Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

The Transition to Adulthood
How do students view the transition to adulthood that lies ahead, and how do
they think their current schooling is related to that transition? Students generally
described a limited range of desired careers, and the rationale for their choices
was often expressed in terms of personal interest or perceived aptitude, rather
than what was feasible for them. Many lack awareness of the steps needed to
achieve their goals.
Students most often spoke of becoming doctors and lawyers; other prominent
choices included professional athletes, engineers, and actors. For some, it is pos-
sible to defer career choices until college. High school students from more com-
fortable neighborhoods, those who have always assumed they would attend col-
lege convey a sense that career plans will be formulated in college after a period
of exploration. An African-American senior from a professional family talked about
her proposed college major of psychology:
I don’t know if that’s what I want to do for a career, because that’s light years
away. With 4 years in college I might find something I really like other than
that, so I’m leaving it kind of open. Take it a couple of years at a time.
A male junior at Springdale, all of whose older siblings had attended prestigious
colleges, said:
It is like a steppingstone, you go from high school to college, it is kind of like
a testing period. You can learn and live on your own. And from there you
can decide what you are going to do with your future. High school kind of

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gives you a little of everything, but it is harder to decide specifically what you
want to do. I think that is easier in college, because it is more focused.
There are neighborhoods where middle school students talk openly about their
college plans. An eighth-grader at Vanderbilt said, ‘‘everybody pretty much has
their eye set on a college already, even though we are only in the eighth grade.’’
Others who wanted to attend college were aware of the financial implications and
worried over whether it was an attainable goal. An immigrant from the Middle
East said, ‘‘Sometimes I think that I won’t have enough money. I’ve seen some
people take a job for the money and never go to college. That’s why I’m working
now.’’ Yet even those for whom it does not appear feasible, either academically
or financially, college is still described as a future goal. Students in our interviews
did not talk about going straight to work after high school, unless it was to make
money to further their education. Even those graduating from vocational training
programs had their sights set on attending local technical schools, where they
hoped to learn skills that might make them employable. It is not easy for many
to know how to fund such schooling, however, or to obtain an accurate picture
of just what avenues might be open to them.