Getting It Straight? Aspirations for the future and educational employment projects for high school youths

Abstract

This article analyzes the aspirations and expectations for the future of senior high school students through a representative sample of educational centers in the city of Santiago. The study shows that, independently of socioeconomic level and the modality of the courses taken, the great majority of students hopes to get into an institution of higher education and obtain a professional degree. However, there are important differences in the perception as to how to achieve these goals, where a large number of young people from low and low-middle income classes are more open to combining work and studies and end up postponing their higher educational studies. Diverse rationalities expressed by students are reviewed, which would explain their expectations for the future and their choice of career and technical studies according to their social status.