In societies permitting opportunity of social mobility, career choice is affected by personal sources of information and educational achievement. In South Korea, since the financial crisis in 1997, the polarization of wealth has become more serious and there’re wider discussions of educational gap among classes as a reason of polarization. According to Wisconsin model, educational aspirations as core determinants of student achievement explain lots of parts of acquiring occupational status based on subsequent schooling, and this causality between educational aspirations and achievement is also valid in S. Korea(Byun&Kim, 2008). It supports that a study of determinants of educational aspiration can help to understand mechanism of social polarization and mobility. Using a result from this study, it is expected to be a contribution to understand determinants of educational aspiration in S. Korea as one of East Asian country where the education fever is terribly high.

This study attempts to explore whether parents’ educational involvements, sources of educational information, and their cultural capital will make the influence of family SES on children’s educational aspirations weaken or not. The following is hypothesis in this study:

1. Family SES may affect students’ educational aspirations.

2. Attending a school which school mean of family SES is high will influence on students’ educational aspirations.

3. Parents’ educational involvements will make the influence of family SES on children’s educational aspirations weaken.

Theoretical framework

1. Educational aspiration and its determinants

Aspirations are a plan or a desire to achieve things. Educational aspiration as a its subordinate concept is a level of education that person expects and wants to accomplish(Jeon&Kim, 2006; Sewell, Haller,&Proter, 1969). Coombs&Davies(1965) regarded educational aspiration as a tendency that reflects oneself and expressing will of accomplishment. Meanwhile Kerckhoff(1976) said because educational aspirations is determined by personality such as abilities, motives, expectations, it may be limited by social structure, and this influences social mobility. According to literatures, determinants of educational aspiration are following: academic accomplish(Coombs&Davies, 1965), gender(Kao&Tienda, 1998; Ritzes&Mutran, 1980), self-efficacy(Ritzes&Mutran, 1980), parents’ income, job and level of education, parents’ expectation(Swell, Haller & Portes, 1969; Picou & Carter, 1976).

2. Parental involvement on children’s education

A conceptual definition of parental involvement in education includes various parental activities and participations related with children’s education(Byun&Kim, 2008). Epstein(1987) conceptualized parental involvement: (1)basic obligations; (2)school-to-home communications; (3)parent involvement at school; (4)parent involvement in learning activities at home. Grolnick&Slowiaczek(1994) discussed on these levels: (1)behavioral; (2)personal; (3)cognition/intellectual.

There’re also researches who expect effect of parents’ educational involvement in educational accomplishment against family income or parents’ level of education(Schneider & Coleman, 1994; Sui-Chu & Willms, 1996). In S. Korea, there’re studies that parent involvement has positive effect to students’ accomplishment separated with family SES(Byun&Kim, 2008). In contrast, because the higher family SES helps stronger involvement quantitatively as well as qualitatively, it may have educational condition gap between classes more widen(Devine, 2004; Lareau, 2003; Keith et al., 1993). From the background, this study tries exploring determinants of educational aspiration of middle school students in S. Korea.

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