was associated with less sexual activity in one study (Hogan & Kitagawa, 1984) but was unrelated in others (Inazu & Fox, 1980; Newcomer & Udry, 1983). Likewise, evidence regarding the degree to which peers influence sexual behavior is unclear (Hayes, 1987). There is some evidence that suggests that teens are more likely to be sexually active if they perceive that many of their peers are also sexually active (Flick, 1986). While there have been many studies that have examined disparate factors related to early sexual activity, fewer studies have integrated these multiple factors into a unified understanding of the causes and correlates of adolescent sexual intercourse. Exceptions to this include the work of Day (1992) and Udry and Billy (1987). In contrast to these past multivariate studies, the present investigation employs a cumulative risk approach and uses Bronfenbrenner's (1979, 1989) ecological perspective as a framework for organizing the risk factors that are examined. Borrowing from the field of epidemiology, a number of behavioral scientists have begun to employ a risk factor approach to the study of such diverse social problems as drug use (Newcomb, Maddahian, & Bentler, 1986), psychopathology (Rutter, 1978), and low intellectual achievement (Sameroff, Seifer, Barocas, Zax, & Greenspan, 1987). This approach suggests that there are probably many diverse paths to the development of a particular behavior (Newcomb, Maddahian, & Bentler, 1986) and that efforts to find a single cause may not be useful because most behaviors have multiple causes. Werner and Smith (1982) define risk factors as individual or environmental hazards that increase an individual's vulnerability to negative developmental outcomes. The presence of risk factors does not guarantee a negative outcome will occur, but simply increases the probability of its occurrence. …

An investigation of the college and career counseling needs of economically disadvantaged, minority gifted students

This study is an investigation of the college and career counseling needs of economically disadvantaged, academically gifted minority students. Two groups of students were studied and compared ‐ one group of 50 low‐income students, predominantly minority, who were chosen for a special college counseling program, and a second group of 42 middle to high income students, predominantly Asian and Caucasian, who were participating in a summer academic program. Students were compared on college plans and preparations, aspirations and expectations about higher education, support from others, motivation, values, and career interests and maturity. Results showed that the gifted disadvantaged students had lower educational aspirations, felt somewhat less prepared for college and less confident about being admitted, had unrealistic ideas about how to finance college, and perceived that college life would be more frightening and lonely compared to nondisadvantaged students. Student groups were similar in motivation to...

Relationships of teenage smoking to educational aspirations and parents' education

This study analyzes data for white high school seniors from the 1985 Monitoring the Future national survey. Students who had less educated parents or lower educational aspirations were more likely to have tried a cigarette, more likely to have adopted cigarette smoking, and less likely to have quit smoking. These students also had more favorable attitudes toward smoking, and reported greater acceptance of smoking by their friends. In addition, the students with less educated parents or lower educational aspirations appeared to be more rejecting of adult authority and more predisposed to adopt adult behaviors, and these characteristics, in turn, were associated with smoking more. The results of multivariate analyses support the hypothesis that these students have experienced less success in school and are more likely to adopt behaviors characteristic of adults as an alternative source of status and gratification, and this contributes to their higher rates of smoking.

Finishing College: The Effects of College Type

This study uses multivariate analysis to determine the odds that a sample of high school seniors will earn a bachelor's degree. The study compares the effects of attending two-year and four-year colleges and finds that where one starts college drastically affects the chances of completing the baccalaureate. Students who start in two-year colleges are less likely to finish than students who start in four-year colleges. However, other variables, such as religious background (i.e., being Jewish), educational aspirations, academic performance in college, participation in a work-study program, and living on campus, exert substantial positive effects on finishing. The study finds that nonwhite students with low educational aspirations are more likely to finish college than similar white students, but white students with high aspirations are more likely to finish than comparable nonwhite students.

The Psychocultural Origins of Achievement and Achievement Motivation: The Mexican-American Family

This study examines the effects of variations in self-concept of ability, achievement motivation, values, and aspirations among Mexican-American and Anglo-American junior high school students on their achievement. Analyses of data from a sample of 87 Mexican-American and 39 AngloAmerican students indicated that Mexican-American students, regardless of the amount of English spoken in the home, had lower self-concepts of ability; experienced less democratic parental independence training; had fatalistic, present-time orientations; had a high striving orientation; and held lower educational aspirations than their Anglo-American peers. The results of this study suggest that the typical explanations given by educators for the failure of Mexican-American students are seriously in error. Contrary to these explanations, Mexican-American students were found to come from homes where education was stressed and the parents encouraged their children to do well in school. Instead, these students' depressed achievement was found to be related to values and experiences associated with the culture of poverty, specifically low self-concepts of ability; fatalistic, presenttime orientation; and non-democratic child rearing experiences.

Differences between Economically Disadvantaged Students Who Volunteer and Do not Volunteer for Economic Opportunity Programs

This article reports a study of differences between lower socioeconomic status high school students who volunteered and did not volunteer for a federally sponsored Work Training Program. Contrary to hypothesized differences, it appears that students who volunteer are likely to be students for whom life chances are otherwise poorest in terms of lower school achievement levels, lower academic support from parents and friends, lower self-conceptions of academic ability, lower educational aspirations, and lower occupational plan levels. Only in the area of teacher support for academic achievement did the volunteers exceed the nonvolunteers. There was no difference in academic ability for volunteers and nonvolunteers as measured by intelligence tests. It is concluded that those who sought to avail themselves of economic and educational opportunities were those for whom compensatory programs were developed.