Family structure variables as predictors of educational and vocational aspirations of high school seniors

This paper reports the results of an examination of educational and vocational aspirations of high school studentsby family structure variables. The data is from the High School and Beyond (NCES) data set. Differences are described and the implications for further research are discussed. The exrsting research on student aspirations has examined a broad array of variables. Many of the studies have been conducted with high school students as samples, with a few longitudinal studies following their samples into early adulthood. Rural-urban, socioeconomic, gender and race differences have been explored. The purpose of this paper was to explore, with a nationally representative data base, the effects of family structure variables on the educational and vocational aspiration of high school students. While there was a relative abundance of research on adolescents ' aspirations in the 1960's and early 1970's, there was a paucity of research on this subject in the later 1970's and 1980's. More recently there has been a revival of interest (McIntire