Beyond Educational Aspirations: Family Meanings of Education among University Students with a Migration Background

Research on students with a migration background has consistently highlighted the importance of educational aspirations in promoting access to higher education. However, much less attention has been devoted to understanding the different meanings that families attribute to education and how these meanings shape educational trajectories. Drawing on 52 narrative interviews with university students with a migration background enrolled at the University of Padua, this qualitative study explores how participants interpret their families’ understandings of education. Using reflexive thematic analysis, the study develops an empirically grounded interpretative typology of four family meanings of education: education as intergenerational advancement, education as personal development, education as family continuity, and education beyond family expectations. The findings show that immigrant families cannot be understood as sharing a homogeneous educational culture. While education is consistently valued, families differ substantially in the purposes they attribute to it, the expectations associated with educational success, and the relationship between individual aspirations and collective family projects. By shifting attention from the intensity of educational aspirations to the qualitative diversity of family meanings, the study offers a new conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between migration, family, and higher education, with implications for research and educational practice.