Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 1-1-2013 Understanding Racial Differences In Aspiration Realization: Middle Income, Middle Class, And College-Going Behaviors Omari Jackson Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.edu/oa_dissertations Recommended Citation Jackson, Omari, "Understanding Racial Differences In Aspiration Realization: Middle Income, Middle Class, And College-Going Behaviors" (2013). Wayne State University Dissertations. This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState.
UNDERSTANDING RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN ASPIRATION REALIZATION: MIDDLE INCOME, MIDDLE CLASS, AND COLLEGE-GOING BEHAVIORS by OMARI JACKSON SR. DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2013 MAJOR: SOCIOLOGY Approved by: ______________________________________ Advisor Date ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ DEDICATION This project is foremost dedicated to my God. Lofty words could not describe how and why you are my strength. Secondly, this project is dedicated to my parents: regular, old-fashioned, blue- collar, middle class African Americans.
These regular, old-fashioned, blue-collar, middle class African Americans inspired me to somehow achieve what many people never achieve, despite any social location--higher education. I am an example of how love, support, and concern can manifest into aspiration realization. Because of my parents, I am academically successful. Because of my parents, I pursued the doctorate.
Because of my parents, I earned the doctorate! I stand on the shoulders of my parents. Last, but certainly not least, this project is dedicated to all of my former teachers. My kindergarten to eighth grade teachers, at Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary/Middle School, inspired me to work hard and enjoy learning despite peers making fun of my interest in school. High school teachers, at Lewis Cass Technical High School and Morrow High School, prepared me for college and the business world.
Any ounce of determination and motivation that people see in me came from my God, my parents and my teachers. You all taught me that I am owed nothing, yet I can work for everything! Thank you! ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I acknowledge God! When NO ONE understood my circumstance, He did. Second, I would like to acknowledge my wife--Kanika Nicole Jackson. You stood by me during all of my failures.
Third, I would like to acknowledge my 22 month old son--Omari Jackson Jr. You are my world. You physically stood/lay by me many times while I was working on my dissertation. I have pictures of us falling to sleep with scholarly articles scattered around.
I remember times when I took you to the library; feeding you while brainstorming and tapping away at the keyboard with one hand. I expect so much from you. While I do not have specific plans for your life, I am listening to what God is telling me about your purpose. Know that I am here to help you along the way.
Follow your dreams and make God proud. I am also extremely indebted to my dissertation chair--Dr. David Merolla! Man, you rock! You are God sent. You allowed me to carry out my dream project.
You are a genius and I mean it. I would also like to thank my committee members--Dr. Percy Bates, Dr. Khari Brown, and Dr.
You all worked so well with each other and me. My dissertation process was nothing like the horror stories I have heard. I kept waiting on some major setback to occur and it never did. Thank you! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication.iii List of Tables.vi Chapter 1: Introduction.1 Definitions of Middle Class.4 Chapter 2: Literature Review.10 Explanations of Race and Aspirations.10 The Link Between Aspirations and College Attendance.26 Summary and Hypotheses.95 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for Total Sample and by Race.45 Table 2: Aspiration Realization by Race, Class and Gender.49 Table 3: Aspiration Realization by Race and Class.50 Table 4: Mediating Variables by Aspiration Realization.51 Table 5: Odds Ratios from Multinomial Logistic Regression of Aspiration Realization Lower Middle Class.52 Table 6: Odds Ratios from Multinomial Logistic Regression of Aspiration Realization Solid Middle Class.58 Table 7: Odds Ratios from Multinomial Logistic Regression of Aspiration Realization Upper Middle Class.61 vi 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Disparities between African Americans and whites in the United States is well documented.
Throughout American history and into the 21st century African Americans have attended college at a lower rate than whites (Aud et al. Although many sociological studies examine race and its correlation with educational attainment, few studies examine race as the primary contributor to educational disadvantage. Rather than suggesting that educational attainment is directly impacted by phenotypic characteristics, studies typically examine the connection between educational attainment and race as mediated by socio-demographic factors, attitudes, and behaviors of students. However, despite attention to the issue of racial disparities in college participation, scholarly literature lacks a good understanding of why African Americans’ educational attainment continues to lag behind the college participation rates of whites.
Furthermore, it is important to compare African Americans and whites of similar socioeconomic backgrounds to truly highlight racial disparities in college attendance that are not conflated with effects of social class. This dissertation, argues scholarly understanding is inadequate is because there are a dearth of studies that examine the multifaceted nature of class among African Americans. African Americans’ claim of membership in the middle class is based on income, whereas whites’ claim of membership in the middle class is based on drive for middle class opportunities and a middle class standard of living (Oliver & Shapiro, 2006). I enhance Oliver’s and Shapiro’s argument by arguing that class functions differently for African Americans than it functions for whites, yet scholars 2 seeking to understand racial differences in college have not adequately acknowledged or examined these differences.
