Based on questionnaire survey data of recent PhD graduates, a quantitative analysis of the occupational orientation of Chinese PhD students engaged in academic research and the influencing factors is performed. The results show that factors such as gender, academic interest, and family background have a significant impact on PhD students' academic…

While access to higher education has increased for Indigenous Australians, participation and completion rates remain lower than those of non-Indigenous Australians. A sound evidence base is needed to ground equity initiatives if they are to address the specific needs of Indigenous students. This paper presents the results of a scoping review of…

The authors critique the mechanistic notion of aspirations running through much research and policy-making on educational and vocational outcomes. They present a performative model, with individuals drawing on limited social resources to express aspirations within constrained contexts. This argument is illustrated by discussion of the findings of…

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and work. This technical paper contains the questionnaire for the LSAY 2009 cohort Wave 3 (2011) data set.

This document was produced by the authors based on their research for the report "Lost talent? The occupational ambitions and attainments of young Australians", and is an added resource for further information. The purpose of this supplement is to provide greater detail about the background of research into the topic of human talent in…

Using a longitudinal study of a national sample of white males, this study clarifies how socialization is related to mobility in educational and occupational attainment. (Author/DE)

The paper represents a continuing effort at correcting misleading myths about the aspirations and expectations of disadvantaged rural youth. Useless or harmful policies and programs may result from the following erroneous assumptions: (1) that rural youth have low level aspirations for attainment; (2) that disadvantaged youth have low level…

Describes a longitudinal study which examined patterns of change in the life-goal aspirations and educational expectations of 2,786 women and men who graduated from the University of California, Davis, between 1968-79. Findings indicated that life-goal aspirations and educational expectations have changed over the decade of the 1970s. (Author/AM)

Describes a study which surveyed British parents about their educational and occupational aspirations for their children, their views on sexual equality, and their children's out-of-school activities. The messages which children receive about gender from their homes are contradictory, but not as uniformly traditional as many teachers assume.…

A follow-up study of the first students to finish the Third Cycle (grades 8, 9, and 10) under El Salvador's Educational Reform Program interviewed 400 students. It assessed their educational and career plans, examined the Reform's influence on them, and measured their attitudes toward their experience. Results showed that 90 percent were…

Explores whether Palestinian high school students in Jordan, compared with U.S. high school students in California, would aspire to higher academic goals and a narrower range of high-status occupations. Considers whether male students perceive greater family support and the relation between aspiration levels and socioeconomic status variables.…

Finds that, among 491 rural tenth and twelfth grade students: (1) over 60 percent expected to attend college; (2) most aspired to occupations with higher status than their parents'; and (3) students' plans for advanced education were strongly related to parental expectations. Contains 18 references. (SV)

One of a series on selected topics, this bibliography contains resource materials and research findings about aspirational needs of rural youth--including ethnic, male/female, and urban/rural comparisons. The 10 citations, published from 1966 to 1974, are drawn from "Resources in Education" (RIE), a monthly publication containing…

The purpose of this ongoing project is to provide financial aid administrators with a description of the College Investment Decision Study, while placing it in perspective in relation to the objectives of other recent microeconomic surveys: Project Talent, National Longitudinal Study, Thorndike-NBER Panel, PSAT Study, SCOPE Study, and Growth…

The first in a series of 4 studies based on data collected from 1,844 high school students in Canada, this study examined eleventh and twelfth grade students from 2 rural Manitoba sample areas and from 2 large suburban high schools in metropolitan Winnipeg. This study focused on the educational and occupational aspiration levels and 10 selected…