Gender Differences in the Intergenerational Transmission Process of Educational Aspirations in Late Childhood

Abstract

Parents’ aspirations for their children’s future educational attainment influence their child’s educational aspirations. However, gender differences in the intergenerational transmission of educational aspirations have not been fully explored. The present study employed a two-step model of value transmission to provide a detailed picture of the gender patterns that occur during the transmission process of educational aspirations in late childhood. A total of 2857 Chinese students (Mage = 9.85 years, SD = .37, range = 8–12; 1373 girls) and their parents were followed from fourth to sixth grade. Fathers and mothers separately reported their educational aspirations for their children, and children reported their perceptions of their fathers’ and mothers’ educational aspirations for them as well as their own educational aspirations. The results indicate that different patterns for girls and boys emerged at each step of the transmission process. Specifically, in the perception step, girls exhibited more accurate perceptions of maternal educational aspirations than boys did, but this was not true of their perceptions of paternal educational aspirations. Furthermore, in the acceptance step, both boys and girls revealed higher levels of acceptance of their perceived same-sex parent’s educational aspirations. Our study provides a framework for analyzing and understanding gender patterns in the intergenerational transmission of values.