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Educational Expectations, Parental Social Class, Gender, and Postsecondary Attainment

A 10-Year Perspective

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Maria Adamuti-Trache

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Ee-Seul Yoon

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Michelle Pidgeon

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Jens Peter Thomsen

Roskilde University, Denmark

The authors employ a unique longitudinal data set of British Columbia high school graduates that followed respondents 1, 5, and 10 years after graduation to examine the extent to which educational expectations change over time in relation to parental socioeconomic status and eventual postsecondary attainment. Using the method of correspondence analysis, they demonstrate that graduates leave high school with educational expectations that change minimally from that point onward. Moreover, their findings reveal that there is a strong correspondence among gender, socioeconomic background of parents, and educational attainment. They conclude with direct implications for K-12 and postsecondary policy and practice.

Key Words: educational expectations • postsecondary attainment • social class and gender

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This version was published on December 1, 2007

Youth & Society, Vol. 39, No. 2, 135-163 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0044118X06296704


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