Transcript Slide 1

Where Do Rural High School Students Go to
Find Information About Their Futures?
Results from the Rural High School
Aspirations Study
Bryan C. Hutchins
Soo-yong Byun
Judith L. Meece
Thomas W. Farmer
Matthew J. Irvin
Dana Griffin
INTRODUCTION
• What is the relationship between obtaining career
information and future career attainment?
– According to Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) career
information is essential for developing realistic outcome
expectations (Lent, 1994)
– With accurate and realistic career information one can assess
his or her values, interests, self-efficacy beliefs, and career
aspirations as it relates to potential occupations and careers (Lent,
2005)
– Those who do not have accurate information may develop
unrealistic career goals that can lead to failure in such areas as
completing college or obtaining a rewarding job (Gray, 2009)
THE PROBLEM
• We know very little about where students go for
information about their futures as well as what
information is most helpful (Gibson, Borders, Wiles, Stephan, & Davis, 2006)
• Most studies that have explored this topic have focused
on college bound students (e.g., Horn, Chen, & Chapman, 2003)
• Even less is known about the career exploration
activities of rural youth even though they represent onethird of the public school population
(Provasnick, et al., 2007)
• Knowing where students go for information and what
sources they perceive to be most helpful can inform our
efforts to create effective career related interventions
(Gibson, et al., 2006)
Why focus on the career information gathering
activities of rural youth?
• Much of the literature on educational and career
aspirations is focused on urban and suburban samples
• Rural youth may face unique contextual factors that may
limit access to career information such as:
– Family hardships (Haller & Virkler, 1993)
– Less diversified occupational structure within rural communities
(Crockett, Shannahan, & Jackson-Newsom, 2000)
– Possibly fewer opportunities to take part in job shadowing, job
mentoring, or internships (Brown, 2007)
–
Access to higher education due to geographical isolation
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
• Early Studies
– Mitchell (1977) found that 17 year olds discussed future plans twice as
often with parents than with counselors
– Noeth, Engen, & Prediger (1984) found college bound juniors reported
the following as most helpful in career decision making: interesting
classes (92%), families (90%), friends (73%), school activities (53%)
counselors (52%).
– Lee (1984) rural youth (10th grade) reported parental influence as most
important factor in influencing career development
• More Recent Studies
– Gibson et al. (2006) found that 9th graders across NC used a variety of
sources of information, but reported parents/family as most helpful while
school counselors where consulted infrequently and rated as least
helpful. Other sources (internet, teachers, media) were rated as
somewhat helpful
– Gibson et al. (2006) did not explore gender, grade, and ethnicity
differences
Questions to Address in this Presentation:
• Where do rural youth go to find information
about their future?
• What sources do they find to be most helpful?
• How frequently do they talk to teachers,
counselors, or learn about college, careers, and
work in the school or classroom?
• How frequently do they take part in career
exploration activities such as: internships, job
shadowing, mentoring, cooperative education,
and school-based enterprise?
SAMPLE
• Data collected from the Rural High School Aspirations
(RHSA) Project
– 8,754 Students across 73 rural high schools took part in the
survey during the 2007-2008 school year
– Schools with NCES locale codes 6, 7, and 8 were contacted for
this study (however, this presentation will use the new urbancentric locale codes)
– Sample characteristics:
• 51.5% female, 48.5% male
• 64.1% White, 7% African American, 10.8% Hispanic or
Latino(a), and 18.2% other (Native American, Asian, Native
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or multi-racial)
• 27.9% 9th, 27.3% 10th, 25.1% 11th, and 19.7% 12th
• 20.6% town, 4.2% rural-distant, 34.7% rural-remote, 40.5%
rural-fringe/other town
STUDENT QUESTIONS
Question 1: Where have your gone for any information about what you plan to do
after high school? (MARK ALL THAT APPLY)
Question 2: Where have you gotten information that was MOST HELPFUL for
your plans after high school (MARK THE THREE MOST HELPFUL)
Guidance Counselor
Friend
College representative
Teacher
Brother or Sister
College search guides,
publications, or websites
Coach
Other Relative
A visit to a college
campus
Principal or other school
staff
Pastor/priest/other
religious leader
None of the above
Parent or Guardian
Other adult(s) in the
community
STUDENT QUESTIONS
Question 3: During the past year how often have you done each of the following
activities:
Career Counseling
1. Received instruction or counseling on how to find a job
2. Talked to a guidance counselor or other advisor about possible jobs and careers
3. Talked to a guidance counselor or other advisor about college
4. Studied about different jobs and their requirements in class
5. Talked about what you’ll do after high school with one of your teachers or another adult at
school, either one-on-one or in a group
Career Exploration
1. Taken part in cooperative education
2. Had an internship
3. Gone on job shadowing or work-site visit
4. Had job mentoring
5. Taken part in school-based enterprise
Where students have gone for information about their futures
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Parent or
Guardian
Friend
Teacher
Guidance
counselor
Other relative Brother/sister College search
College
College
Other adult(s)
guides,
campus visit representatives community
publications, or
websites
Coach
Principal or
Other School
Staff
Religious
leader
Table 1: Top Five Sources of Information by Grade, Gender, and Ethnicity
Grade
Gender
Ethnicity
Total
9th
10th
11th
12th
χ2
Male
Female
χ2
White
Black
Hispanic
Others
χ2
Parent or Guardian
72.2
70.7
72.9
72.6
73.0
3.4
66.6
77.4
122.5***
75.9
63.7
55.2
73.0
182.2***
Friend
55.4
48.9
52.7
59.7
62.7
98.5***
48.3
61.9
158.8***
58.1
46.1
45.9
55.4
66.5***
Teacher
46.2
37.5
44.9
49.1
56.6
152.9***
41.0
51.1
86.2***
46.2
44.6
45.0
46.2
3.1
Guidance counselor
41.9
25.4
32.5
48.9
68.7
883.3*** 35.1
48.3
150.1***
44.6
39.8
34.6
38.3
43.8***
Other relative
38.6
40.6 38.7
Data source : High School Aspirations Study
Note : Numbers indicate percentages.
