Gender Differences in Determinants of Parents’ Educational Aspirations

オヤ　ノ　キョウイク　アスピレーション　ノ　キテイ　ヨウイン　ニ　オケル　ジェンダー　サ

キンナン, サキ

Kinnan, Saki

オオサカ ダイガク ダイガクイン ニンゲン カガク ケンキュウカ キョウイクガクケイ

Department of Education, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

Previous studies in Japan have revealed that parents’ educational aspirations are related to their socioeconomic status, and have an important influence on children’s educational achievement and eventual social status. However, few studies in Japan have examined whether gender differences are seen in the determinants of parents’ educational aspirations. This paper aims to explore this, so as to explain some of the reasons for an emergence of a class structure in children’s educational achievements. By analyzing data from a survey conducted in 2010 by the Stratification and Social Psychology Project （SSP Project） and employing multiple regression analysis, the following findings were revealed. On the one hand, men’s educational aspirations for children are largely determined by their own age and years of education; that is to say, attributive variables. On the other hand, women’s educational aspirations are strongly affected by the association between social attitudes and social class, which is an affirmative orientation to a stratified society. Moreover, privileged cultural and educational home environments at 15 years old also positively affect women’s educational aspirations for children. The gender differences revealed in this study can be explained by differences between men and women in terms of 1） their positions in the labor market, 2） their roles in conveying various values to children during child-rearing, and 3） the meaning of children’s educational achievements to parents’ own identity or quality of life.