Remote possibilities : rural children's out of school activities and educational aspirations /

Abstract

Abstract. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Temple University, 2005. Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 176-191).

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REMOTE POSSIBILITIES:
RURAL CHILDREN’S OUT OF SCHOOL ACTIVITIES AND
EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS






A Dissertation Presented to
The Faculty of the Department of Sociology of
Temple University






In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy





by
Caitlin Weiss Howley
May, 2005

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................................iii
LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................v
ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................ix
Dedication.....................................................................................................................xii

CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE.........................................................................1
Introduction.....................................................................................................................1
Rural Matters...................................................................................................................4
Significance of the Study..............................................................................................10
Theoretical Considerations ...........................................................................................17
Mechanical and Organic Solidarity...........................................................................17
The Heterogeneity and Complexity of Rural Life....................................................18
Cultural Capital.........................................................................................................20
Children’s Activities as Forms of Capital.................................................................27
Problem Statement ........................................................................................................31
Hypotheses....................................................................................................................32
Summary.......................................................................................................................32
2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE..............................................................................34
Introduction...................................................................................................................34
Rural Aspirations ..........................................................................................................37
The Meaning of Rural Place .........................................................................................42
The Significance of Time Use ......................................................................................46
Rural Children’s Time Use...........................................................................................48
Participation in Organized Activities........................................................................48
Participation in Household and Farm Labor.............................................................52
The Continuing Significance of Class and Race...........................................................55
Children’s Time Use in Class Context..........................................................................57
Organized Activities .................................................................................................57
Household Labor.......................................................................................................63
Children’s Lives in the Context of Race and Racism...................................................65
Organized Activities .................................................................................................66
Household Labor.......................................................................................................70
The Overwhelming Significance of Gender in Household Labor ................................72
Limitations of the Extant Literature..............................................................................75
3. METHODS ...................................................................................................................78
Introduction...................................................................................................................78
Caregiver and Child Surveys ........................................................................................79

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CDS Time Diaries.........................................................................................................79
Data Restructuring........................................................................................................80
Dependent Variables.....................................................................................................82
Independent Variables...................................................................................................85
Weighting......................................................................................................................88
Preparation of Data for Generalized Tobit Analysis.....................................................89
Data Analyses ...............................................................................................................90
Summary.......................................................................................................................93
4. RURAL PLACE...........................................................................................................94
The Significance of Place .............................................................................................94
Parent Attachment to Place...........................................................................................97
Summary.....................................................................................................................112
5. TIME USE..................................................................................................................114
Introduction.................................................................................................................114
Time Use.....................................................................................................................116
Close to Home: Rural Children’s Performance of Household Labor.........................118
In the Community: Rural Children and Community Service .....................................120
Out and About: Rural Children and Organized Activities..........................................121
On the Field: The Surprising Relationship between Race and Sports........................123
In Class: Rural Children and Extracurricular Lessons and Classes............................125
In the Theatre and Studio: Rural Children and the Arts .............................................126
Summary.....................................................................................................................127
6. ASPIRING TO STAY................................................................................................131
Rural Aspirations: Deficit or Devotion.......................................................................131
Children’s Aspirations for Education.........................................................................137
Forecasting the Future.................................................................................................142
Summary.....................................................................................................................150
7. INTERPRETATION AND IMPLICATIONS............................................................153
Relationship of Findings to Earlier Literature ............................................................153
Theoretical Implications .............................................................................................163
Place Value .............................................................................................................163
Trading Chores for Graces......................................................................................166
Hoop Dreams ..........................................................................................................167
The Significance of Context ...................................................................................168
Limitations ..................................................................................................................169
Implications for Further Research...............................................................................171
Summary.....................................................................................................................175
BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................176
APPENDIX.....................................................................................................................192

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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. Dependent Variables and Associated Activity Codes.........................................84
2. Parents’ Refusals to Move for Jobs in Other Communities.................................98
3. Logistic Regression Predicting Whether Parents Have Ever Turned Down
a Job Outside of Their Community......................................................................99
4. Parents’ Plans to Move Out of Their Communities...........................................100
5. Logistic Regression Predicting Whether Parents Plan to Move ........................101
6. Parents’ Rating of Likelihood of Moving..........................................................102
7. Ordinal Logistic Regression Estimates of Likelihood of Moving.....................103
8. Rural and Nonrural Ratings of the Difficulty of Identifying Strangers in
Their Neighborhoods .........................................................................................104
9. Ordinal Logistic Regression Estimates of Ratings of the Difficulty of
Identifying Strangers to the Neighborhood........................................................106
10. Rural and Nonrural Ratings of Neighborhood Quality......................................107
11. Ordinal Logistic Regression Estimates of Neighborhood Quality Ratings .......107
12. Length of Rural and Nonrural Neighborhood Residence ..................................108
13. Ordinal Logistic Regression Estimates of Length of Neighborhood
Residence...........................................................................................................110
14. Parents’ Moves to Other Communities for Jobs................................................110
15. Logistic Regression Predicting Whether Parents Have Ever Moved for a
Job......................................................................................................................111
16. Mean Time In Activities....................................................................................116
17. Mean Time Spent in Activities by Rural-Nonrural Locale................................117
18. Generalized Tobit Estimates for Variables Predicting Children’s Time
Performing Household Tasks.............................................................................119

