THE PARENT TRAP: The Correlation Between One's Academic and Familial Background

INTRODUCTION

Research Question = is there any relation between our family backgrounds and the kind of education we receive?

We learn many things, every single day of our lives, since the day we are born. We learn from our families, we learn from our peers, we learn from our realities. This process of learning and growing, from the very beginning of our lives, to become our own individual selves, earning and living in society, is called socialisation. This process of socialisation has many propagating agents, but the most important and impactful are our families and our schools. The socialisation we acquire from our families and through education forms a substantial part of who we are as people. Our schooling contributes not only to our character building but also to our knowledge in fields like science and history, which helps us ascertain what field it is that interests us, so as to determine the field of work we choose.

Thus, the research looks to ascertain whether our family background, in terms of both social and economical status, impacts the kind of educational qualification and quality of education we receive.

It is important to look at the question at hand through multiple lenses. One is that our family makes most decisions for us, at least until we’re in college, and most often even after that. Hence, wouldn't our educational qualification, or our lack of it, be greatly linked to our family, and their mentality towards education, as well as the affordability of education? This is why my research question also tries to highlight the complex issue of education and equality- if our families do not understand or have never experienced equality, can our education really be the solution to bring about social mobility?

To get to a possible answer, the research findings have been looked at through various sociological theories and concepts that broadly fall under socialisation, social groups, and cultural capital. Gender, caste and religion as the main social groups that have been taken cognisance of in terms of understanding the society outside of the family that makes the family what it is, and hence how even these larger social groups that you are born into effect your educational qualification has been studied.

My hypothesis is that family background greatly influences our ability to attain a certain educational qualification, and that the minimum educational qualification that we tend to achieve is that of our parents. Also, since in India we have a varying social groups that we are a part of, like caste, religion, etc, as well as the larger social group, that is gender, these social groups, and our association to these social groups also has an impact on our education qualification.

While the aim of the study is, of course, to search for such a correlation, and perhaps stumble upon certain other facts, the purpose of this study is also to understand the underlying inequality in our surrounding, that exists even though it may not be blatant, especially in the cosmopolitan location that the study has been done in.

RATIONALE

The topic I have chosen for the study is one that I am both personally interested in and feel holds importance in the larger social context of today. The conversation about education is one that I am greatly invested in, and I feel particularly concerned by it because I am still in the formal education sector. As someone who is aware of the larger realities in society, and as a student of sociology, my mind is able to connect the aspect of education to socialisation, and to the impact that it has on society. Also, as a student, who is yet to make certain decisions in life, as to where I want to pursue my higher studies, I realise that it is because of my family background that i am able to even consider applying to certain educational institutions, and it is because of this privilege that I feel it is important that I look into the topic of family background’s impact on educational qualifications. I truly believe that if we begin to understand whether this correlation exists and to what extent it exists, we will slowly start being able to envision and act upon removing this inequality, and move towards a more equal society.

We see that in countries like Finland, better education has led to a more equal society. However, while such an observation is being made as the impact of education on society, I want to take the opportunity to look at it inversely. What if we were to say that it is because of such a society that such an education system is taking effect? After all, a child spends only approximately 8 hours out of the 24 in school, and while that undisputedly has an impact on our socialisation, it is also important to look out for the possible connection between our environment in school, and our environment at home.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Many studies have been done with reference to the relation between family background and education, and most look at the correlation between the socio-economic capital of parents and its effect on their children’s educational achievements. A similar research done on the effect of family background on a child’s educational achievements, which was done in contemporary China, states “families use their social and economic resources to compete and purchase quality educational resources” (Li and Qui 2018:21). The study also finds that “parenting behavior and educational support for their children could cultivate children’s learning habits and affect academic performance” (Li and Qui 2018:1). This study, therefore, clearly indicates the fact that family plays an unrealised but gravely important role in the educational outcome, as well as educational qualification of a student.

The idea of family playing an important role in education qualifications of individuals has been discussed and acknowledged for a long time. The statement “ Many human capital investment decisions are made by parents on behalf of their children. Thus, the family should play a central role in studying investment in human capital, as recognized, for example, by Becker (1981), Becker and Tomes (1986), Behrman et al. (1995) and many others ” ( Ermisch and Francesconi 2001: 137). There were a few interesting findings of the quoted research by the London school of economics and social sciences, which are as stated in the following sentences-

“Relative to a parent with no qualifications, a mother's education has a stronger association with her child's educational attainments than the education of the father-figures. This could be a 'bargaining effect', because mothers put more weight on the child's income than fathers do, and higher mother's education increases her bargaining” (Ermisch and Francesconi 2001:148).

