Stories of the Future: Possible Selves of Rural South Central Appalachian Students

Abstract

We explored the possible future selves of rural South Central Appalachian high school students. A total of 267 students responded to a prompt designed to assess their future possible selves and to rate the perceived attainability of that future. Using thematic analysis, we found three central themes: who students would like to be, what they would like to have, and fear and uncertainty. The first two themes encompassed a variety of sub-categories. The results of an ANOVA also showed that perceived attainability differed based on prospective first-generation status. These results have several implications for further interventions and research, including the possible benefits of using possible selves to identify the needs of students and the need for more study of how identity impacts outcomes for rural South Central Appalachians.

Stories of the Future: Possible Selves of Rural South Central Appalachian Students

The Appalachian region of the United States includes 423 counties in 13 states and 206,000 square miles of land from Mississippi to New York (Appalachian Regional Commission, n.d.). The region is renowned for its abundance of beauty, biodiversity, and other natural resources. The beauty of the land is reflected in the culture of the people, which has been passed down through hardship and storytelling (Pressley, 2021), a culture that values hard work, self-reliance, family, and community (Elliot & Ripley, 2021; Keefe & Curtin, 2012). While there are many strengths to be found in Appalachia, widespread negative-stereotyping and distrust of outsiders as a result of a cultural history of isolation, exploitation, and stigma (Lewin, 2019; Russ, 2010) mean that Appalachian culture has been largely misunderstood and insulated from the rest of the United States.

Unfortunately, stigma and inequities also continue into the present. Interventions based in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT, Lent et al., 1994; Lent & Brown, 2013) have helped us learn a great deal about reducing educational and work-related inequities (see Gibbons et al., 2019), but there is room for improvement in terms of cultural sensitivity that recognizes Appalachians as a distinct cultural group. This opportunity might be found in the concept of possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986), in which individuals briefly describe their future. Although not a full narrative storytelling approach, the concept of possible selves may still resonate with the storytelling traditions of Appalachia, which have been described as “the cornerstone of the entire cultural foundation” (Pressley, 2021, para. 1). The purpose of this study was to capitalize on the similarities between storytelling and possible selves to explore how high school students in rural South Central Appalachia think about their future possible selves, providing potentially valuable information regarding their career and educational development.

Brief Cultural History of Appalachia

To understand Appalachia as having a unique culture distinct from mainstream America (Russ, 2010), one must understand its history. From the Native Americans who first settled in Appalachia to the Scots-Irish and German people that came with the colonization of the Americas to present day, the people of Appalachia are deeply connected to the land, both emotionally and economically (Mastran & Lowerre, 1983). With infrastructure restricted by the mountainous terrain, frequent travel was restricted, contributing both to the isolation and insulation of Appalachian communities and to the development of strong self-sufficiency (Mastran & Lowerre, 1983; Russ, 2010). Appalachians also developed a very strong dialect, which further distinguished them from the rest of the United States. The perception of these differences led outsiders to falsely view Appalachians as unintelligent, poor, and lazy (Bennett, 2008; Russ, 2010), which likely contributed to the exploitation by extractive industries such as coal and lumber during the industrial revolution (Mastran & Lowerre, 1983). Even today, the majority of land in Appalachia is owned by absentee owners or corporations (Payne, 2016) and Appalachians face lasting harm as a result of environmental, economic, and health-related damage caused by coal and other industries (Lewin, 2019).

South Central and Rural Appalachians Today

Thanks in part to the cultural messages in the stories passed down (Pressley, 2021), modern Appalachian culture still values self-reliance, family, and independence (Elliot & Ripley, 2021). Unfortunately, stigma and inequities also continue into the present. The end product is a region rich in tradition and cultural vibrancy, but historically facing significant economic disadvantage and resulting health and educational inequities (see Srygley et al., 2024). For example, Appalachians experience higher overall mortality rates than those in non-Appalachian regions and mortality specific to so-called “diseases of despair” was 43% higher in Appalachia in 2021 (NORC, 2023).

Economic disadvantage “connotes a large number of hurdles and barriers that people face not just to upward mobility but to day-to-day living,” (Liu & Watt, 2013, p. 260). Although there have been some gains, data indicate that many in rural and South Central Appalachia continue to face significant economic disadvantages compared to other regions. The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) delineates five regions within Appalachia. On a number of indicators of economic disadvantage, Northern and Southern Appalachia tend to fare the best, Central Appalachia the worst, and North Central and South Central Appalachia in the middle. For example, the most recent data from the ARC (Srygley et al., 2024) showed that all five Appalachian subregions had higher poverty rates and lower educational attainment than the United States as a whole, with South Central Appalachia having the third-highest poverty rate (14.5%) and four-year college completion rate (27.1%) among Appalachian regions, compared to 12.5% and 34.3% for the United States as a whole. The same report showed that rural Appalachia has a greater poverty rate (19.5% compared to 14.9%) and a lower household income ($49,879 compared to $59,550) than rural residents outside of Appalachia. Rural Appalachians also fall below non-Appalachian rural residents overall in terms of educational attainment, with a lower four-year college completion rate (19% compared to 23.6%; Srygley et al., 2024). Other challenges include a higher unemployment rate, longer work commute time, fewer households with internet access, and more families receiving supplemental food assistance compared to rural non-Appalachians (Srygley et al., 2024).

