1Center for Family-School Partnership Policy Research, Research Institute of Human Ecology, Seoul National University 2Child Development & Family Studies·Research Institute of Human Ecology, Seoul National University
Corresponding Author:
Hyunah Lee ,Tel: +82-2-880-2630, Fax: +82-2-880-2630, Email: leehyun@snu.ac.kr
Received: May 31, 2012; Revised: June 8, 2012 Accepted: September 2, 2012.
ABSTRACT
This study attempted to investigate school participation experiences and the need for a school-participation leave for employed parents. A school participation leave is a paid or unpaid leave that guarantees workers to take time-off for school participation regarding children’s educational purposes. We reviewed cases of school participation in other countries. There are similar types of educational leave in Russia, Greece, Italia, Sweden, Swaziland, and South Africa. We collected survey data from 1,194 employed parents (794 fathers and 400 mothers) whose children attend kindergarten, elementary, middle, or high-school. This study compares school participation experiences and needs by parent gender. The results showed that 62 % of the fathers and 80 % of the mothers participated in any type of school meetings and events at least once in the previous year. Fathers attended school events such as art festivals and mothers attended PTA meetings, school events, and parent-teacher conferences. The most frequently mentioned reason for non-participation among parents was related to work. A total of 87.7% of the parents agreed that a school-participation leave should be introduced. The results of the logistic regression showed that mothers compared to fathers, college graduates compared to post-secondary graduates, those whose children attended preschool or elementary school compared to high school, and those who had longer working hours were more likely to agree on the introduction of school participation leave. In conclusion, a policy intervention such as schoolparticipation leave should be considered to provide employed parents time to be involved in their children’s education and participate in school activities.
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