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19. Generalized Tobit Estimates for Variables Predicting Children’s Time in
Community Service Activities...........................................................................120
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20. Generalized Tobit Estimates for Variables Predicting Children’s Time in
Cultural Capital Activities .................................................................................122
21. Generalized Tobit Estimates for Variables Predicting Children’s Time in
Sports .................................................................................................................124
22. Generalized Tobit Estimates for Variables Predicting Children’s Time in
Classes and Lessons...........................................................................................125
23. Generalized Tobit Estimates for Variables Predicting Children’s Time in
Art, Drama, Music Practice or Performance......................................................127
24. Nonrural and Rural Children’s Aspirations for Educational Attainment ..........137
25. Logistic Regression Estimates of Children’s Aspirations for Postgraduate
Educational Attainment......................................................................................139
26. Nonrural and Rural Children’s Expectations for Educational Attainment........140
27. Logistic Regression Estimates of Children’s Expectations for
Postgraduate Educational Attainment................................................................141
28. Nonrural and Rural Children’s Worry about Adult Jobs...................................143
29. Ordinal Regression Estimates of Children’s Worry about Obtaining a
Decent Job..........................................................................................................144
30. Nonrural and Rural Children’s Worry about Adult Income..............................145
31. Ordinal Logistic Regression Estimates of Children’s Ratings of the
Likelihood They Will Earn an Adequate Income ..............................................146
32. Nonrural and Rural Children’s Discouragement about the Future....................147
33. Ordinal Logistic Regression Estimates of Children’s Discouragement
about the Future .................................................................................................148
34. Nonrural and Rural Children’s Worry about Parent Solvency..........................149
35. Ordinal Logistic Regression Estimates of Children’s Worry about Family
Solvency.............................................................................................................150

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ABSTRACT
Remote Possibilities:
Rural Children’s Out of School Activities and Educational Aspirations
Caitlin Weiss Howley
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Sociology
Temple University, 2005
Dissertation Chair: Dr. Annette Lareau

In an attempt to better understand the influence of rural context on youth’s life
chances this study takes up the question of rural children’s educational aspirations. The
experience of rural life may, as some claim, serve to limit students’ educational
aspirations. Yet there are indications that rural communities simultaneously generate
important social benefits that tend to be devalued by educators and researchers alike.
Survey and time diary data from the 2002 Child Development Supplement to the Panel
Study of Income Dynamics were analyzed to explore this debate. Findings suggest that
rural youth come of age in familial contexts of attachment to place, with rural families
being more likely than nonrural families to have turned down a job to remain in their
communities. Rural families are also less likely to plan a move elsewhere. Rural youth
also spend more time than their nonrural peers participating in household chores and in
the practice or performance of an art, providing evidence that rural children are at once
functionally engaged with their families and with the accumulation of cultural capital.
Finally, rural children in this study are as likely to aspire to a high school or an
undergraduate education as are nonrural youth. The significant difference in aspirations
between rural and nonrural children is in terms of postgraduate education: A larger
percentage of nonrural than rural youth aspire to graduate studies. The findings here
challenge assumptions that rural youth limit their educational aspirations because they

