Date of Award
2021
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Julia Kirk
Second Advisor
Cherie Gaines
Third Advisor
Shannon Collins
Abstract
At the time of this writing, little research had been completed on the occupational aspirations of students and students’ perceptions of their parents’ career satisfaction. I completed a qualitative study in which I compared the occupational aspirations of 14 third-grade students, 7 girls and 7 boys, from a low socio-economic school and 14 third-grade students, 7 girls and 7 boys, from a high socio-economic school within the southeastern region of the United States. I also compared these students’ perceptions of their parents’ career satisfaction. I conducted one-on-one interviews with students in which they answered questions about their occupational aspirations and their perceptions of their parents’ career satisfaction. I found 12 students attending the high socio-economic school held higher occupational aspirations than the 14 students attending the low socio-economic school. Additionally, I found students from both schools aspired to occupations that maintained or improved from their parents’ socio-economic status. All 14 students from the high socio-economic school, and 12 students from the low socio-economic school, believed their parents were satisfied with their current careers. I found socio-economic status was a reliable indicator of students’ occupational aspirations.
Keywords
Qualitative research, Socioeconomic status, Vocational interests
Recommended Citation
Corum, Tiffany, "Third Grade Students' Occupational Aspirations and Perceptions of Parents' Career Satisfaction" (2021). Ed.D. Dissertations. 28.
https://digitalcommons.lmunet.edu/edddissertations/28
