The Family and Educational Aspirations

Abstract

The question we address is the extent to which variation in the educational aspirations of children resides in the family. We identify the importance of the family for educational aspirations by using data on sets of siblings to model the degree of sibling resemblance. Our results indicate that nearly three quarters of the variation in educational aspirations lies between families but that only a fraction of this variation can be explained by standard indicators of family socioeconomic status (parental income and education). There is also substantial similarity in the degree of sibling resemblance across pairs of siblings defined by sex and ordinal position. Net of a wide range of measures of family background, educational aspirations play a strong role in determining educational attainment (Duncan, Featherman, & Duncan, 1972; Sewell & Hauser, 1980; Sewell, Hauser, & Wolf, 1980; Sewell & Shah, 1967). The correlation between educational aspirations and education obtained from a variety of data bases is generally on the order of .6 to .7 (Sewell et al., 1980; Teachman, 1987). An understanding of inequality in educational attainment, therefore, benefits from an understanding of variation in educational aspirations. The question we address is the extent to which variation in the educational aspirations of children resides in the family. THE PROBLEM Why Families Are Important Although educational aspirations are seldom studied as the outcome of interest, the broader literature has placed considerable emphasis on the family as an agent in generating variation in educational attainment. Beginning with the work of Blau and Duncan (1967), researchers have sought to identify elements of the family environment that are tied to children's schooling. In their widely recognized model of educational attainment, Sewell and his colleagues (Sewell & Hauser, 1980; Sewell et al., 1980; Sewell & Shah, 1967) identified educational aspirations as the most important variable having direct effects on education obtained, while mediating the effects of family background such as parental education. There are several reasons why families should be associated with variation in educational aspirations. First, families are sources of genetically determined academic potential (Plomin, 1986; Plomin, DeFries, & Fulker, 1988; Plomin, DeFries, & McClearn, 1990; Rowe, 1994). On one hand, this may take the form of differences in intellectual capacity that lead children to be successful in school and thus to prefer more education. This portion of genetic variation may be taken into account by considering measures of intellectual capacity. On the other hand, related, yet distinct, sources of genetic variation linked to educational aspirations may remain. For example, research has indicated that competitiveness and drive to succeed, which may generate a desire for more education, appear to have genetic links (Rowe, 1993, 1994). Second, families represent micro-social environments that influence how children experience the larger social world. Thus, patterns of parentchild and sibling interaction set the context within which events and circumstances in the outside world are evaluated and acted on. For example, the assumptions that parents make and the encouragement that they give to their children about schooling affect their children's desire for education (Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh, 1987; Hauser & Sewell, 1986; Parsons, Adler, & Kaczala, 1982; Seginer, 1983; Sewell & Hauser, 1980; Sewell et al., 1980). Parents also may provide their children with more educationally enriching materials in the home and more stimulating intellectual activities that consistently emphasize the value of academic achievement and thus spur educational aspirations (Dimaggio, 1982; Haveman & Wolfe, 1994; Teachman, 1987). Third, families provide children with larger social environments that affect how they view education. …