Seventh Grade Student Career Aspirations and Academic Achievement

Abstract

The study examined the proposition that a direct relationship exists between the career aspirations of seventh grade students and their academic achievement. A career aspirations survey was completed by and collected from 39 students from a suburban middle school of a northeastern United States city. In the analysis, career aspirations were categorized by the level of preparation needed to perform the stated career. The survey responses were subsequently compared to the GPA?s of each respective student. Results indicated that most students, regardless of GPA, aspired to careers that required considerable to extensive preparation. The students holding the top 5 highest GPA?s out of the sample aspired to careers in these two categories giving evidence to the validity of the proposition.