ABSTRACT
In this chapter I want to continue to focus on the family but to move the discussion somewhat from the market and issues of choice. Rather I want to consider some of the implications of choices for the families in terms of transitions and the anxieties experienced by these young people as a consequence of their decisions to go on to university. Learning to make choices and take decisions, right or wrong, is an important aspect of becoming an adult (Gardener, 1987). Childhood is usually constructed as a deficit model, where the wishes and the needs of children are often subordinated to meet the desires and wishes of adults (Archard, 1993; Butler and Williamson, 1994). For example, in terms of educational choices, Alderson (1995) has suggested that it is adults who are the real consumers and the young people in this study, whilst rapidly approaching adult hood, often looked to their parents for information, guidance and support. With a few exceptions the families are solidly middle class or socially mobile, having experienced some improvements in their material and social situations. For the children of middle class families clearly going to university is the 'obvious' next step (Connell et al, 1982; Roker, 1993; Pugsley, 2003). Even for those families still in the process of upward mobility, entry to university is seen as both appropriate and desirable. For the most part then both parents and offspring saw this as 'an idea they appreciated and accepted as part and parcel of how things were' (Quicke, 1993:112). There is evidence in the previous chapters to support the suggestion that parents still play a significant role in facilitating the choice process for their children. There has also been some discussion about 'hot' and 'cold' information and the ways in which decisions are made through the dispositions of habitus.
