The Rural Lifeworld as a Pathway to Career Identity: Lessons From a Non-School Internship Study

Abstract

This case examines two Appalachian Ohio organizations outside the boundaries of formal schooling that address issues of youth outmigration and sustainable community development through non-school internships. Twenty-five participants who completed internships from 2016–2020 were interviewed on topics related to their career pathways, social capital acquisition, and community connections. This case relates to the 3^rd wave of economic development which has elevated social capital and cross-sector collaboration, but also the emerging 4^th wave of economic development that finds communities prioritizing people and “place-making”. The key finding — participants’ career narratives — indicates place plays an emotional and material role in fostering entrepreneurship education and similar forms of workforce development in rural areas.

Keywords

enterprise education entrepreneurial ecosystem secondary school experiential learning rural education

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

About the linked learning approach. (2022). Linked learning. Linked Learning Alliance. https://www.linkedlearning.org/about/linked-learning-approach

Allen

(2000). Involving English language learners in community-connected learning. Perspectives on policy and practice. Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Lab. at Brown University. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED445548

Almeida

Steinberg

(Eds.), (2001). Connected learning communities: A toolkit for reinventing high school. Jobs for the Future. the JFF National Faculty; U.S. Department of Education’s New American High Schools Initiative. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED457384.pdf

Barron

(2006). Interest and self-sustained learning as catalysts of development: A learning ecology perspective. Human Development, 49(4), 193–224. https://doi.org/10.1159/000094368

Bauch

P. A.

(2001). School-community partnerships in rural schools: Leadership, renewal, and a sense of place. Peabody Journal of Education, 76(2), 204–221. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327930pje7602_9

Beaulieu

L. J.

Israel

D. G.

Wimberly

R. C.

(2003). Promoting educational achievement: A partnership of families, schools, and communities. In Brown

D. L.

Swanson

L. E.

(Eds.), Challenges for rural America in the 21st century (pp. 179–189). The Pennsylvania State University Press.

Ben-Eliyahu

Rhodes

Scales

(2014). The interest-driven pursuits of 15 year olds: “Sparks” and their association with caring relationships and developmental outcomes. Applied Developmental Science, 18(2), 76–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2014.894414

Benson

P. L.

Scales

(2009). The definition and preliminary measurement of thriving in adolescence. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(1), 85–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760802399240

Blair

J. P.

Caroll

M. C.

(2009). Local economic development: Analysis, practices, and globalization (2nd ed.). Sage.

10.

Bogdan

Biklen

S. K.

(2006). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theories and methods (5th ed.). Pearson.

11.

Bronfrenbrenner

(1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.

12.

Brown

B. L.

(1999). Self-efficacy beliefs and career development. ERIC digest no. 205. ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career and Vocational Education. https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED429187

13.

Busette

C. M.

Farrow-Chestnut

Reeves

R. V.

Frimpong

Sun

(2020). How we rise: How social networks in charlotte impact economic mobility. Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/essay/how-we-rise-how-social-networks-in-charlotte-impact-economic-mobility/

14.

Byun

Meece

J. L.

Irvin

M. J.

Hutchins

B. C.

(2012). The role of social capital in educational aspirations of rural youth. Rural Sociology, 77(3), 355–379. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1549-0831.2012.00086.x

15.

Carr

P. J.

Kefalas

M. K.

(2009). Hollowing out the middle: The rural brain drain and what it means for America. Beacon Press.

16.

Cartel

Kibler

Dacin

M. T.

(2022). Unpacking “sense of place” and “place-making” in organization studies: A toolkit for place-sensitive research. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 58(2), 350–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/00218863221090305

17.

Cartun

Penuel

W. R.

West-Puckett

(2017). Blurring the boundaries between school and community: Implementing connected learning principles in English classrooms. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 61(2), 183–190. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.668

18.

Christensen

C. A.

(2015). Community-engaged teaching: A project-based model. Teaching Artist Journal, 13(1), 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/15411796.2014.966024

19.

