This research aims to explore the community cultural wealth of BME pupils and how it may advance or restrict their aspirations in science. Integral to the study is the role of parents and their involvement in decisions about their child’s subject choices in STEM and the strategies they deploy in guiding and supporting their children. A community cultural wealth approach recognises both the agency and capitals of parents. In the case of the latter this acknowledges that capital may not always be informed by financial or economic circumstances but that this may also be drawn from ‘funds of knowledge’ (Moll, 1992). We draw on Vincent’s (2001) study on social class and parental agency to explore the complex intersections of race/ethnicity, gender and social class as this enables us to examine parental circumstances and views across a range of school contexts.