The Influencing Factors of Fathers’ and Mothers’ School-Based Involvement in a Central and Eastern European Sample

Parental involvement has been widely studied internationally and, more recently, in Hungary as well. School-based involvement by mothers or fathers can positively impact a child’s achievement, yet relatively little attention has been paid to the differences between fathers’ and mothers’ involvement. In the present study, we conducted a secondary analysis of a dataset from a questionnaire survey of parents in a Central and Eastern European region, focusing on differences between fathers’ and mothers’ school-based involvement. A further novel aspect of our study is that we also investigated the impact of different school practices on school-based involvement. The dependent variable in our regression analysis is a principal component derived from school-based involvement items. Among the explanatory variables, we emphasised the role of the parent’s relationship to the child (father or mother) and the school’s initiative in fostering involvement. The latter was explored using an exploratory factor analysis, revealing five parent-perceived dimensions of school initiative: Information and Contact, Emphasis on Informal Programmes, Decision-Making Opportunities, Presence of Professional Support, and Online Communication Forums. Our results show that fathers report lower levels of school-based involvement, and that school initiative significantly promotes parental engagement. Parental involvement increases when schools provide regular, meaningful information, organise informal events and foster community-building interactions. Our findings suggest that greater emphasis should be placed on informal school events – such as carnivals or sports days – that encourage the participation of both parents, and on ensuring that parents are involved in school decision-making processes in order to strengthen parent-teacher relationships.