I have looked at my study in terms of the various social groups that a family belongs to in India and whether that also has an effect on the education attainment of an individual in that family. The main three social groups I have taken into consideration are caste, gender, and religion.

Another very important aspect of this study is also Capital Formation, or Habitus formation, a theory by the renowned sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. Xiaowei Huang, in his publication on Bourdieu, states-

“ According to Bourdieu, “The division into classes performed by sociology leads to the common root of the classifiable practices which agents produce and of the classificatory judgments they make of other agents‘ practices and their own. The habitus is both the generative principle of objectively classifiable judgments and the system of classification (principium divisions) of these practices.” (Bourdieu, 2010, p. 165 – 166) Habitus can be understood as a series of dispositions, which influences a person‘s expectations of social life.” (Huang 2019: 48).

Hence, these are the main pieces of literature that already exist in reference to my research question. I also have tried to enrich my understanding of my research topic based on these texts.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In my research, I decided to go with a survey, in which my respondents answered questions about their educational achievements and occupational background, as well as that of their parents and grandparents. However, i decided to add an additional layer to my research, which was that of religion and caste, because, while all of us in cities may not fully realise the impact or relevance of being in these social groups or classifications, it does have an impact in the larger context in India, and i felt that it is only fair that i add it in my research as well.

My sample location was my residential complex, in a busy part of Bangalore. Because of this, my demography does not accurately model the country’s demography. However, I have divided my sample of twenty into two- residents of the complex, and those who work in the complex. Here, the division is slightly skewed to the favour of the people who work in the complex to the people who live here, the ratio of the former to the latter being 12:8. I did this in order to bring a little more realism into the study, although it is not entirely accurate.

The survey method helped provide statistical material to base my study upon, and not involve the opinions of the subjects. This was crucial for the maximum accuracy of the study because the study involves looking at deeply personal matters like religion, caste, and the educational background of family members, and such questioning would give way to personal feelings and opinions instead of facts, which is what the study is based on.

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

Presentation of findings

The sample size is 20 people. The findings have been classified in terms of the highest educational qualification received by the respondent, and the correlated data in terms of gender, caste, religion, and educational qualification of the respondents’ fathers and mothers.

The family backgrounds of the respondents have been classified under the categories of religion, caste, and parents educational qualification. The only religions that were found in the sample were Hinduism and Christianity, so these are the two categories. The Christian respondents were not aware of the existence of any caste in their religious community, or any similar hierarchical division in Christianity, so they do not fall under any caste category in the study.

Among Hindus, many castes exist, so for the convenience of the study, have divided them into 5 broad Caste categories- 1. Brahmins, 2. Kshatriyas, 3.Vaishyas, 4. Other Backward Castes (OBC), and 5. Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (SC/ST) . These divisions have been taken into consideration as to how they are divided in the administrative books for reservation in administrative positions and educational institutions that exist in India. The Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas have been considered as upper castes.

The educational qualifications as written in the presentation below only takes into account the highest qualification achieved by the respondent. The educational qualifications are - Doctorate, or PhD, Master’s, Bachelor’s, 12th pass, High school graduate, where high school signifies 8th to 10th grade, 7th pass and below, which signifies any grade being passed by the respondent till 7th grade, but having received that much education, and Not Educated, which means that the respondent has not attended school at all.

The findings of the research are as follows:

Graphical representation of research findings

1. Doctorate

There was only 1 respondent out of the 20 to have gotten a doctorate. This respondent was a woman. She was from a Hindu family, and was from an OBC caste. Both her parents held bachelor degrees.

1. Master’s

There were 3 respondents in total who held master’s degrees, of which 1 was a woman, and 2 were men. Of the three, 2 were Hindus and 1 was a Christian. Of the 2 Hindus, 1 was a man and the other was a woman. Both Hindus were from upper castes. The fathers of the respondents all held bachelor degrees. Of the mothers of the respondents, 2 mothers held bachelor degrees, and one was a high school graduate.

1. Bachelor’s

4 respondents held bachelor degrees as the highest qualification. Of the 4, 2 were men, 2 were women. Of the 4, 3 were Hindus and 1 was a Christian. Of the 3 Hindus, 2 were Vaishyas, and 1 was an OBC. The fathers held Bachelor’s degrees, and one even held a Master’s degree. Of the 4 mothers of these respondents, 2 were bachelor degree holders, 1 was a 12th pass, and 1 was a high school graduate.

