As youngsters incorporate considerations of social class and abil-
ity into their self-concepts, they reject occupational alternatives that
seem inconsistent with those newly recognized elements of self. In
particular, they reject options that are of unacceptably low prestige in
their social reference group, thus establishing a tolerable-level bound-
arybelow which they will not voluntarily venture again (see Figure
4.3). They also ignore options that seem too difficult to obtain with
reasonable effort or that pose too high a risk of failure. Schools have
perhaps the biggest impact today on children’s perceptions of occu-
pational difficulty, because they starkly illuminate students’ differ-
ences in intelligence and thus their prospects for rising socially via
higher education. Such perceptions lead children to set a tolerable-
effort boundary,above which they are not apt to look again unless
their self-conceptions of ability and competitiveness change.
Teachers, parents, and others encourage brighter youngsters to
aim higher in education and occupation, which these children
actually do relative to peers of the same socioeconomic status back-
ground. Similarly, youngsters from higher social class (wealthier,
better educated) families are subject to higher occupational expec-
tations, and they must achieve a higher minimum occupational sta-
tus level in order to avoid being considered a failure in their social
group. Thus both high-social-class background and high ability ele-
vate aspirations—the former by raising the floor of what is accept-
able and the latter by raising the ceiling of what is possible. By the
same token, low-social-class background and low ability dampen
aspirations by, respectively, lowering what is acceptable and what is
possible.
These zones of acceptable alternatives can vary by size, location,
clarity, and stability across individuals and over time. For example,
a low-ability child from a high-status family is likely to perceive far
fewer acceptable alternatives than will a high-ability child from a
lower-status family. The ceiling and floor on aspirations will be
much closer together for the former than the latter.
Not all acceptable alternatives are equally preferred. Rather,
there are gradients of preference, from high to low, across the zone
98 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT