Fathers' characteristics and their children's scores on college entrance exams: a comparison of intact and divorced families

Adolescence, Fall, 1998 by L. Allen Furr

CONCLUSION

The findings from these regression models suggest that divorced, noncustodial fathers have less influence on their children's performance on college entrance examinations than do fathers in intact families. Fathers' supportive behavior, as measured by students' perceptions, did not mitigate the effects of divorce. Even when divorced fathers were perceived by their sons and daughters to be encouraging and involved, there was little improvement in SAT performance. Further, divorce appears to offset the significance of income and ethnicity that occurs among intact families.

It seems that tangible resources are not the only meaningful assets that fathers bring to their children's education. This conclusion lends support to Coleman and Hoffer's (1987) theory of educational success. They proposed that educational success is a function of three types of resources, which they referred to as "capital," that facilitate productive activity. First, physical capital consists of tangible, material products, such as tools, books, machines, and other equipment, that promote educational success. Second is human capital, which is more abstract and is created by providing people with the skills and capabilities that enhance productivity. Schools and families are the main institutions for generating human capital. In a family, human capital takes the form of parents' knowledge and educational achievement. Children's educational outcomes are strongly affected by parents' human capital.

Traditionally, physical and human capital have been considered responsible for children's educational accomplishments. Coleman and Hoffer contend that a third type is equally important - social capital. Social capital, which is less tangible than either of the other two, springs from the relations between people, such as children and their parents. Coleman and Hoffer argue that physical and human capital can be irrelevant for educational outcomes if parents are not an important part of their children's lives. If parents do not utilize their physical and human capital to advance their children's education, then those resources do little good. Parents must not only buy books and educational toys, they must also spend time with their children and provide emotional security.

Fathers' encouragement of, and involvement in, their children's education are important aspects of social capital. When families are intact, fathers can, on a daily basis, provide social resources that children can convert to educational productivity. Social capital provided by these fathers takes the form of attitudes, expectations, behavioral examples, stability, attachment, and emotional support. Family continuity is maintained, unlike with divorce, where major disruptions in family organization and composition occur. By remaining in the household and being involved in their children's education, fathers are in a position to make the best use of their physical and human capital. Their incomes, for example, are more available to their children. This may be very important when taking CEEs. Though it was not investigated here, it is possible that students from intact families had more money to spend on SAT preparation courses and books.