Is preschool education more highly valued for boys than girls?

Abstract

Questionnaires concerning reasons for enrolling one's child in nursery school were completed by 599 parents in a Midwestern city. Parents of girls and boys did not differ in mean ratings of reasons. However, a greater number of reasons were rated as more important by boys' parents than by girls' parents for both lower- and middle-class respondents. Proportionately more lower-class boys than lower-class girls were enrolled in the city's nursery schools. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that lower-class parents consider preschool education to be more important for boys than girls.