Clarke

S. E.

Gaile

G. L.

(1992). The next wave: Postfederal local economic development strategies. Economic Development Quarterly, 6(2), 187–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124249200600207

20.

Cobb

J. B.

Jr. (1996). Defining normative community. In Vitek

Jackson

(Eds.), Rooted in the land: Essays on community and place. (pp. 185–194). Yale University Press.

21.

Corbett

(2020). Learning to leave: The irony of schooling in a costal community. West Virginia University Press.

22.

Crosnoe

(2004). Social capital and the interplay of families and schools. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(2), 267–280. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2004.00019.x

23.

Deller

(2021). Are we in the 4th wave of economic development? Review of Regional Studies, 51(3), 233–245. https://doi.org/10.52324/001c.30813

24.

Dewey

(1997). Experience and education (Reprint edition). Free Press.

25.

EntreWorks. (2018). Entrepreneurial ecosystems in appalachia. Appalachian Regional Commission. https://entreworks.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ARC-Lit-Review-1.pdf

26.

Epstein

J. L.

(2011). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools (2nd ed.). Westview Press.

27.

Epstein

J. L.

& Associates. (2019). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action (4th ed.). Corwin.

28.

Erfani

(2022). Reconceptualising sense of place: Towards a conceptual framework for investigating individual-community-place interrelationships. Journal of Planning Literature, 37(3), 452–466. https://doi.org/10.1177/08854122221081109

29.

Feldman

M. P.

(2014). The character of innovative places: Entrepreneurial strategy, economic development, and prosperity. Small Business Economics, 43(1), 9–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-014-9574-4

30.

Flora

C. B.

Flora

J. L.

(1993). Entrepreneurial social infrastructure: A necessary ingredient. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 529(1), 48–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716293529001005, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1048623

31.

Flora

C. B.

Flora

J. L.

(2003). Social capital. In Brown

D. L.

Swanson

L. E.

(Eds.), Challenges for rural America in the 21st century (pp. 214–227). The Pennsylvania State University Press.

32.

Flora

C. B.

Flora

J. L.

Gasteyer

S. P.

(2016). Rural communities: Legacy + change. Routledge.

33.

Freire

(2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed: 50th anniversary edition. Bloomsbury Academic. (Original work published 1970).

34.

Fuster

Padilla-Meléndez

Lockett

del-Águila-Obra

A. R.

(2019). The emerging role of university spin-off companies in developing regional entrepreneurial university ecosystems: The case of Andalusia. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 141(C), 219–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.10.020

35.

Giovannitti

(2021). Core intermediaries and collaborations: Increasing scale, adaptability, and access to resources in rural communities. In Dumont

Davis

D. P.

(Eds.), Investing in rural prosperity (pp. 525–534). Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

36.

Glesne

(2014). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction (5th ed.). Pearson.

37.

Hecht

Crowley

(2019). Unpacking the learning ecosystems framework: Lessons from the adaptive management of biological ecosystems. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 29(2), 264–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2019.1693381

38.

Holtkamp

Weaver

R. C.

(2018). Placing social capital: Place identity and economic conditions in Appalachia. Southeastern Geographer, 58(1), 58–79. https://doi.org/10.1353/sgo.2018.0005

39.

hooks

(2019a). belonging: A culture of place. Routledge. (Original work published 2009).

40.

hooks

(2019b). Teaching community: A pedagogy of hope. Routledge. (Originally published 2003).

41.

Howley

C. W.

(2006). Remote possibilities: Rural children’s educational aspirations. Peabody Journal of Education, 81(2), 62–80. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327930pje8102_4

42.

Howley

C. W.

Howley

(2021). Forward. In Azano

A. P.

Eppley

Biddle

(Eds.), The Bloomsbury handbook of rural education in the United States. (pp. viii–xiii). Bloomsbury Academic. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-bloomsbury-handbook-of-rural-education-in-the-united-states-9781350172005/

43.

