Half of the interviewees were expected to achieve either a college diploma or university degree while the other half was expected to complete high school only. One respondent said her parents (neither of whom graduated from high school) often told their children, “Don’t be like us.” Another person said, “Education was extremely emphasized but it was not the be all and end all of life.” One person said, “If we didn’t get As, we would get in trouble.”

Table 9 shows the distribution and some of the comments interviewees provided about their parents’ expectations.

Table 9. Expectations for educational achievement
Expectations from
parents		 Number of
responses		 Occupation Comments
Parents expected a university degree 9 0 n=3
A n=2
B n=2
D n=2		 My parents expected me to get a BA degree from university.
They expected me to do very well and get a university education.
Parents expected a college diploma 2 A n=2 College was very much encouraged.
My parents expected college because of my high school marks.
Parents expected a
high school diploma		 11 0 n=2
A n=2
B n=2
C n=5		 They expected high grades and high school diploma.
I was expected to graduate from high school;
they expected me to do well.
They expected me to definitely finish high school but I’m not sure about after that.

Fourteen respondents from all occupation categories recalled their parents helping with homework. For some, help was provided only if it was requested while other parents sat with their children as they did school work. One person said, "Dad tried to help with homework but it didn’t always work. They were taught differently." Another said it was usually her mother who helped with homework.