Social Psychology of Education (2023) 26:1063-1088
https://doi.Org/10.1007/sl 1218-023-09780-4
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Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers
in Czech Republic, Greece, and Portugal
Jana Obrovská1
• Cecilia Aguiar2
© • Carla Sofia Silva2
© •
Konstantinos Petrogiannis3
©
Received: 6 December 2021 / Accepted: 2 March 2023 / Published online: 6 April 2023
©TheAuthor(s) 2023
Abstract
Roma communities are a disadvantaged minority in Europe which is particularly
underrepresented in social and educational research. This study aimed to investigate
the predictors of Roma mothers' educational aspirations for their children in
the Czech Republic, Greece, and Portugal. Participants included 461 mothers with
a Roma background (135 from the Czech Republic, 130 from Greece, and 196 from
Portugal), with a child between 3 to 6 (n= 181) or 9 to 12 (n = 280) years old. Data
were based on mothers' reports, obtained during a structured in-person interview.
Material deprivation (microsystem level), frequency and quality of interactions with
non-Roma parents, as well as the quality of parent-teacher interactions (mesosystem
level), predicted Roma mothers' educational aspirations. Findings suggest that, in
addition to microsystemic variables such as material deprivation, mesosystemic predictors
such as those examining contact with non-Roma parents may play an important
role in shaping Roma mothers' educational aspirations and need to be further
examined.
Keywords Educational aspirations • Roma mothers • Interactions with non-Roma
parents • Parent-teacher relationships • Material deprivation
1 Introduction
Parents' educational aspirations concerning their children's academic prospects play
a critical role in children's educational attainment. They are even more relevant for
young children and primary school students and potentially influence indirectly or
directly the extent to which parents get involved in their children's schooling (Kim,
2022). Importantly, despite evidence regarding the effects of parents' educational
aspirations on children's own aspirations, achievement, and attainment, only a few
Jana Obrovská
obr@mail.muni.cz
Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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1064 J. Obrovskä etal.
studies (see Seginer & Vermulst, 2002; Spera et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2007) have
attempted to identify the factors that account for variation in parental aspirations.
Therefore, even though Seginer (1983) suggested the need to examine more carefully
the correlates of parents' educational aspirations for their children, our understanding
of the nature and formation of parental educational aspirations is rather
limited. This is particularly true for minorities such as Roma communities.
The disadvantages Roma communities face across European countries result in
deepening as well as perpetuating social inequalities, undermining social cohesion.
Roma communities are the most disadvantaged, discriminated, and marginalised
ethnic-cultural minority in Europe (Bruggemann & D'Arcy, 2017; Liegeois, 2007)
facing overtly expressed prejudice (Kende et al., 2021) and othering (Cretan et al.,
2021) in many life domains and across different contexts. Across Europe, several
studies have repeatedly confirmed the vast socioeconomic and educational gap
between Roma communities and the rest of society, including other minorities or
migrants (Szalai et al., 2010). This is noteworthy because family and community
resources in early and middle childhood are decisive for successful school participation,
future life opportunities, and prevention of educational disadvantage, especially
for socioeconomically disadvantaged groups like Roma families (Felfe & Huber,
2017; Melhuish et al., 2010).
Research on the psychological aspects of Roma families is limited and thus little
is known about the proximal environment of Roma children, their parents' values,
goals, and beliefs, and the way that Roma parents organise their children's everyday
life (Lauritzen & Nodeland, 2018). Moreover, the relation between Roma parents'
beliefs and practices and mesosystemic variables such as contact with majority
teachers and parents or perceived discrimination in educational settings is underresearched.
Therefore in this study, based on an ecological systems perspective
(Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1986; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), we examined the
associations between microsystemic features represented mainly by Roma mothers'
educational aspirations and selected sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., education
level, material deprivation) and mesosystemic features represented by the frequency
and quality of interactions with majority parents and teachers or perceived
discrimination in educational settings. Further, we examined the perspectives of
Roma mothers from three European countries, namely the Czech Republic, Greece,
and Portugal, adding a macrosystemic lens, as these countries represent different
European regions with socio-historical particularities as well commonalities rooted
in a European tradition.
1.1 Ecological systems and intergroup contact
Ecocultural perspectives usually recognize the role of parental aspirations as part
of the broader parental belief system or parental ideas about children and their
upbringing and development (e.g., Edwards et al., 2006; Super & Harkness, 1986).
Relatedly, within the ecological systems perspective (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1979,
1986; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), the developing child is seen as interacting
actively, through bidirectional, reciprocal influences, with the environment. The
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Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech. 1065
latter is structured in terms of concentric circles representing the microsystem (i.e.,
experience with the immediate, physical or social, surroundings), the mesosystem
(i.e., the interactive processes between two or more settings), the exosystem (i.e.,
settings which do not include the individual, but that nevertheless influence him/
her), and the macrosystem (i.e., general aspects of society as values and belief systems
or "culture").
Parental aspirations may be considered part of parents' psychological characteristics
within the family microsystem while contacts with actors of majority background
in educational settings such as teachers and/or other parents fall within the
mesosystem. Frequent and high-quality interactions between children's microsystems
such as the family and (pre)school are assumed to provide opportunities for
development at the mesosystem level (Garbarino & Ganzel, 2000). Further, intergroup
contact has been identified as key for improving interethnic relations (e.g. Allport,
1954; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006), namely for Roma communities (Ives et al.,
2016; Kende et al., 2017a, 2017b) and has been proposed as a key feature of multicultural
policies (Berry, 1984, 2013). For example, Kende et al., (2017a, 2017b)
tested a contact-based intervention to reduce bias against Roma among non-Roma
Hungarians. Specifically, face-to-face interaction with a Roma person was associated
with positive changes in attitudes and contact intentions, suggesting the potential
of contact-based interventions to improve interethnic relations among Roma and
non-Roma communities. Thus, extending existing research on the predictors of educational
aspirations of Roma mothers to the mesosystem is warranted from an ecological
perspective and from a social psychological perspective.
