Career aspirations are a crucial aspect of future adult development for individuals of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. However, Black emerging adult men may face specific challenges and obstacles that can hinder the formation of career aspirations. Social and economic disadvantages, racism, and development in low-resourced constrained…

The dynamic interplay of parental educational aspirations and children's academic self-concept was examined from late childhood through mid-adolescence within a transactional socialization framework. Parental and child data were gained from a representative Swiss sample within 3-year intervals (N[subscript T1] = 1118; 51% females; 28% migration…

Scholars have argued that, on average, immigrant students are 'optimists' and have higher educational aspirations than non-migrant students after accounting for students' socio-economic background and educational performance. However, ethnic minority groups, which proxy the different origin backgrounds of migrants, may show mixed findings in terms…

Despite high college expectations and enrollments among young people, their trajectories through higher education have become increasingly complex. Even after initially starting as "traditional" students, many college graduates are only able to complete a bachelor's degree after a series of stops and starts across multiple institutions.…

This article shows the significance of college-going aspiration in the future identities of young girls and the sources of such influence in their worlds. Using the figured worlds theory, the paper analyzes the process and implications of these young girls' college-going aspirations. Drawing on interviews and observations with nineteen young girls…

This article focuses on the need identified by African Canadian students for a "racial oasis" -- a physical space designed to increase their exposure to positive racial identities -- which can support them in developing a community of support among peers who understand the effects of anti-Black racism, and to identify strategies for…

Academic motivation enables students to face challenges in their studies and is important for student performance. Academic self-concept refers to students' perceptions of their competencies and ability to learn. The goal of the study was to evaluate academic motivation and self-concept of undergraduate optometry students. We used a mixed methods…

Little research has explored individuals' multilingual selves when learning a language other than English (LOTE) in conflict-affected situations. Therefore, this qualitative study sought to understand the motivation and ultimate vision of a group of internally displaced Syrians learning Turkish as an L3 or L4 in Afrin on the Syrian-Turkish border.…

This paper reports on a project in the North of England that looks at the college-to-university decision-making processes of non-traditional students through the conceptual lens of 'Possible Selves', as initially developed by Markus and Nurius (1986) and applied to higher education by Harrison (2018), Henderson (2019) and others. Our data involves…

Latina high school students aspiring to careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) participated in the year-long Latina STEM Fellowship (LSF) program. A team of education professionals interviewed the students to better understand how these Latina students visualize a future STEM career, their perceived…

In this study I examine the academic self-concept (ASC) of students who changed from vocational to academic tracking at the transition to upper secondary education in Germany. I ask (1) how their ASC differs to the ASC of their established peers in academic tracking, and (2) how their ASC is affected by the change in the learning environment.…

This study focuses on the disparities between the educational aspirations and expectations of high school students in the U.S., and explores why students do not expect to earn a bachelor's degree despite their aspirations. Using a national dataset and logistic/multinomial logistic regression analyses, the study identified the factors associated…

Using a unique database from Hungarian primary schools, this study investigates whether academic self-assessment and educational aspirations differ between Roma minority and non-Roma majority students with similar cognitive skills and abilities. I find that Roma students have lower self-assessment, on average, than their non-Roma classmates with…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore Somos Escritoras, a creative space and writing workshop, for Latina adolescent girls (grades 6-8), as a program that supports not only writing and literacy development of girls, but also their college going identities. Design/methodology/approach: This is a case study focused on the experiences of…

We use detailed survey data linked to administrative records from secondary schools in England to investigate potential channels contributing to the socio-economic gap in post-compulsory educational aspirations. We investigate the role of experiences and attitudes including the provision of information, advice and guidance (IAG), bullying…