TY - JOUR
T1 - Uncertainty in early occupational aspirations
T2 - Role exploration or aimlessness?
AU - Staff, Jeremy
AU - Harris, Angel
AU - Sabates, Ricardo
AU - Briddell, Laine
N1 - Funding Information:
This research is supported by a grant from the Johann Jacobs Foundation titled “The Role of Career Aspirations and Educational Expectations in the Process of Socioeconomic Attainment: Evidence from Two Recent Cohorts of Youth.” The first author gratefully acknowledges support from a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award in Population Research from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD054467). An earlier version of this article was presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, March 6-9, 2008, in Chicago. Direct correspondence to Jeremy Staff, Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802-6207. E-mail: [email protected].
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Many youth in the United States lack clear occupational aspirations. This uncertainty in achievement ambitions may benefit socio-economic attainment if it signifies "role exploration," characterized by career development, continued education and enduring partnerships. By contrast, uncertainty may diminish attainment if it instead leads to "aimlessness," involving prolonged education without the acquisition of a degree, residential dependence and frequent job changes. We use nationally representative data from the National Education Longitudinal Study to examine how uncertainty in occupational aspirations in adolescence (age 16) affects wage attainments in young adulthood (age 26). Results suggest that youth with undecided career ambitions earn significantly lower hourly wages in young adulthood than youth with more certain aspirations, supporting the view that uncertainty heightens the risk of labor-market problems.
AB - Many youth in the United States lack clear occupational aspirations. This uncertainty in achievement ambitions may benefit socio-economic attainment if it signifies "role exploration," characterized by career development, continued education and enduring partnerships. By contrast, uncertainty may diminish attainment if it instead leads to "aimlessness," involving prolonged education without the acquisition of a degree, residential dependence and frequent job changes. We use nationally representative data from the National Education Longitudinal Study to examine how uncertainty in occupational aspirations in adolescence (age 16) affects wage attainments in young adulthood (age 26). Results suggest that youth with undecided career ambitions earn significantly lower hourly wages in young adulthood than youth with more certain aspirations, supporting the view that uncertainty heightens the risk of labor-market problems.
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U2 - 10.1353/sof.2010.0088
DO - 10.1353/sof.2010.0088
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79953135348
SN - 0037-7732
VL - 89
SP - 659
EP - 683
JO - Social Forces
JF - Social Forces
IS - 2
ER -