alignment of their ambitions more complex than it is for their peers living in advantaged suburban or rural
areas. On the one hand, these youths aspire to fame or fortune through the sports, fashion, or music industries
in the ways they have seen portrayed in the media (Carter 2005; Collins 2004; Solomon 1992). On the other
hand, these youths also, almost without exception, say they want to go to college even though their career
goals do not require a college degree. This aspiration reflects what James Rosenbaum and colleagues have
called a “college for all” ideology, pervasive in U.S. high schools and the larger society (Rosenbaum 2001).
Our research describes two conceptual categories that emerge from the Gautreaux Two youth
interviews. The first set of responses is from those respondents with aligned educational, career, and family
goals who can articulate a plan to achieve them. A second set describes respondents who may have high
educational or occupational goals, but for whom they are not aligned. These students seem to hold separate
educational, occupational, and family goals. It is these students that may reflect competing ideologies of
achievement for disadvantaged urban youth. In this research, we also explore how alignment of ambitions is
influenced by the youth’s age, parental education and employment, involvement of father, siblings, or
extended family, peers, schools, and neighborhoods. Finally, even among those with coherent plans for
achieving their educational, occupational, and educational goals, there are structural factors that impede their
actualization that may be especially relevant in the lives of urban poor youths. Even those with high
educational and occupational ambitions that are aligned may face obstacles to achieving them that their
middle-class peers may not face. These youths recognize that even these “aligned” ambitions do not easily
translate into actual educational and occupational attainment. We explore youths’ perceptions of the
obstacles to realizing their plans in the last part of our analysis.
Aligning Educational, Occupational, and Family Expectations
Because educational and occupational aspirations and expectations are strong predictors of future
adult outcomes, research is often focused on their determinants (e.g. Cheng and Starks 2002; Goyette and
Xie 1999). Recent research suggests that it is not enough to hold these ambitions, though. Rather, the ability
to shape educational and occupational aspirations into plans to achieve them is a crucial component of being
able to realize high aspirations (Hoelter 1982). This matching of educational and career goals can be
contrasted to the “college for all” ideology recognized by Rosenbaum and colleagues (2001). Rosenbaum
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Convention