ETHNIC-IDENTITY AND ASPIRATIONS AMONG RURAL ALASKA YOUTH

The villages of rural Alaska comprise one of the most exceptional, yet least visible, sociocultural environments in the United Stales They R ue geographically remote, and set off from the mainstream also by thei r unique Eskimo, Indian or Aleut cultures. Ar the same time many econo mic, legal and cultural connections pull these villages toward the dom inant U.S. society, impelling continual and vapid social change. Our r esearch focuses on adolescents growing up in this culturally complex a nd changing environment. We employ survey data from adolescents in 19 rural schools to explore relationships between ethnic identity and stu dents' expectations about moving away or attending college. Many stude nts describe their ethnic identity as mixed, both Native and non-Nativ e. On some key variables, the responses of mixed-identity students fal l between those of Natives and non-Natives, supporting a theoretical c onception of ethnicity as a matter of degree rather than category. Mig ration and college expectations vary with ethnic identity, but the col lege expectations/identity relationship fades when we adjust for other variables. Ethnicity affects expectations for the most part indirectl y, through ''cultural tool kit'' variables including family role model s and support. Gender differences in expectations, on the other hand, remain substantial even after adjusting for other variables.