This paper explores educational and occupational plans of over a thousand Indigenous boys and girls who participated in the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment. These plans are contrasted with expectations cherished by their non-Indigenous peers. I explore the relationships between students' goals for the future and the sense of belonging in their school environments, their academic self-concept, parental role models and perceived pedagogical support. While this is not the first study of this topic, for aspirations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students have been subject to extensive research (Craven, et al., 2005), this paper differs from previous contributions in three important aspects. Firstly, the main focus of this analysis is on the intersection of Indigeneity and gender. I describe gendered dimensions of processes which affect students' plans. Moreover, I consider three theories, based in very different epistemological traditions, as possible sources for the future “hybrid” approaches to theorizing the formation and retention of Indigenous youth’ career plans. The first of these theories is risk aversion approach, which is akin, albeit not identical, to economic rational choice models. The second is cultural theory of symbolic violence or cultural alienation. The third is the macro-cultural theory of horizontal gender segregation in post-industrial societies. The current paper is only a preliminary foray into bringing together elements of these theories to make sense of survey-based information. Later it will be developed into a longitudinal analysis of strategies which enable Indigenous students to remain resilient and retain ambitious plans.

Dr Joanna Sikora is a Lecturer in the School of Sociology, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University.