Why Wait Years to Become Something?' Low-income African American Youth and the Costly Career Search in For-profit Trade Schools

Bibliographic Data

ID2328410
AuthorsMegan M Holland (University at Buffalo–SUNY, Buffalo, NY, USA, corresponding author), Stefanie Deluca (0000-0002-4122-1032, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA)
Year2016
Volume89
Issue4
Pages261-278
Publication date2016-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0407 • E-ISSN: 1939-8573
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0038040716666607
OpenAlexW2519942737
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited60

Increasing numbers of low-income and minority youth are now pursuing shorter-duration sub-baccalaureate credentials at for-profit trade and technical schools. However, many students drop out of these schools, leaving with large debts and few job prospects. Despite these dismal outcomes, we know very little about students' experiences in for-profit programs and how these institutions shape postsecondary attainment. Using data from fieldwork with 150 inner-city African American youth, we examine why disadvantaged youth are attracted to these schools and why they struggle to complete certifications. In contrast to previous research, we find that the youth in our study have quite modest ambitions and look to for-profit trade schools as the quickest and most direct route to work. However, youth receive little information or guidance to support such postsecondary transitions. Therefore, the very element that makes for-profit trade school programs seem the most appealing-a curriculum focused on one particular career-becomes an obstacle when it requires youth to commit to a program of study before they have explored their interests. When youth realize they do not like or are not prepared for their chosen career, they adopt coping strategies that keep them in school but swirling between programs, rather than accumulating any credentials

Commit · Curriculum · Demographic economics · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economics · Higher education · Labour economics · Political science · Postsecondary education · Public relations · School-to-work transition · Sociology · Vocational education · Higher Education Research Studies · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics