Pathways to Achievement: Career and Educational Aspirations and Expectations of Latina/o Immigrant Parents and Early Adolescents.

ABSTRACTDrawing on sociocultural and related theories, 4 questions examined career and educational aspirations and expectations among 24 immigrant Latina/o early adolescents and their parents as predictors of students’ grades. First, adolescents’ career aspirations and expectations were correlated, and both parents and adolescents held educational aspirations that exceeded their expectations. Second, most adolescents and parents held congruent educational aspirations. Third, congruence between students’ career and educational aspirations was uncommon. Fourth, parents’ educational aspirations and adolescents’ career–education congruence predicted students’ grades. Discussion highlights students’ ongoing reconciliation between aspirations and academic skills and multiple ways immigrant Latino parents contribute to their adolescents’ future.