Parents' capitals and children's academic achievement: the role of parent involvement

Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Parents play an important role in their children’s education through the transmission of family resources. My dissertation is an investigation of how parents’ capitals – economic, human, and social - and their involvement level interact with each other to influence children’s academic achievement. Specifically, the purpose of my dissertation was to examine (1) the direct effects of different aspects of parents’ capitals on children’s educational achievement, and (2) the mediating effect of parent involvement on these parents’ capitals and children’s academic achievement. The results from this study show that all parents’ capital variables (i.e., economic, human, and social capitals) have statistically significant direct effects on children’s academic achievement. Findings also demonstrate that parents’ social capital had more contribution than parents’ financial and human capitals with regard to explaining children’s achievement. More importantly, this study finds that parents’ financial, human, and social capital shape students’ achievement through parent involvement activities, which means that their involvement levels change the total impact of their capitals. This study extends its discussion with the necessary connection between policy support and the practices schools employ to engage parents.
Description
Keywords
Children's academic achievement, Parent involvement, Parents' capitals, Students' achievement, Involvement level
Citation