1.2 The role of parental educational aspirations
Parental views and belief systems (see Hirsjarvi & Perala-Littunen, 2001; Miller,
1988) are an important source of parenting practices and organisation of daily life.
Part of this beliefs' system, educational aspirations are socially constructed reference
points—as individuals draw their aspirations from the lives of others around
them—which affect future-oriented behaviour (Selten et al., 2012). Parents' educational
aspirations represent their ambitions, hopes, or wishes regarding children's
future educational achievement (Gutman & Akerman, 2008; Holloway, 2010; Spera
et al., 2009). Therefore, aspirations are rather idealistic and reflect what someone
would like to achieve (Seginer, 1983; Yamamoto & Holloway, 2010).
Research suggests that parents' educational aspirations tend to be stable over time
(Raleigh & Kao, 2010), shape their behaviours related to children's education, and
play a decisive role in thinking about, planning, and (not) deciding about children's
future education. Moreover, they are positively correlated with several educational
outcomes including grades, test scores, and college attendance (e.g., Chiapa et al.,
2012; Fan & Chen, 2001; Gregg & Washbrook, 2009; Kim, 2022; Schoon et al.,
2007; Seginer & Vermulst, 2002; Villiger et al., 2014). Parents who express high
educational aspirations tend to be more involved in their children's schooling and
organise their children's everyday lives and environments to engage their children
in various learning activities (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997; Hoover-Dempsey
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1066 J. Obrovskä etal.
et al., 1992). Further, they spend more time and resources in school-related activities
(e.g., helping with homework, volunteering in the classroom, Spera, 2006).
According to Lauritzen and Nodeland (2018), previous research on Roma families
has reported mixed findings, from claims that "Roma parents (...) rate their children's
achievements and school satisfaction lower, and they have lower academic
aspirations for their children" (Pahic et al., 2011, p. 275) to claims that Roma parents
are increasingly positive towards their children's education (Myers et al., 2010).
Recent research found lower educational aspirations for Roma parents than for nonRoma
(Zelinsky et al., 2021), attributing these differences to socioeconomic structural
constraints (see Dalton et al., 2016) and low expectations of non-Roma teachers
regarding Roma parents and children rather than to "Roma culture" or ethnicity
per se (Gimenez-Adelantado et al., 2002; Hellgren & Gabrielli, 2021).
1.3 Predictors of parental educational aspirations
Previous research has shown that family background variables including parental
income and socioeconomic status (SES), parental education, ethnicity/minority status,
as well as children's characteristics such as age, academic achievement, gender,
and emotional and behavioural dispositions are associated with parental aspirations
(e.g., Beattie, 2002; Chenoweth & Galliher, 2004; Davies et al., 2002; Garg et al.,
2002; Kao & Tienda, 1998; Marjoribanks, 2005; Ou & Reynolds, 2008; Schoon
et al., 2007; Sosu, 2014; Teachman & Paasch, 1998). SES is typically a strong predictor
of parental educational aspirations (Singh et al., 1995). Several studies indicate
that most parents would prefer their children to attain high levels of formal
schooling (e.g., Spera et al., 2009), with higher SES parents holding higher educational
aspirations (Oketch et al., 2012; Schoon et al., 2007; Zhang et al., 2007).
Relatedly, low-income and socioeconomically disadvantaged parents from diverse
ethnic groups have been described as holding lower educational aspirations for their
children (De Civita et al., 2004). Note, however, that "deficit discourses" (see Aikman
et al., 2016) have contributed to generating and interpreting such comparative
data, and more evidence is needed on the "coping strategies, existing capacities in
families and communities and other supportive factors" (Aikman et al., 2016, p.
326) of socioeconomically disadvantaged parents.
Similarly, parents with higher levels of education have been found to hold higher
educational aspirations for their children (e.g., Chowdry et al., 2010; Spera et al.,
2009; Zhang et al., 2007). According to social-psychological perspectives, the
effects of income and education level on educational aspirations are largely indirect
through their effects on other factors (e.g., living conditions, role models, learning
environments), that directly affect educational aspirations. Regarding ethnicity,
studies in so-called western societies show that parents from minority ethnic groups
are more likely to hold higher educational aspirations than their majority counterparts
because they see education as a means for upward social mobility (Chowdry
et al., 2010; Goldenberg et al., 2001; Spera et al, 2009). However, the educational
outcomes of these minority groups suggest that parents might not access (or might
be denied, see Aikman et al., 2016) the resources and opportunities to guide their
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Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech. 1067
children toward achieving their wishes (Langenkamp, 2017; Spera et al., 2009).
As far as Roma parents' aspirations are concerned, previous research indicates that
although Roma parents have lower educational aspirations than non-Roma, SES
seems to be a stronger predictor of these differences than ethnicity per se (Zelinský
etal., 2021).
The contextual aspects associated with parental aspirations are understudied, particularly
in Roma communities. Available research has neglected potential mesosystemic
predictors of parents' educational aspirations for their children, such as parent-teacher
relationships, perceived discrimination by other parents and teachers, or
the frequency and quality of interactions with majority families. This gap is unwarranted
because there is evidence of noteworthy issues faced by Roma parents and
students at the mesosystemic level, including teachers' lower trust on Roma parents
to support children's learning (Peček et al., 2008), and Roma students' own reports
of lower family support for learning (Moreira et al., 2022), possibly associated with
Roma parents' negative experiences in and perceptions of education settings (see
Zachos & Panagiotidou, 2019), and schools undervaluation of Roma parents' educational
support (when it does not match school expectations).
