Individuals who come from working class families found it difficult to continue their education as many of them finished early or couldn’t afford university. The low socioeconomic status of families often meant their children attended state schools with low incomes and minimal resources in comparison to private schools. Often students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were confronted with financial demands and pressures that made access to education increasingly challenging. Jill was forced out of school by her father who viewed school as a “waste of money” and was made to work in a factory despite her want for education, whereas Sue voluntarily left school to provide for her family and help them to “survive”. Individuals from the middle class displayed a higher exposure to educational opportunities due to lack of financial worry. Many of these individuals such as Jan, Lesley, Melissa and Mark attended higher education such as university due to this socioeconomic stability. Families with a higher socioeconomic status had a larger range of schools to choose from allowing them to pick a school that could benefit their child’s education. 

 

The sociocultural status of an individual’s location can determine their access to education as well as the quality of education they receive. Many poorer communities lack school facilities, which make accessing education difficult. Whilst living in the country, Lesley’s options for a quality high school education were limited do to a lack of funding in her community, therefore in order to get a good education she would have been forced to attend boarding school, similarly Brian had to travel 30 minutes to get to his school due to the lack of schooling facilities in his community. Areas of low socioeconomic status like housing commissions are often exposed to crime, violence and drug use that create a multitude of hardships for students living in unstable homes that make access to education increasingly difficult. Through her own teaching experience, Melissa has viewed how the influence of drugs and negligence in many impoverished communities that impair the development of many children and removes their chance to learn. Melissa highlights the systematic flaws in DHS and other child safety operations as children still come to school without food, support and love. This has seen a shift in the role of schools in many locations depending on their socioeconomic status as with the presence of these barriers according to Melissa ‘most days the tenth thing you do is teach.’ 

 

Unesco (2013) states that “educated men and women are more likely to be employed and hold jobs that are secure and provide good working conditions and pay” (pg.14), meaning that one’s level of education can influence their socioeconomic status when they are older, as it can allow them to find a better job. The ability to attain wealth and progressively alter one’s socioeconomic status to become exposed to new opportunities can be viewed through the experiences of Brian, David and Lesley. Brian grew up in a working class family with parents that left school at age 12. However, Brian became able to strive for a more stable career in accounting through attending night school, which ultimately allowed his children to grow up without financial worry. Lesley and David both grew up in middle class families and through financial support growing up were able to achieve sales and nursing degrees to acquire steady incomes that allowed them to have luxuries like holiday’s as well as the money to send their children to private schools.

A binary gender narrative clearly dominated society throughout history as only in recent contemporary times has the world expanded its view that only men and women can exist in everyday practices. Not only is this binary narrative evident in the educational experiences of the grandparents and parents, but gender roles and purposes were taught and emphasised throughout their schooling. Throughout Jill’s education she felt as though there was a clear tone set that the girls in school were being ‘trained to become wives’. Her home economics class included cleaning the school Principal’s flat in which the class learnt how to make a bed, dust, vacuum, cook and sew. This demonstrated a clear purpose for the students attending this all girls school, that their future revolved around maintaining a household. Sue interpreted her education in a similar way that higher education wasn’t as strongly encouraged for the girls as the boys. Compared to the boy’s experiences with gendered subjects such as wood work, a push towards employment was emphasised as male students were given the opportunity to learn profitable skills to reinforce the culturally accepted ‘breadwinner’ role. This gendered tone transitioned in the 70’s and 80’s with Melissa and Fiona highlighting that home economics and woodwork were taught under the guise of ‘electives’ where students had a choice. However, the culturally ingrained gender roles enforced in the 50’s heavily influenced this decision. Despite this element of choice and supposedly equal opportunity among genders, a 2011 study demonstrated that children continue to view gender roles and expectations according to the messages taught in the 1950's curriculum as many children reported that 'a man and a woman should have specialised family roles' (Fulcher & Coyle, 2011, pg. 341).

The value of education between genders was noticeably different in the 50’s through the overall meanings and messages emphasised in the classroom however the importance of education differed significantly depending on the household. Jan’s experiences at school encouraged her to pursue the career she was most interested in; teaching. Although teaching was a career that women were predominantly encouraged to pursue, Jan knew that it was what she really wanted to do. Therefore, her education was ultimately supported by both her family and at an institutional level. Students at teaching college received 7 pound a week, clearly promoting their education whereas in Jill’s household experience ‘education was not important for girls.’ Lesley’s career in nursing prompted a similar degree of support as Jan due to the nurturing and feminine nature of the career. Despite wanting to leave school in year 10, Barry always knew he could stay in school if he wanted to, showcasing the societal support boys received throughout their schooling. This altered as time progressed as according to Fiona, she did not feel any gender enforced barriers when working to become a Vet. 

The role of representation and its culturally significant impact is an interesting factor. According to Patrick, his career aspirations were influenced by the male role models he encountered. A male hairdresser sparked an interest in that particular trade growing up but ultimately the male teachers he looked up to influenced his pursuit of teaching. The influence of role models is emphasised in a research article, as there is a strong recruitment of male teachers to ensure equal representation in a field that has been stereotyped as feminin (Carington et al, 2005). According to Jill, she did not know anyone around her that she wanted to be like, and strongly demonstrates the influence of gender representation. 

