The villages of rural Alaska comprise one of the most exceptional, yet least visible, sociocultural environments in the United States They are geographically remote, and set off from the mainstream also by their unique Eskimo, Indian or Aleut cultures. At the same time many economic, legal and cultural connections pull these villages toward the dominant U.S. society, impelling continual and rapid social change. Our research focuses on adolescents growing up in this culturally complex and changing environment. We employ survey data from adolescents in 19 rural schools to explore relationships between ethnic identity and students' expectations about moving away or attending college. Many students describe their ethnic identity as mixed, both Native and non-Native. On some key variables, the responses of mixed-identity students fall between those of Natives and non-Natives, supporting a theoretical conception of ethnicity as a matter of degree rather than category. Migration and college expectations vary with ethnic identity, but the college expectations/identity relationship fades when we adjust for other variables. Ethnicity affects expectations for the most part indirectly, through “cultural tool kit” variables including family role models and support. Gender differences in expectations, on the other hand, remain substantial even after adjusting for other variables.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alaska Federation of Natives. 1989. The AFN Report on the Status of Alaska Natives: A Call for Action. Anchorage: Alaska Federation of Natives.
2.
BarnhardtCarol. 1994. Life on the Other Side: Alaska Native Students and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Ph.D. dissertation, University of British Columbia.
3.
BernsteinB.1971. Class, Codes, and Control. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
4.
BourdieuPierre. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by RichardsonJ. G.New York: Greenwood Press.
5.
ChanceNorman A.1990. The Inupiat and Arctic Alaska: An Ethnography of Development. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
6.
ChanceNorman A.AndreevaE.N.1995. “Sustainability, Equity, and Natural Resource Development in Northwest Siberia and Arctic Alaska.”Human Ecology23:217–240.
7.
CobbR. A.McIntyreW. G.PrattP. A.1989. “Vocational and Educational Aspirations of High School Students: A Problem For Rural America.”Research on Rural Education6:11–15.
8.
ColemanJ. S.1988. “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital.”American Journal of Sociology94:95–120.
9.
ColemanJ. S.1990. Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University.
10.
CondonRichard G.1987. Inuit Youth: Growth and Change in the Canadian Arctic. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
11.
DarnellFrankHoëmAnton. 1996. Taken to Extremes: Education in the Far North. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.
12.
DuncanCynthia M.1996. “Understanding Persistent Poverty: Social Class Context in Rural Communities.”Rural Sociology61:103–124.
13.
FarkasGeorge. 1996. Human Capital or Cultural Capital: Ethnicity and Poverty in an Urban School District. New York: Adline de Gruyter.
14.
Fernandez-KellyM. P.1995. “Social Capital and Cultural Capital in the Urban Ghetto: Implications for Economic Sociology and Immigration.” In Economic Sociology, edited by PortesA.New York: Russell Sage.
15.
Fienup-RiordanAnn. 1990. Eskimo Essays: Yup'ik Lives and How We See Them. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
16.
Fogel-ChanceNancy. 1993. “Living in Both Worlds: ‘Modernity’ and ‘Tradition’ Among North Slope Inupiat Women in Anchorage.”Arctic Anthropology30:94–108.
17.
FurstenbergF.Jr.HughesM.E.1995. “Social Capital and Successful Development Among At-risk Youth.”Journal of Marriage and the Family57:580–592.
18.
GrimesJody. 1997. Community Context and Academic Outcomes in Alaskan School Districts. Master's Thesis in Sociology, University of New Hampshire.
19.
HamiltonLawrence C.RasmussenRasmus O.FlandersNicholas E.SeyfritCarole L.1996. “Outmigration and Gender Balance in Greenland.”Arctic Anthropology33:89–97.
20.
HamiltonLawrence C.SeyfritCarole L.1993a. “Town-village Contrasts in Alaskan Youth Aspirations.”Arctic46:255–263.
HamiltonLawrence C.SeyfritCarole L.1994a. “Female Flight? Gender Balance and Outmigration by Native Alaskan Villagers.”Arctic Medical Research53 (Supplement 2):189–193.
23.
HamiltonLawrence C.SeyfritCarole L.1994b. “Coming Out of the Country: Community Size and Gender Balance Among Alaskan Natives.”Arctic Anthropology31:16–25.
24.
HamiltonLawrence C.SeyfritCarole L.1994c. “Resources and Hopes in Newfoundland.”Society and Natural Resources7:561–578.
25.
HamiltonLawrence CSeyfritCarole L.BellingerChristina. 1997. “Environment and Sex Ratios Among Alaska Natives: An Historical Perspective.”Population and Environment18:283–299.
