DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/48ZC-0D57
Defense Date
2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Education
First Advisor
Kathleen Cauley, PhD
Second Advisor
Jesse Senechal, PhD
Third Advisor
Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, PhD
Fourth Advisor
Avril Smart, PhD
Abstract
There is considerable research evidence suggesting that low-income, racial minority students value education and aspire for postsecondary educational attainment (Bloom, 2007; Destin & Oyserman, 2009; Wigfield & Eccles, 2002). However, their performance in school often does not align with those values and ambitions, as these students tend to underachieve in comparison with their higher-income, non-minority peers (Reardon, 2011), with particular gaps found in those attending schools of concentrated poverty (Rowan, 2011). This gap between educational ambition and attainment suggests that the experience of living and going to school in a high-poverty context could be related to the motivational processes driving these students to pursue college. Using a conceptual framework overlapping expectancy-value theory and possible selves, the present multiple case study of six Urban Public High School (UPHS) students aspiring to four-year college explored how they made decisions about pursuing their postsecondary ambitions. Participants’ descriptions of their pursuit of college revealed themes related to who they did and did not want to become in the future, and outlined their expectancies, values, and perceptions of costs associated with becoming a first-generation college student. Socializers in and out of school influenced students’ perceptions of possible selves and decision-making processes. Results revealed how avoidance possible selves motivated students’ pursuit of college, how social incongruence among peers at UPHS made the pursuit more challenging, and how students with high expectancies and values for going to college still sometimes doubted whether they would ultimately go. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations of the study, are discussed.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
10-30-2017