The purpose of this study was to explore the postsecondary educational and occupational expectations of work-bound rural youth. Three groups of work-bound youth were identified (work-bound, work-bound with future educational plans, and work-bound but unsure/undecided about postsecondary education), and each group was compared to college-bound…

Of 883 Iowa high school seniors, 60% lived in towns, 40% on farms. Both groups had a high level of congruence between educational and occupational aspirations and perceived minimal barriers to goal achievement. Farm and town students had equally diverse aspirations. (Contains 23 references.) (SK)

Panel studies examined changes in the educational and occupational aspirations of 191 rural Ohio youth. The 1988 survey questions were similar to those asked in a study conducted 3 years earlier when subjects were 10th and 12th graders. Major findings were: (1) the influence of school personnel on student career and curriculum choices was less…

This paper examines rural high school students' educational and occupational expectations and their relationships to personal, educational, school, and family characteristics. Questionnaires were distributed to all 10th and 12th graders in four small rural high schools in diverse geographic regions of Ohio. Almost all of the 491 respondents were…

A two-phase study assessed the extent to which a set of variables predicted rural secondary students' likelihood of continuing to college and sought to determine predictors of rural students' academic success at the completion of first-year university study. Participants were drawn from seven state coeducational secondary schools in the Riverina…

This paper examines the relationships between high school curriculum (academic, general, and vocational) and students' occupational and educational aspirations in rural schools. The study was conducted in Ohio and then replicated in Southwest Georgia. In Ohio, 767 predominantly white rural senior students completed a questionnaire and the…

The nonmetropolitan dropout rate fell sharply, 1975-93, closing the nonmetro-metro gap. National longitudinal data on dropout risk factors related to family, community, and local labor market reveal that low parental education and income are the greatest barriers to reducing rural dropouts. High school students had unrealistic educational and…

Gifted females have less frequently sought high-prestige and high-income careers due to a number of barriers. Some barriers are related to society's expectations of women, and others are related to the workplace itself. The most limiting and pervasive barrier is "sex role socialization's impact on the child's developing self-belief system"…

The study contributed to further understanding of the educational and occupational aspirations of Louisiana rural seniors during 1968 and 1972 and of rural seniors from throughout the United States and the South in 1972. Of the variables used, i.e., time, location, sex, and race, two variables were significant on levels of aspiration time and…

In a national sample of 10,416 high school seniors, rural students had lower educational and occupational aspirations than urban or suburban students, but rural students' aspirations were consistent with the perceived expectations of their parents and teachers. (SV)

An ethnographic study of high school seniors in a small rural midwestern high school revealed that, although there was a lack of direct parent and community involvement, the small cohesive class of 30 students constructed a school culture that promoted participation, cooperation, high expectations, and academic achievement. (LP)

Questionnaires were administered to 73 sophomore and senior high school students in 3 isolated rural Alaska towns (Adak, Unalaska, and Dillingham) to study the effects of socio-economic factors on rural Alaskan youth's educational aspirations and expectations. Because of a military-supported economy, Adak was a typical middle class American…

Results of surveys (in 1967, 1973, and 1978-1979) of nonmetropolitan Mexican American high school sophomores from South Texas indicated that, although broad similarities existed between males and females, there were also specific patterned gender differences in social behavior and orientations. In status projection levels, particularly educational…

As part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture research project on young adults, a questionnaire was distributed in the fall of 1977 to all agriculture science and home economics students at the University of Puerto Rico in order to determine their personal and parental backgrounds; work, college, and high school experiences; life goals and attitudes…