Mothers' duty? Exploring interrelationships of class, gender and ethnicity in fathers' involvement in Japanese school PTAs

Abstract

Existing studies focus on parental involvement in Japanese school PTAs as a mothers’ duty, due to the quasi-compulsory nature of PTA membership and the prevalence of mothers' participation. While the diversification of family structures may challenge the assumption that PTA involvement is solely the responsibility of mothers, these studies lack an understanding of the evolving role of fathers in PTA based on multiple social differences between parents within a family.

Through in-depth interviews with twenty-two parents from sixteen middle-class Chinese-Japanese intermarried families living in Japan, this study explores how class, gender, and ethnic differences between parents within each family interrelate to shape the division of PTA duties. Specifically, it examines whether fathers take on PTA duties and how they perceive their (non)involvement depending on the family structure. The study concludes by arguing that the diversification of family structures, along with the interplay of class, gender, and ethnicity between parents, shapes fathers' PTA involvement and may serve as a potential source for the transformation of inequalities in educational processes.