All kinds of cultural and structural influences have their effects on the school performance of minority students. Some of these influences are discussed and, it is shown that an optimistic belief in the existing opportunity structure is not sufficient to surmount the cultural and structural barriers that prevent many Moroccan children to do well at school in Belgium. A comparison between parents of successful and unsuccessful students shows that especially parents who can distance themselves from several aspects of their traditional culture can prepare and motivate their children to persevere and to do well at school. They do this without loosing their Moroccan identity and often without really perceiving how they are influencing aspects of their own culture. © 1995.

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