Another important factor in college enrollment that may operate differently for African American and white students is educational aspirations. African Americans’ aspirations tend to be high, while their college attendance rates tend to be low. Whereas whites tend to outnumber African Americans in attending college, they do not outnumber African Americans in aspiring to attend college. Instead, most African American children aspire to attend college and most African American parents aspire for their children to attend college (Spera, Wentzel, & Matto, 2009; Jackson, 2011).
In fact, African Americans report postsecondary aspirations at higher rates than whites (Cooper, 2009; Reynolds & Johnson, 2011), apply to college at higher rates (Turley, Santos, & Ceja, 2007), and have slightly higher degree expectations than white students (Carter, 1999). However, a strong relationship between aspirations and college attendance does not exist for African Americans. Instead, educational aspirations of African Americans are much higher than actual educational attainment among African Americans, meaning that many African American students’ aspirations go unrealized (Buttaro, Battle, & Pastrana, 2010). Such disparity between African American students’ higher educational aspirations and lower educational attainment has been termed the aspiration-attainment paradox.
This dissertation seeks to shed light on the aspiration-attainment paradox by examining the nature of class among African American students. Specifically, this dissertation will determine if a better understanding of class among African American students can lead to 3 a better understanding of the link between aspirations and college attendance and the role aspirations play in racial disparities in educational attainment. This study examines the definition of middle class for African Americans. While, poorer African Americans are often chronicled through media and government and exhibit an overt need for assistance, less attention has been paid to middle class African American students as these students are not seen as needing assistance because of their middle class status (Pattillo, 1999).” This oversight may be particularly problematic when attempting to understand the African American middle class, because middle class African Americans are worse off in a variety of areas and often hold a more precarious position in the middle class than their middle-class white counterparts (Oliver & Shapiro, 2006; Pattillo, 1999).
For instance, Pattillo (1999) speaks about the increased likelihood of middle class African Americans having adult children living in the household. These adult children are often unemployed or underemployed as a result of lack of education and fewer blue collar job options. Parents have to provide for their adult children and many times have to provide for their 4 grandchildren as well. Often middle class African American families may be just one negative event (e., serious illness, lay-off) from poverty.
Moreover, social programs designed to address educational inequality are usually targeted towards lower SES African Americans. These programs either fail to see the need to assist middle class African Americans or are not tailored in a manner that will assist middle class African Americans. For instance, the federally funded Upward Bound program is a college preparatory program for high school students who are low income and/or first generation college students. This program certainly provides necessary resources for minority students, however, it only targets certain schools--those with high percentages of low income and first generation college students.
According to the U. Department of Education, two-thirds of program participants must be low income and first generation college student status. Resultantly, magnet schools, suburban schools, and private schools are less likely to be eligible. Moreover, only a select number of schools are chosen to participate; so there are a large number of middle class African American students who are not eligible because their school was not chosen.
Definitions of Middle Class Popular Definitions of Middle Class. The media and government often shape public definitions and understandings of social issues. While the term “middle class” is commonly used, such usage comes with much ambiguity. In several political speeches, President Barack Obama has stated that just a few years ago his family was middle class, yet his pre-presidential household 5 income was more than $250,000.
During these speeches, he has also chronicled the lives of American citizens who are employed in blue collar industries and has used their lives as the face of the middle class. In the 2012 presidential election, both major party candidates defined middle class as those who live in households that earn approximately $250,000 or less per year. Moreover, the blue collar employee is often the mainstream definition of middle class, determined by the fact that they earn incomes above the official poverty level established by the government – approximately $23,000 for a family of four. However, the vast majority of blue-collar workers earn incomes far below $250,000 per year.
Media and government definitions of the middle class include families earning between $23,000 and $250,000. This definition is convenient for political purposes, because the families in this range may have similarities in terms of taxation. However, this definition clearly obscures substantial heterogeneity in terms of education levels and occupation types, which affect students’ academic experiences. For instance, under this definition, it is possible that both an attorney and his/her secretary would be classified as middle class despite obvious differences in the life circumstances of these individuals.
This project attempts to look beyond income as a definition of class status and determine the extent to which African American students from lower middle and solid middle class families differ from African American students from upper middle class families. It is argued this distinction may be particularly important for African American families due to the nature of social class among this historically disadvantaged group. 6 Historical Definition of Middle Class. Over the years, the definition of middle class has changed for African Americans.
Before the civil rights movement, middle class status for African Americans was based on values such as valuing family and community, and behaviors such as serving one’s church (Cole & Omari, 2003). This definition is based on values prior to the pre-Civil Rights Movement; as few African Americans attained high levels of income, high levels of education, and professional occupations due to institutionalized, legal discrimination.