Comparison of parental aspirations, success pathways and strategies in lower and upper-middle class families in Türkiye

This article examines how parents' socio-cultural and class backgrounds shape expectations and parenting practices concerning their children's success, within the context of neo-liberal familialist policies in T & uuml;rkiye. Since the 1980s, the retrenchment of state services in education and skills provision has positioned parents as the primary actors responsible for their children's future. Drawing on Gillies' (2008) discussion of 'new parenting in the neoliberal era,' this article considers how T & uuml;rkiye's unique socioeconomic and historical context reshapes parental aspirations and strategies. Based on semi-structured interviews with 44 parents from lower and upper-middle classes, the study compares how "success" is defined, the expectations placed on children, and the resources mobilized to achieve these goals. The findings show that both groups share the aspiration of raising a "successful child" who obtains a good education, a stable career and social respect. However, resource differences generate divergent practices. Upper-middle-class parents focus on cultivating autonomy, sociability and skills that open pathways to self-realization and global competitiveness. Lower-class parents, facing structural constraints, emphasize resilience, moral responsibility, and realistic awareness of social position, enabling children to navigate barriers and pursue upward mobility. These contrasting strategies reveal distinct social functions of parenting across classes, aimed at sustaining or improving family standing aimed growing inequality.