Importantly, there is evidence that more intense intergroup contact can strengthen
positive relationships among families and foster mutual trust (Rangel et al., 2020),
which can affect parents' educational beliefs and aspirations regarding children's
educational opportunities (Ajzen, 1991; Bracke & Corts, 2012). Moreover, previous
research has shown that the quality of intergroup contact—as indicated, for example
by the level of trust—can have positive effects on parental educational involvement
(Santiago et al., 2016). Relatedly, there is evidence that interventions based on dialogue-based
learning interactions enhancing the participation of Roma communities
in the education process and school life can result in richer learning experiences as
well as better learning outcomes for Roma students (Flecha & Soler, 2013). Interestingly,
while perceived discrimination is negatively associated with child outcomes
(e.g., Guerra et al., 2019), there are inconsistent findings regarding its associations
with parents' and students' educational aspirations (e.g., Goldenberg et al., 2001;
Teney etal., 2013).
1.4 Roma communities in the Czech Republic, Greece, and Portugal
Roma communities around Europe are extremely diverse (see Kostadinova, 2011;
Luciak, 2004). Although often perceived by outsiders as a homogeneous entity
(Csepeli & Simon, 2003), there are considerable variations across Europe, both
between and within countries (a) in the way they are treated and (b) in how they
define their group of origin. Such diversity derives from cultural norms and practices,
and religion (Barany, 2002).
There are difficulties in monitoring the number of Roma populations for various
reasons (political, economic, ideological). However, qualified estimates
suggest that Roma communities consist of 0.4% of the Portuguese population
(Sousa & Moreira, 2017), 1.55% of the Greek population (Hellenic Republic—
Region of Central Macedonia, 2015), and 2.8% of the Czech population (Český
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1068 J. Obrovská etal.
statistický úřad, 2017). While most of the Portuguese Roma are sedentary, there
is considerable heterogeneity among Portuguese Roma communities, as a function
of economic activity, level of education, religion, etc. (Mendes et al., 2014).
Similarly, in Greece, the Roma are not a homogeneous group, with significant
differences regarding historic course, profession, and way and place of living
(i.e., permanently settled, semi-nomads, nomads). In the Czech context, there
are different dialects of the Roma language that reflect the origin of different
Roma communities who migrated and settled in, after the Czech and Moravian
Roma were nearly exterminated during the Second World War (Nečas, 1999).
Despite these differences and inner diversity, Roma communities in these
three countries have been marginalised and persecuted since their arrival, both
by the local population and governments. Often, they were not considered full
citizens or were treated as "second class citizens" (Casa-Nova, 2008; Davidová
& Uherek, 2014; Nata, 2007). Even today, Roma communities are often the target
of hate speech and discrimination (Giroud et al., 2021) in many areas of life,
including education (Cviklová, 2011; Mendes, 2012).
Roma communities in all three countries face educational inequalities. The
participation of Roma children in early childhood education and care (ECEC)
is dramatically lower than that of children from majority populations (Klaus &
Marsh, 2014; Open Society Institute, 2007, 2009; OSCE, 2010; Save the Children,
2001; World Bank, 2012). In Greece, for example, Roma families have
limited access to E C E C (Dragonas, 2012; Ministry of Employment & Social
Protection, 2009). There are almost no E C E C programs in settlements. However,
E C E C programs exist in more than half of the urban areas, where Roma
communities live in apartments or houses. Yet, even there, only 20% of Roma
children attend. Recent data (FRA, 2022) show that only 32% of Roma children
aged 3-5 years, living in Greece, attend ECEC, compared to 69% of the majority
population. The same pattern is evident in the Czech Republic, where 51% of
Roma children between 3 and 5 years old attend ECEC, compared to 86% in the
majority population (FRA, 2022; c.f., Ivatts et al., 2015). In Portugal, approximately
29% of Portuguese Roma children between 3 and 5 years old participate
in E C E C (FRA, 2022). Further, the percentage of Roma aged between 20 and
24 years who completed at least upper secondary education is very low: 22% in
the Czech Republic, 16% in Greece, and 10% in Portugal (FRA, 2022).
Ethnic segregation in education and material deprivation are also important
indicators of country differences. The percentage of Roma children aged
6 to 15 years attending schools in which all or most schoolmates are also Roma
varies between 49% in the Czech Republic, 34% in Greece, and 2% in Portugal
(FRA, 2022). Czech Roma children are often channelled to special-needs
schools, despite concerns raised by the European Court of Human rights and
other European institutions. Regarding material deprivation and socioeconomic
exclusion, available data suggests that 96% of Greek as well as Portuguese Roma
live at risk of poverty, in comparison with 77% of Czech Roma (FRA, 2022).