26.
HamiltonLawrence C.OtterstadOddmund. In Press. “Sex Ratios and Community Size: Notes From the Northern Atlantic.”Population and Environment.
27.
HowerWendyKellyKristan. 1996. “On the Edge: Do Bush Schools Measure Up?”Special Limited Edition Reprint. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, January 21–26.
28.
JacobsJ.KarenD.McClellandK.1991. “The Dynamics of Young Men's Career Aspirations.”Sociological Forum6:609–639.
29.
JentoftSvein. 1993. Dangling Lines: The Fisheries Crisis and the Future of Coastal Communities. St. John's, Newfoundland: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
30.
JorgensenJoseph G.1990. Oil Age Eskimos. Berkeley: University of California Press.
31.
KerckhoffA.1977. “The Realism of Educational Ambitions in England and the United States.”American Sociological Review42:563–571.
32.
KerckhoffA.1984. “The Current State of Social Mobility Research.”Sociological Quarterly25:139–153.
33.
KleinfeldJudith. 1981. “Different Paths of Inupiat Men and Women in the Wage Economy.”Alaska Review of Social and Economic Conditions18:1–28.
34.
KleinfeldJudith. 1992. Alaska Native Education: Issues in the Nineties. Anchorage: Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage.
35.
KleinfeldJudithGorsuchLeeKerrJim. 1986. Minorities in Higher Education: The Changing North. Fairbanks: Institute of Social and Economic Research.
36.
KnightDorothy M.1994. Summary of Alaska's Public School Districts' Report Cards to the Public, School Year 1992–93. Juneau: Alaska Department of Education.
37.
KochmerJonathan P.JohnsonDarryll R.1995. “Demography and Socioeconomics of Northern North America: Current Status and Impacts of Climate Change.” Pp. 31–54 in Human Ecology and Climate Change: People and Resources in the Far North, edited by PetersonD. L.JohnsonD. R.Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.
38.
LangaardP.1986. “Modernization and Traditional Interpersonal Relations In A Small Greenlandic Community: A Case Study From Southern Greenland.”Arctic Anthropology27:20–35.
39.
LongJ. Scott. 1997. Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
40.
LouryG.1977. “A Dynamic Theory of Racial Income Differences.” Ch. 8 in Women, Minorities, and Employment Discrimination, edited by WallaceP.A.Le MundA.Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
41.
LouryG.1987. “Why Should We Care About Social Inequality?”Social Philosophy and Policy5:249–271.
42.
MajoribanksKevin. 1972. “Ethnic and Environmental Influences On Mental Abilities.”American Journal of Sociology78:323–37.
43.
McLanahanS.SandefurG.1994. Growing Up with a Single Parent. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
44.
MessengerJohn C.1969. Inis Beag, Isle of Ireland. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
45.
OgbuJohn. 1986. “The Consequences of the American Caste System.” Pp. 19–56 in The School Achievement of Minority Children, edited by NeisserU.Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
46.
PeltoPertti J.1973. The Snowmobile Revolution: Technology and Social Change in the Arctic. Menlo Park, CA: Cummings.
47.
PortesA.SensenbrennerJ.1993. “Embeddedness and Immigration: Notes on the Social Determinants of Economic Action.”American Journal of Sociology98:1320–1350.
48.
Scheper-HughesNancy. 1979. Saints, Scholars, and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness in Rural Ireland. Berkeley: University of California Press.
49.
SeyfritCarole L.1993. Hibernia's Generation: Social Impact of Oil Development on Adolescents in Newfoundland. ISER Offshore Oil Project Series. St. John's, NF: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
50.
SeyfritCarole L.CrosslandChristine R.HamiltonLawrence C.1996. “Alcohol, Drugs, and Family Violence: Perceptions of High School Students in Southwest Alaska.” Paper presented at the 10th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Anchorage, May.
51.
SeyfritCarole L.HamiltonLawrence C.1992. “Social Impacts of Resource Development on Arctic Adolescents.”Arctic Research of the United States6:57–61.
52.
SeyfritCarole L.HamiltonLawrence C. In press. “Alaska Native Youth and Their Attitudes Toward Education.”Arctic Anthropology34:135–148.
53.
SpencerM. B.Markstrom-AdamsC.1990. “Identity Processes Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Children in America.”Child Development61:290–310.
54.
SwidlerA.1986. “Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies.”American Sociological Review51:273–286.
55.
WillisP.1977. Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. New York: Columbia University Press.
56.
ZhouMinBankstonCarl L.III.1994. “Social Capital and the Adaptation of the Second Generation: The Case of Vietnamese Youth in New Orleans.”International Migration Review28:821–845.
