Just curious. I was, and sometimes wonder if having a history or culture of higher education in your family affects where you apply to, what subject you do, how hard you work while you're there...as for me, I think I rested on my laurels way too much as an undergrad cos I was already seen as the smart one for getting into uni at all. (Not any more mind you, one of my zillion cousins graduated last year with a first in Maths. So the benchmark has been raised for the rest of them hehe).

In my case, my parents were the first who went to university.

My father was also the only one among his 4 brothers and sisters who attended a higher education institution. I have 10 cousins (all on my father's side, my mother has no brothers or sisters) plus a brother and 8 of us have got a university degree. I am, however, the only one who decided to continue to PhD level.

Don't know about Britain but I guess this is a fairly typical scenario in my country, i.e. in the 60s-70s higher education started to be more generally available but not everybody decided to attend it, and that was followed by a true "boom" in the 80s and the 90s when everybody started to think that without an university degree you are nobody.

I was too, although closely followed by my sister.

My parents are from the West indies, and came to England in the 1950's ( Wind rush era), so they came to the UK to make a better life for my sisters and I.

They struggled a lot, as they had to put up with the No Blacks, no Dogs, no Irish pheonomen that was going around in the UK. NEVERTHELESS, they were determined that my sisters and I worked hard in school.

And so I did I went to a Comprehensive school and worked hard. so I'm the first not only from my family to go to University, but also to do a PhD. !!

I'm the first in my family to do A'levels, degree, masters and PhD. I was discouraged from reading in case I became too seperated from the 'real world'!! As you can imagine they think I am very strange!

I am the only one in my family to go into Higher Education too...I don't think my Mum is entirely sure what a PhD is, but she knows I work hard(ish) and have a few beers so she's happy!

I'm not the first but I am considered one of the more intelligent ones (God knows why) and they normally talk about me in tones of awe. This is also because I'm considered a really good indian girl and does everything her parents tells her and even marrying into my community.

I HAVE THE POWER.

I think my dad's cousin did a phd in biochemistry but I have never met her and didn't know she existed until a few years ago. Her father (my grandma's brother) disowned her for marrying a white chap and she stopped talking to my dad after my parents' wedding for something or another. To be honest I am looking forward to meeting her.

I don't think my paternal grandma realises what a PhD is, she thinks I will be treating people as a medic once I finish.

Although my parents love talking about me to all their customers. When I visit at the weekends and help out in the shop, I get random people saying to me "are you the amazing daughter?". It's quite embarrasing.

Sorry just wanted to add one more bit, my parents don't have even one qualification between the two of them and had to chose manual labour when they first came to the country (my dad's family were refugees). They were lucky to be able to eventually get their own business and make lots of money so me and my brother to have the opposite life they did, lots of things, money, cars etc. Their one aim was to make a better life for us and give us a good education so we could be professionals.

Interesting...thanks for the replies everyone. Seems that most of us were amongst the first; with me it wasn't discouraged, just never even mentioned. It was something that people down south did hehe...

I still wonder how different the experience is for people who come from a long line of academics. I don't know anyone who does, but then I'm at an ex-poly and I suspect they are all at Oxbridge.

I'm sure the people at Oxbrirdge, Durham etc are all the same as everyone else...

Are you at Durham Coastman?

Er...why?

Both my parents, my brother and my sister went to university - I am the first to do a PhD though.

When I was a kid I didn't know that you had to chose a course/field at uni - I just thought it was like primary school where everyone did the same work. When people asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I just said "go to university".

I was the only person from my family to do a degree, until my Mum decided to do a BA in her late forties. She had my bro when she was 16, pregnant at 15 and got chucked out of school . It was the 60's & they didn't have young girls in the class rooms or sure-start programmes to get young mums back into the education system then.
My dad did a professional qualification when he was a lad in his first job and I sat my finals for my first degree in the same local venue in the East End, something like 30 years later after him.