The Influence of Parental Educational Attainment and Attitudes on Educational Achievement: Perceptions of Adults in a Rural Midwest Community

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore adult children’s perceptions of if their parents’ postsecondary educational attainment influenced their own decision to pursue postsecondary education. Three males and seven females, ranging in age between 30 and 55 years, working in a north central Wisconsin manufacturing office, completed an anonymous survey. The findings of this study suggest that there is a relationship between parental educational attainment and their children’s pursuit of higher education. Parents with more education were more likely to have more highly educated children than less educated parents. Results were interpreted through Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory. Expectancy Theory is about the mental processes regarding choice, as it relates to motivation, and proposes that individuals who expect a positive outcome are motivated to act according to that expectation. The theory provided a viable explanation of why more highly educated parents have children who choose to pursue higher education: their expectation that their children would attend college motivated them to prepare for college. However, it failed to address, completely, the complexity of lower income and less educated parents who expect their children to go to college as well, but do not or cannot offer the same supports, despite their motivations.