“I wanted a different life for myself”: Aspirations and agency of economically disadvantaged youth in Ethiopia

Understanding the freedom that students have to make decisions they value enables them to remove barriers to their valued aspirations and obstacles to their freedom and helps them take actions toward their aspired futures. Using the capability approach, this study examines how economically disadvantaged youth in Ethiopia exercised their agency to choose and pursue what they aspire to be. The youths’ stories underline that they are certainly agentic, wherein their ability to have a clear picture of their future strengthens their agentic power. In contrast, economic barriers limit their ability to pursue and realize their aspirations by making it practically impossible to have options other than what is reachable. This article provides insight on the conditions that constrain or enhance the agentic power of youths to make choices and take actions in forming and pursuing their educational aspirations.