The influence of parents' culture on students' choice of mathematics study in senior years

Abstract

An extensive body of research exists regarding the factors that influence students’ decisions to study mathematics in senior years. Additionally, there is a significant body of research concerning student enrolments into mathematics courses and the trends and patterns that emerge as a result. However, little research has been performed concerning the influence of parents’ culture on students’ decisions to study mathematics, and in particular higher-level mathematics. This research explores and considers students’ cultural backgrounds and the factors that affect students’ mathematics choices and examines how this information can provide insight for principals, teachers schools and educational systems in encouraging and promoting mathematics education in New South Wales and abroad. An interpretative research paradigm is used to investigate the factors and influences affecting students’ decisions to study mathematics in senior years. This research is an exploratory investigation that provides a rich description of parental influences in one context. Questionnaires and two focus group meeting were conducted and analysed based on the major themes that emerged. While only a small-scale study, the results of the research indicate that students cultural backgrounds differ and can affect students’ influences to study mathematics in senior years. Furthermore, students from different cultural backgrounds are influenced differently based upon parental experiences, interests in mathematics and cultural views and attitudes of mathematics education. Additionally, this research indicates that students who are studying higher-level mathematics are influenced differently as compared to students who are studying lower-level mathematics or chose not to study mathematics at all. Furthermore, the findings highlight a number of areas for further exploration including the differences between students’ perceptions and parental beliefs about mathematics learning.