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Ambition gone awry: the long-term socioeconomic consequences of misaligned and uncertain adolescent ambitions

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 08:10 authored by Ricardo Sabates, Angel L Harris, Jeremy Staff
Objective. The objective of this study was to investigate whether misaligned or uncertain ambitions in adolescence influence the process of socioeconomic attainment. Methods. Using 34 years of longitudinal data from British Cohort Study (BCS70), we considered whether youth with (1) misaligned ambitions (i.e., those who either over- or under-estimate the level of education required for their desired occupation), (2) both low occupational aspirations and educational expectations (low-aligned ambitions), and 3) uncertainty with regards to their future occupations (uncertain ambitions) at age 16 experienced more unemployment spells, lower educational attainment, and lower hourly wages in adulthood compared to youth with high occupational aspirations and educational expectations (high-aligned). Results. Youth who hold misaligned or uncertain aspirations show long-term deficits in employment stability and educational attainment, which in turn leads to lower wage attainments at age 34. Conclusion. Misaligned and uncertain ambitions in adolescence compromise the construction of life paths and the realization of long-term educational and occupational goals

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Social Science Quarterly

ISSN

0038-4941

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Issue

4

Volume

92

Page range

959-977

Department affiliated with

  • Education Publications

Notes

This was the main output of a project funded by the Jacobs Foundation. With my collaborators we worked on three research papers, this was the one which I had the leadership.

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-02-14

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