Students from rural and/or South Central Appalachia are generally underrepresented in the career development literature. Much of the existing literature uses Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994), a model of social cognition that attempts to explain how people make career choices. SCCT-related research on Appalachian youth highlights interventions that support increased career and educational self-efficacy and outcome expectations by offering new learning experiences to reduce perceived barriers and increase supports (e.g., Ali et al., 2019; Cadenas et al., 2020; Gibbons et al., 2019). This focus on distal supports and barriers is particularly important when applying SCCT to Appalachians. Bennett (2008) theorized that structural inequalities, stereotyping, discrimination, Appalachian values, family dynamics, and unique gender dynamics would likely be important factors impacting career decisions for Appalachians.

Attempts have been made to use quantitative measures to support the theorized relationships between barriers, supports, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations in Appalachia to mixed success. For example, Gibbons et al. (2020) conducted two studies attempting to use quantitative surveys that were well-validated in other populations to measure perceived educational barriers in rural South Central Appalachia. Their results indicated low endorsement of barriers, in contrast to low postsecondary rates consistent with a high prevalence of barriers. Subsequent qualitative interviews painted a picture of students who believe in their ability to achieve through hard work and a bright future. However, they lacked an accurate understanding of or sense of urgency in regard to postsecondary education, leading to an apparent underreporting of barriers on the quantitative surveys (Gibbons et al., 2020).

Possible Selves

In the current study, we propose that the qualitative study of possible selves may enrich our understanding of the barriers, supports, and goals of rural Appalachian populations. Possible selves are cognitive representations of future versions of the self: what we think may be possible or likely, what we wish to become, or what we fear becoming or do not want to become (Markus & Nurius, 1986). For example, a person may expect, desire, or fear moving away from home to go to college as a future possible self. The study of possible selves allows insight into many aspects of behavior and cognition, such as self-regulation and choice making. As a person considers how close or far they are from their possible selves/goals, they may alter their actions to either approach or avoid a possible self (Markus & Nurius, 1986), such as applying or not applying to out of state schools.

Possible selves have been studied in numerous contexts to consider constructs including masculinity (Davies et al., 2010), racial and ethnic identities (Kim, 2023), and wellbeing and health (Gibson et al., 2021; King, 2001). Possible selves have also been used to study differences in educational attainment. For example, a study of Italian high school students from different socioeconomic backgrounds found that students from mid to high socioeconomic backgrounds were more likely to focus on their hoped-for possible selves, whereas at-risk and low socioeconomic status students focused more on their feared possible selves and the potential for negative outcomes (Sica, 2009). Oyserman et al. (2006) used a possible selves based intervention with a sample of primarily marginalized (in terms of low family income, neighborhood poverty, marginazlied race, housing and school instability) middle school students to explore academic outcomes. The results showed that students significantly improved behavioral self-regulation (in terms of time spent doing homework), initiative in the classroom, and positive classroom behavior after participating in the intervention compared to non-participating students. Despite the high poverty context the students experienced and the likelihood that many were the targets of systemic racism, this positive effect was stable and increasing over two years post-intervention (Oyserman et al., 2006). Possible selves appear to help in understanding marginalized students and populations.

In the context of Appalachia, Robinson et al. (2003) examined possible selves in a sample of low-income women living in rural South Central Appalachia. Self-initiated actions to achieve a hoped for possible self, knowing someone in a hoped for occupation, personal efficacy, and affect were all strong predictors of how close participants felt they were to their hoped for possible self. Possible selves may be particularly relevant to rural Appalachian youth: Arce-Trigatti et al. (2023) argued that possible selves may be especially relevant to “elevating Appalachian students’ experiences,” (p. 467) because they “emphasize the importance of the social capital embodied by students and build on rural and small community assets in order to counter deficit thinking,” (p. 472). In addition, as noted above, asking students to describe their possible selves may be construed as a more approachable way to have them consider their future plans without having to identify specific barriers.

The Current Study

Russ (2010) noted that the “specific differences between [Appalachian] culture and that of mainstream America…can manifest …as difficulties with traditional counseling interventions,” (p. 1), highlighting the need for culturally sensitive approaches, not just in counseling, but in all work with this population. Our hope for this mixed methods study was to take a culturally sensitive approach - one that recognizes Appalachia as a unique culture within the broader United States and considers both the cultural strengths and challenges of rural Appalachian communities - to understanding the goals of rural South Central Appalachian high school students. The narrative qualities of possible selves may make them uniquely suited to the study of future hopes and dreams of Appalachian students. Such understanding will allow future interventions to be tailored to better support students, such as by linking common possible selves to specific knowledge and strategies or identifying how needs differ across the population. The following questions guided our study:

1. What are the possible selves of rural South Central Appalachian high school students?

2. How attainable do students perceive these possible selves to be?

Method

The data for this study were collected as a part of a larger battery of instruments distributed to students on the first day of a grant-funded intervention intended to increase interest in postsecondary education and STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) careers for rural South Central Appalachian high school students (Gibbons, et al., 2020). Responses from students who declined assent or whose parents declined consent were not included in the dataset. Participating high schools are located in rural and/or non-metro communities in South Central Appalachia that have been identified as economically at-risk, ranking between the worst 10–25% of the nation economically (ARC, 2022). Within these counties, two of the four participating schools were in economically distressed, or the bottom 10% in the nation economically, areas. Approximately 14.5% of county residents have at least a four-year college degree compared to 30.4% in the state overall (National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, 2025).

