Dreams vs Reality: Urban and Rural Female Youth Aspirations

Youth’s aspirations are a key influence on their decision-making process but may perpetuate poverty traps among marginalised and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. We aim to examine the complex formation of female youth aspirations and geographical demographic differences. We recruited 56 16-year-old Malaysian female students from one urban ( n = 24) and two rural schools in Malaysia ( n = 32). A mixed-design approach was utilised by (1) quantitatively assessing their aspirations from drawings of future selves and (2) qualitatively complementing the drawings with semi-structured interviews ( n = 28, 14/14). Results showed that youth aspirations are socially produced, primarily by family members but also by internal factors (e.g., domain passion and self-efficacy). While there were similar rural-urban aspiration levels, rural youth demonstrated more self-blaming tendencies (resulting in them choosing careers of lower occupational prestige) and frequently mentioned resorting to part-time entrepreneurship to supplement employment their income. Our study has implications for interventions targeted at driving social mobility for rural and/or low-income young women and emphasises the importance of a multifaceted capacity-building approach while also addressing structural constraints.