Sociopolitical development and vocational expectations among lower socioeconomic status adolescents of color.

Vocational expectations represent the job or career that individuals believe they will likely attain in the future (Baly, 1989) and play an important role in organizing adolescents' behavior toward the career development process (Super, 1980), such as the development of the occupational self-concept. Additionally, occupational expectations are generally predictive of adolescents' occupational attainment as adults (Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996). From an emancipatory communitarian perspective to career development (Blustein, McWhirter, & Perry, 2005), the sociopolitical context of adolescents also influences their occupational expectations. For example, sociopolitical barriers such as racism (Hellenga, Aber, & Rhodes, 2002) and classism (Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996) have a negative impact upon the occupational expectations of adolescents of color. The influence of sociopolitical barriers is clearly illustrated by the observed differences between occupational aspirations and expectations among adolescents of color (Constantine, Erickson, Banks, & Timberlake, 1998).

Aspirations represent "the statement of a desired career goal given ideal conditions," whereas expectations represent "an individual's consideration of reality factors which may affect the attainment of aspirations" (Baly, 1989, p. 255). Aspirations are one's occupational dreams, whereas expectations are real-world beliefs of what occupation one will attain. Sociopolitical inequities in access to resources, in addition to a range of sociopolitical barriers (Blustein et al., 2005), may explain this discrepancy between aspirations and expectations, which has been labeled the aspiration-expectation gap.

Aspiration-Expectation Gap

Although the occupational aspirations and expectations of White adolescents are similar, a consistent finding in the literature (Arbona & Novy, 1991; Baly, 1989; Constantine et al., 1998; Hellenga et al., 2002) has been that the occupational expectations of adolescents of color are lower than their occupational aspirations. An aspiration-expectation discrepancy has been observed among lower socioeconomic status (SES) adolescents but not among their higher SES counterparts (Bogie, 1976; Chaves et al., 2004), suggesting that social class may also be associated with an aspiration-expectation gap.

Structural racism, oppression, labor market discrimination, and inequitable access to resources facilitative of career development, among other sociopolitical barriers, are theorized to account for this gap (e.g., Constantine et al., 1998; Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996). For example, Chaves et al. (2004) observed that labor market discrimination experienced by family members led urban adolescents to have more negative expectations regarding their occupational future and the world of work. Similarly, Diemer and Blustein (2006) argued that structural oppression and limited access to career-related resources may lead urban adolescents to be less invested in their occupational future. One urban adolescent who participated in Diemer, Kauffman, Koenig, Trahan, and Hsieh's (2006) qualitative study of support for challenging racism, sexism, and social injustice gave voice to the impact of sociopolitical barriers, wondering, "Can racism make you put your dreams down?" (Note. The participant's comment was not published in the Diemer et al., 2006, article but can be found in the transcripts.) These sociopolitical forces may lead lower SES adolescents of color to believe that it is unlikely they will attain the "dream" occupations to which they aspire and, resultingly, expect to attain lower status occupations.

Although the deleterious effects of sociopolitical inequity are well documented, internal resources that may assist adolescents in adaptively coping with these external sociopolitical barriers have received less attention. Because the aforementioned review and related research (Chaves et al., 2004; Diemer & Blustein, 2006) suggest that the barriers that are associated with lowered vocational expectations are primarily sociopolitical in nature, we argue that individuals' capacity to cope with these sociopolitical barriers (i.e., sociopolitical development) may be associated with the vocational expectations of lower SES adolescents of color.

Sociopolitical Development

Sociopolitical development focuses upon the analysis of and motivation to change sociopolitical inequity. Recent advances in sociopolitical development theory and research stem (in part) from Paulo Freire's (1973, 1993) notion of critical consciousness and liberation psychology. For example, Watts, Griffith, and Abdul-Adil's (1999) five-stage (Acritical, Adaptive, Precritical, Critical, and Liberation) model describes the process of sociopolitical development among lower SES adolescents of color. As sociopolitical development increases, oppressed/marginalized individuals move from being objects of sociopolitical oppression to Subjects who develop the capacity to critically analyze, and the motivation to change, oppressive aspects of their sociopolitical environment (Freire, 1993). That is, models of sociopolitical development outline the process by which lower SES adolescents of color develop a consciousness of sociopolitical inequity, become motivated to reduce that inequity, and engage in individual or collective action to produce social change (Watts & Flanagan, 2007).

For lower SES adolescents of color, four components of sociopolitical development suggested by extant models include (a) an awareness of and motivation to change social and economic inequality (Ginwright & James, 2002), (b) a growing recognition of the connection between external sociopolitical events/issues and one's own life (Watts & Flanagan, 2007), (c) a motivation to help others in one's community (Watts et al., 1999), and (d) the expression of this motivation to reduce sociopolitical inequity through participation in community/social-action groups (Morsillo & Prilleltensky, 2007).

Related research has also operationalized sociopolitical development by examining these four components of sociopolitical development (e.g., Diemer, Hsieh, & Pan, in press). This research and extant sociopolitical development models (Ginwright & James, 2002; Watts et al., 1999) guided our attendance to these four components of sociopolitical development among lower SES adolescents of color in the current study.

Research Question

Theory suggests that sociopolitical development (e.g., Ginwright & James, 2002; Watts et al., 1999) may play a critical role in recognizing, managing, and overcoming structural oppression and the attainment of desired outcomes. This proposition has received some support with regard to career development. Sociopolitical development has been associated with career development among urban African American adolescents (O'Connor, 1997), vocational identity and commitment to one's vocational future among urban adolescents (Diemer & Blustein, 2006), and connection to the career development process and the realization of occupational goals among survivors of domestic abuse (Chronister & McWhirter, 2006). However, other studies observed no relationship (Conchas, 2001) or a negative relationship (Fine, 1991) between sociopolitical development and career development among lower SES adolescents of color.

Because the barriers that may produce the aspiration-expectation gap among lower SES adolescents of color are primarily sociopolitical, the capacity to overcome these barriers (i.e., sociopolitical development) may assist them in reducing the gap between their dream and expected occupation. Therefore, the present study examined the role of sociopolitical development as a predictor of vocational expectations among lower SES adolescents of color.

Method

Sample

Our data were derived from 12th-grade student participants in the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS; Curtin, Ingels, Wu, & Heuer, 2002). The NELS began in 1988 and concluded in 2000 after four follow-up waves of data collection. Participants were surveyed regarding extracurricular activities, academic performance, community participation, and educational and vocational expectations. More than 25,000 students from more than 1,000 schools participated in the survey through a complex sampling design (Thomas & Heck, 2001). The present study used cross-sectional data from participants in the 12th grade at the time of the second follow-up data collection.

The NELS is nationally representative and purposively sampled to include an equal representation of racial/ethnic backgrounds and SES to match census data. Among the population of 12th-grade students who participated in the NELS, there were slightly more female (50.6%) than male students (49.4%), and 1 out of every 3 students were racial/ethnic minorities (10.8% identified as Black, 14.0% as Hispanic, 6.7% as Asian American/Pacific Islander, and 1.3% as American Indian). The SES of participants was assessed via a composite variable encompassing parental income, educational attainment, and occupation; participants' SES was divided into four quartiles. Participants were also surveyed regarding school dropout; approximately 85.1% of NELS 12th-grade students had never dropped out of school.