The role of perceived school diversity climate in the school involvement of ethnically and racially minoritized parents in Germany and the United Kingdom

Abstract

This cross-sectional online survey considered how school diversity climate and parental involvement are related for ethnically or racially minoritized and majoritized parents of school-aged children (N = 1074) in the United Kingdom and Germany. Cross-group comparisons showed that parents in the United Kingdom reported more multicultural and assimilative, and less discriminatory school climates than parents in Germany. Across countries, minoritized parents reported less multiculturalism, more assimilationism, and more school discrimination than majoritized parents. As expected, multicultural school climate was positively related, and discriminatory school climate was negatively related to parental school involvement. Unexpectedly, assimilationism was positively related to school involvement for minoritized parents in Germany and not related to school involvement in the UK sample. Overall, our findings indicate that parental perceptions of school conditions matter for their school involvement. Consequently, schools may benefit from evaluating, refining, and communicating their diversity approaches to increase parental involvement, promote school adaptation, and reduce educational inequities.