Influence of Parental Scientific Background and Career Aspiration on Students’ Science Academic Performance in Secondary Schools in Rivers State

Abstract

Although many research emphasise parental influence on learning, there is little evidence in Nigeria that directly correlates parents' science backgrounds and career goals to students' science outcomes. As a result, this study investigated the impact of parental science/STEM background, parental career ambitions, secondary school students' academic achievement, learning involvement, and career aspirations in science. The study aimed to fill this gap by examining the combined effects of these parenting characteristics. A descriptive survey research design was used, with junior secondary school pupils selected using stratified random sampling. A validated questionnaire and school academic records were used to collect data, which was then analysed using mean, standard deviation, t-test, and ANOVA at a significance level of 0.05. The findings indicated that parental science background had no significant impact on science achievement (p > 0.05). Parental educational qualification had a substantial effect on learning involvement (F = 2.662, p = 0.049), but not on professional aspirations (F = 0.757, p = 0.520). Socioeconomic position has a major impact on educational participation and job goals. The study suggests that supportive learning environments are more important than parental science backgrounds, which has implications for school support and equity-focused policies.