*** p<.001, **p<.01, *p<.05
38.5
35.9
43.1
77.2***
39.2
39.5
32.6
40.6
16.5***
8.9*
33.8
Table 2: Top Five Sources of Information by Locale and School Income
School Locale
School Poverty
Total
Town
Rural
χ2
Low
Income
Parent or Guardian
72.2
70.4
72.6
3.4
69.9
72.4
4.6*
Friend
55.4
56.9
55.0
2.1
52.0
55.7
6.2*
Teacher
46.2
41.9
47.3
16.6***
49.8
44.6
12.9***
Guidance counselor
41.9
42.2
41.8
0.09
39.1
41.4
2.6
3.0
38.6
38.6
0.001
Other relative
38.6
40.4
38.1
Data source : High School Aspirations Study
Note : Numbers indicate percentages.
*** p<.001, **p<.01, *p<.05
Non-Low
Income
χ2
What information was most helpful for future plans
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Parent or
Guardian
Guidance
counselor
Teacher
Friend
College search Brother/sister Other relative
College
College
guides,
campus visit representatives
publications, or
websites
Coach
Other adult(s) Principal or
community Other School
Staff
Religious
leader
Table 3: Top Five Sources that Where Most Helpful by Grade, Gender, and Ethnicity
Grade
Gender
χ2
χ2
White Black Hispanic Others
χ2
Total
9th 10th 11th 12th
Parent or Guardian
54.0
60.5 57.5 50.2 45.0
118.6*** 52.2
55.7
10.0**
57.3
47.2
38.7
54.2
115.7***
Guidance counselor
28.9
16.6 25.2 33.6 40.8
252.4*** 25.5
32.1
44.5***
30.3
28.8
24.0
26.7
19.0***
Teacher
25.5
23.7 26.7 27.0 24.6
8.8*
24.9
26.1
1.7
23.8
33.9
28.2
26.7
34.0***
Friend
24.4
25.3 23.8 23.8 24.4
2.0
23.5
25.2
3.3
24.6
20.9
22.5
26.7
9.7*
138.7*** 14.9
26.1
160.5*** 21.0
27.2
18.3
19.2
19.8***
College search guides,
publications, or websites 20.7 14.3 18.0 26.6 25.8
Data source : High School Aspiration Study
Note : Numbers indicate percentages.
*** p<.001, **p<.01, *p<.05
Male Female
Ethnicity
Table 4: Top Five Sources that Where Most Helpful by Locale and School Income
School Locale
School Poverty
Total
Town
Rural
χ2
Low
Income
Parent or Guardian
54.0
52.7
54.3
1.5
51.3
54.5
4.6*
Guidance counselor
28.9
28.0
29.1
0.7
27.0
28.3
0.9
Teacher
25.5
21.2
26.6
30.3
23.8
Friend
24.4
24.2
24.5
0.1
22.6
24.7
2.6
20.7
20.9
20.6
Data source : High School Aspiration Study
Note : Numbers indicate percentages.
