Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Research finds that youths who are able to align their educational and occupational ambitions are better able to realize both; and families, peers, and schools can play important roles in this process. In this paper, we explore how youths align their future ambitions, adding to this work in two important ways. First, we consider not only the alignment of educational and occupational ambitions, but also how youths’ family plans intersect with these. Second, we explore the alignment of ambitions among a group of youths who may be considered socially marginalized, those who have grown up in public housing. We use qualitative data from the Gautreaux Two Program in Chicago, which gave families in existing public housing vouchers to move to more advantaged areas. Our sample includes in-depth qualitative interviews with 93 children included in the study. Our results show that there are two groups of youths – one group whose ambitions are aligned, and one whose ambitions are misaligned. The narratives of the youths whose ambitions are at odds reflect the ways in which competing ideologies of success for inner-city children can lead to misaligned aspirations, and both groups of youths discuss the difficulties they face in realizing their ambitions.