The Impact of Father Involvement, Self-Esteem and Educational Attainment in the Arab World

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Arab Parents’ Involvement in their Children’s Education from Childhood to Young Adulthood

Proposal

Although there is a large body of research on parental involvement in the West, the role of fathers remains understudied. This contribution to the panel, therefore, examines the role of father involvement on a child’s self-esteem and their educational attainment. While the topic of education in the Middle East has been examined by numerous authors from multiple perspectives, very few studies on the region have explicitly examined the nature and impact of father involvement on self-esteem and educational attainment. Higher self-esteem is linked to a variety of positive outcomes in children’s lives including higher education outcomes, better employment opportunities and overall higher life satisfaction (Hill & Taylor, 2004). However, the few studies that do exist focus largely on the role of the mother and are typically from the perspective of the parent. This area of research is particularly pressing, as it has been found that paternal factors often outweigh maternal factors in predicting the emotional development of children and their educational attainment (Michiels, Grietens, Onghena, & Kuppens, 2010). This study seeks to address this gap in the literature by examining the nature and impact of father involvement on a child’s self-esteem and educational attainment in the Middle East.

We use a retrospective approach by asking adults to reflect on their father and how he was involved in their childhood. We developed a questionnaire with an analytical framework consisting of Dick’s (2004) Fatherhood Scale and Rosenberg’s (1965) Self-Esteem Scale. The questionnaire also captures a variety of demographic data from the participant’s childhood household as well as their current household. The questionnaire was implemented across 10 Middle Eastern countries, capturing approximately 1,700 respondents. The responses were then analyzed using factor analysis and the scales adapted to the region. We use regression analysis to assess the relationship between the different types of father involvement, self-esteem and educational attainment while controlling for various demographic factors. Finally, interviews were conducted with a portion of the participants and their responses were then reviewed to provide further depth to our quantitative analysis.

We find that fathers are more nurturing of daughters in the region and that this translates to higher self-esteem and higher educational attainment. At the same time, fathers in the GCC countries, especially those with fewer years of education, tend to be more psychologically controlling of their sons who in turn tend to have lower self-esteem and fewer years of education. We also find differences across the region driven by unique cultural factors.

Future research could seek to understand these unique cultural factors that might explain father involvement in the region, including taking a closer look at the role of maternal involvement. By understanding the driving factors of parental involvement and its relationship with self-esteem and education outcomes in the region, we may be able to develop policies that promote the broader development of the region by ensuring that the Arab youth are more successful and better able to make positive contributions to their societies.

Authors

• David Dingus, Al Qasimi Foundation

• Natasha Y. Ridge, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research