choices. With greater geographic isolation, rural youth may have less
access to information about higher education and the qualifications
needed for various occupations. Most young people in rural areas do
not have local access to a postsecondary educational institution.
For rural youth, pathways out of school into work are more
closely tied to decisions about whether to leave one’s home com-
munity. Rural residents often feel strong ties to their communities
and families, and moving disrupts such bonds (Looker, 1992; Elder
& Conger, 2000; Shaffer, Seyfrit, & Associates, 2000). Yet those
young people who want to “get ahead” tend to leave. For many
rural youth who want to pursue college degrees, they must face hav-
ing to move out of their communities to achieve this goal, and they
may not be able to return if they are to find suitable jobs (Elder,
King, & Conger, 1996). In part because they have fewer options to
“take over the farm” or work in other rural industries like their
fathers, more young women than young men aspire to migrate out
of rural areas, and in fact more do so (Hamilton & Seyfrit, 1994;
Elder, King, & Conger, 1996).
Growing up in different kinds of communities influences what
young people seek in their work lives, as their values are shaped by
those of the people around them, as well as local conditions of life.
Perhaps reflecting an overarching difference in the value of materi-
alism, young people from farms and rural communities attach less
importance to extrinsic rewards than young people from other
community types (Johnson, in press). Young people from farms, in
particular, whose families are often more heavily involved in com-
munity service, are most oriented toward altruistic job rewards like
the chance to help others, though they are also more concerned
about job stability than other young people.
Work-Family Connections
Career choices are often made in tandem with decisions regarding
other arenas of life, including schooling and family. Career choices,
as we have noted, not only involve decision making about what sort
60 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT