Parents as Educational Models and Definers

Data from James Coleman's Adolescent Society survey show that parents' effects on their children's educational aspirations and attainments are due to both modeling and defining influences. Although defining effects exceeded modeling effects in strength, the proportion of parental influence due to modeling and to defining varied with sex of child and social class. Daughters were more influenced than sons by parents as models, but not as definers. Modeling effects, but not defining effects, were stronger in the white-collar class than in the blue-collar class. Mothers and fathers were roughly equal in their modeling influence on boys and also on girls.