Participants

Responses were collected from 267 high school students from four high schools in South Central Appalachia participating in the grant-funded program. Consistent with the demographics of the region, the majority of participants were White (86.9%, n = 232). Of the remaining 35 participants, 20 were Biracial, 4 were Black or African American, 2 were American Indian or Alaska Native, 2 were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 1 was Asian, and the remaining 6 did not respond. The majority (53.2%; n = 142) of the participants identified as female, 41.6% (n = 111) as male, 2.6% (n = 7) as nonbinary, and 2.6% (n = 7) preferred not to answer. Almost all (92.5%, n = 242) of the participants were in 10th grade; another 17 were in 9th grade, two were in 12th grade, and one was in 11th grade. As an additional demographic measure, participants were also asked to report the highest level of education achieved by their primary caregivers. Less than half (44.2%) of the sample reported having caregivers who had completed any form of post-secondary education (i.e., some college but no degree, two-year degree or higher). This is consistent with U. S. census data for these two counties, which show that 41.2% and 45.5% of adults 25 and older had any post-secondary education, from one college course to a degree. These 118 participants (44.2% of the total sample) were categorized as prospective continuing generation college students. Nearly as many participants (n = 108) were prospective first-generation college students (PFGCS; 40.5% of the total sample), reporting that neither of their parents had completed any education after high school. Finally, ~15% (n = 44) did not know the education level of their parents.

Measures

Students used their school-provided computers during a class period of their regular school day to access an online survey that included the measures examined by this study. The demographic measures (completed last) included self-report measures of race and ethnicity, gender, and PFGCS status. The possible selves measure used in this study was presented as follows. First, participants read the following prompt:

Imagine yourself about 10 years in the future, so you’d be around 25–28 years old. Imagine you’ve worked hard and everything has gone as well as it possibly could during this time. Think of your best possible self as the realization of all that is possible for you. So you identify the best possible way that things might realistically turn out during this time.

This prompt was adapted from Peter et al. (2010) with some changes made to better fit the purposes of the current study. Changes included specifying a timeframe and age to give students a less vague idea of the future we asked them to imagine and to specify that the future we wanted them to describe was optimistic but feasible. This was consistent with other methods of assessing possible selves, which typically rely on the coding of narrative responses. For example, the Possible Selves Questionnaire (Oyserman & Burbidge, 2019) also provides participants with a prompt that specifies a time frame of one year followed by referencing the kind of possible self they would like participants to describe. On the screen following the prompt, participants were given the following instructions:

You now have up to 2 minutes to describe your best possible self. The timer above will count down the 2 minutes and it will automatically send you to the next page if you have not already continued. Remember: Imagine yourself about 10 years in the future, so you’d be around 25–28 years old. Imagine you’ve worked hard and everything has gone as well as it possibly could during this time. Think of your best possible self as the realization of all that is possible for you. So you identify the best possible way that things might realistically turn out during this time. Describe your best possible self below.

Participants in our sample were prompted to type a minimum of fifteen characters in a textbox (and were limited to no more than 1500 characters) before proceeding to the next question. A timing mechanism within Qualtrics automatically advanced to the next screen after two minutes; this meant that some participants might be cut off in the middle completing their response. To give participants a chance to finalize and edit their response, on the next screen, they were presented with these instructions: “Below is what you entered on the previous page. If you would like to make any changes or if you got cut off before you finished, you have 1 minute to finalize your answer. Click the button to continue whenever you are ready.” Participants then had one minute to finalize their response. Lastly, students were asked: “How likely do you think it is that your life will really look like this in 10 years?” Participants’ responses were indicated by a sliding scale from 0% to 100%.

Planned Analysis

The coding of these responses followed the early practices set in place by Braun and Clarke (2006) and then modified through use of a codebook (Braun & Clarke, 2020), using a deductive, top-down approach supported by the theories of possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986) and SCCT (Lent et al., 1994), as well as knowledge of the societal context of rural South Central Appalachia. Consistent with thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021), the team was also careful to consider inductive themes that emerged from the data. Thematic analysis was chosen as the methodology with the primary goal of producing a thematic representation of the possible selves described, consistent with the first research question.

Braun and Clarke (2021) highlighted that thematic analysis goes beyond topic summaries to create stories that interpret the meaning behind the topics. Recognizing that there is no single truth, we operated from a post-positivist perspective (Ponterotto, 2005) and worked to create a story from the data based on our understanding of what participants shared. Doing so led us away from a purely reflexive thematic analysis approach and allowed us to offer a structured framework for considering codes and then developing themes (Braun & Clarke, 2020). This nuanced approach helped us stay within thematic analysis but also create a semi-structured plan for how to effectively sift through the many participant stories. We made this choice due to our inclusion of multiple coders and to include possible themes and codes based on our theoretical frame.

