Maternal education is a major dimension of family socioeconomic position and an important pathway for transmitting human capital across generations. This critical narrative review synthesizes conceptual, longitudinal, quasi-experimental, and large-scale survey evidence on the relationship between maternal education, student gender, and academic achievement, with particular attention to India. Literature published mainly between 2010 and 2025 was identified through targeted searches of education, psychology, economics, and public policy sources, complemented by foundational theoretical works and national reports. The evidence indicates a consistent positive association between maternal education and children’s language, literacy, numeracy, school participation, and educational progression. However, the magnitude and interpretation of this association vary by outcome, age, household resources, school quality, and research design. Home learning resources, parental expectations, health and nutrition investments, maternal agency, and protection of study time emerge as plausible mediating pathways. Gender is not a uniform moderator: maternal education can reduce the disadvantage faced by girls in settings marked by unequal resource allocation, while gender gaps may persist at secondary, tertiary, and STEM transitions. Causal claims should therefore be reserved for designs that adequately address selection and unobserved family characteristics. The review recommends linking adult women’s literacy and digital capability with foundational learning programs, strengthening school support for first-generation learners, and developing longitudinal Indian datasets capable of testing mediation and intersectional heterogeneity.