Tests the hypothesis that migrants from their communities of origin have higher status aspirations or greater prospects for socioeconomic success. Finds only modest evidence to support this hypothesis among rural youth, and reports that only among White males are occupational and residential aspirations linked. (Author/ST)

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,…

Using two panel studies which collectively covered the preadolescent-to-young adulthood period in the life cycle, the study focused on the issues of level of aspiration formation, stability, and race-sex subgroup invariance. The panel studies collected data from youths from (1) rural areas with towns of 2,500 or less and urban areas with cities of…

This report examines the extent and process by which rural origins may affect socioeconomic attainments in adulthood and how these "costs" have changed during this century. Introductory sections review research and theories of rural differentiation and stratification and the history of major federal policy initiatives for rural…