Explaining the immigrant-native gap in parental involvement in Taiwan: the role of parents’ education and students’ prior achievement

Abstract

This study examines whether parents’ education and students’ previous achievement affected parental involvement and whether they mediated differences in parental involvement between new immigrant and native parents in Taiwan. Two dimensions of parental involvement were measured: parent–child discussion and school-based involvement. The sample comprised 582 new immigrant parents and 8228 native parents whose children are fourth graders. This study analyzed two-wave data by using structural equation modeling. Results revealed that both parents’ education and students’ prior achievement significantly increased parent–child discussion, but did not affect school-based involvement. In mediation analyses, all three indirect effects on parent–child discussion appeared to be significant. The results indicate that the association between immigrant status and parent–child discussion is partially mediated by parents’ education rather than by students’ prior achievement. To narrow the immigrant-native gap in home discussion, results suggest that encouraging new immigrants to return to school, regardless of whether they obtain a degree, may be a promising approach.