Racial/Ethnic Differences in Educational Aspirations of High School Seniors

Using the second follow-up of the National Education Longitudinal Study, we explore how human, financial, and social capital affect educational aspirations differently across racial/ethnic groups. While individual educational performance is important for all racial/ethnic groups, human and financial capital have stronger impact on educational aspirations for whites than for minorities. Asian-American students' aspirations are affected by human capital and whether English is a native language. Parental involvement in school activities—one measure of social capital—has a strong impact on educational aspirations for African Americans and Hispanics. We then explore the causes for racial/ethnic differences in educational aspirations. When individual characteristics and human, financial, and social capital are introduced, racial/ethnic minorities have greater educational aspirations than whites. The results suggest that factors affecting educational aspirations are different across racial/ethnic groups and some of the racial/ethnic differences in educational aspirations can be accounted for by some other factors.

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