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Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech. 1069
1.5 Current study
Understanding the predictors of parental aspirations is important to design appropriate
interventions to support parents in developing higher educational goals for their
children. Few studies have focused on the predictors of parental aspirations of Roma
parents (e.g., Dimitrova et al., 2018), with most investigating the educational aspirations
towards primary and/or older school children (Dimitrova et al., 2018; Sime
et al., 2018) in single cultural contexts. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the
predictors of Roma mothers' educational aspirations, in the Czech Republic, Greece,
and Portugal. We focused on mothers because, within Roma communities, they are
typically the main caregivers and supporters of their children (e.g., Levinson &
Sparkes, 2006). In addition, most studies on parental aspirations of minority children
focus on child and family sociodemographic characteristics and microsystemic
(Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) predictors (Areepattamannil & Lee, 2014; Sosu,
2014) and neglect mesosystemic predictors such as parent-teacher relationships,
Roma parents' interactions with majority families, or perceived discrimination. This
study aimed to address this gap, by testing the following hypotheses: Roma mothers
with lower material deprivation (HI) and higher education levels (H2) report higher
educational aspirations for their children; Roma mothers with more frequent (H3)
and higher quality (H4) interactions with non-Roma parents report higher educational
aspirations for their children; Roma mothers who report higher discrimination
report lower educational aspirations for their children (H5); and Roma mothers
who report higher quality parent-teacher relationships report higher educational
aspirations for their children (H6). Finally, considering the above-mentioned differences
regarding school segregation and socioeconomic deprivation among the
Czech Republic, Greece, and Portugal, we expected country to have a moderator
effect on the pattern of associations (H7). Based on extant research on the educational
experiences of Roma children, as a function of age and gender (e.g., Mendes
et al., 2014; Sime et al., 2018), these child characteristics were added as covariates
in all analyses.
2 Method
2.1 Participants
Participants were 461 mothers with a Roma background. These mothers reported
data for 339 girls and 317 boys, who attended (pre)school. In total, 135 mothers
participated in the Czech Republic, 130 in Greece, and 196 in Portugal. Interviewed
mothers had a child in the 3 to 6 (n = 235) and/or 9 to 12 (n = 226) years age-range.
Table 1 presents sociodemographic information regarding participating mothers and
target-children across the three countries.
Almost all mothers in Greece (96.2%) and Portugal (96.9%) were native-born
whereas in the Czech Republic the percentage was 78.4%, with the remaining
mothers born mainly in Slovakia. In all countries, most mothers had low education
levels (81.3% in Portugal, 75.9% in the Czech Republic, and 86.1% in
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Table 1 Descriptive statistics for the whole sample and bivariate correlations among study variables
M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Gender (child)3
.51 - Age
(child) 7.97 2.73 -.00 Mother's
educational level 1.20 .42 .03 -.04 Material
Deprivation Index 6.47 3.27 -.03 .09 -.10* Contact
frequency 3.32 .77 .03 -.06 .09* -.14** Contact
quality 2.87 .80 -.01 -.04 .17*** -.16*** .38*** Parent-teacher
relationships 4.56 .72 -.05 -.23* .02 -.16*** .25*** .23** Mother's
perceived discrimination 1.55 .73 .11* .16*** -.01 .30*** -.11* -.14** -.36*** Educational
Aspirations 2.59 1.08 .13" -.10* .02 -.15** .19*** .17** .16" -.02
M=mean; SZ) = standard deviation. Response ranges of the constructs: Mother's educational level 1—4; 1 =ISCED 1-2, primary to lower-secondary education; 2 = ISCED
3, upper secondary education; 3=ISCED 4-6, post-secondary non-tertiary education to Bachelor or equivalent; 4 = ISCED 7-8, Master to PhD or equivalent); Material
Deprivation Index (0-13); Contact frequency (1^1; 1 =never to 4 = often); Contact quality (1^1; 1 =/ don't enjoy it to 4 = 1 enjoy it a great deal); Parent-teacher relationships
(1-5; 1 =Disagree to 5 = Agree); Mother's perceived discrimination (1^1; 1 =never to 4 = often); Educational Aspirations (1-5; 1 =Finish lower secondary education
or second stage of basic education, ISCED 2; 2 = Finish upper secondary education, ISCED 3; 3= Finish postsecondary non-tertiary education/short-cycle tertiary education,
ISCED 4 or 5; 4 = Bachelor degree or equivalent, ISCED 6; 5 = Master 's degree or equivalent, or doctoral degree or equivalent, ISCED 7 or 8)
a
l = male and 0 = female; the proportion of females is reported
***><.001. *><.001. ><.05
Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech. 1071
Greece), were unemployed (98.5% in Portugal, 87.6% in Greece, and 74.8%
in the Czech Republic), and reported high household material deprivation.
Around 80% of Roma mothers in Portugal and Greece, and around 70% in the
Czech Republic, were living with a partner. Based on Roma mothers' report,
pre(schools) in the Czech Republic were more ethnically segregated than in Portugal
and, especially, Greece (e.g., almost none non-Roma children in the (pre)
school for 18.7% of Czech children, 1.0% of Portuguese children, and 0.0% of
Greek children).
2.2 Procedures
Data came from a large-scale structured interview study with parents with a disadvantaged
background in ten European countries (Broekhuizen et al., 2018) and
was designed within the Inclusive Education and Social Support to Tackle Inequalities
in Society project (ISOTIS, https://www.isotis.org/en/home/). Mothers
were recruited from two sites in each country, with the following criteria: (1) the
mother self-identified as Roma; and (2) the mother may or may not have been
born in the country. The ethnic-cultural background of the mother's partner was
not a sampling criterion. Regarding the procedures to ensure the first criteria,
each mother was firstly identified by recruiters as belonging to a Roma community,
and secondly, she self-identified as belonging to a Roma community at the
beginning of the structured interview. Recruitment occurred typically in urban
socially deprived neighbourhoods across sites with large Roma communities. In
the Czech Republic data collection was conducted in Brno and Ústí nad Labem.
In Greece, data were collected in West Athens sector (Aghia Varvara and Ilion
municipality) and West and East Attica region (Fyli and Acharnes municipality).
Finally, in Portugal, data were collected in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon and
in the Metropolitan Area of Porto. Participants were recruited through E C E C
centres, schools, community centres, parent organisations, and Roma mediators.
Often, these institutions served a high proportion of families receiving social
benefits (e.g., access to free school meals). See Broekhuizen et al. (2018) for
detailed information on participant recruitment procedures and on key features
of the localities where data collection occurred.
