REVISITING PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL ASSESSMENT OF ITS IMPACT ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The research focuses on the academic achievement, social-emotional well-being as well as parental engagement among undergraduate students in five universities in Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan that are publicly-operated. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA analysis were used with a sample of 384 students to determine the differences in the responses of students and patterns of parental engagement. The results show that students also show rather positive academic behavior, such as habitual attendance in classes and average academic confidence, but the levels of help-seeking and the involvement in extracurricular activities are low. The results of social-emotional outcomes are moderately stressed, with varying time managing abilities, which indicate that the student support services must be improved. The parental involvement, as measured by communication, guidance, academic and monitoring, was moderate to high in all universities, with parental support being found to be the strongest. Gender comparisons provided higher results where female students felt they had greater parental guidance and support as compared to the male students. The findings of ANOVA also revealed institutional discrepancy in parental involvement which constitutes the socio-cultural and demographic differences of the universities. In general, it can be concluded that the importance of parental involvement is a essential element that affects the performance of undergraduate students, their motivation, and emotional stability. To address the problems, recommendations are suggested, such as enhanced parent-university communication, improved counseling services provided to students, and planned interventions to improve academic and emotional health.