Religious involvement among youth of higher and lower socioeconomic backgrounds: exploring influences on educational expectations and orientations

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Lee, Bo Hyeong Jane
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Sociology

Abstract

The literature on the effects of religiosity among youth theorizes that being religious has a generally positive effect on educational outcomes. However, much of this discourse has been limited in the extent to which individual contexts are examined as significant frames within which experiences and opportunities unfold. Using both survey and interview data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, I explore more thoroughly how the influence of religious involvement among youth upon educational expectations and orientations may differ by family socioeconomic contexts. Inductive analysis of youth's responses reveals that there are significant differences in what being religious means to youth from lower and higher socioeconomic backgrounds, which critically impacts how youth talk about education in relation to what it means to be religious and what mechanisms are present linking religious involvement to educational opportunities.

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