Associations between parents and students’ motivational beliefs in mathematics and mathematical performance: The role of gender

Abstract According to Eccles-Parsons et al.’s (1983) parent socialization model, children’s beliefs, values, and grades in mathematics are directly related to their parents’ values and perceptions of children’s mathematical abilities, which are often gendered. However, few researchers have examined how associations between parent and child beliefs and values and grades differ by parent and child gender. In the present study, we measured mathematics ability beliefs, utility value, and grades from 830 students in grades 5–12, as well as their mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of their child’s mathematics ability and utility of mathematics for their child. Parents of boys believed mathematics was more useful for their child than parents of girls. In most cases, both mothers’ and fathers’ beliefs uniquely contributed to children’s own beliefs and grades. There were several interactions between mothers and fathers for children’s self-concept of ability and girls’ end of year grades, such that high ability beliefs of one parent compensated for low ability beliefs of the other parent. Associations between parents’ ability beliefs and utility value for their children’s end of year grades and mathematics utility value were stronger when the parent was the same gender as the child. However, we also found that a stronger association between parents’ utility value for their children’s and girls’ end of year grades occurred when the parent was the opposite gender of the child (i.e., fathers). Thus, it is important to take into account parent and child gender when understanding associations between parents’ beliefs and children’s beliefs and grades.