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Are mothers the greatest academic role models for daughters?
Friday 29 October 2010
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Role Models
A recent study from Lancaster University Management School has revealed that mothers are the strongest role models with regard to their children’s education, and the bond between mothers and daughters is particularly strong. Maternal influence is found to be the leading factor over whether children stay on at school and go on to university, and it is therefore particularly important with respect to social mobility within the family.
This doesn’t surprise me. I set an essay competition for the girls in my school last year, with the title ‘Role models for girls in the 21st century’ and the number of girls who listed their mothers as their particular role model was striking. These girls see their mums taking on significant responsibility within their families and often in their wider communities, in many cases alongside professional responsibilities. If mothers send out key messages about the importance of education and how it can offer you choices in life, is it any wonder that their daughters are particularly receptive to this message? They can see exactly what their own mother’s educational opportunities, or lack of them, have meant in terms of the quality of her life and the range of options she now has.
A friend of mine who stopped work when she had her two daughters suffered from the not uncommon lack of personal confidence which women can experience in this situation. When I visited her and her two little girls I was struck by how often she criticised herself and vocalised her anxiety about what she was capable of and her own value. I remember one frank conversation we had when I pointed out that her daughters were in danger of imbibing the message that a non-working mum DIDN’T have worth, which is plainly nonsense.
Mums need to be aware of the messages they send out. They clearly have significant power in terms of how they educate their children, girls particularly, about goals and aspirations. Use it wisely!
Your comments
I think personally that this article is accurate as although my mother always had interesting jobs, she never achieved her full potential and her salary in no way matched my father’s. I grew up definitely wanting to go to University and wanting to be as financially independent as possible, which I have been able to achieve, atlhough sometimes it has been incredibly difficult.
I hope that I show my ten year old daughter that you can have a career and have children (I have two sons who are in their late teens who are at or about to go to University too), but that you also need to share responsibilities with your husband/partner and work as a team.
My daughter and I often talk about what she would like to do post-18 and I am glad that although she is still very young, she is considering higher education and has high aspirations. Having taught mainly in girls schools and more recently in a state girls school, it is evident that many girls unfortunately still do not have such high hopes for their future. AJS
Mums are obviously very important role models. As a dad who gave up full-time work to look after our children I should like to point out that the father’s attitude towards women’s aspirations can be hugely influential on girls’ attitudes. AJS comments that you need to share responsibilities with your partner and work as a team, and I think this sort of mutual respect is the key. I think the last sentence of the article can be applied equally to fathers. In other words dads, too, need to be aware of the messages they give out. This applies to their influence on their sons as well as their daughters – a father who undermines his wife/partners abilities and aspirations can easily influence a son to behave in a similar fashion towards women.