Parents: exercising a significant

and growing influence on their

children’s key decisions

Chris Phillips, Research Director, GTI/TARGETcareers

Trendence and school leaver research

• Research into parental influence

December 2014

– Undergraduates

– Parents

– Careers advisers

– HELOA members

– Employers

• Trendence School Leaver Barometer 2014

Years 10-13 plans for study and work

– 7,000 students

– Produced annually

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THE HEADLINES

PARENTS ARE INFLUENTIAL

THANK GOD

• Only 7% of students believe that parents

have had no influence on their key

education and career choices

• 57% believe that parents have

influenced them a fair amount or a huge

amount

“AND THEY ARE RIGHT TO

BE...”

SAY THEIR KIDS

• 66% think it’s the right thing for parents to do

• Only 7% think it’s wrong

• 69% of students say that their parents tried to

influence their choice of university/degree

• 54% their choice of career

UNIVERSITY – THE DEFAULT

OPTION

• 76% of students say that their parents

encouraged them to go to university

• 70% of parents say they would or did

encourage their children to go to

university

ALTERNATIVES TO

UNIVERSITY

PARENTS IN THE DARK

• 73% of students say that their parents

never discussed alternatives to

university with them

• 25% of parents say that they didn’t

discuss alternatives because they

believed that university was a much

better choice

PARENTS ON HAND TO HELP

• 56% of students say that their parents

accompanied them to university open

days

• 47% have had some help with job

applications and interviews

• 39% of students say that their parents

have offered to put them in touch with

family, friends or work colleagues

INFLUENCE IS NOT A

CONSTANT

It changes depending on:

• Whether parents have been to

university

• Where they live

• What they do for a living

• Whether their children have studied at

state school or an independent school

• Whether the children are boys or girls

IT’S WHO YOU KNOW...

• The level of parental influence is much higher

for students who were independently

educated

• Parents of independently educated students

are much more likely to put their children in

touch with family, friends and work

colleagues

• But parents of independently educated

students are less likely to attend university

open days

PARENTS WHO HAVE A

DEGREE

• The level of influence exerted by

parents who had been to university is

much higher than that of parents who

hadn’t

• Parents who hadn’t been to university

were much less likely to help their

children with job applications and

interviews compared to those parents

who had

ON THE FRONT LINE

Universities, Careers Services and

Recruiters

• 57% of UNIVERSITIES say they have had

experience of parents seeking to influence

the university application process in favour of

their child

• 62% of CAREERS ADVISERS believe that

parents are more visible or involved in their

children’s career choices compared to five

years ago

• 25% of RECRUITERS report evidence of

parents attempting to influence selection

Download both reports from: gtimedia.co.uk/expertise/research-reports