 

The age of which students leave school reflect largely on what the social norms and requirements were within that period. In the 50’s and 60’s the average age for students to leave school was 16 to 17, with the legal requirement to attend school only being 14. This is a result of the views on education and its lack of value in regards to finding a job as well as stereotypes on females that had them finishing early to take on household tasks. Individuals were able to get reasonable paying jobs without a high school education and for many further studies courses, finishing school wasn’t necessary, as seen through Lesley who was able to do a nursing course without completing year 12 and Tom who was able to work his way up in the banking profession. In the 80’s and 90’s most students completed the entirety of schools and for those who wanted to leave the legal requirement to leave school was 16. This demonstrates how the value of education changed and the way in which it was viewed among students, as evidently shown in the attitudes and experiences of our parents Mark, Fiona, Melissa and Patricks, they felt needed to complete school in order to go to university and get a good job. 

 

A common trend between our family members was that most of them grew up with similar experiences to their peers and friends, demonstrating how similarities in location can provide a network of like-minded individuals who are brought up in the same way in a community of similar experience. This is depicted through Barry who left school at the same time as his friends in a state of social envy, demonstrating a sense of community influence. Contrastingly, Brian lived in a predominantly working class community but attended school at Melbourne High where he experienced a different lifestyle and financial backing than his peers but lived in an area where all children came from similar household situations. 

  

Cultural influence and awareness has been developing over generations and is viewable through the views and experiences across these generations. Through increase in diversity within schools students learn to embrace different cultures and formulate a more inclusive community as students that experienced racial and ethnic diversity in their neighbourhood and schools can be directly related to “increased perceptions of cultural discrimination” (Seaton & Yip, 2009, pg. 153). In the 50’s and 60’s diversity within schools were limited as the majority of our grandparents came from heavily white populated schools with minimal diversity. Students weren’t able to gain awareness of different cultures as the integration of different ethnicities was limited so they were unable to learn about differences and similarities between each other in order to find camaraderie between cultures, which attributed to the racism within the generation as they didn’t truly understand the cultures around them. Despite the influx of European immigrants after the Second World War, the conditioning of white communities impacted children like Sue who wasn’t properly educated on her ethnic peers and as a result demonstrated a dislike towards them calling them “sweaty” and “smelly”.  The 80’s and 90’s showed minimal diversity, however there was an increase in diversity in comparison to their parent’s time in school showing a slow progression of awareness and integration. According to Fiona, despite the diversity within her school, students were not taught to integrate cultures and become familiar and enlightened about her peers customs and beliefs. Similarly Melissa felt that her school didn’t provide any conversations on race and ethnicity so she wasn’t able to learn about her peers’ culture. This formulated a ‘culture shock’ for her when she went traveling and interacted with people of colour with a British accent, as she hadn’t been exposed to that type of diversity within her schooling. Although the education failed to bring awareness to diversity, it did demonstrate the influence that one's heritage and culture can have on education, as our parents indicated how much easier it was for people with white heritage to attend school in comparison to other cultures and minorities due to systematic and individual racism. Patrick expressed the heartache that his indigenous peers went through in order to attend school, as they were separated by their families and sent to live with foster families, whereas Patrick was able to live at home and see his family everyday. Patrick reflected on his experience at a school camp where his Indigenous friend Gerald Hood cried to him about missing his family and foster family while in the school camp. This emphasises the difficulties that racial minorities experience and highlights the barriers to their education compared to our parents and grandparents.

The intersection of gender and socioeconomic status made it increasingly difficult for Jill to leave factory work from the age of 14. The societal attitude towards women’s education coupled with a demand for money limited Jill’s educational options despite a deep interest in pursuing her scholastic career. Jan’s career as a teacher involved many systematic barriers that prevented long success in the profession. Despite the encouragement women received to become teachers along with the grooming they experienced to become wives and mothers in school, women had to resign from teaching once falling pregnant. This contradictory policy limited many women financially as without support from a husband they could not progress in their career as well as motherhood. Opportunities have changed as time has progressed with Melissa receiving maternity leave during her career, ultimately supporting her goals and interests. 

Although it is clear the financial stability in the home formulates a less stressful and more accessible educational environment, emotional support in the family has been viewed as another determinant of education accessibility. Sue and Lesely experienced a similar support and encouragement from their families to pursue any interests they had despite their lack of financial allowance. Patrick also came from a working class family with a similar level of encouragement but at this time students were given alternative opportunities in order to afford the acquisition of education such as HECS. 

The influence of media and technology proved to be the biggest initiator of cultural change throughout history and is one of the largest contributors to generation differences. It was brought to light in Jan’s interview that all she knew or was aware of was what she was shown and exposed to. Her white middle class community that focused on women become nurturers did not allow for exposure to other interests and opportunities to take place. Jan reflected that she does not know how her life course would have altered if she had access to social media and cross global communication growing up, would she have entered a different profession? Would she have a different outlook on cultures growing up? Would she feel a injustice for women if she didn’t recognise social expectations as normal? Fiona grew up in a time of technological innovation and change in which she was able to experience computers and other digital technologies, providing new opportunities for critical thinking whereas Melissa and Patrick learnt to adapt to the influx of digital technology during their university years. Ultimately the presence of technology and media and lack of presence formulated a large difference in opportunity for those of many different social factors. 

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