Perceptions of opportunity among African-American male youth.
Item
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Title
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Perceptions of opportunity among African-American male youth.
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Identifier
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AAI9605678
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identifier
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9605678
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Creator
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Waite, Robin Ruanda.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Anderson J. Franklin
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Date
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1995
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | Black Studies
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Abstract
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This study examined the perceptions of the American vocational opportunity structure that were held by a sample of ninety-three New York City African American male high school students. Perceptions were defined as the degree to which students believed various occupations to be discriminatory or egalitarian. It was hypothesized that such perceptions would have implications for the students' present level of academic functioning. Hence, the principal question of this study asked whether perceptions of vocational opportunity or vocational discrimination appeared to impact upon academic achievement motivation, and if so, were perceptions of an egalitarian occupational structure specifically associated with higher academic functioning? High achieving students, average students, and those at risk were compared to see if their views of the opportunity structure differed significantly, and if so whether such perceptual differences could account for a portion of the achievement variance. Regression and correlational analyses determined that the outlooks that students held did not account for the variability in academic performance. Furthermore, the three achievement groups did not differ significantly in the overall amount of occupational discrimination that they perceived. Contrary to expectations, the students' outlooks appeared to be based less in perception and more in reality, given that their assessments of occupational discrimination were correlated with the varying levels of black representation in those occupations. Unexpectedly it was the respondents' ideology (their beliefs about black upward mobility) that accounted for the students' differences in academic performance. Those who were internal on ideology (and believed that black upward mobility was best determined by the behavior of African Americans) more often had higher grade point averages than those students who were external on ideology (believing that black mobility was best determined by white behavior, specifically white racism). Furthermore, it was the students' sense of personal efficacy that accounted for the differences among them in achievement motivation; those who felt that they had control over their personal lives were, on average, more motivated to achieve academically than those who felt that they had less control over their personal lives.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
