Statement of Purpose and Method of Study: A narrative qualitative methodology was used to examine the pathway of women superintendents within Mississippi. This study explored the superintendency for women seeking to ascend. Among the nation's 13,728 superintendents (U.S. Department of Education, 2019), only 1,984 are women, and of the 142…

Background/Context: School districts across the United States face persistent difficulties recruiting and retaining teachers (García & Weiss, 2019; Schmitt & deCourcy, 2022). Over the last decade, every state in the south has faced a growing teacher shortage, with some facing shortages in all grades and subjects (U.S. Department of…

A study was conducted to discover the career interests that second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade students have. The sample included 20 second-, 25 fourth-, and 20 sixth-grade students in 3 schools in Mississippi. The students were administered a questionnaire asking them to rate 12 career areas: artistic, scientific, nature, authority, mechanical,…

The central purpose of this research was to provide vocational educators in general, and agricultural educators in particular, with insights into the occupational aspirations, expectations, and interests of rural male seniors. Specific objectives of the research were (1) to compare occupational aspirations, expectations, and interests of seniors…

Examines how well structural and social psychological variables explain occupational aspirations of 447 rural, low-income southern youth during preadolescence, adolescence, and young adulthood (contacts were made in 1969, 1975, and 1979). Finds results vary from Ginsburg's theory of three stages with occupational expectations declining rapidly…

All sophomores, juniors, and seniors (N=133) in the Bureau of Indian Affairs high school on the Mississippi Choctaw reservation were surveyed for purposes of testing the following hypotheses: (1) the Choctaw subsociety will differ from the larger society in its evaluation of the relative status positions of occupations; (2) the Choctaw youth will…

A summary of the 1966-1979 Southern Youth Study (SYS), a 4-wave longitudinal research project intended to produce information on career development and decision-making processes and influences of rural southern youth from economically-disadvantaged counties, presents data collection procedures, an overview of instruments and variables,…

A survey was conducted in spring 1975 of 929 full-time male students enrolled in eight of 20 postsecondary vocational centers in Mississippi. Representing 20% of the total state center enrollment, the sample was 35% black and 65% white, with black representation comparable to the population in the geographic areas studied. Findings included the…