Occupational Aspirations and Academic Achievement: Rethinking the Direction of Effects and the Role of Socioeconomic Status in Middle Childhood and Adolescence

Jeongeun Park*, Jo Rose, Shelley McKeown Jones, E V Washbrook

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Research into the relation between occupational aspirations and academic achievement has substantially grown. What remains unclear, however, is whether and how this relation, including the direction of effects, (1) unfolds in middle childhood and adolescence within children and (2) varies by socio-economic status (SES). The present study aimed to address this, using the contemporary and nationally representative data from England through the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study (Analytic N=5517) and applying random intercept cross-lagged panel modelling. Within-person results showed that achievement unidirectionally and positively predicted aspirations in middle childhood. Achievement and aspirations predicted each other cyclically in adolescence, although their magnitudes varied. Moderation analysis demonstrated that this cyclical relation in adolescence was only significant amongst high and medium SES groups. For the low SES group, aspirations did not significantly predict achievement at any age point, despite relatively high aspirations. We discuss theoretical and practical implications, especially the differential effect of occupational ambition in driving educational outcomes by SES.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1408-1432
Number of pages25
JournalJournal of Social Issues
Volume80
Issue number4
Early online date3 Dec 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 3 Dec 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Social Issues published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

Keywords

  • Occupational aspirations
  • Academic achievement
  • socio-economic status
  • middle childhood and adolescence
  • random intercept cross-lagged panel models

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