Sociology 441: Stratification

Others' expectations effects on status attainment

• expectations and encouragement from significant others, and
• the student's own aspirations for more school and a high status occupation

Parents' status -> Others' expectations -> Own aspirations -> Education

The idea is that people (teachers, friends, parents) expect children born into high status families to go to college. That is, high expectations are a general consequence of having a high status family. Teenagers in affluent families are not asked whether they are going to college, but rather which college they will be going to. Teenagers from working-class families are more likely to be asked whether they are thinking about college. Expectations are usually communicated in these more subtle ways.

Because of those expectations, the children themselves always plan to go to college. And, students who plan to go to college are more likely to get there than students who plan to do something else.

You can also describe this causal change in the reverse order.

All of these are merely tendencies. There are many causes of others' expectations beyond parents' status; many causes of our own aspirations besides what everybody expects of us, and many causes of whether we get to college besides whether we want to go or not. But, in general these causes and consequences are linked together.

Measures of Others' Expectations and Encouragement:

A weighted combination of:

• Perceived parental encouragement to attend college.
• Perceived teacher encouragement to attend college.
• Friends' college plans.