Description of Researchers

The coding team who analyzed the qualitative data included two undergraduate students, two graduate psychology students, and two professors, one from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience (2^nd author) and the other from the Department of Counseling, Human Development, and Family Science (3^rd author). All six team members had previous experience living in South Central Appalachia and providing outreach and intervention services to rural South Central Appalachian high school and college students, as well as prior training related to the unique culture of the region. Four of the team members identified as white, one as African American, and one as Latina. One of the graduate students (the first author) and one of the undergraduate students grew up in Appalachian counties. The other graduate student grew up outside of the United States. One of the undergraduate students majored in mathematics with minors in psychology and education. The other majored in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration. The research team met prior to beginning the data analysis to discuss their personal perspectives, preconceptions, and potential biases, as well as possible selves, Appalachia, and SCCT. Similar discussions of how researchers’ personal identities and perspectives impacted the analysis occurred throughout the process.

Thematic analysis

The coding team first read and met to discuss Braun and Clarke (2006) to review the six suggested steps for thematic analysis. The coding team followed the six-phase plan, starting by familiarizing themselves with the data and then reading and reviewing the raw data. We then met and generated a list of 20 initial codes based on what stood out during the exploration of the data and the guiding theories. These initial codes were based on our reading of and reflections on the data, in a sense immersing ourselves in the stories told by our participants (Braun & Clark, 2020). Although informed by our theoretical foundations of SCCT (Lent et al., 1994) and possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986), these initial codes ultimately went beyond these frames to include a broader understanding of the aspirational future selves described by our participants.

After these initial discussions, we divided the data so that each response was coded by two team members. After coding the individual responses, the team then met to discuss any confusion about codes and to review interrater reliability. We did not try to reach 100% agreement, but focused on codes that had less than 95% agreement between coders, meaning that coders disagreed about whether a response should be assigned that code 5% or more of the time. Given that we had a coding team, we believed it was important to report interrater reliability and this method is consistent with modified methodology.

Four codes had particularly low agreement, partially based on different perspectives of the coders, so the researchers agreed to collapse these to reduce potential coding bias. Specifically, financial stability and wealth were collapsed into one code and uncertainty and negative view of self into another code, which significantly improved agreement. Researchers then held separate dyadic meetings to address discrepancies in the initial codes. Discrepancies were defined as any instance where one researcher assigned a code to a response while the other did not. After addressing discrepancies through discussion and reaching mutual agreement, all codes had greater than 97% agreement. The first author then considered ways in which these identified codes could be grouped and organized to generate larger, overarching, multidimensional themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006) with the hope of telling a larger story about the possible selves of rural Appalachian high school students. Shifting from codes to themes provided the opportunity to move beyond description to interpretation of the data (Braun & Clarke, 2020). The coding team met again to discuss the codes within each theme and agreed on the final structure.

Trustworthiness and Rigor.

Several techniques were used to promote the trustworthiness and rigor of the thematic analysis. The coding team followed the structured methods laid out by Braun and Clarke (2006). Additionally, one of the members of the coding team was an expert in qualitative research with significant experience with thematic analysis. Members of the coding team received training and participated in discussions to help increase cultural awareness for the population being studied and to consider how their own cultural backgrounds and biases may have impacted their analysis. Team members frequently participated in discussions about rationale for coding decisions, connecting themes to theory, and reviewing examples from the data. Finally, team members attempted to reach a high level of consensus regarding the coding of data and thematic organization.

Quantitative Analysis of Attainability

Following the qualitative analysis, the quantitative responses provided by the participants regarding the attainability of their described possible selves were used to test for possible differences in perception of attainability based on race/ethnicity, gender, and prospective first-generation status using one-way between subjects ANOVAs.

Transparency and Openness

In this manuscript, we report the full study protocol, including all data exclusions, procedures, and measures in the study, as well as the analysis plan, and we follow JARS (Kazak, 2018; Levitt et al., 2018). All quantitative data, analysis code, and research materials are available (Hardin & Gibbons, 2025). Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, version 29.0. This study’s design and its analysis were not pre-registered.

Results

Thematic Analysis

Responses from 33 participants were deemed irrelevant (e.g., “no”) or as descriptions of the current self (e.g., “Hi I am [name]. I would describe myself as kind of easy going and laid back”). The remaining responses were included in the thematic analysis, and averaged 160.36 characters, with a range of 4 to 512 characters (all but 2 responses met the prompted minimum of 15 characters). The results of the thematic analysis were organized under three central themes: (a) what do they want to have, (b) who do they want to be, and (c) fear and uncertainty. These themes and their associated codes, outlined in Figure 1, provide some answers to the question of what rural South Central Appalachian high school students hope for, expect, and fear for their futures. Some students’ responses included more than one code, therefore, provided totals reflect the number of responses within a given code and the sum exceeds the number of participants.

Figure 1.

Hierarchical chart of themes and sub-themes.

