This study was conducted in an effort to generate information toward fostering academic outcomes among African American adolescents. Gender differences in African American adolescents' personal, educational, and occupational expectations were examined in relation to perceptions of neighborhood quality. Participants included 352 African American adolescents residing in an urban area. Measures were self-reported expectations and perceptions of neighborhood quality. Regression analyses indicated that (a) expectations were positively associated with perceptions of neighborhood quality, (b) female adolescents reported more positive expectations than male adolescents, and (c) the association between expectations and perceptions of neighborhood quality depended on gender, with male adolescents who rated their neighborhood higher in quality reporting higher personal and educational expectations than male adolescents who rated their neighborhood poorer in quality. Implications of this study for programs and research that focus on academic outcomes and neighborhoods of African American adolescents are discussed.
Anderson, E. (1990). Streetwise: Race, class, and change in an urban community. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
3.
Arbona, C., & Novy, D.M. (1991). Career aspirations and expectations of Black, Mexican American, and White students. Career Development Quarterly , 39, 231-239.
4.
Bass, J.K., & Lambert, S.F. (2004). Urban adolescents' perceptions of their neighborhoods: An examination of spatial dependence. Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 277-293.
5.
Brody, G.H., Ge, X., Kim, S.Y., Murry, V.M., Simons, R.L., Gibbons, F., Gerrard, M., & Conger, R.D. (2003). Neighborhood disadvantage moderates associations of parenting and older sibling problem behavior with conduct disorders in African American children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 211-222.
6.
Burton, L.M., & Jarrett, R.L. (2000). In the mix, yet on the margins: The place of families in urban neighborhood and child development research. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1114-1135.
7.
Ceballo, R., McLoyd, V.C., & Toyokawa, T. (2004). The influence of neighborhood quality on adolescents' educational values and school effort. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 716-739.
8.
Connell, J.P., & Halpern-Felsher, B.L. (1997). How neighborhoods affect educational outcomes in middle childhood and adolescence: Conceptual issues and an empirical example. In J. Brooks-Gunn , G. Duncan, & J. L. Aber (Eds.), Neighborhood poverty: Context and consequences for children (Vol. 1, pp. 174-199). New York: Russell Sage.
9.
Cook, T.D., Church, M.B., Ajanaku, S., Shadish, W.R.J., Kim, J.R., & Cohen, R. (1996). The development of occupational aspirations and expectations among inner-city boys. Child Development, 67, 3368-3385.
10.
Crowder, K., & South, S.J. (2003). Neighborhood distress and school dropout: The variable significance of community context. Social Science Research, 32, 659-698.
11.
Danish, S.J. (1997). Going for the goal: A life skills program for adolescents. In G. W. Albee & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Primary prevention works (Vol. 6, pp. 291-312). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
12.
Dawkins, M.P. (1981). Mobility aspirations of Black adolescents: A comparison of males and females. Adolescence, 16, 701-710.
13.
Eccles, J.S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Annual Review ofPsychology, 53, 109-130.
14.
Ensminger, M.E., Lamkin, R.P., & Jacobson, N. (1996). School leaving: A longitudinal perspective including neighborhood effects. Child Development, 67, 2400-2416.
15.
Entwisle, D.R., Alexander, K.L., & Olson, L.S. (1994). The gender gap in math: Its possible origins in neighborhood effects. American Sociological Review, 59, 822-838.
16.
Fitzpatrick, K.M., & Boldizar, J.P. (1993). The prevalence and consequences of exposure to violence among African-American youth. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 424-430.
17.
Ge, X., Brody, G.H., Conger, R.D., Simons, R.L., & Murry, V.M. (2002). Contextual amplification of pubertal transition effects on deviant peer affiliation and externalizing behavior among African American children. Developmental Psychology, 38, 42-54.
18.
Gibbs, J.T. (1984). Black adolescents and youth: An endangered species . American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 54, 6-21.
19.
Hadley-Ives, E., Stiffman, A.R., Elze, D., Johnson, S., & Dore, P. (2000). Measuring neighborhood and school environments: Perceptual and aggregate approaches. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 3, 1-28.
20.
Harding, D.J. (2003). Counterfactual models of neighborhood effects: The effect of neighborhood poverty on dropping out and teenage pregnancy. American Journal of Sociology, 3, 676-719.
21.
Harris, K.M., Duncan, G.J., & Boisjoly, J. (2002). Evaluating the role of “nothing to lose” attitudes on risk behavior in adolescence. Social Forces, 80, 1005-1039.
22.
Hope, J. (1995). The price they pay for the places they live: A case study of the association of educational achievement and aspirations with residential incongruence among middle-class Black adolescents. In J. Cardell (Ed.), American families: Issues in race and ethnicity (Vol. 1015, pp. 407-427): New York: Garland.
23.
Jacobs, J.E., & Eccles, J.S. (1992). The impact of mothers' gender-role stereotypic beliefs on mothers' and children's ability perceptions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 932-944.
24.
Jones, D.J., Forehand, R., O'Connell, C., Armistead, L., & Brody, G.H. (2005). Mothers' perceptions of neighborhood violence and mother-reported monitoring of African American children: An examination of the moderating role of perceived support. Behavior Therapy , 36, 25-34.
