Parental Involvement, Demographic Factors, and its Effects on the Academic Success of Undergraduates in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Parental involvement plays a pivotal role in the lives of their offspring. Education is a highly regarded aspect at present. Parents are concerned about their children and their education. In Sri Lanka, parents are involved in their children's academic lives. Therefore, common knowledge is that parental involvement impacts the academic performance of undergraduates, this phenomenon has not yet been conducted in the Sri Lanka context. Hence, to fill this empirical gap, this study aims to understand whether there is an impact of parental involvement and demographic factors on the academic success of undergraduates. Data were collected from state and private university undergraduates in the Western Province through a simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire was developed through a thorough analysis of the past literature available in the related field. Data were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Through analysis, it was found that there is insufficient evidence to prove that there is a significant impact of parental involvement on undergraduates. While the result deviates from common expectations, distanced parent-child relationships in the modern era may have caused this result. In addition to the contribution to the body of knowledge, this study assists educational institutions in policy implementation and parents and teachers in parenting and teaching respectively. Further, this study can be further extended with comprehensive coverage of undergraduates and getting the opinions from parents' side as well.