Parents' Hopes and Expectations for Their Children's Future Occupations

Abstract

Qualitative research has generated important insights into the intersection of social class, parental values and children's experiences of education and their role in the reproduction of inequalities. There has been less analytic engagement with parents' expectations and aspirations regarding their children's future occupations. Such expectations and aspirations have attracted much research and policy interest. Typically, analyses have been quantitative and focused on outcomes for children. Whilst parental expectations are deemed very influential for children's future occupational outcomes, there is relatively little evidence on the shaping of such expectations, or the ways in which future work and occupations are discussed between parents and children. This article reports on an analysis of parents' ideas about their children's future occupations and the contexts in which these ideas accrue meaning. Drawing on primary data from interviews with parents we explore diversity within, as well as across, social classes. First we explore parents' expectations and aspirations for their children's future occupations. Secondly we consider how parents see their own role in shaping such futures. The evidence highlights the salience of parents' own biographies and class backgrounds in shaping their orientations to, and manner of engagement with, their children's futures. Thirdly we briefly explore how parents' expectations and engagement with their children play out in class differentiated ways as their children approach early adulthood.

Reconceptualizing Agency within the Life Course: The Power of Looking Ahead

“…For example, little is known about how family contexts shape these individual expectations. Parents vary in their engagement with children’s futures, with some advantaged parents feeling more assured about children’s futures and being less overtly concerned, while other less advantaged parents convey a more limited array of options for their children (Irwin and Elley 2012). Chains of parents and peers help build expectancies in the realm of education, for example, that serve to increase persistence among low-income youths encountering college (Deimer and Li 2012).…”

Attitudes and Practices of Parents: Disadvantage and Access to Education

“…In short, we confront differentiated and nondeterministic dynamics that characterize the interaction with and among various social fields (and key factors such as class, ethnicity/race, and gender), revealing the importance of the material contexts in which families are embedded (Irwin & Elley, 2013).…”

Aspiraciones Y Proyectos De Futuro De Jóvenes Estudiantes Secundarios en Chile: El Soporte Familiar Y Su Influencia en Las Decisiones Educativo-Laborales

“…De igual manera la investigación también es incipiente en analizar el rol que adquieren las expectativas de los padres en las decisiones de futuro y las dinámicas de apoyo y colaboración parental en el proceso de toma de decisiones en la etapa previa al egreso de la enseñanza secundaria (IRWIN;ELLEY, 2013).…”