Imel

(1999). School-to-work myths and realities no. 4. ERIC clearinghouse on adult, career and vocational education center on training or employment. The Ohio State University. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED408164.pdf

44.

Israel

G. D.

Beaulieu

L. J.

(2004). Investing in communities: Social capital’srole in keeping youth in school. Community Development Society. Journal, 34(2), 35–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330409490111

45.

Ito

Arum

Conley

Gutierrez

Kirshner

Livingstone

Michalchik

Penuel

Peppler

Pinkard

Rhodes

Tekinbas

K. S.

Schor

Sefton-Green

Watkins

S. C.

(2020). The connected learning research network: Reflections on a decade of engaged scholarship. Connected Learning Alliance. https://clalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CLRN_Report.pdf

46.

Ito

Gutierrez

Livingstone

Penuel

Rhodes

Salen

Schor

Sefton-Green

Watkins

S. G.

(2013). Connected learning: An agenda for research and design. Digital Media and Research Hub. https://dmlhub.net/wp-content/uploads/files/Connected_Learning_report.pdf

47.

Johnson

(2014). Durable issues in rural education. In Howley

C. B.

Howley

Johnson

J. D.

(Eds.), Dynamics of social class, race, and place in rural education (pp. 325–349). Information Age Publishing.

48.

Johnstone

Lionais

(2004). Depleted communities and community business entrepreneurship: Revaluing space through place. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 16(3), 217–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/0898562042000197117

49.

Jones

S. M.

Barnes

S. P.

Bailey

Doolittle

E. J.

(2017). Promoting social and emotional competencies in elementary school. The Future of Children, 27(1), 49–72. EJ1144815 https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2017.0003

50.

Kolb

D. A.

(1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall.

51.

Kretzmann

J. P.

McKnight

Dobrowolski

Puntenney

(2005). Discovering community power: A guide to mobilizing local assets and your organization’s capacity. Asset-Based Community Development Institute, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University.

52.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

(2019). Social cognitive career theory at 25: Empirical status of the interest, choice, and performance models. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 115(103316), 103316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.06.004

53.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

Hackett

(1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79–122. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1994.1027

54.

Lester

(2021). Perfect dirt: And other things I have gotten wrong. West Virginia University Press.

55.

Markus

Nurius

(1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41(9), 954–969. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.41.9.954

56.

Mather

M. A.

(2000). Where community and curriculum come together. Tech and Learning, 20(10), 60.

57.

Maul

Penuel

W. R.

Dadey

Gallagher

L.Pl.

Podkul

Price

(2016). Measuring experiences of interest-related pursuits in connected learning. Education Tech Research Dev. Association for Educational Communications and Technology. https://connectedlearning.uci.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Academic-Paper-Measuring-Experiences-of-Interest-Related-Pursuits-in-Connected-Learning-Longitudinal-Survey-of-Connected-Learning.pdf

58.

McClennen

(2017, February). Place based and community based education, civic and public spaces and community. Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/What-is-Place-Based-Education-and-Why-Does-it-Matter-3.pdf

59.

McRae

Johnston

(2016). The development of a proposed global work-integrated learning framework. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 17(4), 337–348. https://www.ijwil.org/files/APJCE_17_4_337_348.pdf

60.

Miller

(1992). Introducing holistic education: The historical and pedagogical context of the 1990 Chicago statement. Teacher Education Quarterly, 19(1), 5–13.

61.

Montessori

(1913). Pedagogical anthropology. A. Stokes Company. (Original work published in 1910).

62.

Montessori

(2007). From childhood to adolescence. Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company. (Original work published in 1948).

63.

Mourshed

Farrell

Barton

(2012). Education to employment: Designing a system that works. McKinsey Center for Government. https://www.mckinseyonsociety.com/education-to-employment

64.

Oates

(2022, July 26). Keep it rural: How to talk about “rural prosperity”. The Daily Yonder. https://dailyyonder.com/newsletter/keep-it-rural-how-to-talk-about-rural-prosperity/

65.

