Fleeing the Nest or Staying Close? How Family and Place Shape Rural Adolescents' Postsecondary Outcomes

• In Event: 14.046 - Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: 14.046-5 - College Student Adjustment: Health, Well-Being, and Achievement Outcomes

Abstract

Despite reporting high educational aspirations, rural youth continue to exhibit lower college enrollment and completion rates compared with their suburban and urban peers (Byun et al., 2012; Meece et al., 2013, 2014). In an effort to understand the influences that drive postsecondary enrollment among rural youth, a nationwide and contemporary sample of rural students (N= 3,915) was utilized to investigate how perceptions of family and place relate to educational aspirations and college enrollment. Results provided evidence that adolescents’ connections to family and place both directly and indirectly shape college enrollment, with gender playing a large role in these relations. Results highlight the importance and differential effects of family and place in the postsecondary trajectories of rural men and women.

Authors

• Charlotte A. Agger, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Judith L. Meece, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Soo-yong Byun, The Pennsylvania State University