LAUSR

Abstract:When siblings have different characteristics—such as different achievement or different gender—how should parents invest in their education? Although many studies have examined issues of parental investment using behavioral data, this research is often hindered by methodological constraints, including endogeneity and an inability to isolate the effects of predictor variables. This article takes an alternative approach by using data from an original, nationally representative survey experiment (N = 3,239). I assess how Americans believe parents should divide educational resources between siblings with different achievement and gender. In doing so, this article is the first to examine normative beliefs surrounding relative achievement, gender, and parental investment in siblings' education. When achievement is the only difference between siblings, respondents believe that lower achievers should receive more hands-on instructional resources and parental school involvement, and higher achievers should receive more resources that enhance cultural capital and support college enrollment. This pattern maps onto the way respondents divide resources between boys and girls. When gender is the only difference between siblings, respondents believe that boys should receive more instructional resources and parental school involvement, while girls should receive more cultural and college resources. When achievement and gender both differ, however, the effect of relative achievement typically crowds out the effect of gender, suggesting that respondents' evaluations of achievement are more persistent than their evaluations of gender. Implications for research on parental involvement in education are discussed.