In the following sections, illustrative quotes are drawn from 42 different students (40.4% female, 50% male, 4.7% non-binary, 4.7% gender not identified). Criteria for selection was based on entirely on factors such as quote length, coherence, and representativeness, without regard for demographics. Despite this, these 42 students are representative of the total sample, not only in terms of gender but also parental education, with ~32% of these 42 students reporting having at least one parent who had a four-year degree or higher, ~12% had a two-year degree, ~17.5% had some post-secondary education but no degree, ~23% had caregivers with no post-secondary education at all, and ~15% were unsure of their parents’ educational attainment. One participant identified as black or African American, 2 as biracial, and the rest as white; 3 identified as Latino/a, the remaining 39 did not.

What do they want to have?

The first theme we identified was what students wanted to have in their best possible future. Instead of describing self-characteristics or the “who” of their best possible selves, most students’ descriptions (n = 215) were focused on external factors. Although some of these focused on material possessions, much of this overarching theme focused on broader factors like goals, relationships, and attainments. In all, 10 different codes created this broad theme, including wants such as financial security and wealth, finding partners and having a family, supporting loved ones, and making their family and loved ones proud. It also included specific and general hopes regarding their future education and career paths. These participants indicated a variety of tangible and relational possibilities they hoped for in their future.

Career aspirations featured heavily among the students’ goals, with students either identifying a specific career or describing their interest in enjoying and/or being successful in their career. Forty-two percent of the students listed a specific career, a set of possible career options, or their general areas of interest in their descriptions. Students used both general (“I get to do what I love and work with animals”; “I would be working in some type of counseling job hopefully”) and specific language (“I will be a graphic designer”; “I’m playing professional baseball”) to describe their career goals. Many students wanted to be in helping positions, for example doctors, dentists, nurses, counselors, social workers, or physical therapists. Apart from these, students named jobs in a myriad of other fields, including jobs associated with agriculture, engineering, computers and technology, finance, law, business, entrepreneurship, education, art, or sports. Several students imagined futures where they joined the military or worked in a trade as a baker, hair stylist, mechanic, electrician, or lineman. These students are not only envisioning a future in which work is important, they are envisioning a full range of possible careers.

Aside from descriptions of their possible careers, students also described possible selves that were successful at their job (n = 27) or enjoyed their work (n = 43). For example, one student wrote that their “goal in life is to be successful at welding or be successful in lineman school,” and another wanted to be “successful, many fans of my work on YouTube and my music… I finally will have made a difference for people.” Students also wanted to enjoy their work, like this student who wrote: “I would be happy in my career because I am able to help people who really need it; it makes me happy to think about what my future could be if I were a doctor or physical therapist.” Some students did not know exactly what they wanted to do, but they knew they wanted to be successful and enjoy whatever it was they were doing, like this student who imagined their possible self as “somewhat successful in what I decide to do” or this student who imagined: “[doing] something that I am passionate and a thing I can enjoy my life in work.” For these students, work is more than a source of income.

The topic of educational goals (n = 92) also was relevant for many students. Education was somewhat interconnected with the theme of career, as many students who named a specific future career also included details of the educational attainments they would need, like this student who imagined being a doctor:

“I have a bachelor’s degree from Yale university in a biomedical science, likely chemistry. I was accepted into Harvard Medical school, and have achieved high marks on all my tests, and all my classes. I am a junior in Harvard, and hope to graduate soon and attend residency, fellowship, and so on.”

However, some students discussed their educational goals without mentioning a specific career. Some students, for example, recognized that they “would be the first to attend college” in their family, or knew that they wanted at least some degree of postsecondary education. One student wrote, “I want to learn a lot of new things through a college education and get a degree in something I really want to pursue.” Another hoped “to have at least an associates degree.”

Financial stability / wealth (n = 110) was another important component of their future possible selves. Students wanted to have enough money to cover expenses and to “support all my financial needs.” Some mentioned very specific wants, including covering rental or mortgage payments, car payments or ownership, and monthly bill payments. One student commented, “I don’t have to worry about bills, and be constantly stressed all the time” and another noted “make my life easier when it comes to my finances” suggesting a nuanced understanding of what could happen with covering monthly expenses. These participants wanted financial security because it was connected to ease and lowered stress in their lives. Others were more general, simply stating “[I] have a well-paying job” or hoping they would be in a “good financial situation.” Another factor students included was wanting to avoid debt, like this student who wrote: “I don’t want student debt. I don’t want to be in any kind of debt,” or another who said, “The best possible way things could turn out for me by this time is that I have a good stable job that makes a pretty decent amount of money, maybe married and have everything paid off if possible.” Those seeking wealth related money to enjoyment or status. They wanted “a big house and a huge yard”, a “nice car,” or the ability to “own multiple businesses and have lots of money.”

Some participants identified other things they wanted for their possible future. Many of the students (n = 57) listed having a family, a spouse, children, friends, or pets among the characteristics of their future possible selves. These aspirations ranged from very specific, “wife but no kids” to more general, “I would more than likely already have kids…having a husband or wife”. These students also specifically noted wanting these relationships to be positive (n = 25) and highlighted wanting to support their family and friends (n = 24). One student wrote, “I think I would be in a great relationship” and another wanted to “have a good and healthy relationship with [the] one I love.” Another student wanted to “take care of [their] family without problems and make them happy.” Outside of romantic relationships, students also wanted to be surrounded by “people that actually care about [them]” and “love [them],” as well as to have “great friends through college and work.” For many of these students, other aspects of their future possible selves stemmed from this desire for deep and supportive bonds, such as this student who said “I’d like to have a great and supportive family to take care of. All I’ve ever wanted is to be successful….[and] have … a family” or another who “[wanted] to dedicate [themselves] to helping others throughout [their] life.”

