Race Tracks: How Tracking Affects Black Students' Career and Educational Aspirations

• In Event: "Sensemaking" in Tracked and Detracking Schools by Students and Stakeholders

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how three Black students in the mainstream program at a magnet high school discussed their career aspirations. This research follows a case study methodology, and the collected data include field notes, face-to-face interview data from the three student participants, and the transcript of the two focus group meetings. The results indicate that while each of the participants aspired to attend college upon graduating from high school, disruption in their lives, their isolation from the social and cultural capital needed in order to successfully apply for colleges, and their academic status within their school would serve as hindrances in gaining access to the institutions that would help them accomplish their career aspirations.

Author

• Todd McCardle, Eastern Kentucky University