Connecting Public School Partnerships to Possible Selves for Black Urban Youth

Black urban youth face many obstacles in their personal development and future pursuits. Many of these obstacles result from systemic challenges that exist within their communities and cultural norms that negatively shape their self-concept and possible selves, a concept which argues that future self-concepts are constructed through personal evaluation of a current and desired future state. Corporate-education partnerships have recently been introduced to urban communities as a way to introduce youth to alternative professional pathways, although there are few studies about the extent to which Black urban youth are impacted by such partnerships. Using the possible selves theory, this study explored how one corporate-education partnership influences the self-concept and possible selves of Black urban youth engaging in a mentoring program, and the extent to which engagement in the program affected their view of themselves and future aspirations. This study focused on the Infinity Mentoring program, which is a partnership program between the Ascension corporation, Woodsby High School, and community-based organization Cincinnati Youth Connection (all pseudonyms). Findings from this study showed that participants in the program had improved feelings or self-concept about themselves and that participants gained increased motivation toward college, career, and their future aspirations as a result of the Infinity Mentoring program. The study adds to the scholarship on corporate-education partnerships, demonstrating the intrinsic impact these partnerships can have on Black urban students.