August 29 2006 - The goals of many teens exceed their likely achievements, leading to wasted time and resources, not to mention anxiety and distress, according to a new study in the journal Social Problems by John Reynolds, professor of sociology at Florida State University.
Co-authored by graduate students Michael Stewart, Ryan MacDonald and Lacey Sischo, the study analyzed data from several national surveys to compare changes in high school senior students' educational and occupational plans between 1976 and 2000 and found a widening gap between goals and actual achievements.
Reynolds said:
"Today's teens are both highly ambitious and increasingly unrealistic. While some youth clearly benefit from heightened ambition, it can lead to disappointment and discouragement rather than optimism and success."
The study found that high school senior students in 2000 were much more ambitious than their 1976 counterparts. In 2000 50 per cent planned to continue their education after college to get an advanced degree compared to 26 per cent in 1976. In 2000 63 per cent planned to work in a professional job - such as doctor, lawyer, college professor, accountant or engineer - by the age of 30, compared to 41 per cent in 1976. Other categories were laborer, farmer or homemaker; service, sales or clerical; operative or crafts; military or protective services; entrepreneur; and administrator or manager.
The percentage of high school graduates between 25 and 30 who actually earned advanced degrees remained fairly consistent. The gap between expectations of achieving such a degree and what is realistic grew from 22 percentage points in 1976 to 41 percentage points in 2000.
The researchers attribute the senior students' unrealistic expectations to "the declining influence of grades and high school curricula and the increasing number who plan to go to community college as an educational stepping-stone to a first degree and beyond". Evidence suggests that such students are much less likely to complete even a first degree, compared to those beginning their college careers at four-year institutions.
John Reynolds commented:
"Unrealistic plans may lead to a misuse of human potential and economic resources. For example, planning to become a medical doctor while making poor grades in high school means that preparation for other more probable vocations is likely to be postponed.
"Like many cultural shifts in today's society, money may be at the root of the 'college-for-all' attitude. Parents, high school counselors and others are giving students the message that a college degree is the only way to get a good job when, in fact, a skilled electrician or plumber can earn as much as say, a college professor.
"Also, other researchers have found that although we are making more money than in the past, what counts for happiness is making more than your peers. This might also fuel irrational plans to work in top occupations."
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