The role of parental education and type of family in shaping gender role attitude among adolescents

Introduction

Gender roles, as both psychological and social constructs, encompass societal expectations and cognitive frameworks. These roles reflect the division of responsibilities and authority between men and women within specific cultural and historical contexts. This includes aspects such as household chores, and career participation. Traditionally linked to biological sex, categorized as male or female, gender roles typically define men as providers or breadwinners and women as caretakers focused on domestic and social responsibilities (Eagly & Wood, 2012) [2] . The traditional division of gender roles started to diminish during the 20th century, a trend that has continued in recent years. However, the role of women has seen significant changes, extending beyond domestic responsibilities. This shift has led Western-influenced societies to adopt more egalitarian gender role attitudes, where income generation, household tasks, and caregiving are equally shared between partners (Lomazzi & Seddig, 2020) [6] . The adolescents observe societal gender roles and through internalizing these observations, they form their own attitude toward these roles (Eagly & Wood 2012) [2] . Parents' education refers to the highest level of formal education they have completed and plays a pivotal role in shaping adolescents' attitudes toward gender roles. Educated parents are more likely to instill non-traditional views about gender roles in their children, influencing their personality traits and perspectives. Numerous researches (Goren et al 1998; Sedney 1986) [4,10] indicated that parents with higher educational attainment often support progressive and egalitarian gender role perspectives, which can significantly impact their children's viewpoints. Additionally, such families may expose adolescents to diverse role models, challenging cultural stereotypes and fostering openmindedness. On the other hand, adolescents raised by parents with traditional views about gender roles may adopt and support these beliefs, depending on their parents' educational and cultural influences. According to Eroglu et al (2022) [3] , type of family structure significantly influences adolescents' attitude towards gender roles. Joint and nuclear families influence adolescents' gender role attitudes in distinct ways. In joint families, traditional gender-based divisions of responsibilities are often maintained and passed down through generations, exposing adolescents to conventional roles and expectations. This environment may reinforce traditional views on gender roles, as the presence of extended family members often strengthens cultural norms. In contrast, nuclear families, consisting of parents and children, tend to offer a more egalitarian structure, especially when parents share responsibilities equally. This dynamic provides adolescents with examples of gender equality, fostering more progressive attitudes toward gender roles. Generally, the structure of a family plays a significant role in shaping adolescents' exposure to and adoption of gender roles, ultimately influencing their attitudes and perceptions of www.extensionjournal.com gender dynamics. Considering all these factors, this study aims to explore the relationship of gender role attitude with parent's education and type of family among urban adolescents.

Methods and Materials Participants

The research was carried out with a sample of 400 urban adolescents enrolled in the 11th and 12th grades. The study included all four zones of Ludhiana city. A detailed list of Government Senior Secondary Schools was sourced from the official website of the Punjab School Education Board (pseb.ac.in). To form the sample, nine schools were randomly chosen from these zones. The participants were evenly divided by gender, comprising 200 males and 200 females. Only adolescents with mothers engaged in fulltime employment were included in the study.

Measures

A Self-Prepared Demographic Profile Sheet was used to gather personal information from the adolescents. To measure gender role attitudes, the study employed the Modified Gender Role Attitude Scale (Pareek & Jain, 2019) [8] . This scale consisted of 40 items, focusing on three key domains: roles associated with paid and unpaid work, responsibilities within the family and childcare, and societal expectations regarding roles. The questionnaire was balanced, containing 20 positive and 20 negative statements. Negative items were reverse-coded for analysis. The reliability of the scale was determined to be 0.78. The following table indicates the score range for adolescents' attitudes towards gender roles.

Gender Role

Pretesting

The Punjabi and English versions of the questionnaires were pretested on a group of 40 adolescents who were not part of the main sample. This pretesting took place at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Patel Nagar, Civil Lines, Ludhiana, and involved 20 boys and 20 girls from the 11th and 12th grades. According to the respondents all the statements in both versions of the questionnaires were clear and easy to comprehend.

Statistical Analysis of Data

SPSS-23 software was used to analyze the statistical data.

