Social Influences of Upward-Bound Students

Investigations of Social Influences on

Upward-Bound Students Occupational Choices

The Upward Bound program, like the Head Start program and other progressive educational programs, was designed to improve the academic performance of students who needed enrichment in their educational process. It was designed to improve current academic performance as well as set the stage for students to attend postsecondary institutions and succeed there. However, the research on the effectiveness of the program in general has shown mixed results. There are other influences operating on Upward Bound students and some of these will be explored in the following pages in terms of occupational choices. The intent is to look at the background of the Upward Bound program, achievements of the program, and social influences on participants, along with research on occupational choice-making.

The story of Upward Bound begins with the War on Poverty and legislation signed by Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The Economic Opportunity Act established an office of Economic Opportunity and special Programs for Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (often known as the TRIO programs). The first TRIO program was actually Upward Bound, followed by Talent Search. These were followed by Student Support Services program and Educational Opportunity Centers. Following that, The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program was established in 1986, with the final piece of the

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t Upward Bound had no significant impact on student achievement in science in comparison to control group members. Riccobono and Wisenbaker (1979) indicated that there was no significant difference between control group members' and participants' GPA, and actually noted that when the data was analyzed in terms of educational institution attended, the GPA of Upward Bound participants turned out to be lower than that of nonparticipants. Finally, in reexamining the work by Burkheimer et al. (1979), Mathematica Policy research, Inc. (1997) came to different conclusions about the effectiveness of Upward Bound. The researchers concluded that Upward Bound had no effect on participants' high school academic preparation or grades, but that it did have a positive effect on college enrollment and educational attainment, although not on college retention. This was supported by work by Hexter (1990), looking at the same old material, which he felt indicated support for a positive influence on college participation, but less support for retention rates and graduation. All of this, of course, has a direct impact on student occupational choices. College enrollment, without college graduation, opens some avenues to students, but closes ma

Category: Psychology - S