“In pursuit of their happiness”: Construction and manifestation of family educational expectations

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this work is to analyze the processes of construction of family expectations and their forms of manifestation in different educational profiles, as well as their role in the reproduction of social inequalities. METHOD: Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with mothers and fathers, with and without higher education, who had children in the third or fourth year of secondary education (ESO). The aim of the interviews was to address the symbolic and subjective dimension of the participants' expectations. RESULTS: The findings show how the construction of expectations has a significant connection with the influences on trajectories and previous educational experiences of the people interviewed, as well as the characterization of their children (mediated by teachers’ impressions) and the perceived opportunities and available resources. Practical manifestation was based on an integration of the school at home and vice versa, and have been essential for a school-family consonance in those profiles of higher education. The discursive manifestation was indirect and less necessary in this profile, since the children naturally assumed the aspiration of the university trajectory, while the secondary education profiles required more explicit strategies to manage those trajectories. DISCUSSION: The habitus and the different capitals (especially cultural capital) are essential elements in the constitution and transmission of family expectations, which have been shown to be decisive in the reproduction of social inequalities within the educational field.