The need for a more educated and trained workforce highlights the importance for youth to continue their education beyond high school. This is important for urban students with low socioeconomic backgrounds as they seek to improve their economic status through education; but few succeed.

To gain a more emic understanding of the process, fifteen young adults told the story of their journey. Social- psychological processes emerged that helped develop a substantive theory about the support and obstacles the students had as they transitioned to postsecondary education.

The substantive theory highlights the relationship between psychological and social development during the socialization process that helped in developing positive self-concepts, motivation, and to overcome nonacademic barriers created by an urban environment and low socioeconomic status.

Adults and peers served as socialization agents in socializing them into a college-going culture. Based on the substantive theory, middle and high school administrators should take a leadership role in cultivating a college- going culture to increase the college-going rate of urban students.