The tests used to obtain the results were Frequency, Percentage, Z-test and Chi square. The data revealed that most adolescents (82%) fell into the transitional category of gender role attitudes. This was followed by 17 percent who were categorized as modern, while only 1 percent was identified in the traditional category. Aligning with the findings of the current study, Pant (2023) [7] highlighted that most adolescents are in a transitional phase regarding their gender role attitudes. They are gradually shifting toward embracing more modern perspectives on gender roles. Father's education: The overall data indicated that more proportion of adolescents' fathers had completed high school education (29.50%), followed by those with middlelevel education (23.25%) and primary-level education (21%). A very small percentage, just 0.25 percent of adolescents had fathers with postgraduate qualifications. The high school education may have been considered sufficient for securing employment or fulfilling societal expectations during that time.

Results and Discussion

Mother's education

The data showed that more proportion of adolescents' mothers had completed primary education (31%), followed by those who had attained middle school education (21.25%). Only 0.50 percent of mothers were found to have postgraduate qualification. The women from earlier generations often faced limited access to education due to gender norms, financial constraints, or prioritization of male education. Additionally, traditional roles and responsibilities, such as managing households and childcare, may have hindered mothers from pursuing higher education. These factors contribute to the prevalence of primary-level education among mothers in certain populations.

Family type

More than half of the adolescents (57.75%) had joint family followed by nuclear family (42.25%). www.extensionjournal.com The data revealed a significant difference between boys and girls in the traditional category of gender role attitudes at the 5 percent level. Only 2 percent of boys exhibited traditional gender role attitudes while none of the girls fell into this category. In the transitional category, a significantly more percentage of boys (87.50%) compared to girls (76.50%) were observed. Conversely, a significantly more proportion of girls (23.50%) demonstrated modern gender role attitudes compared to boys (10.50%). Kharouf and Daoud (2019) [5] emphasized that, girls exhibited more progressive and nontraditional views on gender roles than boys. Girls tend to have more egalitarian gender role attitudes than boys due to various social and cultural factors. Exposure to changing societal norms, increasing educational opportunities, and greater awareness of gender equality may encourage girls to adopt progressive views. Additionally, personal experiences with gender-based expectations could motivate them to challenge traditional roles and support a more balanced perspective on gender responsibilities.

Father's Education

The results showed that a significant difference was found in father's education of boys and girls at middle school and high school level. More number of boys (27.5%) had fathers with middle school education compared to girls (19%). On the other hand, a significantly more proportion of girls (34%) had fathers with high school education compared to boys (25%).

Mother's Education

The data indicated that no significant difference was observed in any level of mothers' education of boys and girls. In both genders, 31 percent of adolescents had mother's education up to primary school. However, more number of mothers of girls (22.5%) was illiterate compared to those of mothers of boys (16.5%). The percentage of mothers with undergraduate education was the same for both groups (1.5%). Notably, 1 percent of the mothers of boys were found post-graduate whereas in girls no mother was found to be post-graduate.

Family Type

The findings showed that no significant difference was observed in the type of family of boys and girls. A slightly more proportion of girls had joint family (59%) than boys (56.5%). Additionally the boys had more nuclear families (43.5%) with relation to girls (41%). www.extensionjournal.com 5 demonstrates the relationship of gender role attitude with father's education. Non-significant relationship existed between the gender role attitude of adolescents and father's education (Χ 2 =14.78). In the traditional category, the same percentage of father's of adolescents were illiterate and middle class passed (0.5%). In the transitional gender role attitude category, more percentage of adolescents had father's education up to high school (24.3%) followed by middle level (20%). The percentage of father's education at primary level (16.3%), intermediate level (10.8%), undergraduation level (1.8%) and post-graduation level (0.3%). While, only 8.8 percent fathers were found to be illiterate. In the modern gender role attitude category, the father's education levels ranging from 1.5 percent (illiterate) to 2.0 percent (for intermediate) to 4.8 percent (for primary level) to 5 percent (for high school level), while no one under post-graduation level. relationship existed between gender role attitude of adolescents and mother's education. In the traditional gender role attitude category, 0.5 percent mothers were found to be illiterate and the percentage of mother's education up to primary and middle level was found to be same (0.3%). In the transitional category, more percentage of mother's education was found to be at primary level (24.5%) followed by various education levels from 16.8 percent (at middle level) to 9.3 percent (for intermediate level) and to 0.5 percent (for post-graduation level).