1. 12th pass

One respondent was a 12th pass. The respondent was male. He was a Hindu, and belonged to the SC category . Both his parents were not educated.

1. High School Graduate

5 respondents were high school graduates, of which 2 were men and the other 3 were women. All the 5 respondents were Hindus. Of the 5 respondents, one belonged to a caste in the Kshatriya varna, and she was a woman. Of the other 4, one belonged to the OBC category, and the other 3 belonged to the SC/ST category. The fathers of the respondents fell under the 7th pass and below category, while the mothers were uneducated, except for one mother who was a 7th pass.

1. 7th Pass and Below

5 respondents had a maximum qualification of 7th pass, or below. Of these 5, 3 were men and 2 were women. All the respondents were Hindus. 2 respondents were from the OBC category, and the other 3 were from the SC/ST category. Of the fathers of the 5 respondents, 2 were barely educated till 5th grade, while the other 3 were completely uneducated. Among the mothers of the respondents, only one was educated, till 5th grade, while the other 4 were uneducated.

1. Not Educated

Only one respondent was not educated whatsoever. This respondent was a woman. She was a Hindu and belonged to the OBC category. Both her parents were uneducated.

Analysis of the Findings

There are many things that can be inferred from the findings of this study.

Firstly, let me elaborate upon the main inference from the study- The educational qualification achieved by an individual is greatly impacted by the educational background of his or her family. However, something more interesting has sprung out of this research, and that is - The educational qualification of an individual is always equal to or greater than that of his or her mother. This is the one finding that is constant throughout the sample.

This finding runs constant with the concept of Habitus and its propagation within a family through the generations. To explain this finding further, we must understand the context as to why this is the case. Most Indian families, especially those that feature in the research, are patriarchal. This means that the father is the bread-winner and the mother is the one who stays back and brings up the children. This means that the mother is the transmitter of cultural capital to the children.

Also, since the family as well as society is patriarchal, the bar set as the minimum educational qualification will be that of the mothers, as that is looked at as a minimum achievable, versus that which has been achieved by the father.

This finding is rather significant, in social, economic and political spheres of society. This also is consistent with a largely accepted economic policy base, which is that for an economy to sustainably flourish, it must give money in the hands of the rural women and spend more on educating women. This is because they tend to spend more, in terms of economic and cultural capital, on their children, than men tend to. This also springs out of the fact that our society is patriarchal, leading to women spending more time with their kids.

This is also reflected in the Policy Research Report On Gender And Development, which states “Women’s access to and control over income can affect saving behavior in other ways. Papanek and Schwede (1988) in a Jakarta study show that women are more likely to participate in arisan, informal saving groups, if they are employed. Further, increases in women’s earnings raise the household’s income and can lead to an increase in saving once basic necessities are met.”(Floro and Seguino 2002:16).

The other inference from the research is that there is a slight but yet noticeable impact of gender, caste, and religion on educational qualifications. In the research, in the context of gender, it can be observed that the distribution of high level and lower level educated people among males is more equal than among females, the ratio being 1:1 and 2:3 among males and females respectively. Also, not one man was uneducated, whereas there was one woman respondent who was uneducated. This shows that men have a higher likeliness to get educated than a woman. This, again, is a reflection of the patriarchal society we find ourselves in today.

In the context of caste, the research points to the fact that caste does have an impact. Let us consider Doctorate, Master’s, and Bachelor’s to be higher level of education, and 12th pass and below to be lower level education. By this division, 9 respondents had a high level education, and 11 had lower level education. Of this 11, 10 were from lower castes- OBCs, and SC/STs. The one higher caste respondent was a woman. This can also, perhaps, be traced to the patriarchy I referred to earlier. And among the other 9 respondents, the ones who had a higher level of education, 2 respondents were from lower castes. These results clearly indicate that caste plays a role in the educational qualification of an individual. This can be connected to the educational and occupational background of the respondents’ families.

Of the 20 respondents, 4 were also able to elaborate on the background of their grandparents, and these 4 also happen to be a part of the 9 with the higher level educational qualification. Of these 4, 3 are upper caste Hindus. The grandfathers of these 3 respondents were all at least graduates, with one grandfather among the 6 who had even done his PHd. To build a correlation between this and the very first finding in the analysis, this aforementioned grandfather’s grandson, the respondent, was a graduate, and his father was a master’s degree holder. However, while this looks like a downward digression, we must remember that this is among the men of this family. The respondent had easily studied more than his mother and grandmothers did.

