ABSTRACT
The racial dimension of the class experience is crucial to an understanding of the distinct aspirations and expectations of black working-class people in Britain. The process of migration has had a significant impact on the experiences, and hence attitudes and values, of working-class West Indians in the UK. The author research indicated that in many West Indian working-class households the woman can be found in an occupation that may be defined objectively as middle-class. A curious state of affairs persists in the study of educational inequality and social class. This chapter describes two ways in which parents influenced aspirations: one, the positive orientation to education, and the other, the black female orientation to work, both of which can be regarded as British West Indian working-class characteristics. While West Indian working-class parental attitudes were an important factor in motivating the girls, there was substantial evidence that the specific choice of career was influenced by a realistic self-appraisal of their academic capabilities.
