The Influence of Aspirations on a Young Woman’s College Decision

Setting the Stage

Utah Women and Education Project researchers conducted in-depth research in 2010 to discover why more young women around the state were not attending and graduating from college. A critical element of our research was to understand the aspirations of young women in Utah. Across the nation females now have higher aspirations for college graduation than males; from our findings, however, we believe this is not the case in Utah. Participants in this study had aspirations to attend college but not necessarily to graduate.

We also found a significant disconnect between related quantitative and qualitative responses. When asked if they wanted to earn a college degree sometime in life, 89.8% said “yes.” And, when asked which level of degree they would like to obtain, the responses were just as impressive: doctorate (7.9%), master’s (21.2%), bachelor’s (39.2%), associate’s (17.6%), certificate (4.5%), and none (10.2%). Yet, when they provided detail in open-ended questions about future expectations, life goals, and perceived future opportunities, only 50% discussed or even mentioned obtaining an associate’s degree or higher in their plans. Many may have indicated initially that they wanted to go to college because they know higher education is important, however, it was clearly either not a priority or they had never thought about how to realistically attend college sometime in the future.  

Commitment Findings 

Results of this research suggest study participants had the following commitments associated with attending college:  

• Married women have the lowest commitment to attend and graduate from college. 
• Commitment levels drop as women get older.  

• No. 9 | March 2011 Study participants included 245 women between 18-32 years of age. They were White (89.9%), LDS (80.4%) married (44.1%), and from 16 different counties (Salt Lake/Utah, 56.2%).  

•  Women with no children have the highest commitment to college attendance and graduation. Commitment drops dramatically with the birth of the first child, but it begins to increase after three or four children. This includes a notable increase for women who become separated and/or divorced.  
• Participants who rate themselves as highly active in their religions are those who are most committed to attending and graduating from college 

Key Takeaways

Here are some key items researchers found about participants’ aspirations: 

• Participants who had aspirations for continuous learning outside of college, community activity/volunteerism, and religious service/missions are those who have attended and graduated from college. It is not clear whether college helps facilitate these aspirations or vice versa.  
• Women who made the decision early in life (e.g., elementary school) to attend college have significantly higher aspirations to attend college. These participants were also more likely to have saved money for college, actively prepared for college, and also desired a higher degree level. 
• 82.4% discussed family-related future aspirations (i.e., being married with children), 51.4% mentioned having a “professional career” at some point, 28.1% said they would have a “job,” and 20.8% would be full-time stay-at-home mothers.  

 

Conclusion

Many young women in Utah had aspirations to attend college, however, it was typically either not a priority or they had never thought about how to realistically attend in the future. As influencers, it is essential that we encourage young women early in life to set goals that will help them achieve their college aspirations. This will positively impact women in their homes, communities, 

 

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