Parental Educational Expectations and Academic Achievement of Left-Behind Children in China: The Mediating Role of Parental Involvement

• Published in: Behavioral sciences Vol. 14; no. 5; p. 371
• Main Authors: Li, Jian, Xue, Eryong, You, Huiyuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.05.2024
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Children & youth; Cognitive ability; Education; Families & family life; Homework; Hypotheses; Learning; left-behind children; Mediation; Migrant labor; migrant workers; Parent and child; Parent participation; parental education expectation; parental education involvement; Parenting; Parents & parenting; Students; Surveys; Teenagers; China; left-behind children; migrant workers; parental education expectation; parental education involvement; academic achievement
• ISSN: 2076-328X; 2076-328X
• DOI: 10.3390/bs14050371

Migrant workers from rural China often leave their children at home to be raised by grandparents or other family members. This study explored the relationship between parents’ educational expectations, parental involvement, and the academic performance of left-behind children in China. A total of 19,487 student samples were obtained from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), and 5078 of these met the criteria for being considered as ‘left behind’ children. Results indicated: (1) a significant positive correlation between parents’ educational expectations and left-behind children’s academic achievement; (2) parental education involvement plays a partial mediating role between parents’ educational expectations and left-behind children’s academic performance; (3) a significant negative correlation between parental intellectual involvement and educational expectations of left-behind children; (4) parental management involvement was not significantly correlated with parents’ educational expectations and left-behind children’s academic performance; and (5) a significant positive correlation between parental emotional involvement and educational expectations of left-behind children. The findings highlight the important role of parental educational expectations and have implications for the improvement of educational outcomes in China.