Correlates of Educational Expectations: Differences by Class

Kimberly Goyette, Temple University

Sociologists concerned with inequalities in education often puzzle over the much larger mismatch between expectations and attainment among students with low socioeconomic status (SES) than those with high SES. While researchers have explored the obstacles to college attainment that low-SES students face, few have looked at another potential explanation for this mismatch: that high-SES and low-SES students form educational expectations differently. Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS), I first explore whether the relationship between family characteristics and expectations is the same across SES. Second, I consider whether test scores and grades, and the judgments of peers and teachers are more strongly associated with low-SES students' expectations than those of high-SES students. Finally, I assess whether occupational expectations are more strongly related to educational expectations among low-SES students than high-SES students. Variation in these factors suggests that the meaning of college may differ by socioeconomic background.