Existing sociological literature tends to focus on parental educational strategies during childhood and early adolescence assuming that by the end of secondary education students are independent from their parents and are able to make their own choices regarding higher education. In countries such as France, where parents and children are anxious about getting admission into elite universities and entering a highly competitive job market, parents develop a variety of strategies to help their children succeed in high school. Using data from interviews with 40 high school parents in the Parisian region whose sons and daughters were either in the last year of secondary school or in the first year of higher education, this paper will analyze specific features of these strategies. These include: how parents exerted an indirect influence on higher education choices; their arrangements to ensure students focus on academics and how they offer moral support. The presentation will also compare and contrast the strategies of two upper class groups, “managers” and “intellectuals."
