Incongruence between parental and adolescent educational aspirations hinders academic attainment.

Educational aspirations; academic attainment; incongruence; parental support for education; social change; social inequality; Child; Adolescent; Humans; Adult; Longitudinal Studies; Cohort Studies; Educational Status; Parents; Academic Success; Life-span and Life-course Studies

Abstract :

[en] Previous research has shown that parental educational aspirations for their children are an important predictor of children's academic attainment. However, recent studies have pointed to potential negative effects, in particular if there is a mismatch between parental educational aspirations and the aspirations of their children. This study examines (1) the role of socio-demographic and school achievement-related factors in shaping a potential (mis)match between parental educational aspirations and the aspirations of their children, and (2) whether incongruence between parental and their children's educational aspirations hinders academic attainment in times of social change. We use data collected for the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study (BCS70) and Next Steps (formerly known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England), a cohort of young people born in 1989/90. We find that in both cohorts socio-demographic and achievement-related characteristics are associated with incongruent aspirations, and that incongruent aspirations between parents and their children are associated with a decreased likelihood of participating in and completing higher education. The study contributes to current debates regarding the causes and correlates of discrepancies in educational aspirations and how such discrepancies affect later life chances.

Disciplines :

Social & behavioral sciences, psychology: Multidisciplinary, general & others

Author, co-author :

Schoon, Ingrid; University College London, UK

BURGER, Kaspar ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Social Sciences (DSOC) > Centre for Childhood and Youth Research ; University of Zurich, Switzerland

External co-authors :

yes

Language :

English

Title :

Incongruence between parental and adolescent educational aspirations hinders academic attainment.

Publication date :

01 November 2022

Journal title :

Longitudinal and Life Course Studies

ISSN :

1757-9597

eISSN :

1757-9597

Publisher :

Bristol University Press, England

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

575 - 595

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Additional URL :

https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/llcs/13/4/article-p575.xml

Funders :

Economic and Social Research Council
Nuffield Foundation
European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Swiss National Science Foundation

Funding text :

Ingrid Schoon acknowledges funding by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (ES/V01577X/1) and the Nuffield Foundation (JUS /FR-000022636). Kaspar Burger acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 791804 and from the Swiss National Science Foundation under the Grant Agreement No. PCEFP1_181098.

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