Neither of my parents are were academics, but both are/were more intelligent than many academics. Both did very well at school but chose not to go to university . I know my mother's reason was not wanting to put another financial burden on her mother who was a nurse and a single parent. My father was from a lower middle class background, and got a scholarship to King Edward's Birmingham . I think his motivation for training to be an army officer rather going to university was very much the same.
Neither were demanding/pushy when it came to how my brother,sister, and I did at school. In fact they were too much the opposite IMO. A slow decline academically by me was met with no concern.
To be fair-this was decades before Asperger's,2e, gifted but learning disabled(US terminology) etc.
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Socially drifted middle class