Date of Award
1-1-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Education
First Advisor
Phillis George
Second Advisor
Devon Brenner
Third Advisor
Anne Cafer
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
This study examines the educational trajectories of students in several rural communities in the U.S. South, placing their decisions and outcomes within the context of the relational webs surrounding those students who are participants in a federal Upward Bound program. Both of the study counties are designated “non-metro” by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, their several school districts designated as “rural remote” or “rural distant” by the National Center for Education Statistics. By making use of the community capitals (Emery et al., 2006) and college choice frameworks (L. Perna, 2006), the study maps the directional flow and magnitude of influence of community assets surrounding these students as they make decisions about pursuing postsecondary education within rural spaces. The study employed a mixed methods approach using semi-structured interviews in conjunction with fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) to conduct community-level analysis. Key research questions include: • How do participants in a rural-serving Upward Bound make decisions about their postsecondary plans? • What relationship do community assets have to the postsecondary decisions made by Upward Bound participants living in rural communities?
Findings indicated that students in this rural Upward Bound are rich in locally-available assets, that is relational, social, and cultural capitals which served to orient their approach to postsecondary choice, enabling access to other capitals, and amplifying the effects of those capitals. Upward Bound itself was identified by youth participants as having a substantial impact on aspects of cultural, navigational, and human capital development crucial to their postsecondary choices. The findings point to ways in which social closure in these rural communities is disrupted by this federally funded program, with the result that youth participants benefit from an intentionally concentrated circulation of locally and externally sourced capitals. As these capitals interact with one another, they generate the contexts that influence youth decisions about postsecondary pathways – and the necessity of continuing their educations in some form after high school. The discussion of findings concludes with implications for postsecondary practitioners, policy makers, and further research.
Recommended Citation
Pfrenger, Wendy Clarke, "Spiraling Upward: Postsecondary Choice in a Rural Upward Bound" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3355.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/3355