Expectations of Chinese Immigrant Parents for Their Children’s Education: The Interplay of Chinese Tradition and the Canadian Context

In this study, I used qualitative interviews to explore the expectations of the parents in seven Chinese families who had recently immigrated to Canada. These parents grounded their expectations for their children in Chinese tradition, their deeply rooted cultural heritage. Their personal life experiences and acculturative attitudes also shaped their expectations. The parents’ understanding of Canadian society and their perception that visible minorities are disadvantaged prompted them to form a minority ideology and also to advise their children to pursue science-related careers. The expectations of these parents were situationally motivated in different ways to conform to the Canadian socio- cultural context A l’aide d’interviews qualitatives, l’auteure a etudie les attentes des sept familles chinoises recemment arrivees au Canada. Les attentes de ces parents s’enracinent dans la tradition chinoise. Leurs experiences personnelles et leurs attitudes acculturatives faconnent egalement leurs attentes. Leur comprehension de la societe canadienne et leur sentiment que les minorites visibles sont desavantagees les incitent a former une ideologie de la minorite et a conseiller a leurs enfants de viser une carriere dans les sciences. Les attentes de ces parents sont a divers egards motivees par une volonte de se conformer au contexte socioculturel canadien.