What are the characteristics that distinguish students who are the most confi-
dent? Gender, minority status and quality of life are all related to confidence in
achieving future goals. Students with a high quality of life are more likely than those
with a low quality of life to be very confident (78% vs. 45%) and boys are more like-
ly than girls to be very confident (64% vs. 57%). However, minority students are
more likely than non-minority students to feel very confident that they will achieve
their goals for the future (68% vs. 58%) (Exhibit 10.2).
Exhibit 10.2
Impact of Gender, Race/Ethnicity and Quality of Life on Confidence
Q520 How confident are you that you will achieve your goals for the future?
Base: All students
Very
Base
Confident
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3961 . . . . . .% . . . . . . .60
Gender
Boys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1454 . . . . . .% . . . . . . .64
Girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2507 . . . . . .% . . . . . . .57
Race/Ethnicity
Non-minority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2992 . . . . . .% . . . . . . .58
Minority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .493 . . . . . .% . . . . . . .68
Quality of Life
High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .885 . . . . . .% . . . . . . .78
Medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1829 . . . . . .% . . . . . . .63
Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1247 . . . . . .% . . . . . . .45
Whose Lives Will Be Better -- Teens or Their Parents?
How do students and parents think that teens' lives will compare with those of the
previous generation? Most students and parents believe that teens today will have
more money (72% and 67%, respectively) and job opportunities (68% and 71%,
respectively) than their parents (Exhibit 10.3). While students are slightly more
optimistic than their parents in terms of how much money they will have, they are
even more confident than their parents in terms of free time and happiness, although
only about half of students think they will have more of these than their parents:
·
Students are more likely than parents to predict that they will have more happi-
ness than their parents (54% vs. 46%); and
·
Students are more likely than parents to predict that they will have more time
for hobbies and other activities than their parents (46% vs. 39%).
With only one-third saying that today's teens will have more time for family than
their parents, parents (35%) and students (31%) are least optimistic about this area of
life.
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