Effekte von Bildungsinvestitionen innerhalb und außerhalb eines Rahmenkonzepts häuslicher Elternbeteiligung. Qualitative und quantitative Analysen zu südafrikanischen Teilpopulationen
,
Effects of Educational Investments Within and Beyond a Framework of Home-Based Parental Involvement. Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses on South African Subpopulations
Educational investments are generally known to enhance life opportunities on a global scale. There are various approaches to educational investment, but they can be thought of broadly as actions that support educational attainment. Thus, they can be considered a lever for upward mobility. However, based on theories of rational decision making, it is assumed that educational investment behavior is highly affected by the actors' socioeconomic status. That is, individuals of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to make educational investments due to cost-benefit calculations. Such calculations are a phenomenon of Expectancy-Value Theory and indicate that actional behavior relies on two factors, namely costs and benefits of an action alternative. Corresponding rational decision making is often observed among parents with respect to educational investments for their children's educational trajectories. It is assumed, accordingly, that parental educational investment behavior has a major effect on children's life opportunities, and thus, influences the inheritance of socioeconomic status. This chain of events is particularly detrimental for children of lower socioeconomic background. Such effects have been primarily investigated in the U.S. and European countries. Seeking to understand the mechanisms of educational investment behavior of those with lower socioeconomic backgrounds (referred to as "socioeconomic low-performers" in this study) in highly segregated societies such as South Africa, this doctoral thesis addresses three key questions: (I) are socioeconomic low-performers in South Africa motivated to invest in education; (II) is the motivation transferred into (parental) educational investments; and (III) are parental educational investments beneficial to student outcomes in learning. In order to answer these research questions, a qualitative and a quantitative study is conducted, each based on a separate sample and addressing educational investment behavior from a different angle. First, a qualitative ...