25.
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes . Psychological Bulletin, 126, 309-337.
26.
Massey, D.S., & Shibuya, K. (1995). Unraveling the tangle of pathology: The effect of spatially concentrated joblessness on the well-being of African Americans . Social Science Research, 24, 352-366.
27.
Mau, W., & Bikos, L.H. (2000). Educational and vocational aspirations of minority and female students: A longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling and Development, 78, 186-194. McCabe, K., & Barnett, D. (2000). First comes work, then comes marriage: Future orientation among African American young adolescents. Family Relations, 49, 63-70.
28.
Mello, Z.R., & Worrell, F.C. (2006). The relationship of time perspective to age, gender, and academic achievement among academically talented adolescents. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 29, 271-289.
29.
National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2006). Projections of education statistics to 2015 (NCES 2006-084) . Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
30.
O'Keefe, M. (1997). Adolescents' exposure to community and school violence: Prevalence and behavioral correlates. Journal of AdolescentHealth, 20, 368-376.
31.
Oyserman, D., Terry, K., & Bybee, D. (2002). A possible selves intervention to enhance school involvement. Journal of Adolescence, 25, 313-326.
32.
Parmer, T. (1993). The athletic dream-but what are the career dreams of other African American urban high school students?Journal of Career Development, 20, 131-145.
33.
Phalet, K., Andriessen, I., & Lens, W. (2004). How future goals enhance motivation and learning in multicultural classrooms. Educational Psychology Review , 16, 59-89.
34.
Plybon, L.E., Edwards, L., Butler, D., Belgrave, F.Z., & Allison, K.W. (2003). Examining the link between neighborhood cohesion and school outcomes: The role of support coping among African American adolescent girls. Journal of Black Psychology, 29, 393-407. Proctor, B.D., & Dalaker, J. (2003, September). Poverty in the United States: 2002 (P60-222). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau. Available at http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-222.pdf
35.
Quane, J.M., & Rankin, B.H. (1998). Neighborhood poverty, family characteristics, and commitment to mainstream goals: The case of African American adolescents in the inner city. Journal of Family Issues, 19, 769-794.
36.
Rojewski, J.W. (1995). Impact of at-risk behavior on the occupational aspirations and the expectations of male and female adolescents in rural settings . Journal of Career Development, 22, 33-48.
37.
Sampson, R.J. (1997). Collective regulation of adolescent misbehavior: Validation results from eighty Chicago neighborhoods. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 227-244. Sampson, R.J., Raudenbush, S.W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918-924.
38.
Schoon, I. (2001). Teenage job aspirations and career attainment in adulthood: A 17-year follow-up study of teenagers who aspired to become scientists, health professionals, or engineers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 124-132.
39.
Sellers, R.M., & Kuperminc, G.P. (1997). Goal discrepancy in African American student-athletes' unrealistic expectations for careers in professional sports. Journal of Black Psychology, 23, 6-23.
40.
Simons, L.G., Simons, R.L., Conger, R.D., & Brody, G.H. (2004). Collective socialization and child conduct problems: A multilevel analysis with an African American sample. Youth and Society, 35, 267-292.
41.
Soloranzo, D.G. (1992). An exploratory analysis of the effects of race, class, and gender on student and parent mobility aspirations. Journal of Negro Education, 61, 30-44.
42.
Spencer, M.B. (1988). Persistent poverty of African American youth: A normative study of developmental transitions in high-risk environments. Unpublished proposal submitted to and funded by the Spencer Foundation and theFord Foundation. Atlanta, GA : Emory University.
43.
Spencer, M.B. (2001). Resiliency and fragility factors associated with the contextual experiences of low-resource urban African-American male youth and families. In A. Booth & A. C. Crouter (Eds.), Does it take a village? Community effects on children, adolescents, and families (pp. 51-77). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
44.
Spencer, M.B., Cunningham, M., & Swanson, D.P. (1995). Identity as coping: Adolescent African-American males' adaptive responses to high-risk environments. In H. W. Harris, H. C. Blue , & E.E.H. Griffith (Eds.), Racial and ethnic identity: Psychological development and creative expression (pp. 31-52). New York: Routledge.
45.
Taylor, R.D. (2000). An examination of the association of African American mothers' perceptions of their neighborhoods with their parenting and adolescent adjustment. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 267-287.
46.
Thomas, G.E., & Larke, P.J. (1989). Gender differences among Blacks in education and career orientation. Education and Urban Society, 21, 283-298.
47.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics & U.S. Census Bureau. (2002). Current population survey: Table 380: Unemployment rate of persons 16 years old and over by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment: 1999, 2000, 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
48.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics & U.S. Census Bureau. (2005). Current population survey: Educational attainment in the U.S.: 2004 [Internet release]. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
49.
Wilson, W.J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
50.
Wyman, P.A., Cowen, E.L., Work, W.C., & Kerley, J.H. (1993). The role of children's future expectations in self-system functioning and adjustment to life stress: A perspective study of urban at-risk children. Development and Psychopathology , 5, 649-661.