Structured interviews were conducted by researchers with the assistance of
Roma mediators, as needed, in the languages spoken by mothers, aligned with
their needs or preferences. Interviewers used an online survey presented on a
laptop or, in case of technical issues, a paper-pencil version. The survey was
available in the majority languages of all countries, as well as Romani, and
mothers could switch between languages while completing the survey. For most
questions, the interviewers read the question to the mother, the mother answered,
and the interviewer recorded the response. For more sensitive questions (e.g.,
perceived discrimination), mothers could enter the answers themselves. The
full survey took between 45 and 60 min. Mothers received an incentive after
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1072 J. Obrovská etal.
participating in the interview (e.g., a 5-euro voucher and a children's book).
Data-collection occurred between December 2017 and July 2018.
2.3 Measures
2.3.1 Educational aspirations
Aspired level of educational qualification, was measured using the mothers'
responses to the question "What level of qualification would you like [Target
child] to complete?" on a 5-point ordinal scale according to International Standard
Classification of Education [ISCED] 2011 levels, appropriately adjusted
according to the educational system of each country (1= Finish lower secondary
education or second stage of basic education, ISCED 2; 2 = Finish upper secondary
education, ISCED 3; 3 = Finish postsecondary non-tertiary education/
short-cycle tertiary education, ISCED 4 or 5; 4 = Bachelor degree or equivalent,
ISCED 6; 5= Master's degree or equivalent, or doctoral degree or equivalent,
ISCED 7 or 8).
2.3.2 Material deprivation
The Material Deprivation Index was used as a measure of family economic status.
This 13-item indicator is used for social monitoring purposes at both national and
EU levels (Guio et al., 2016). The 13 items consist of five 'adult' (e.g., Do you get
together with friends/family (relatives) for a drink/meal at least once a month?) and
eight 'household' items (e.g., Do you have an internet connection for personal use
when needed?). If parents indicated that they could not afford the item, this would
increase the indicator by one point. This measure ranges from 0 to 13. A family is
considered materially deprived when scoring at least 5.
2.3.3 Mothers'educational level
Regarding mothers' educational level, to differentiate between parents with a low,
medium, and higher educational level, the ISCED 2011 level codes were used, with
the following cut-off points (adjusted according to country's educational structure/
system): 1 = ISCED 1-2, primary to lower-secondary education; 2 = ISCED 3,
upper secondary education; 3=ISCED 4-6, post-secondary non-tertiary education
to Bachelor or equivalent; 4=ISCED 7-8, Master to PhD or equivalent.
23 A Interactions with non-Roma parents at school
To measure the frequency of interactions with non-Roma parents, we used one item
(How often, if at all, do you interact with non-Roma people at the (pre)school of
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Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech. 1073
your child?), rated on a 4-point response scale: 1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes,
4 = often). To measure the quality of the interactions with non-Roma parents, we
used one item (How do you feel about interacting with parents with a non-Roma
background at the (pre)school of your child?), rated on a 4-point response scale:
1=1 don't enjoy it, 2 = 1 enjoy it a little, 3=1 enjoy it quite a bit, 4=1 enjoy it a great
deal.
2.3.5 Parent-teacher relationship
The parent-teacher relationship was measured through a rating scale composed of 7
items, rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 =Disagree to 5= Agree), to reflect the
mothers' level of trust regarding the way teachers work with children, based on their
current experience. The first four items were selected from the Parent-Teacher Relationship
Scale (Petrogiannis & Penderi, 2013). Items 1, 2, and 3 reflect Trust, while
item 4 reflects Communication. Items were rephrased, so that they applied to all the
teachers that children might have. The second part consisted of items 5 to 7 which
were designed specifically for this study, though inspired by other questionnaires
(e.g., Marx & Byrnes, 2012). Based on the composite score used is this study (score
range = 7-35), computed as the sum of all 7 items, higher scores indicate higher
trust towards teachers. Cronbach's alpha was satisfactory for the three samples: the
Czech Republic (a = 0.84), Greece (a = 0.89), and Portugal (a = 0.75). To examine
whether trust in parent-teacher relationships had the same meaning across the three
countries, we tested the measurement invariance of this measure across the three
groups, using A M O S (v. 18; Arbuckle, 2021). First configural invariance was tested
by fitting the parent-teacher relationship measurement model without any equality
constraints. The good model fit indices obtained in this analysis supported the measure
configural invariance, %2
{39) = 150.62, /?<.001, CFI = 0.93, R M S E A = 0.07,
SRMR=0.07, thus indicating that participants from the three groups conceptualized
the construct in the same way. Next, to test for metric invariance, the factor loadings
were constrained to be equal across the countries. Model fit for the constrained
model was worse than that of the unconstrained model, X
2
(53) = 291.16, /?<.001,
CFI = 0.84, R M S E A = 0.09, SRMR=0.15 ( A X
2
= 14.54, p<.001), thus indicating
noninvariant items within the construct (Kline, 2011).
2.3.6 Mothers'perceived discrimination
To assess perceived discrimination, we used three items (How often do you feel discriminated
or unfairly treated because of your ethnic-cultural background, by people in
your neighbourhood/parents in the (pre)school of your child/teachers in the (pre)school
of your child?), rated on a 4-point scale (1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3=sometimes, 4=often).
Cronbach's alpha for the Czech and Greek groups was satisfactory (respectively
a=0.71 and a=0.84). For the Portuguese sample, Cronbach's alpha was a=0.54, thus
falling below the 0.70 benchmark, usually considered to establish acceptable reliability.
