Taking advanced courses in high school predicts many positive outcomes, yet low-income students and students who identify as Black and Hispanic are underrepresented. Policies such as "algebra for all" that accelerate middle school students into advanced courses are well-studied, but little is known about newer academic acceleration…

Scholars in distinct academic disciplines may examine the same or similar phenomena, often relying on concepts that are well known within each discipline. In this article, we examine two related sociological concepts--capital and adaptive preferences--each used to explain young people's choices and aspirations. We make the case that integrating…

Despite the wide-ranging scholarship on the educational attitudes held by native-born members of the middle and working class, few researchers have examined the impact of class on the attitudes of new arrivals. This article addresses this gap using data gathered through an ethnographic study conducted among 30 newly arrived refugee and immigrant…

An extensive literature has investigated the link between living in an area with an academically selective schooling system and young people's educational outcomes. In contrast, evidence on the link between selective education and young people's wider outcomes is relatively sparse. This article uses rich survey data to test whether young people…

Female underrepresentation in postcompulsory physics is an ongoing issue for science education research, policy, and practice. In this article, we apply Bourdieusian and Butlerian conceptual lenses to qualitative and quantitative data collected as part of a wider longitudinal study of students' science and career aspirations age 10-16. Drawing on…

While prior studies have examined the efficacy of career and technical education (CTE) courses on high school students' outcomes, there is little knowledge on timing of these courses and a potential link to student outcomes. We asked if the timing of these courses predicted differences in the likelihood of dropout and on-time high school…

Persistent inequalities in educational expectations across societies are a growing concern. Recent research has explored the extent to which inequalities in education are due to primary effects (i.e., achievement differentials) versus secondary effects (i.e., choice behaviors net of achievement). We explore educational expectations in order to…

Extracurricular activity participation (EAP) has been positively linked with increased academic achievement and college attendance. However, the mechanisms linking EAP to educational outcomes are poorly understood. Using the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS), this study contributes to our understanding of the relationship between EAP and…

Recent studies have found a net Black advantage in educational attainment. This pattern indicates that after controlling for socioeconomic and academic characteristics, Black students are more likely to continue education than are their White counterparts. Using an educational careers approach, this study examines selection and student…

The framework of cultural advantage calls researchers and leaders to reexamine the structures, paradigms, and practices of effective education. We argue that the moral imperative in this challenge is to critically scrutinize and counter the way education systems perpetuate systematic inequities in opportunities and outcomes afforded to certain…

(This study examines the directionality of the associations among cognitive assets (IQ, academic achievement), motivational beliefs (academic self-concept, task values), and educational and occupational aspirations over time from late adolescence (Grade 10) into early adulthood (5 years post high school). Participants were from a nationally…

Low participation rates in the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) post-16 are a matter of international concern. Existing evidence suggests children's science aspirations are largely formed within the critical 10 to 14 age period. This article reports on survey data from over 9,000 elementary school children in…

An extended body of research has documented the outmigration of the "best and brightest" youth from rural areas. Some of this scholarship has suggested that rural schools and educators may be complicit in this process as they devote extra attention and resources to the highest achieving students--those most likely to leave their rural…

Using a qualitative multiple-case-study design, this study explored how funds of knowledge in Mexican American families contributed to the development of educational ideologies. Findings illustrated the following ways in which families are involved in their children's education: the formation of both helpful and limiting educational ideologies,…

Previous research on educational aspirations has focused almost exclusively on micro-level predictors of educational aspirations. Notably absent from these studies are measures reflecting the neighborhood context in which adolescents live. Drawing on Wilson's theory of neighborhood effects, the present study examines the extent to which…