Educational expectations and aspirations are strongly correlated with educational outcomes, levels of educational attainment, and future careers of youth. Although the literature sometimes uses the terms expectations and aspirations interchangeably, it is possible to distinguish these two constructs, with educational aspirations representing hopes that individuals have for their future educational attainment, and expectations incorporating societal, school, and individual assessments of ability. A pervasive theme in research on educational aspirations/expectations is that of the role of race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status in limiting individuals' aspirations and expectations for educational attainment.

The most famous and influential work on educational expectations was published by R. Rosenthal and L. Jacobsen in 1966, when they shared the results of an experiment where teachers were told that certain students had exceptional potential ...