Thus, following Clark's and Watson's (1995) recommendation, we additionally calculated
the mean inter-item correlations for this sample, which was within the 0.15-0.50
recommended range (0.30). Additionally, to examine whether perceived discrimination
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1074 J. Obrovskä etal.
had the same meaning across the three countries, we tested the measurement invariance
of this measure across the three groups, using AMOS (v. 18; Arbuckle, 2021). First
configural invariance was tested by fitting the perceived discrimination measurement
model without any equality constraints. The good model fit indices obtained in this
analysis supported the configural invariance of this measure, y?0) = 10.93, £>=.012,
CFI=0.98, RMSEA=0.07, SRMR=0.06, indicating that participants from the three
groups conceptualized the construct in the same way. Next, to test for metric invariance,
the factor loadings were constrained to be equal across countries. Model fit for
the constrained model was worse than that of the unconstrained model, ^2
(7) = 58.21,
p<.QO\, CFI=0.90, RMSEA=0.11, SRMR=0.06 (Ax2
=47.28, p<.001), thus indicating
noninvariant items within the construct (Kline, 2011), Z= —4.17, p= .001).
2.4 Data analysis
First, we computed descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations among variables.
Then, a missing value analysis of the model variables was conducted, using IBM SPSS
v28. The amount of missing data was small (Widaman, 2006): 0.0% for child's gender,
frequency of interaction with non-Roma parents in the child's (pre)school, and
perceived discrimination, 0.2% for material deprivation and quality of parent-teacher
relationships, 0.4% quality of interaction with non-Roma parents in the child's (pre)
school, 1.3% for children's age, 3.9% for mothers' educational aspirations, and 5.2% for
mothers' education level. Little's (1988) Missing Completely at Random (MCAR) test,
X 2
= 118.825, df=7S, ;?=0.002, revealed a normed chi-square {^Idj) of 1.52, so<2,
which, according to Bollen (1989), indicates that missing data were mostly at random
and, thus, missing values could safely be imputed. Therefore, the expectation maximisation
algorithm was used to impute missing data using all information available from
observations on the other model variables.
To examine the predictive role of family characteristics (material deprivation and
mothers' educational level) and mesosystemic variables (e.g., quality and frequency of
interactions with non-Roma parents, parent teacher interactions, and perceived discrimination),
while controlling for children's age and gender, a multiple regression model
was tested, using AMOS (v. 28) (Arbuckle, 2021). Significant covariances among the
predictor variables were allowed in the model, based on inspection of the modification
indices and theoretical interpretability (Fig. 1). Then, to test the moderating role
of country, a multiple group analysis with AMOS (v. 28) (Arbuckle, 2021) was performed.
A n unconstrained multiple group model, with all paths allowed to be freely
estimated across Czech, Greek, and Portuguese participants, was compared to a model
where all paths were constrained to be equivalent across both groups. To evaluate
model fit, the following fit indexes and criteria were used as indicative of a goodfit:the
comparative fit index (CFI) and the goodness offitindex (GFI) approaching 1, the root
mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)<0.05, and the standardised root mean
residual (SRMR)<0.08 (Hu & Bentler, 1999; Kline, 2011).
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Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech. 1075
Gender (TC)
Age (TC)
Mother's educational level
Material deprivation index —
Frequency of interactions with
non-Roma parents
Quality of interactions with
non-Roma parents
Perceive discrimination
/y=. 13** I (.00 / -.04 / .23***)
^=-.061 (-.09/ -.03 / .01)
/?=-.031 (.14/. 17*/-.12)
/y=-.12*|(-.16/-.26**/-.14*)
^=.12*|(-.01/.16/.16*)
//=.l I* I (.12/.067-.05)
fi= .071 (-.00/ -.03/.05)
/?=.10*|(-.04/.12/.07)
Quality of parent-teacher
interactions
Mothers' educational aspirations
R2
= .09 | (.06/. 19/. 12)
Fig. 1 Predictive model examining the associations between child and mother characteristics, and mesosystemic
links to teachers and other parents, and mothers' educational aspirations for their children, considering
participating country group as a moderator. Note. Estimates for the whole sample model and the
moderation model are presented in the figure according to the following scheme: Whole sample I (The
Czech Republic/Greece/Portugal). *p< .05. **p< .01. ***p< .001
3 Results
3.1 Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations
The means, standard deviations, and bivariate correlations among study variables
for the whole sample are presented in Table 1. Table 2 presents the descriptive
statistics of the study variables for each country. Considering zero-order correlations,
the gender of the child was positively correlated with mothers' perceived
discrimination and mothers' educational aspirations. Specifically, having a son
instead of a daughter was related to more perceived discrimination and higher
educational aspirations. Mothers' education level was negatively correlated with
material deprivation index and positively correlated with both frequency and
quality of interactions with non-Roma parents. Material deprivation was positively
correlated with perceived discrimination, and negatively correlated with
frequency and quality of interactions with non-Roma parents, quality of parentteacher
relationships, and mothers' educational aspirations. Frequency and quality
of interactions with non-Roma parents were positively interrelated, positively
correlated with quality of parent-teacher relationships and mothers' educational
aspirations, and negatively correlated with mothers' perceived discrimination.
Finally, the quality of parent-teacher relationships was positively correlated with
mothers' educational aspirations.
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1076 J. Obrovskä etal.
