Chinese junior high school students’ family background and learning engagement: the parallel mediations of self-educational expectations and parental educational expectations

Introduction Family background correlates with academic performance and attainment of junior high school students, with learning engagement acting as a mediator. Shifting focus from final academic outcomes to learning processes helps explore the internal mechanism linking family background and academic competence. Methods This study established a parallel mediation model based on samples from two junior high schools in Central China. Family background was the independent variable, parental educational expectations and students’self-educational expectations served as parallel mediators, and learning engagement was the dependent variable. Results After controlling for gender, grade and school type, family background showed a significant positive correlation with students’learning engagement. Students’self-educational expectations functioned as a mediator between family background and learning engagement, whereas the indirect association of parental educational expectations was not statistically significant. Discussion The findings clarify the mechanism behind the association between family background and learning engagement among Chinese junior high school students, and provide practical references for peers in similar situations. Recommended practices include encouraging parental involvement, creating a harmonious family atmosphere, setting reasonable educational expectations, and regulating internal and external motivation to cultivate students’learning engagement.