Weaver, LesleyWright, Grace2022-10-262022-10-262022-10-26https://hdl.handle.net/1794/27752Students in Nepal face numerous barriers in accessing and affording higher secondary schooling, yet many of their families prioritize education and send them on rural-to-urban pathways. While being uprooted from their home communities would presumably create conflicts between students’ family and school responsibilities, this exploratory, qualitative research found that students view the value of education and family as synchronous and complimentary. Conducting remote, semi-structured interviews with participants from a rural subsistence-based community in Nepal found that students expressed the value of education as a vehicle to value their family and generate collective returns home. Conflicts arose for students to balance their responsibilities when the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmingly negatively impacted their education. Structural barriers, such as students’ lack of social capital, also limited their abilities to realize the value of their education for their families. The value of family continues to strongly direct students’ pathways even after higher secondary schooling.en-USAll Rights Reserved.COVID-19 pandemicFamilyHigher secondary educationNepalUpward mobilityElectronic Thesis or Dissertation