Table 2 Descriptive statistics for each country
The Czech Republic Greece Portugal
M SD M SD M SD
Gender (child)3
.58 - .45 - .51 Age
(child) 8.34 2.62 8.21 2.66 7.55 2.81
Mother's educational level 1.26 0.47 1.16 0.41 1.19 0.39
Material deprivation index 5.86 3.01 7.34 4.07 6.32 2.70
Contact frequency 3.15 0.90 3.22 0.67 3.51 0.68
Contact quality 2.66 0.98 2.99 0.75 2.94 0.65
Mother's perceived discrimination 1.51 0.71 1.89 0.87 1.36 0.55
Parent-teacher relationships 4.34 0.85 4.42 0.74 4.80 0.51
Educational aspirations 1.90 0.96 2.91 0.77 2.80 1.13
M = mean; SD = standard deviation
a
The proportion of girls is reported
3.2 Predictors of educational aspirations
The model examining material deprivation, mothers' educational level, frequency
and quality of interactions with non-Roma parents at school, quality of parentteacher
relationships, and perceived discrimination, as predictors of mothers'
educational aspirations for their children (controlling for children's age and gender)
presented good model fit, %2
{21) = 57.333, j p<.001; GFI = 0.97; CFI = 0.88;
RMSEA=0.061; SRMR = 0.067. Model results showed that mothers' educational
aspirations were significantly predicted by material deprivation, |3 = —0.12, p = .013,
frequency, (3 = 0.12, p = .0l4, and quality of interactions with non-Roma parents at
the child's (pre)school, (3 = 0.11, p = .031, and parent-teacher relationships, (3 = 0.10,
p = .017. Child's gender was also associated with mothers' educational aspirations,
(3 = 0.13, p = .004. In other words, having a son instead of a daughter, higher frequency
and quality of interactions with non-Roma parents at the child's school, and
better parent-teacher relationships predicted higher educational aspirations, while
higher levels of material deprivation predicted lower educational aspirations (see
Fig. 1).
3.3 The moderating role of participants' country
The multiple group model analysing the moderating role of participants' country
showed a significant chi-square difference between the unconstrained and constrained
models: A^2
(16) = 26.279, p = .050, indicating that the overall model
varied significantly between the Czech, Greek, and Portuguese groups. A Z test of
the equality of the structural weights revealed that the effects of child's gender and
mother's education level were significantly different between Portuguese and both
Czech, Z ( c h i k f s g e n d e r ) = 2.349, p = .019; Z ( m o t h e r , s e d u c a t i o n l e v e l ) = —2.339, p = .019, and
Greek participants, Z ( c h i k f s g e n d e r )
=
2-981, p<.003; Z ( m o t h e r - s e d u c a t i o n l e v e l ) = —2.638,
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Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech. 1077
p = .00S. Specifically, the effect of child's gender was significantly stronger for the
Portuguese group, as compared to both the Czech and the Greek groups (Fig. 1).
Regarding mothers' education level, its effect was significantly stronger for the Portuguese
group as compared to the Czech group, but significantly weaker as compared
to the Greek group (Fig. 1).
4 Discussion
Parents' educational aspirations regarding their children's future educational paths
play a critical role in children's academic outcomes as well as other school-related
processes (e.g., Chiapa et al., 2012; Fan & Chen, 2001; Gregg & Washbrook, 2009;
Kim, 2022; Schoon et al., 2007; Seginer, 1983; Villiger et al., 2014). While previous
research focused mainly on the associations between parental educational aspirations
and child outcomes, the socio-psychological factors that account for variation
in parental aspirations have not received adequate attention (Rutchick et al., 2009).
This is particularly true for Roma communities who are the most disadvantaged and
marginalised minorities in Europe and are frequently excluded from the benefits of
education. Therefore, based on an ecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979,
1986; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), and informed by socio-psychological perspectives
focusing on the role of intergroup contact (e.g., Allport, 1954; Ives et al.,
2016; Kende et al., 2017a, 2017b), we examined the associations between micro
and mesosystemic predictors and the educational aspirations of Roma mothers from
three European countries, namely the Czech Republic, Greece, and Portugal. Overall
findings suggest that material deprivation (microsystem level), frequency and quality
of interactions with non-Roma parents, as well as the quality of parent-teacher
interactions (mesosystem level), predict Roma mothers' educational aspirations.
However, the pattern of findings varied somewhat as a function of country.
4.1 Microsystemic predictors of educational aspirations
As predicted, we found an association between material deprivation and the educational
level mothers aspired their children to complete, thus confirming HI for the
entire sample. Previous research has evidenced SES as a strong predictor of parental
aspirations (e.g., Dalton et al., 2016; Singh et al., 1995), portraying parents with
higher SES backgrounds as holding higher educational aspirations (Oketch et al.,
2012; Schoon et al., 2007; Zhang et al., 2007) than those experiencing socioeconomically
disadvantage (Lareau, 2011). Moreover, previous findings suggest intersections
between socioeconomic status and ethnic background in parental aspirations,
with some studies indicating stronger effects of socioeconomic status than of
ethnicity on the educational outcomes of Roma students (Kertesi & Kezdy, 2016)
and on Roma parents' aspirations (Zelinsky et al., 2021). Importantly, when considering
the multi-group analysis, the effect of material deprivation did not vary
significantly across the three countries. Relatedly, Roma in all three countries face
severe material deprivation and socioeconomic exclusion (FRA, 2022), as reflected
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1078 J. Obrovska etal.
in characteristics of the participants in this study. Therefore, even when presenting
higher educational aspirations for their children, the capacity of these low-income
Roma mothers to guide their children in achieving their high aspirations, while facing
the lack of necessary resources (Dalton et al., 2016; Sime et al., 2018), may be
limited.
Contrary to our expectations (H2), we did not find an association between Roma
mothers' education and their educational aspirations for children, when considering
the whole sample. This finding is not consistent with previous studies reporting
associations between Roma parents' educational background and educational aspirations
for children (e.g., Zelinsky et al., 2021). However, the multigroup analysis suggested
that the effects of mothers' education level were statistically significantly different
across countries, and specifically stronger (statistically significant) for Greek
mothers. This finding is consistent with H7 (partially confirmed), supporting the
view that Roma communities across Europe are heterogeneous and, thus, it is likely
that the predictors of educational aspirations are specific to each country/community.