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suffer from uniquely rural handicaps. Instead, the data suggest that the rural experience is
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rewarding, enough so that rural youth seek to fit their educational aspirations to local job
markets in a bid to remain in their communities as adults. In place of deficit models of
rural youth’s aspirations, more sociological perspectives might allow for the distinctive
way in which rurality engenders attachment to place. Future research should sample rural
families and children more adequately and include measures of children’s own
attachment to place. Additional studies might also take into account the influence of rural
community type, neighborhood quality, and school factors on rural youth’s educational
aspirations.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As any good piece of social science should be (if I say so myself), this study was
the result of collective effort. First and foremost, I am extremely grateful for the
guidance, support, and good humor of my dissertation committee chairperson, Annette
Lareau. Without her confidence in my ability to complete the doctoral program from afar,
this dissertation would not have been possible. I am honored to have worked with her and
continually appreciative of the intellectual experiences she has offered me. I am also very
appreciative of the other members of the dissertation committee. Robert Bickel gave of
his time and expertise generously, along with continuous doses of good humor,
irreverence, and three chili pepper emails. “Uncle Bob” helped me keep everything in
proper perspective throughout the process. Kimberly Goyette was unfailingly supportive
as I wrote, offering critique and praise at, miraculously, precisely the right moments. And
Michelle Byng reminded me to give race its due, all the while believing that I could pull
this off.
I am so thankful for the support of good friends near and far. Cindy Bissett,
neighbor and best friend, deserves especial recognition for her limitless humor and for
her regular applications of alcohol to my bruised ego and tired mind. She listened
attentively and loyally to endless discussions of the research, often providing insights
from her own rural childhood that helped me in more ways than I can say. In addition,
Cindy has supplied me with new research questions to last a lifetime, or three. Many
thanks also to Cindy’s husband, Bill, for his humor, pride in my accomplishment, and for
letting me appropriate so much of Cindy’s time. Two members of my original cohort,
Sandy Jones and Chris Paul, have become dear friends. Both have made impressive

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meaning from their professional and personal lives, and both inspire me to take a stance
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suggested by Oscar Wilde: “Life is too important to be taken seriously.” I also thank
Anne Kaplan for her long distance friendship over the years, and for thanking me in her
dissertation acknowledgments. Travis Lloyd and Kristine Chadwick offered years of
friendship, laughter, and occasional kicks in the rear.
My colleagues and supervisors at the Appalachia Educational Laboratory have
been generous in numerous ways throughout this process. Kimberly Hambrick, Doris
Redfield, Sandra Angius, and Merrill Meehan allowed me extraordinary flexibility as I
finished coursework and wrote the dissertation. Their faith in me, and their tolerance of
my occasional bad behavior, are much appreciated. Thanks to my colleagues also for
allowing me to call myself Dr. Evil before I graduated. The staff I am privileged to
supervise, Karen Bradley, Kimberly Good, and Lisa Copley, were extraordinarily patient
with me as I wrote, and offered support that I am fairly certain was genuine.
Family members also made generous commitments to this process. Aaron and
Jayne Anton welcomed my children and me to their home during my semester in
residence at Temple, making possible a feat that would not otherwise have been feasible.
Leslie Clifton cheered me on, took me out for Thai, and provided occasional much-
needed babysitting services.
Above all, I am grateful to my parents, Aimee and Craig Howley, for the
irreverent and passionate intellectual heritage they have shared with me. Their intellectual
honesty, commitment to things small and local, and sociological insight nourish me, but
their love sustains me always. I also thank them for my rural childhood, which, curiously,
means more the older I get. And if Dad, who claims this to have been among his top five

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best parenting moments, had not waylaid Annette at the 2002 American Educational
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Research Association, none of this would have been happened for me. Sharing the
personal and professional world with them is a blast.
A special acknowledgement is due to Jason Wandling for being the best surprise
dissertation ending ever. I am in wonder and awe.
Finally, I would like to thank my daughters, Anika and Maya Rowe, who were no
help at all. Except for inspiring me, making my intellectual project more real, laughing
with and at me, and putting up with more frozen dinners than anyone reasonably ought to
endure.

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Dedication
This work is dedicated to Anika and Maya, my organic reasons.

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1
1. INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE

Introduction
The rural world is of significance to sociologists, not to mention residents, as a
social domain distinct in many ways from nonrural places such as urban and suburban
localities. Rural places—remote areas, farming communities, villages, small towns, and
other non-metropolitan locations of populations under 19,000—are often characterized by
attachment to and care of land, multiplex and intergenerational relationships, and strong
community ties (Beggs, Haines and Hurlbert 1996; Bokemeier 1997; Elder and Conger
2000; Falk, 2004; Logan and Spitze 1994; Theordi 2001). Rural areas are also of
significance because farming, a traditionally legitimate means by which to establish
economic self-sufficiency, provides national food security (Elder and Conger 2000;
Schlosser 2002; Theobald 1997). Coal mined in Appalachian places fuels power plants
and provides a source of heat for some families, and textile mills and manufacturing
efforts have often located in rural communities (Flora and Flora 2004). Thus, rural people
and places provide sustenance and material for the rest of the nation.
However, sociologists disagree about how to understand the dynamics of
contemporary rural life compared to nonrural life. On one hand are those who argue that
the traditional values and lifeways of rural folk are disappearing in the face of
globalization, agribusiness, and exurbanization (Friedland 1982, 2002). Moreover, some
observers claim that rural values and commitments are increasingly economically
counterproductive, if not culturally unsophisticated (McGranahan, 1994). On the other
hand are those who suggest that, while rural life is certainly influenced by such social
forces, rural people remain committed to place, resist intrusion on their lifeways, and

