The scope of this paper covered preliminary analyses and findings on historical change in occupational aspirations, occupational expectations, and intensity and aspiration of black and white Southern youths from an East Texas rural high school. Comparisons were made by race and sex only to illuminate historical changes. Surveys of approximately…

Identical instruments and procedures were used to collect data on military orientations from 98 Black boys who attended predominantly Black high schools in nonmetropolitan East Texas and 111 Blacks attending an all-Black high school in Houston, Texas, during the spring, 1966. The hypotheses tested were (1) that nonmetropolitan Black boys have more…

The largest attitudinal difference found between rural and urban students was that fewer rural than urban students would like to attend academic programs after high school graduation. A more extensive discussion of findings is given in ED 148 510. (KR)

Studies regarding status aspirations among Mexican-American youth have presumed that life goals are integrated and congruent. An alternative line of inquiry is suggested which questions these assumptions and specifies types of conflicts that may arise among occupational, educational, and familial orientations. (Author)

A need existed for instruments to measure status isomorphs for either income or political influence in the process of status attainment. To provide a base on which to build further work, instruments were developed in this project by which to measure youth's aspirations for and their significant others' expectations for the youth's future levels of…

Recent studies have applied causal models to the formation of educational and occupational attitudes. Although some were conceived and conducted for purposes other than the analysis of status attainment processes, a powerful synthesizing perspective would be to treat them as studies of components of incomplete general attainment models. This study…

A sample of 176 Tennessee children and their mothers were studied in 1969 when the children were fifth or sixth graders and again in 1975 when they were eleventh or twelfth graders to determine changes in occupational and educational aspirations and expectations along with possible causes for such changes. Comparison of occupational aspirations…

The causal linkage between socioeconomic status, occupational and educational aspiration, and attainment was examined in this attempt to test an existing theoretical model which used socioeconomic status as a major input variable, with significant other influence as a crucial intervening variable between socioeconomic status and aspiration. The…

The paper discusses the aspiration problems that rural students confront each day. By exploring their background and family life styles, it is hoped that some sort of understanding of their aspiration problems could aid the school counselors. The paper is divided into 4 main discussions: (1) characteristics of rural life, (2) problems of rural…

The paper served as a report on research in progress that attempted to evaluate the effects of group disparity on the occupational choice of southern high school students. It focused specifically on the aspiration choices of 8,802 tenth grade students in 4 southern states: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. The relative effects of…

The purpose of this paper is to examine some factors which may have an effect on occupational choice and perceived goal-blockage of high school students in 2 selected geographical areas. The factors examined are residence, race, education, and self-concept. Group I consisted of 264 male and female black high school seniors in Louisiana. The rural…

In 1975, questionnaires were given to 587 sophomores and seniors in 12 rural high schools. Findings included significant differences between ethnic groups on expected and desired family size and marriage age; but no differences between age groups. (Author/SJL)

Situational obstacles stemming from cultural and economic circumstances (migrant status, time away from school for work, etc.) were observed to have at least as much influence on the Mexican American child's educational and occupational aspirations as the more commonly stressed family interaction variables such as parental aspiration and emphasis…

THE VALUE ORIENTATION OF MANY RURAL YOUTH FAILS TO BRING ABOUT SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION INTO THE COUNTRY'S LABOR FORCE. THIS FAILURE IS MORE PRONOUNCED WITH THOSE YOUTH WHO EXPERIENCE EXTREME ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE FROM A MINORITY GROUP SUCH AS NEGROES, SPANISH AMERICANS, OR INDIANS. THE GOVERNMENT HAS A RESPONSIBILITY FOR…

The project was designed to follow up a specific population of young men from 11 rural counties in eastern Kentucky, who at the time of the study in 1960 had been out of the eighth grade for 10 years. The sample consisted of 307 men taken from eighth grade enrollment lists for the school year 1949-50. The purpose of the study was to investigate…