Youths’ socialization to work and school within the family

We tested a model of socialization to work in the family context and its implications as a lever for school engagement using a sample of 154 parent–youth dyads living in the United States. A path model was fitted to data. Findings revealed that parents’ reported work experiences was aligned to youths’ perception of their parents’ success in the work domain. Also, a significant association was found between youth’s perception of their parents’ family success and youth’s emotional and experiential conceptualizations of work. Furthermore, youth who viewed work as a positive experience were more likely to be engaged in schoolwork, both emotionally and cognitively. Implications for vocational guidance are discussed.