Between the fall of 2009 and 2019, total postsecondary instituion enrollment in the United States decreased by 5%, and for those students who do enroll in college, many who lack clear career objectives drop out, making the U.S. the nation with the highest college dropout rate in the industrialized world. Students' academic aspiratoins and career…

Recent research has increasingly been studying the long-lasting effects of secondary education structures and processes on higher education (HE) outcomes. While the influence of socioeconomic composition on higher education enrolment is established, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We posit that the composition effect partially runs…

Data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 were used to describe and compare postsecondary education enrollment patterns of first- and continuing-generation students. Social cognitive career theory was used to explain the processes of educational and career pursuit and attainment, as well as personal, behavioral, and…

American Indians (AIs) have lower higher education enrollment and completion rates than Whites and most minority groups. AI women, however, participate at higher rates than AI men, White women, and White men. Research has not examined what contributes to their higher education aspirations. This study explored the middle and high school experiences…

National surveys of the post-high school plans and aspirations of black and white high school seniors have been conducted for the past decade. Chances of college entry among blacks from 1977 through the mid-1980s have declined in contrast to the increasing college entry chances of whites. This paper analyses the plans of black and white seniors…

Literature used to support hypothesis that enrollment in high school mathematics plays critical role in determining careers in science provided no convincing evidence. Reexamination examination of data on gender differences in rate of decline in mathematics enrollments suggested differences were too small to account for large gender differences in…