Ohio Department of Development. (2022). State of Ohio appalachian regional commission 2022 annual strategy statement. Department of Development. https://www.arc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Ohio-ARC-Strategy-Statement-FY-2022.pdf

66.

Ohio Department of Development. (n.d.). Governor’s office of appalachia programs. Department of Development. https://development.ohio.gov/community/governors-office-of-appalachia/goa-programs

67.

Olberding

(2002). Diving into the ‘third waves’ of regional governance and economic development strategies: A study of regional partnerships for economic development in U.S. Metropolitan areas. Economic Development Quarterly, 16(3), 251–272. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124240201600305

68.

Parcel

T. L.

Dufur

M. J.

(2001). Capital at home and at school: Effects on child social adjustment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(1), 32–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.00032.x

69.

Patton

M. Q.

(2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd edition). Sage Publications.

70.

PBLWorks. (2022). Project based learning for all. The Buck Institute for Education. https://www.pblworks.org/

71.

Pender

MarréReeder

A. R.

(2012). Rural wealth creation: Concepts, strategies, and measures. United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/44957/16573_err131_1_.pdf?v=0

72.

Petrin

R. A.

Schafft

K. A.

Meece

J. L.

(2014). Educational sorting and residential aspirations among rural high school students: What are the contributions of schools and educators to the rural brain drain? American Educational Research Journal, 51(2), 294–326. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831214527493, https://www-jstor-org.proxy.library.ohio.edu/stable/24546689

73.

Piaget

(1926). The language and thought of the child. Kegan Paul, Trench and Trubner.

74.

Piaget

Inhelder

(1969). The psychology of the child. ( Weaver

, Trans.). Basic Books. (1969).

75.

Putnam

R. P.

(2015). Our Kids: The American dream in crisis. Simon and Schuster.

76.

Quinones

(2015). Dreamland: The true tales of America’s opiate epidemic. Bloomsbury.

77.

Ravitch

(2010). The death and life of the great American school system: How testing and choice are undermining education. Basic Books.

78.

Rebanks

(2015). The shepherd’s life: Modern dispatches from an ancient landscape. Flatiron Books.

79.

Redhead

Bika

(2022). ‘Adopting place’: How an entrepreneurial sense of belonging can help revitalise communities. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 34(3–4), 222–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2022.2049375

80.

Ricket

A. L.

(2022). Valuing Complexity in education-community partnerships: SROI as measurement Framework for learning ecosystems [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1657547038349744

81.

Ricket

Bentley

Yahn

(2021). Community and career connected learning: The impact of high school internships in rural Appalachian Ohio. [Research report]. Building Bridges to Career. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51e96d5ee4b00dfa731a01d5/t/623b399058c0f3010abff689/1648048534244/Internship%2BImpact%2BReport_2022-v3-compressed.pdf

82.

Ricket

A. L.

Knutsen

F. B.

Jolley

G. J.

Davis

S. C.

(2022). Appalachian social entrepreneurship ecosystem: A framework for rural development. Community Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330.2022.2155676

83.

Roundy

P. T.

(2014). Social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Complementary or disjointed phenomena? International Journal of Social Economics, 44(9), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-02-2016-0045

84.

Russell

J. L.

Knutson

Crowley

(2013). Informal learning organizations as part of an educational ecology: Lessons from collaboration across the formal-informal divide. Journal of Educational Change, 14(3), 259–281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-012-9203-4

85.

Scales

P. C.

Benson

P. L.

Roehlkepartain

E. C.

(2011). Adolescent thriving: The role of sparks, relationships, and empowerment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence: A Multidisciplinary Research Publication, 40(3), 263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9578-6

86.

Shaffer

Deller

Marcouiller

(2006). Rethinking community economic development. Economic Development Quarterly, 20(1), 59–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242405283106

87.

