Developmental Pathways to Post-High School Planning among Minoritized Adolescents

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Over the past two decades, college enrollment has increased among individuals of minoritized ethnic and racial groups in the U.S. (Coca et al., 2017; McFarland et al., 2019). However, such patterns mask differences in students’ choices to forgo or delay college enrollment, transfer between colleges, and attend two- or four-year institutions (Coca et al., 2017). Existing research sheds light on factors within singular developmental periods as possible predictors of educational attainment, however, it does not examine unique elements across childhood and adolescence as contributors to heterogeneous post-high school plans (Beal & Crockett, 2010; Magnuson et al., 2016; McClelland et al., 2013). This study seeks to advance knowledge on the developmental pathways which may lead to varying college and work plans among ethnic and racial minority teens from low-income backgrounds. It is hypothesized that adolescent characteristics will be the most salient, given that they shape current contexts for teens, and that early childhood factors will also emerge as predictors, given their foundational role for future academic and career success.

Data were drawn from a longitudinal study spanning from 2004 to 2019 with racial and ethnic minority families from low-income backgrounds (n = 602; see Table 1 for descriptive statistics). Preliminary analyses focus on teens’ post-high school plans, academic achievement, self-regulation, and behavior problems during preschool, as well as 4, 6, and 12 years after preschool. Children’s self-regulation and academic ability were directly assessed among preschoolers (Smith-Donald et al., 2007), reported by teachers during middle childhood, and evaluated by parents during adolescence (Gioia et al., 2000; McCoy et al., 2011; Patton et al., 1995). Behavior problems were rated by teachers during preschool (Zill, 1990) and middle childhood (Achenbach, 1991), as well as by parents during adolescence (Zill, 1990). Adolescents indicated their likelihood of attending a 4-year college, community college, vocational college, and full-time work after high school.

Preliminary analyses suggest that college and work plans are linked with self-regulation and behavior problems during all three developmental periods (see Table 2). Teens’ plans to attend a 4-year college were associated with greater self-regulation and fewer behavior problems during adolescence. Conversely, plans to attend community college and vocational programs were linked with less self-regulation and more behavior problems. Furthermore, academic skills during early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence were negatively related to teens’ plans to attend vocational school. Teens’ high school grades, as well as reading skills in second grade, were negatively correlated with plans to attend community college, but positively correlated with plans to attend a 4-year college.

These findings suggest that academic achievement and cognitive factors, from early childhood through adolescence, are influential for the college and career aspirations of ethnic and racial minority teens from low-income backgrounds. Next steps for this research include testing multivariate models that simultaneously account for predictors during early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. Individual, family, school, and neighborhood predictors will also be examined. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of diverse developmental trajectories and post-secondary planning among racial and ethnic minority adolescents of low-income backgrounds.

Authors

• Maria Radulescu, Loyola University Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Zahra Naqi, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amanda Boyer, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Bailey Sanderson, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rohini Maddigunta, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christine Pajunar Li-Grining, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amanda L. Roy, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author