Hope in the Lives of Low Income Students of Color: A Qualitative Study of Experiences in a Work-Based Learning Program

• Main Author: Medvide, Mary Beth
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Boston College 2014
• Subjects: career development; hope
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:103553

Thesis advisor: Maureen E. Kenny === Hope theory (Snyder et al., 1991) is a cognitive framework for understanding how individuals plan and stay motivated to achieve their goals. Research suggests that high levels of hope among adolescents are associated with academic achievement and markers of career exploration (Day, Hanson, Maltby, Proctor, & Wood, 2010; Kenny, Walsh-Blair, Blustein, Bempechat, & Seltzer, 2010). However, some scholars have raised criticisms about the conceptual underpinnings of hope and its applicability to the lives of marginalized groups (Tong, Fredrickson, Weining, & Zi, 2010; Riele, 2010). Despite these criticisms, hope theory has been used to study academic achievement among students of color (Chang & Banks, 2007; Roesch, Duangado, Vaughn, Aldridge, and Vilodas, 2010). Existing studies have most often utilized quantitative frameworks that have provided limited insight into how hope is experienced in the daily lives of low income students of color and how it may embody their relational, social, and cultural contexts. A qualitative framework is well suited for addressing these shortcomings. The current study employed a phenomenological methodology to explore how low income students of color defined hope and experienced it in their daily lives. Twenty one students enrolled in a work-based learning program at an urban Catholic high school were interviewed individually and participated in a group written activity on hope in their communities. The results of the study showed that goal pursuit was embedded within a relational context where participants embodied the opportunities and barriers experienced in their families, schools, and communities. The participants defined hope in ways that surpassed existing theory and elucidated the dynamic and sometimes contradictory role of the social context. These findings provide avenues for intervention in the lives of marginalized youth that frame discussions of WBL programs within a larger social context where relational processes are vital for student success. === Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. === Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. === Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.