Educational and career aspirations of secondary school students in Grenada following the American intervention

This paper reports a study of educational and occupational aspirations of secondary school students in Grenada following the 1983 American intervention. Questionnaire data were obtained from 729 students attending 7 of the island's 18 secondary schools. A status attainment model containing parental and family characteristics was tested. It was discovered that Grenadian students have exceptionally and unrealistically high aspirations. Although the opportunity structure in Grenada is very limited compared to that in the United States, the island's students have higher levels of aspirations. The status attainment model was not very useful in explaining either educational or occupational aspirations, as the levels of explained variance were less than 5%. The implications of high aspirations and low opportunities for the future of Grenada are discussed.