To summarize this first theme of what students’ best possible selves wanted to have, we see that across the 10 codes that made up this theme, there was not one particular type of future these students hope for in terms of career, education, or family. However, across these diverse envisioned futures, there were clear threads of connection and community, stability, success (broadly defined), and enjoyment.

Who do they want to be?

The second theme we identified was about what the students want to be like in the future. Many of the students’ responses included possible selves that were centered around intrapersonal characteristics (n = 88). For example, some students mentioned wanting to be content and physically healthy, “just overall being a happy person and happy with my life.” Along with happiness, being able to make their own decisions, take care of themselves, and demonstrate a sense of accountability were important. One noted, “I won’t have to ask anyone for help” and another highlighted, “not relying on anyone by myself.” Students in this group also described the personal traits they wanted to demonstrate, such as helpful, belief in self, organized, caring, smart, and nice. The codes from which this theme emerged included: personal growth, general happiness, self-reliance, freedom, and personal traits.

Some students focused on their happiness (n = 20) and overall well-being (n = 10). One student wrote: “I think that my best self would be happy with what choices they have made in life....My best possible self will be proud of everything that has been done in the past.” Others expected their mental well-being to be apparent in their behavior, with one student writing: “I would be the most organized I have ever been. Have all my priorities in place. Being active playing softball. I would have good body health… I would be smiling and not faking it.” Aside from mental well-being, many students also described physical attributes of health, such as being physically active, taking care of their bodies, and maintaining healthy routines. One student, for example, wrote: “I exercise daily and I prioritize my health.”

Self-reliance (n = 18) was another important quality for their future selves, being able to live and do things “on [their] own” without help or interference from other sources and having both the capability and power to live as they please. One student wrote: “My best possible self would be me living and supporting myself. I could make my own decisions and have the financial freedom to enjoy life and what it brings… I would live where I’d like.” In many cases, the personal quality of self-reliance was linked to financial security. However, these two themes were differentiated by a sense of agency; responses linked to financial stability focused on having a career or job to rely on whereas responses coded as self-reliant centered around students’ desire to be someone they could rely on and who had control over their own life, as exemplified by the following response: “I have moved out and have my own house not relying on anyone but myself.”

Aside from physical health, mental health, and self-reliance, other students looked forward to seeing themselves grow into their future self (n = 18). One student did not know who they would be in the future, but they did have hope for growth, saying: “I have yet to discover my best possible self as I am still young and hoping to grow.” Many described this personal growth as a process of learning, like this student who said: “If at any point I make mistakes, I will use those mistakes to better myself and to not commit them again.” This learning process would not just be about their mistakes and right or wrong, but also a process of discovering themselves and achieving their best possible self. One student wrote: “I would be learning more about myself everyday,” and another wanted to “reflect on me and just be the best version of myself.” As for what this “best version” would be, many students (n = 32) listed personal qualities like “hard working”, “smart”, “confident”, “funny”, or some version of “kind” (e.g. “nice” and “caring”). In all, students in this theme envisioned future selves from a personal context, sharing how they wanted to be and the qualities they wanted others to see in them.

Fear and Uncertainty

The first two themes were unequivocally optimistic and positive. However, a small number of students (n = 13) responded with characteristics that were in direct opposition to the majority of descriptions. These students focused primarily on their personal weaknesses, such as “anger issues” or lack of academic ability, or the possibility that they would die within the indicated timeframe. One student wrote the following: “I don’t think personally I will be doing very well. My family is poor and I crack under pressure. I have no structure but I’m thinking I might be able to get a good enough paying factory job. Maybe I can get an apartment and not starve to death.” Also of note were students whose responses indicated a high degree of uncertainty. This uncertainty ranged from simply being “unsure” of what their future possible self might be to expressing confusion about not only their future but who they were as people. For example: “I don’t know what I could be like in the future. I am so confused about myself on a daily basis that there is no telling what my future could be like.”

Thematic Analysis Summary

The majority of responses indicated these students have big dreams for their future. There was not a narrow range of specific paths or possible future students envisioned, but a wide diversity of dreams in terms of work, education, family, and personal characteristics. At the same time, across the diverse narratives, there were clear threads related to family and friends, stability and self-reliance, and enjoyment and well-being. The majority of students expressed optimism about their futures. At the same time, this was not true for all of our participants; a very small number of students described fear and uncertainty related to their best possible selves. Although it may be heartening that so few participants gave responses coded under this final theme, the fact that any student imagined a “best possible future” in these negative, uncertain ways is important.

