According to Eccles' expectancy-value model of achievement motivation, students' expectations and values relate to their performance and are influenced by goals and identities. When specific identities are important to an individual the tasks associated with them will have value and the individual will be motivated to act them out. This study…

This paper examines the critical transition from undergraduate to graduate biomedical education and focuses on Hispanic/Latinx students who participated in a biomedical undergraduate research program at a Hispanic-Serving Institution located on the US-Mexico border. We use the community cultural wealth (CCW) framework to analyze 13 qualitative…

Aspirations and expectations are conceptually and empirically different. Given their differential impact on various educational outcomes, it is expected that they, and consequently their convergence, would be affected by different factors. This study examines the factors leading to high aspirations, high expectations and to their alignment by…

This study used a longitudinal, probability sample survey, Understanding Society COVID-19, to examine young people's post-16 educational aspirations at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular emphasis on four vulnerable groups (namely, young carers; Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic young people; young people with long-term illness…

The interest in educational and professional aspirations of students transiting to post-secondary education has gained prominence in academic debates and policy agendas internationally. Political interventions for raising aspirations quite often draw on narrow instrumental and rationalistic assumptions of individual decision-making that, as we…

Although incarcerated individuals have committed potentially 'immoral' crimes, many are also parents, and need to foster their children's moral development. As such, incarcerated parents occupy a paradoxical position: they are labelled as morally deviant yet simultaneously expected to provide moral guidance for their children. This study explores…

The rate of emigration of highly educated people from the Caribbean is one of the highest in the world but little research exists on this phenomenon. This paper helps to fill this gap by focusing on one particular subset of Caribbean skilled emigrants, those working in higher education in the US, including academics and administrators. Drawing on…

The purpose of this phenomenological investigation was to explore the lived experiences of rural high school counselors when providing career development services. Several key themes emerged, including (a) contextual factors, (b) direct services, (c) indirect services, (d) rewarding aspects, and (e) challenging aspects. The findings support…

Understanding the educational aspirations of diverse groups among statistics majors provides insight into the discipline of statistics. This study utilizes multi-institution data from the 2019 and 2020 administrations of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to explore educational aspirations for statistics majors through comparisons to…

This study examined the long-term effects of perceived educational and career barriers due to sexism and racism in college students' pursuit of postgraduate education (PE) and how such effects were different across gender and racial majority/minority groups. With a sample of 2,717 undergraduate students, results from multinomial logistic…

To address social inequality, many western governments have sought to pursue principles of 'widening participation' as a key policy response in higher education. Though originally intended to complement social justice policy agendas, alignment of education policies with broader neoliberal policy frameworks has led policymakers, such as those in…

This study uses the Education Longitudinal Survey of 2002 (ELS:2002) to examine how varying levels of intention (planning) and action (choice) in pursuing a science-based major affect American college students' degree attainment in Science and Engineering (S&E) fields by age 26. The study is guided by the Social Cognitive Career Theory's…

In this research article, Stephany Cuevas explores how undocumented Latina/o parents are engaged in their children's higher education goals and aspirations. Specifically, she investigates how the constraints created by the consequences of their undocumented immigration status, or their "illegality," impact this engagement. Through…

Higher education for females is an indicator of development, democracy and gender equity, particularly necessary for a nation like Cameroon which attempts to become an emerging country by 2035. Hence, this paper is focused on ascertaining female aspirations to higher education for access and effective participation. In so doing, a study that…

A culturally inclusive curriculum has increasingly been considered beneficial to all students. The national Australian Curriculum set out to be inclusive, containing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority. Some education discourses can assume however that inclusion is an unproblematic good, and a…