Student-perceived parental involvement as a predictor for academic motivation in vocational education and training (VET)

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent student-perceived parental involvement predicted academic motivation in vocational education and training (VET) students. The sample comprised 2108 young adults participating in a VET institute. Thirty-three items were developed to measure student-perceived parental involvement in VET, as no appropriate questionnaire was available for this educational setting. This questionnaire was analysed with factor analyses which resulted in a new, short, and valid questionnaire with 10 items to measure parental involvement on five indicators. Consistent with prior research, parental involvement significantly predicted motivation in VET students. Three out of five parental involvement indicators were found related to motivation. Specifically, two indicators were positively related to motivation: (1) parent–child educational discussions, and (2) parental aspirations and expectations. The indicator ‘reinforcement of learning at home’ was negatively related to motivation. These findings provide additional evidence for the significance of parental involvement based upon its link with students’ motivation in a VET context.