Cultural Traits and Founder Influence in Family‑Run Educational Institutions: An Interview‑Based Study in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The aim of this work was to investigate cultural traits of family-owned businesses in the educational sector and their possible relationships with their founders’ values. Four schools in Rio de Janeiro were researched, and 14 of their leaders were interviewed. The content analysis method was used to analyze the results. From the analysis, the following categories emerged: a school for my child; is the child of a fish a little fish or not?; and the influence of the founders’ values. The analysis of the results showed that traits of the schools’ founders, such as cultural values, persist over the years, managing, not without difficulties, to span generations. And for the more recent leaders, the challenge is to maintain the institution’s cultural identity while also making it flexible to ongoing social transformations.