Sharp

E. H.

Seaman

Tucker

C. J.

Van Gundy

K. T.

Rebellon

C. J.

(2020). Adolescents future aspirations and expectations in the context of a shifting rural economy. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(2), 534–548. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01152-6

88.

Sherman

(2009). Those who work, those who don’t: Poverty, morality, and family in rural America. University of Minnesota Press.

89.

Sherman

Sage

(2011). Sending off all your good treasurers: Rural schools, brain-drain, and community survival in the wake of economic collapse. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 26(11). http://www.jrre.psu.edu/articles/26-11.pdf

90.

Snyder

(2018). 12 rounds in Lo’s gym: Boxing and manhood in Appalachia. West Virginia University Press.

91.

Stam

(2011). The power of real-world application. Leadership, 40(3), 12–15. https://eds-b-ebscohostcom.proxy.library.ohio.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=20&sid=94737896-af1c-4a4f-ba82-a2ff6381d1b8%40pdc-v-sessmgr01

92.

Standing

E. M.

(1957). Maria Montessori: Her life and work. Plume.

93.

Summers

G. F.

Branch

(1984). Economic development and community social change. Annual Review of Sociology, 10(1), 141–166. https://www-jstor-org.proxy.library.ohio.edu/stable/2083171

94.

Theobald

(1997). Teaching the commons: Place, pride, and the renewal of community. Routledge.

95.

Theobald

Campbell

(2014). The fate of rural communities and schools in a a corporation-dominated political economy: A historical interpretation. In Howley

C. B.

Howley

Johnson

J. D.

(Eds.), Dynamics of social class, race, and place in rural education (95-107). Information Age Publishing, Inc.

96.

Theobald

(2009). Education now: How rethinking America’s past can change its future. Routledge.

97.

Tieken

M. C.

(2014). Why rural schools matter. The University of North Carolina Press.

98.

Tolstykh

Gamidullaeva

Shmeleva

(2021). Universities as knowledge integrators and cross-industry ecosystems: Self-organizational perspective. Sage Open, 11(1), 215824402098870. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020988704

99.

Turner

R. C.

(2003). The political economy of gubernatorial smokestack chasing: Bad policy and bad politics? State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 3(3), 270–293. https://doi.org/10.1177/153244000300300303

100.

Tyack

(1974). The one best system: A history of American urban education. Harvard University Press.

101.

Tye

(2000). Hard truths: Uncovering the deep structure of schooling. Teacher College Press.

102.

Urban Institute. (2021, September 21). Reenvisioning rural America: How to invest in the strengths and potential of rural communities. Urban Institute. https://reenvisioning-rural-america.urban.org

103.

Vaclavik

Sánchez

Buehler

Gray

Rodriguez

(2017). How to support me in connected learning: Youth perspectives on adult supportive behavior and its benefits. Journal of Community Psychology, 45(7), 906–921. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21901

104.

Volkmann

Fichter

Klofsten

Audretsch

D. B.

(2021). Sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems: An emerging field of research. Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal, 56(3), 1047–1055. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-019-00253-7

105.

Wang

(2021). Higher education institutions and entrepreneurship in underserved communities. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research, 81(6), 1273–1291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00611-5

106.

Weiss

R. S.

(1995). Learning from strangers: The art and method of qualitative interview studies. Free Press.

107.

Woodrum

(2004). State-mandated testing and cultural resistance in Appalachian schools: Competing values and expectations. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 19(1). Retrieved (insert date) from http://jrre.psu.edu/articles/19-1.pdf

108.

Yahn

Ricket

Werry

(2023). Bridging schools, communities, and universities: Community and Career Connected Learning. In Hartman

S. L.

Klein

(Eds.), The middle of somewhere: Rural education partnerships and innovation (pp. 13–29). Harvard University Press.

109.

Zuckerman

S. J.

(2019). Making sense of place: A case study of sensemaking in a ruralschool-community partnership. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 35(6), 1–18. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.26209/jrre3506