“Why do I want to do these plans? Well... ": Understanding the factors that shape the educational and career aspirations of Latinx Youth from Chicago

• In Event: Links Between Youth Contexts and Learning Opportunities: Structural Systems, Culture, and Everyday Experiences

Abstract

Having education and career aspirations is an important developmental goal for youth. A plethora of research has linked educational and career-related aspirations to future achievements (e.g., Beal & Crockett, 2010; Schoon & Polek, 2011). However, aspirations, and individuals’ ability to achieve them, are context-dependent, shaped by systemic (e.g., ethnicity, class, gender), and environmental (e.g., family, school, neighborhood) factors. While extant research has explored influences on youth’s educational and career aspirations, only a handful of studies have focused on Latinx youth from urban, under-resourced neighborhoods. Given the unique factors (e.g., culture, history, structural racism) that shape Latinx youth's development and the rapid growth of the Latinx population in the U.S., we need to better understand the contextual factors that influence Latinx youth's aspirations.
Data for this study come from a 15-year longitudinal study of Chicago youth. In 2018, a sub-sample of 16 Latinx (69% female) youth participated in an in-depth interview focused on youth’s post-high school plans and the decision-making process behind them. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using a team-based inductive approach to thematic analysis; the analysis identified the ways that family, school, and neighborhood shape youth’s educational and career aspirations while remaining open to identifying additional contextual influences (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The inductive approach occurred in six phases: we (1) familiarized ourselves with the data; (2) generated initial codes; (3) searched for themes; (4) reviewed themes; (5) defined and named themes; and (6) final analysis and write up of the results. Results reveal that Latinx youth discuss influences across various contexts, and that these influences play supporting and constraining roles. Alonzo, for example, talks about the intersections between family and school and how the support and messages from his mom and teacher forced him to rethink his choice to forgo attending college after graduating from high school, “I really don't know what's going to happen [in the future]. They’re always telling me to aim for something that would help your career, give you an idea of what you want to do for your future career. College can give you an idea of what you want to do for your future career.” We also see how constraints and opportunities shape aspirations. Alonzo's high school experiences, and the lack of support and resources he encountered there, served as motivation for his decision to pursue a career as an educator: “Eventually I want to be a principal, if I do teach there [high school], because I want to change the way that school is going… I want to be there, and I want to be that change. I feel like I can do it. I don’t know how. I just feel like I can do it.” Our study concludes with calls to understand the structural factors that prohibit youth from achieving their aspirations and recognizing agency as an expression of how young people create meaningful lives; doing so will aid educators and policymakers in supporting youth's transition into adulthood and aspirations for college.

Authors

• Juan Ramón Arvizu-Sevilla, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Amanda L. Roy, University of Illinois at Chicago