The Educational and Employment Aspirations of Adolescents from Areas of High Deprivation in London

Abstract

Adolescents from areas of high deprivation are often assumed to have low aspirations for the future. However, recent research has suggested otherwise and there have been calls for more substantial investigation into the relationship between poverty and aspiration. This article reports levels and variation in aspiration from 1,214 adolescents (49.5% male; 50.5% female) living in areas of high deprivation across 20 London boroughs. A strength of this study is our large and diverse population of low socio-economic status (SES) adolescents, comprising of white British (22%), black African (21%), black Caribbean (9%), Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi/Other Asian (24%), mixed ethnicity (9%), and 15% defining themselves as Other. Our measures indicated a high group level of reported aspiration with notable variations. Females reported higher educational (but not occupational) aspirations than males; white British students reported lower educational and occupational aspirations than other ethnic groups; and black African children reported the highest educational aspirations. Perceived parental support for education had the largest positive association with aspirations. In contrast to previous findings from studies carried out in the United States, aspirations were found to be negatively associated with perceptions of school and school peer environment. These measures explored feelings of safety, happiness and belonging within the school environment and school peer group. We discuss possible explanations for this unexpected finding within our population of adolescents from UK state schools and how it might affect future policy interventions. This study makes an important contribution to the literature on adolescent aspirations because of the unique nature of the data sample and the multiple domains of functioning and aspiration measured.

Examination of Socio-Economic and Socio-Cultural Factors Influencing Aspiration Levels of Youth with respect to their Education Levels: an Experimental Examination

“…Perse, it can be explained that aspiration and age there is interrelation as age increases generally aspiration inclines but in this study, it"s found with growing age, aspiration too increases, but it is very negligible. The finding supports other studies (Frostick, 2015 andKhattab, 2014).…”

Relationships between parental involvement and adolescents’ academic achievement and aspiration

“…Studies have reported that educational aspiration in children is a significant predictor of academic achievement (Leung et al, 2010;Jung and Zhang, 2016). A number of studies have examined the effects of parental involvement on children's educational aspiration and they have found positive associations (e.g., Berzin, 2010;Hill and Wang, 2015;Frostick et al, 2016;McNeal, 2015). For example, Hill and Wang (2015) found that parental monitoring is positively associated with aspiration.…”

Well London: Results of a Community Engagement Approach to Improving Health Among Adolescents from Areas of Deprivation in London

“…Very few parents and children refused to take part. The majority of the children who did not participate were unavailable due to exams, other school activities or were absent on the day (Frostick, Phillips, Renton & Moore, 2016).…”