James Joo-Jin Kim Center for Korean StudiesKorean Studies Colloquium
Does Having a Daughter Shape Parents’ Views on Mathematics’ Importance for Career Success? Insights from South Korea’s Context
Mathematical skills play a crucial role in shaping career prospects and economic outcomes, raising concerns about persistent gender disparities across the globe in mathematics-related outcomes, especially in students’ interest and confidence, which often diverge further during the transition to middle and high school. Scholars have investigated the influence of parents’ attitudes and gender-stereotyped beliefs, associating mathematics with men and boys, on children’s mathematics performance and beliefs, reinforcing gender disparities. However, existing literature primarily treats parents’ attitudes as fixed, focusing on their impact on children rather than exploring how these attitudes are formed. In contrast, we examine the reverse relationship: does having a daughter affect parents’ perspectives on mathematics? We assess whether parents of daughters perceive mathematical knowledge and skills as more or less important for today’s labor market, compared to parents of sons, within the context of South Korea, where gender norms and disparities in socioeconomic outcomes, including STEM fields, remain prevalent. We use data from 15-year-old Korean students and their parents who participated in the PISA 2022 survey. Using OLS analysis, we find that parents of daughters place less emphasis on mathematics for career success than those of sons. This connection between the child’s gender and parents’ views on mathematics is more evident among mothers than fathers. Given that having a daughter is nearly random, we interpret the differences between parents of daughters and sons as reflecting experiences of raising a daughter versus a son. We discuss the implications of our findings for persistent gender disparities in mathematics-related outcomes.