city schools. However, some youth discuss the help they got from their schools. Omar explains how a teacher
at his school talks to him about college:
My teacher, my Survey Lit teacher, Miss Niley, once again has talked to me about college…Like
she’s brung up colleges that, she said if I plan on bein’ like a architect or something like this, the
kind of college that I should plan on attending.
Felicia talks about a counselor at school who helps with the college preparation process by encouraging
students to think about where they want to go to college and how to apply. These examples emphasize the
importance of considering the resources and assistance schools provide to youth in the process of pursuing
their educational and career expectations.
Obstacles
As the neighborhood effects literature shows, individual outcomes are the result of more than
individual expectations and are influenced by both family level and neighborhood level characteristics. Thus,
when analyzing youths’ educational, occupation, and family expectations, it is important to keep in mind
their family and neighborhood contexts to understand the ways that these contexts both shape youths’
expectations as well as create possible obstacles to realizing those expectations.
Financial Constraints
For most of the youths in the Gautreaux Two program, the lack of sufficient family finances
influences a variety of spheres of their lives, and these financial constraints come into play when considering
educational goals. These youths do not have the luxury of dreaming about college without considering the
financial obstacles, and many of these youths also have difficulty accessing information about funding for
college. Dominique is a 12 year-old female who says that she wants to go to college but does not know who
is going to pay for it. Felicia is 14 and plans to go into the Navy because she cannot afford college. She says:
[I want to be] a lawyer or a basketball player. But since we are not stable to pay for college, then I’m
going to go into the Navy. And I’m going to go into a subject and they’re going to help me pay for it
and stuff.
Schools
Danielle is a 16 year-old female who lives in Humboldt Park – her family did not move out of public
housing. Her mom has her GED and after working at UPS and McDonald’s, she is now unemployed.
Danielle attends a school near Humboldt Park and says that she wants to go to college and become a lawyer.
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Convention