Finally, comes the impact of religion. This finding is not as concrete as the others, so I will just briefly mention it. There were only 2 Christians in my sample, and both had acquired a higher level of education. This may come from the fact that they come from the section of Christians that are affluent. However, since I can make no such assumptions as to why they have acquired the educational level that they have, I do not particularly take this observation as a reflection of any kind on the society, and discount the real portrayal of this in society.

CONCLUSION

My hypothesis in the beginning of the research was that an individual’s educational qualification depends on his or her family background, and that the minimum qualification we attain is that of our parents. I also hypothesised that the social groups they belong to, like religion or caste, impacts the educational qualification that we attain. Briefly put, the inferences are the hypothesis was right as far as the impact of a family’s educational background on an individual’s educational qualification is concerned. There is also a slight but observable impact of gender, and caste. And while there is also an impact of religion that can be observed, it is not the most reliable sample to base this conclusion on.

The findings in the study are significant not only because it essentially points to a very important solution in the decision-making process of those in charge of the education of millions in our country and across the world, but also because it points to an important root cause, one of many, of gender inequality. The correlation that has been established in the study should be taken into consideration by educators and law-makers when investing and structuring our education system. If the schools children go to involve parents in the education process and explain to them their importance in the entire process, it will be the start of something new, perhaps better. The problems created by inequality are easy to solve, but education is perhaps one of the strongest tools to tip the scale in the favour of the under-privileged. At the same time, gender parity can be greatly influenced if young girls are ensured the same opportunity as the young boys around them. However, since it has been established that if it were up to the family , this inequality is bound to continue, law-makers must step in. Education, and good quality education must be ensured to all, without excluding anyone. This includes those with special abilities as well.

The key to economic prosperity and social stability is to understand the effect and importance of family as a unit of the economy and society. This is what is highlighted through the findings of this study.

As the Asian proverb goes-

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH

This research has a few limitations, which are as follows-

1. The locality in which this has been conducted is cosmopolitan and urban, which definitely has impacted the findings, the implications of the findings.

2. The division of people who have been surveyed is not accurate in terms of the demography of India, both in terms of income, caste, and religious backgrounds.

3. The sample size is quite small to really capture these many divisions and social groups in a demography like India’s.

I went into the process not realising the hardships of working on the field. For example, a lot of people were uncomfortable answering the question about religion and caste, and out of those people, the people who ended up answering the questions after that turned out to be upper caste Hindus. This slightly perplexed me. While upper caste Hindus did not want to reveal such details about themselves, or were reluctant, the lower caste Hindus did not skip a heartbeat to tell me.

I feel this comes from the fact that while upper caste Hindus living and working in cities, have been surrounded by cosmopolitan culture, they have never had to be aware of their caste. The awareness of caste comes from the constant interaction with that label. Why would upper caste families, who have lived in cities and already availed benefits like healthcare and education, especially during the British time, feel the need to be aware of their caste now? I too, come from an upper caste family, and a primarily Hindu family. I too feel no connection with these aspects of my family’s identity. I am an admitted agnostic atheist, and my caste means nothing to me. However, when I hear the stories my grandparents tell me about their parents and grandparents, I realise that if they did not hold the positions they did, I probably would not have the luxury of discarding religion and caste as identities that hold some relevance to my life.

While these instances were ones that I didn't anticipate, I really enjoyed the process. It gave me a chance to understand my own prejudices as a sociology student, taught me to look at my respondents and their answers and opinions without any judgement, and taught me a lot of things about the society around me and what goes through their minds. This is because although it was a survey, people would go beyond the questions and interact with me about their opinions, and while that has no place in my research findings per say, it definitely has enhanced my understanding of both my findings and sample.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Li, Z., Qiu, Z.2018.”How does family background affect children’s educational achievement? Evidence from Contemporary China”.The Journal of Chinese Sociology .5(13).

• Ermisch,J.,Francesconi,M.2001.”Family Matters: Impacts of Family Background on Educational Attainments”.Economica 68(270):137-156.

• Huang,Xiaowei.2019.”Understanding Bourdieu - Cultural Capital and Habitus”.Canadian Center of Science and Education 11(3):45-49.

• Floro,M.,Seguino,S.”Gender Effects on Aggregate Saving”.The World Bank 23:1-64.