In social groups, such as school-based peer networks, youth often vie for power and dominance over others. Different strategies may be used to gain power (i.e., coercive and/or cooperative strategies), and with varying levels of success. Using a social networks approach, we examined whether and how social network centrality and social network…

This study investigated the role of school context in changes in the behaviors associated with having high social status during early adolescence. Three waves of surveys were collected from students (N = 542, 53% girls; 44% Black, 44% White, 5% Hispanic/Latinx, and 7% other; 60% free/reduced-fee lunch) in the middle of their sixth, seventh, and…

In Turkey, students are placed in a high school according to the scores they receive from a large-scale transition exam. Although the assessment procedures have shown changes over time, scores of this exam still play a vital role in students being accepted into a prestigious high school, which may also be an initial step for their prospective…

This study presents a conceptual and evidentiary study pertaining to the micro and macro level factors influencing the achievement gap among migrant children from a cross-national standpoint. First, this study provides the most systematic investigation of the immigrant educational paradox theory, which asserts that on average, immigrants'…

Research on factors affecting the prestige of engineering and blue-collar occupations in Russia shows that, in addition to such things as intrinsic interest and expected income, young people's views are influenced by the kinds of people who typically go into various kinds of occupation.

This study examined the influence of gender, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity on the career aspirations of over 22,000 8th and 10th grade youth. The top five occupations identified by youth as aspirations included artist, lawyer, musician, FBI agent, and actor/actress. Top occupations were also reported for each gender x socioeconomic…

Using the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) data sets, the complex phenomenon of intra-individual and inter-individual differences in and the potential predictors of those differences on career aspirations development over a 12-year period was analyzed. Results indicated that 73.1% of the total growth (change) in adolescents'…

A recent review of data provided by the New York City Department of Education reveals that African-American charter school students were 60 percent more likely than their public school counterparts to earn a seat in one of New York City's specialized high schools in 2009. For Hispanics, the rate of acceptance was twice as high for charter school…