How the Perceived Socioeconomic Status of Family Impacts a Student's Decision to Pursue Higher Education

• In Event: We Can Do It: Valuing Families' and Communities' Voices Shaping Educational Systems

Abstract

Using Symbolic Interactionism as the undergirding theoretical framework, this study explored the impact of students’ perceptions of their parents’ socioeconomic status on their decision to pursue higher education in Barbados. Eight students between the ages of 15-17 were interviewed. Four categories of students were identified. Students who viewed their parents’ socioeconomic status to be low but who were motivated to study were referred to as the changers. The defeated, felt that they could not pursue tertiary education given their economic situation. Students who perceived their parents’ socioeconomic status to be high and who wanted to continue studying were called the active privileged. The passive privileged are those who have no motivation to study. Implications of the findings were provided.

Authors

• Martin Timothy Hall, Charles Sturt University

• Sonya Gift, University of the West Indies