*** p<.001, **p<.01, *p<.05
0.1
19.8
20.8
0.8
College search guides,
publications, or websites
21.4***
Non-Low
Income
χ2
26.1***
Frequency of Career Exploration Activities
80
70
60
50
Never
Once or twice
3 to 5 times
More than 5 times
40
30
20
10
0
Internship
Job
Job
Mentoring Shadowing
School Cooperative
Based
Education
Enterprise
Frequency of Career Counseling
45
40
35
Never
30
Once or twice
25
20
3 to 5 times
15
More than 5
times
10
5
0
Talked with
Talked with
Job instruction or
Classroom
Talk with
Guidance counselor Guidance counselor
counseling
Instruction about jobs teachers/school
about jobs/careers
about college
personnel about post
HS
Table 5: Multiple Regression on Student and School Predictors Related to Career Counseling and Career
Exploration
Career Counseling
Career Exploration
B
SE
Beta
B
SE
Beta
Constant
Individual Student Predictors
Gender
Male (reference group)
Female
Ethnicity
White (reference group)
Black
Hispanic/Latino
Other
Grade
9th (reference group)
10th
11th
12th
School Level Predictors
School Locale
Town (reference group)
Rural
School Poverty
Non-Low Income (reference group)
Low Income
Data source : High School Aspirations Study
*** p<.001, **p<.01, *p<.05
1.863
0.024
1.473
0.02
0.066
0.016
0.046***
-0.13
0.013
-0.117***
0.211
-0.033
-0.019
0.032
0.028
0.021
0.076***
-0.014
-0.01
0.269
0.085
0.033
0.027
0.023
0.017
0.122***
0.046***
0.023
0.063
0.244
0.545
0.021
0.022
0.023
0.04**
0.146***
0.307***
-0.002
0.017
0.126
0.017
0.018
0.019
-0.001
0.013
0.091***
0.002
0.021
0.001
-0.019
0.017
-0.014
0.016
0.022
0.009
0.018
0.018
0.012
SUMMARY AND MAKING SENSE OF THE RESULTS
• Most helpful sources of information:
• Parent/Guardian (54%)
– More helpful for older and White students
• Guidance Counselor (28.9%)
– More helpful for older and female students
• Counselors may be more helpful as older students are
generally in need of more specific and focused career
information
• More recent research suggests that young women are now
exploring a wider range of career opportunities making
counselors’ advice more helpful (Sharf, 2010)
– Less helpful for Hispanic/Latino students
• Some studies suggest that Hispanic/Latino students feel that
their career goals might not be valued by counselors (VelaGude, Cavazos, Johnson, Fielding, Cavazos, et al., 2009)
SUMMARY AND MAKING SENSE OF THE RESULTS
• Most helpful sources of information:
• Teacher (25.5%)
• More helpful for African American and Hispanic students
– May serve as an alternative to counselors (Vela-Gude, et al., 2009)
• More helpful for more rural and low income schools
– Counselors in these schools may face pressure to take part in
activities that limit their abilities to provide career counseling
(Cabrera & La Nasa, 2001; Trusty & Niles, 2003)
– Students may seek out teachers because of lack of other
resources (i.e., internships, job mentoring, job role-models)
(Crockett, et al. 2000)
– College search materials (20.7%)
• Most helpful for older, females, and African American
students
SUMMARY AND MAKING SENSE OF THE RESULTS
• Frequency of career exploration activities:
• Overall, few take part in career exploration activities
• Females take part in career exploration activities less
frequently than males
• African American and Hispanic students take part in
career exploration activities with greater frequency than
White students
• 12th graders take part in career exploration activities with
greater frequency than other grades
SUMMARY AND MAKING SENSE OF THE RESULTS
• Frequency of career counseling activities:
• Overall, most students have talked to a counselor,
teacher, or taken part in classroom activities to learn
about future opportunities related to school and careers
at least once during the past year
• Females and African American students take part in
career counseling activities with greater frequency
• Students take part in career counseling activities with
greater frequency across time (i.e., 9th – 12th).
IMPLICATIONS FOR STUDENTS
• Results from this study suggest that students are using a variety of
sources for career information
• However, some sources of information are perceived to be more
helpful than others
– According to Social Cognitive Career Theory if students are not
receiving information or this information is inaccurate then this
can impact unrealistic expectations (Lent, 2005)
– Unrealistic expectations can lead student to select goals and
undertake actions that can limit positive career outcomes
IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOLS
• Guidance Counselors
– Overall, guidance counselors become increasingly more helpful to
students as they approach graduation.
– Counselors were less helpful to males and Hispanic/Latino students
– Counselors may want to explore interventions that meet the unique
needs of males students and students of color.
• Teachers
– Youth of color and youth in more rural and low income schools find
teachers to be helpful
– Teachers may want to collaborate with counselors to develop ways to
deliver career information or may simply want to make themselves
available to students seeking information
• Parents
– Parents can provide a wealth of career knowledge to their children
– Those parents with low levels of educational attainment can benefit the
most from working with school counselors and other personnel
(Schneider, 2005)
LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
• Did not consider potential mediating factors such
as educational and occupational aspirations in
this analysis
• Did not gather information on why some sources
are more helpful than others
• Could not compare these findings to non-rural
youth
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
• Explore the relationship between career exploration and
educational and occupational expectations and
aspirations
• Explore the relationship between career exploration and
educational and occupational expectation alignment (i.e.,
having educational goals that are in line with career
expectations) (Schneider & Stevenson, 1999)
• Explore why some sources of information are more
helpful than others
– Issues of source availability
– Helpfulness of the information
– Accuracy of Information
• Questions, Comments, Concerns?
• Please contact me if you have any questions/comments at:
Bryan C. Hutchins
National Research Center on Rural Education Support
100 E. Franklin St., Suite 200
CB#8115
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
[email protected]
(919) 962-0439