Urban adolescents' constructions of supports and barriers to educational and career attainment / Maureen E. Kenny, Leyla Gualdron, David Scanlon, Elizabeth Sparks, David L. Blustein, Maryam Jernigan

This study presents the educational and career goals and perceptions of supports and barriers related to these goals as described in semistructured interviews of 16 students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds attending 9th grade at an urban public high school in a large Northeastern city. Using consensual qualitative research (CQR) methodology (C. E. Hill et al., 2005), the authors identified categories and subcategories to students' perceptions of barriers and supports. The findings highlight students' understanding of how their proximal contexts serve potentially as both supports and barriers. Implications for educational and career interventions are discussed.

Psychology.