The Paradoxes of Pathways from College Aspirations to Attendance
Paradoxes of the Democratization of Higher Education
ISBN: 978-1-78635-234-7, eISBN: 978-1-78635-233-0
Publication date: 7 November 2016
Abstract
Research that tracks low-income populations across educational transitions contains threats to validity that can compromise evidence-based educational policy and practice. The Big Picture Longitudinal Study is a national, multiyear study that follows low-income urban youth who were accepted into college as high school seniors. Triangulating the results of multiple longitudinal data sources showed that reported college aspirations and enrollment intentions were inconsistently and differently reported by students and teachers in the final semester of high school. Relying on a particular data source and time can result in mistakenly equating college aspirations and enrollment behaviors, these findings suggest. In particular, secondary school educators’ inflated assumptions about their students’ college aspirations can obscure the need for supporting multiple pathways to college and work for low-income, first-generation high school seniors.
Citation
Arnold, K.D. and Wartman, K.L. (2016), "The Paradoxes of Pathways from College Aspirations to Attendance", Paradoxes of the Democratization of Higher Education (Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, Vol. 22), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 165-191. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0196-115220160000022006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017 Emerald Group Publishing Limited