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make social and economic sense of their worlds in a distinctly rural manner (Falk, 2004).
2
Thus, there is a sociological debate about the importance and meaning of geographic
place in shaping key aspects of daily life.
This debate is particularly pernicious in the sociology of education and education
research. It surfaces in studies of educational aspirations, which are often seen as
important predictors of educational attainment, a conventional sociological measure of
life chances and outcomes. This debate centers on the extent to which the experience of
rural life influences children’s aspirations, and the meaning of such influence. On one
hand, some researchers suggest that rurality limits educational aspirations via deficient
schools, traditional rural values, or psychosocial challenges, ultimately constraining
youth’s adult economic options priorities (Breen 1989; Cobb, McIntire, and Pratt 1989;
Haller and Virkler 1993; McGranahan 1994; Reid 1989). On the other hand are those
who argue that the educational aspirations of rural youth are shaped by their
commitments to rural lifeways and to place (Davidson 1996; Elder and Conger 2000;
Elder, King, and Conger 1996; Flora and Flora 2004; Howley, Harmon, and Leopold
2002; Jamieson 2000). As Hektner (1995: 3) phrases it, “when moving up implies
moving out” of rural communities, rural youth sometimes opt fit their educational careers
to the economic opportunities available in their local areas.
This study takes up the question of rural children’s educational aspirations in an
attempt to better understand the influence of rural context on youth’s life chances. The
experience of rural life may, as some claim, serve to limit students’ educational
aspirations. Yet there are indications that rural communities may also simultaneously
generate important social benefits that tend to be devalued by educators and researchers

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alike. There is evidence that connection to place, for example, provides youth with a
3
significant sense of identity, commitment, and social connections (Elder and Conger
2000; Falk 2004). However, the issue of connection to place, the experience of rural life,
and children’s aspirations has not been given serious consideration in the sociology of
education literature.
It is important, I would suggest, to investigate the particularities of rural life in
comparison with nonrural life. Although there are likely many meaningful differences
between suburban and urban places, my project here is to accord special attention to
rurality, given that it has thus far received relatively little meaningful consideration by
sociologists of education. Thus, I have elected to analyze urban and suburban people and
places as nonrural in contrast to rural people and places.
My central thesis in this project is that rural youth aspire to levels of education
similar to those of their nonrural peers, with a significant disparity only appearing in
terms of aspirations to attain a postgraduate education. This sort of disparity, I will argue,
is not, as has been almost universally claimed, a manifestation of the deficiencies of rural
life. Instead, I argue that the somewhat weaker educational aspirations of rural youth
reflect their and their families’ attachment rural lifeways and to place, commitments that
are often treated with disdain in popular and academic discourses, if not entirely ignored.
Interestingly, findings from this study also suggest that rural youth’s slightly weaker
educational aspirations and familial attachment to place do not inhibit their involvement
with middle class cultural capital, another claim made by critics of rural life. The picture
of rural children emerging from this study is of youth who are closely tied to their

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families and actively involved in the arts, and who choose to retrofit their educational
4
aspirations to the requirements of local job markets.
Rural Matters
Rural people and places matter, and matter uniquely. Despite changes wrought by
the farming crisis of the last quarter of the 20th century, the rise of agribusiness, and the
development of exurbs in formerly rural places (Berry 1990a; Davidson 1996; Friedland
2002; Gaventa 1980; Heilbroner and Milberg 2001; Salamon 2003; Schlosser 2002), life
in rural areas continues in many respects to be characterized by attachment to and care of
land, intergenerational and multiplex relationships, and strong community ties (Beggs,
Haines and Hurlbert 1996; Bokemeier 1997; Theordi 2001). Residents of rural locales
frequently hold a worldview that values place and nurtures community (Howley and
Howley 2000). Rural neighbors are often related (Logan and Spitze 1994) and engage in
complicated patterns of exchange and support (Amato 1993; Hofferth and Iceland 1998),
strengthening local attachments. Social and professional lives overlap in rural
communities, as well, such that teachers may attend the same church as their students,
who are neighbors and sometimes relatives (Larson and Dearmont 2002).
Farming has also constituted, until recently, a significant component of rural life
in most parts of the country (Conger and Elder 1994; Schlosser 2002). Often, this meant
that family members worked together, maintained farms across generations as family
resources, and saw their farm labor both as economic support and a way of life (Larson
and Dearmont 2002). Thus, the spheres of public and private, household and economy,
have been viewed by farming families as intertwined (Beach 1987; Nelson 1999).