Research topics in life outside academia

Movies/Series/Documentaries/YouTube-Clips

Dead Poets Society

e.g., the scene above between Neil and Todd

Operation Varsity Blues

The US College Admission Scandal

Shaq's Plans for his children

Starting at 20:30 min [to 24:00 min]

Toni Erdmann

A hippy father and a consultant daughter

Losers

e.g., Episode 1 - The Miscast Champion

Into the Beat

Ballet or Hip Hop Dance?

Accepted

What to do if you get rejected everywhere, but your parents really want you to go to college?

Bend it like Beckham

Fences

King Richard

Biopic about the upbringing of Venus & Serena Williams. Plus a few scenes of parental behavior you encounter at Tennis tournaments...

October Sky

A son's dream to escape a mining town and produce rockets. And his father's (and town's) belief that he belongs down in the mines. What will he do? 

CODA

Film about a child of deaf adults (CODA) showing that although sometimes it may be (almost) impossible for parents to appreciate what their children love doing or what they're good at, it may still be possible to bridge this gap. A beautiful way to show a more general pattern in a somewhat extreme form, with one particularly powerful scene...

Wakhas befreit sich von den Erwartungen seines Vaters | 37 Grad

For the German-speaking visitors: Wakhas' reflections about his father's influence

The "School of Life" on Parents & Career Plans

There is also interesting material in the comments sections...

An unexpected source: Advertising by Taylor's University

Again, don't miss out on the comments section!

Billy Elliot - I Will Dance

ARTE: Kinder im Spitzensport (Futurs champions, le prix de la gloire)

Documentary about children in elite sport, their coaches, and their parents. Some interesting quotes to reflect: 

1) "...the earlier they start, the harder it is to distinguish between what they really want, what society wants and what their parents want."

2) "The problem is that if you say you don't want to do it anymore, you lose your whole life. Everything is lost. You lose your whole identity."

3) They are caught between the expectations of top-level sports and those of their parents. At the beginning of 2024, Thierry Henry, the world champion footballer, spoke out to tell his story. "My dad, this is exactly what he said the first time he took me in his arms. He said 'This baby will be an amazing football player'. This is what he said. (...) I was maybe five, six. From that point, it was always a mission. I was on a mission. To fulfill his dream... to please him."

Books

Podcasts

Freakonomics, Episode 479. The Economist's Guide to Parenting: 10 Years Later, especially the ~4 minutes starting at ca. 35:30 minutes (Steven Levitt talking about and to his daughters about educational/career choices)

Media (& Social Media)

See this discussion around socio-economic gaps in educational outcomes on Twitter and the various points raised in the comments [in German]

Your Recommendations:

Do you have any additional recommendations (books, movies, anything)? Please share them: maximilian.muller[at]tse-fr.eu