Multilayered family involvement in university choice in Cambodia

Family support is widely recognized as influential in students’ educational trajectories, yet research on university choice has predominantly emphasized parental involvement. This study extends the focus to include non-parental family members. Drawing on literature on social capital, higher education access, and family dynamics, this study investigates how extended family members beyond parents, such as siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, contribute to university decision-making in Cambodia, a country characterized by post-conflict legacies and structural inequalities in higher education. Using a qualitative approach grounded in social capital theory, this study analyzes interviews with 52 Grade 12 and first-year university students in Phnom Penh and surrounding areas, enabling a more comprehensive examination of university choice processes that have often been studied in isolation that have often been examined separately, largely due to the practical difficulties of sampling and accessing multiple stakeholders within the same familial decision-making unit. Our study indicates multilayered patterns of family involvement across three key stages: predisposition, search, and final choice. While parents were described as providing initial encouragement and final input, extended family members offer essential academic, emotional, and financial support, particularly in cases where parents lack higher education experience. In this study, first-generation students more frequently described relying on third-party support, such as teachers and religious leaders, due to limited familial capital. By uncovering both commonalities and differences in how various family actors engage in the university choice process, this study contributes to more nuanced theories of educational decision-making that move beyond binary classifications of family background.