Social Inequality in Parental Aspirations: A Genetically Informed Analysis of Parental Responses to Children’s Performance

Parental educational aspirations play a crucial role in shaping educational inequality by influencing secondary-school choice and long-term attainment. While these aspirations are largely shaped by prior academic achievement, less is known about the factors influencing the perception of academic achievement—specifically, how genetically influenced differences in children’s academic performance and family-of-origin characteristics shape parental responses. This study examines the extent to which genetically influenced variation in children’s performance, operating through a reactive gene–environment correlation (rGE), contributes to parental aspirations and how this relationship varies by parental social background. In a reactive rGE process, parents adapt their aspirations to children’s observable performance, which is partly shaped by genetic influences.Using data from the German TwinLife study and bivariate ACE models, we assess the relative contributions of family-of-origin characteristics alongside child genetic potential. Our findings establish that while parental aspirations are shaped by family characteristics, genetically influenced differences in performance are also associated with variation in parental aspirations. Moreover, the reactions to children’s grades are socially stratified. Among non-tertiary-educated families, environmental factors are important, suggesting that limited informational and socio-economic resources may suppress the realization of children’s genetic potential. These findings highlight the relevance of integrating genetically informed data with sociological perspectives to better understand the mechanisms driving educational inequality. They also suggest that policies aimed at reducing information and resource gaps across families may help ensure that children’s academic potential—regardless of social background—can be more equally recognized and supported.