Additionally, in the modern gender role attitude category, the mother's education levels ranging from 0.3 percent (for under-graduation) to 2.8 percent (for illiterate) to 4.3 percent (for middle level) and to 6.3 percent (for primary level). No one was found in the post-graduation level.

A non-significant relationship was found between parent's education and gender role attitude. Parents' education may not significantly influence adolescents' gender role attitudes due to the diverse factors shaping these attitudes in modern times. Adolescents are increasingly exposed to a wide range of influences beyond the family, such as media, peers, and school environments, which can play a critical role in www.extensionjournal.com shaping their views. Additionally, changing societal norms and greater emphasis on gender equality may encourage adolescents to form their own perspectives, independent of their parents' educational backgrounds. In contrast to present study, Boehnke (2011) [1] demonstrated that adolescents with parents who had higher levels of education tended to hold more egalitarian views on gender roles. In the traditional gender role attitude category, 1 percent of adolescents had nuclear family and 3 percent of adolescents had joint family. Moreover, in the modern gender role attitude category, 9.3 percent of adolescents had nuclear family while 7.8 percent adolescents had joint family. The adolescents may develop their gender role attitudes based more on their personal experiences and societal changes than on the specific family type they belong to. On the other hand, Qypi (2017) [9] found that living in a nuclear family had a more influence on the development of modern gender roles. In nuclear families, the closer and often more equal relationship between parents can encourage a more balanced division of gender roles within the household. This family structure is also more likely to expose adolescents to modern values, as nuclear families tend to embrace individualism and evolving societal norms. Whereas, joint families with more traditional setup, may promote traditional gender roles that have been handed down through generations, thereby influencing adolescents' attitudes toward gender.

Conclusion

The study highlighted that most of the urban adolescents in Ludhiana exhibit transitional gender role attitudes, reflecting a gradual shift toward modern perspectives influenced by evolving societal norms. The findings revealed no significant relationship of gender role attitude with parental education and family type, suggesting that adolescents' views are shaped more by external factors such as media, peers, and changing cultural dynamics rather than familyspecific variables. Gender differences were evident, with girls showing more progressive attitudes compared to boys, likely due to increased awareness and exposure to egalitarian norms. This underscores the importance of fostering inclusive societal environments to promote gender equality among youth. The future research could further explore the impact of other social influences on gender role attitudes to better understand the shifting paradigms in adolescent perceptions.

References

1. Boehnke M. Gender role attitudes around the globe: Egalitarian vs. traditional views. Asian J Soc Sci. 2011;39:57-74.
2. Eagly AH, Wood W. Social role theory. In: Handbook Theor Soc Psychol. 2012;2:458-476.
3. Eroglu AE, Inceoglu YO. Investigation of the gender stereotypes of children from extended single-parent families in Turkey. J Educ. 2022;37:171-187.
4. Kharouf AE, Daoud N. Gender role attitudes among higher education students in Jordan. Mediterranean J Soc Sci. 2019;10:55-67.
5. Lomazzi V, Seddig D. Gender role attitudes in the international Social Survey Programme: Cross-national comparability and relationships to cultural values. J Comp Soc Sci. 2020;54:398-431.
6. Pareek S, Jain R. Traditional or modern, where does India stand on gender role attitude scale? Int J Sci Res Sci Technol. 2019;8:1032-1037.
7. Qypi K. The impact of nuclear family in the establishment of gender roles in children between 3 and 7 years in age. Euro J Soc Sci. 2017;3:95-115.
8. Sedney MA. Growing more complex: Conception of sex roles across adulthood. Int J Aging Hum Dev. 1986;22:15-29.