Attainability

It is one thing for students to be able to envision a best possible future self; it is another thing to believe that future is possible. On average, the perceived attainability of these possible future selves was relatively greater than chance (M = 65.88, SD = 22.29). Due to small numbers of participants in several groups, we were unable to examine racial / differences in attainability. Similarly, due to the small number of non-binary (n = 7) students, we compared only male and female participants’ perceived attainability using an independent samples t-test. There was not a significant difference between the perceived attainability for male (n = 110, M = 68.31) versus female students (n = 141, M = 65.62, p > .05). However, an ANOVA indicated that there was a significant difference in perceived attainability based on first-generation status [F(2, 261) = 5.40, p < .01]. Post-hoc comparisons using the Tukey test indicated significant differences between prospective continuing generation students (M = 69.27, SD = 20.50) and both PFGCS (M = 60.97, SD = 24.80, p < .05) and students who were unsure of their parents’ educational attainment (M = 59.05, SD = 23.21, p < .05): students whose parents had attended even a semester of college had greater perceived attainability of their possible selves than both of the other groups, who did not differ from each other (p > .90).

Discussion

The purpose of the present study was to examine the content of rural South Central Appalachian high school students’ possible selves using a modified thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) and to assess the perceived attainability of those described selves. We found three main themes: who students would like to be, what they would like to have, and fear and uncertainty. We also found that, on average, the students viewed these future possible selves as attainable at a level slightly higher than chance and that prospective continuing generation students had significantly higher perceived attainability than PFGCSs.

Across the first two themes, the majority of our participants demonstrated a positive future mindset about a broad range of possible futures. They described wanting to be happy and healthy, self-reliant, working towards being a better version of themselves, and supporting and being supported by others. Many of these students desired a postsecondary degree or recognized the importance of education in achieving their other goals, like financial security. Many of these goals, such as being self-reliant, independent, and having the freedom to make their own decisions, along with a strong desire to support and be supported by loved ones are consistent with Appalachian cultural values around independence and community (Elliot & Ripley, 2021; Keefe & Curtin, 2012; Keller & Helton, 2010). This is also consistent with the theory of identity-based motivation, which posits that individuals will be more likely to pursue goals (or possible selves) that are viewed as congruent with their identity (Oyserman, 2015). This overlap between cultural values, identity, and possible selves also mirrors the pathway from cultural context to person inputs to choice goals outlined within SCCT (Lent et al., 1994)

Initially, these findings suggest an overall positive outlook and optimistic possible future for rural South Central Appalachian adolescents, especially when combined with the small number of students who expressed fear or uncertainty about their future. However, these students will need more than a positive outlook to make these positive future selves possible. Without systemic changes, access to information and resources, and ongoing support, these future selves may be unattainable. Indeed, on average, students thought the likelihood of actually achieving these possible selves was only modest, with prospective first-generation college students feeling their future possible selves were significantly less attainable than their peers with caregivers who had at least some college. Our findings connect with research that first-generation college students are less likely to complete college (Pew Research Center, 2021) and more likely to come from low-income families (Cataldi et al., 2018), as well as with even more recent research showing that although the majority (80%) of a nationally representative sample of high school students value following their own interests and being successful financially and in their career, more than half believe attaining financial and career success will be harder for them than it was for their parents (AP*NORC, 2025).

Past research has shown that a positive future mindset combined with a strong sense of self-reliance (“I will figure it out”) can lead rural South Central Appalachian students to minimize perceived barriers to their future goals, often without the concrete information needed to actually achieve their goals (Gibbons et al., 2020). Although educational and career aspirations were high in our participants, with most seeking a clear postsecondary goal and/or skilled career path, we also know that rural Appalachians have lower educational outcomes and reduced financial security compared to others (Srygley et al., 2024). Previous research has also found that many rural South Central Appalachian high school students lack accurate information about postsecondary education (Gibbons et al., 2020). For many of these students, pursuing postsecondary education requires physically distancing from the support systems of their local communities, which inevitably impacts the students’ access to support and their ability to provide support back to their families. Despite desiring an education to benefit these support systems, many students may struggle to overcome or cope with this extended leave of the community (Bennett, 2008). The indication that so many students want to go to college or have careers requiring a degree suggests that students understand the value of college-going; it is essential that students also have accurate information about the steps needed to enter and complete college. Indeed, helping students identify common roadblocks on the path to their possible selves and connecting plausible strategies to coping with challenges are key components of successful identity-based motivation interventions (Oyserman, 2015; Oyserman et al., 2021).

Similarly, our participants’ focus on both physical and mental well-being must be understood in the broader context of the health challenges faced by Appalachians, including higher mortality rates, lower access to healthcare, and increased risk factors for health complications (ARC, 2017). Perhaps students’ awareness of health challenges in their community heightens their desire to attain better health and avoid similar outcomes. Again, however, it is important to recognize that aspirations for health and well-being are inadequate without systemic changes that would allow access to concrete information about physical and mental health (see Miller et al., 2014) and that would address existing inequities such as decreased proximity to services, high costs of care, and dissatisfaction with available care (Morrone et al., 2021).

Overall, our participants noted positive aspirations for their future. What is in question is whether they have support to achieve these aspirations. Despite being asked to describe a realistic future, students rated the likelihood of achieving their possible selves as only around 65% - not much higher than chance. Importantly, prospective continuing generation college students rated their future possible selves as significantly more attainable than other students. In light of the facts that continuing generation college students, on average, have higher college-going self-efficacy (Rosecrance et al., 2019), are more likely to graduate from college (Bird, 2018), and have higher household incomes (Fry, 2021), these results suggest these students may already have internalized a sense of the privileges parental education can offer. Thus, even when prospective first-generation college students and those unsure of their parents’ educational attainment espouse clear future goals, their beliefs in their ability to attain these goals may need to be explored.

Practice Implications

With this knowledge of the content of their possible selves, our hope is that future work may use these themes to increase the efficacy of interventions for Appalachian high school students. Identifying the particular possible selves of a student may be an effective method for determining what kind of intervention that student needs instead of blanket approaches that support some students more than others. School and college counselors might ask their students to describe their future possible self rather than give them a formal career assessment. This less structured method might be especially useful for students from rural backgrounds, where exploration of barriers using traditional methods seems less effective (Gibbons et al., 2020).

Using the possible selves prompt would also better define what students most need regarding new learning experiences and concrete information. Students who responded with possible selves that were highly intertwined with values like self-reliance or support but who did not identify a clear career or educational goal may benefit from exploration of how to connect their values to possible careers, whereas students who knew what career they wanted to pursue might benefit most from information about financial aid, ACT prep, or relevant educational opportunities.

Students who express fear and uncertainty might need personal counseling to unpack these feelings before moving to concrete career and academic planning. In past research, rural South Central Appalachian students were acutely aware of the negative stereotypes and low expectations others applied to them (Gibbons et al., 2020); exploring their internalization of these negative messages and stigma about being from a rural Appalachian community is likely important in counseling. This suggestion is consistent with a number of therapeutic and theoretical approaches, including feminist therapy (Brown, 2018; Conlin et al., 2021) and the Psychology of Working Theory (Duffy et al., 2016), with their emphases on critical consciousness and exploration of systemic sources of marginalization; and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Hayes et al., 2012), with its emphases on awareness of and defusion from thoughts and feelings that might arise from these internalized messages and a focus on values-congruent choices. More important than the particular theoretical approach of a therapist, however, is the clinician’s awareness that exploring internalized stigma or raising critical consciousness is relevant when working with Appalachian clients. This in turn requires awareness that Appalachians represent a distinct cultural group, many of whose members have faced generations of systemic marginalization and exploitation, and who may thus benefit from culturally sensitive approaches (see Russ, 2010) – including exploration of internalized stigma among clients who might otherwise be assumed to carry high levels of privilege (e.g., due to being white, cisgender, or heterosexual). In addition, as noted above, it is essential that counselors not assume that rural South Central Appalachian clients who confidently express clear goals and optimism for their futures necessarily have access to the concrete resources, support, and information they will need to achieve those goals.

Limitations & Future Directions

As an exploratory study using thematic analysis, we were limited in our ability to go beyond identifying emergent themes to explaining the relationships among or potential precursors of the identified themes. Although we used a variety of trustworthiness steps to increase rigor, it is possible that other coders would have identified different themes. In addition, because we only collected information about students’ possible selves at one point in time, we are unable to answer questions about the extent to which these snapshots of students’ possible selves actually predict future interests, goals, and choice action. Finally, our participants were mostly white and cisgender, which is representative of Central Appalachia. Our goal was to highlight the voices of this population, and we note that focusing on this group limits the ability to explore differences by race, ethnicity, and gender.

The findings of this study also raised several questions to be explored in future work. For example, future studies may further test the differences in perceived attainability based on racial, ethnic, and gender identities that we were unable to fully explore to help identify students who might need additional support for pursuing even clearly articulated goals. Researchers may also explore how possible selves may link to other key career-related constructs, such as personal growth initiative (Robitschek, et al., 2012), self-efficacy, and choice goals (Lent et al., 1994). Doing so may increase understanding regarding the relationship between interests, goals, and actions, particularly regarding why individuals who have the interest for certain goals do not take the actions necessary to achieve those outcomes. Applying what has been discovered about possible selves may help in investigating this question, as there has been much research on the topic of how individuals go from thinking about their future selves to taking actions to achieve that version of themselves. Oyserman and Horowitz (2023) used identity-based motivation as a lens through which to organize and synthesize possible selves literature into a cohesive theory to be tested by future work.

Conclusions

Exploring the possible selves of rural South Central Appalachian high school students provided us with findings that indicate both the value of possible selves as a tool for connecting with Appalachian students and the wealth of opportunities in this area that await further research. This study focused primarily on possible selves in relation to educational and career outcomes, but the results indicated possible impacts for health and overall well-being as well. While there are many growth edges for Appalachia, it is heartening to see how optimistically most of our participants viewed their future possible selves. In addition, our results support the use of more narrative approaches, like open-ended possible selves prompts, that align with storytelling traditions in the region. Doing so may be one way of recognizing and utilizing strengths when planning and improving interventions. Our hope is that these results may also be used to support systemic change in the region and provide more targeted information and support to students, allowing more of them to make their positive future selves a reality.

Public Significance Statement.

The results of this study highlight a culturally-congruent assessment strategy for understanding rural South Central Appalachian students. Understanding the aspirations and goals of these students enhances the ability of scholars and practitioners to develop targeted interventions to support students’ career and educational success.