In formulating H7, we did not specify the direction of the moderation effects,
due to the exploratory nature of our analyses. It is possible that mothers' education
is more consequential towards educational aspirations in the Greek sample due to
a specific configuration of factors including higher material deprivation and higher
perceived discrimination. However, our research design does not allow us to explain
these differences and additional research is needed in this regard.
4.2 Mesosystemic predictors of educational aspirations
Consistent with our hypotheses, we also found associations between mesosystemic
variables and Roma mothers' educational aspirations, when considering the whole
sample. Specifically, we found that Roma mothers' educational aspirations were
predicted by more frequent and higher-quality interactions with non-Roma parents
as well as higher-quality parent-teacher relationships, thus confirming H3, H4, and
H6, respectively. Importantly, the multigroup analysis indicated that the effects of
these variables were not significantly different across countries. These findings are
consistent with intergroup contact theory (e.g., Allport, 1954; Pettigrew & Tropp,
2006) and expand current knowledge in the field, as most studies on parental aspirations
of minority children focused on microsystemic predictors (Areepattamannil &
Lee, 2014; Sosu, 2014). These associations suggest that frequent and high-quality
interactions and relationships with non-Roma parents and teachers may play a key
role in shaping Roma mothers' beliefs about education, and specifically, their educational
aspirations for their children. Previous research has shown that more frequent
intergroup contact can strengthen positive relationships among low-income families,
fostering mutual trust (Rangel et al., 2020). Further, the quality of the relationships
between parents and teachers, as indicated by the level of trust, can have positive
effects on parental educational involvement (Santiago et al., 2016).
Importantly, the frequency of contact can be insufficient if it is not of a certain
quality and does not occur under certain conditions (Allport, 1954; Williams, 1964)
and, conversely, previous studies show that more frequent contact between Roma
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Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech. 1079
and non-Roma under suboptimal conditions is a source of conflict rather than of
prejudice reduction (Kende et al., 2017a, 2017b). The current work suggests that
both frequent and high-quality interactions with non-Roma parents and trusting
relationships with teachers matter in shaping educational aspirations in a sample of
Czech, Greek, and Portuguese Roma mothers. A n important issue, however, is the
extent to which Roma families experience school-based hostility and discriminatory
practices (Bhopal, 2011; Cviklová, 2015; Hellgren & Gabrielli, 2021; Zachos &
Panagiotidou, 2019), while Roma students face career stereotyping, low expectations
(Forster & Gallagher, 2020), and long term academic failure (Giménez-Adelantado
et al., 2002), and the detrimental effects of such experiences. Further, even though
teachers may hold positive views about cultural diversity, they often find it difficult
to translate these views into professional practice (Lopez Lopez & La Malfa, 2020).
At the mesosystemic level, still, we did not find an association between perceived
discrimination at (pre)school and Roma mothers' educational aspirations for their
children and, thus, did not confirm H5. Further, the multigroup analysis did not
indicate significant differences across countries. It could be relevant that we used
data on perceived personal discrimination, which has been found to be lower than
awareness of discrimination towards other group members (see Civitillo et al., 2021)
and controlled for features of interactions and relationships with non-Roma parents
and teachers. Nevertheless, these results add to inconsistent findings on the complex
associations between perceived discrimination and minority parents' and students'
educational aspirations (e.g., Goldenberg et al., 2001; Hellgren & Gabrielli, 2021;
Teney etal., 2013).
4.3 Limitations and future research
Although this study contributes to the knowledge about educational aspirations
of Roma mothers, it has several limitations. Firstly, we only considered mothers'
reports. Thus, we were unable to grasp perspectives of other caregivers such as
fathers, grandparents, foster parents, or siblings. However, our selection strategy was
in line with the predominant pattern of Roma mothers being the main caregivers
(Levinson & Sparkes, 2006). Also, our recruiting strategies relied on mediators from
schools or non-governmental organisations who were more likely to reach Roma
mothers, who are typically in contact with these institutions. Nevertheless, examining
Roma fathers' perspectives on their child's education represents a significant
gap in the research on Roma communities' education and remains open for further
research. Secondly, we relied on self-reported data following the survey design of
the ISOTIS project. We were not able to contrast Roma mothers' educational aspirations
with other data focused on their practices (e.g., observations of the home environments
and educational activities), which could enhance the validity and robustness
of the findings. Relatedly, future research could apply qualitative approaches to
examining Roma parents' educational aspirations or mixed methods designs which
could contrast qualitative and quantitative data. Thirdly, some important variables
were not part of the analysis (e.g., children's outcomes), as we did not have access
to this information. Importantly, this cross-sectional and correlational study cannot
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1080 J. Obrovská etal.
be used to infer causality and other variables may be associated with Roma mothers'
educational aspirations for their children, as reflected in the low percentage of variance
explained by our model. Relatedly, we acknowledge that Roma mothers' educational
aspirations might also predict parental behaviours at the mesosystem level
such as the frequency of interaction with non-Roma parents and the quality of their
relationships with teachers and, therefore, this work does not allow us to disentangle
the direction of these associations.
4.4 Conclusion
To summarise, we add to the current knowledge in the field of Roma communities'
education by examining the predictors of mothers' educational aspirations for their
children and, thus, going beyond dominant research on the associations between
educational aspirations and child outcomes. We fill several research gaps by studying
underrepresented Roma mothers (for exceptions, see Dimitrova et al., 2018;
Sime et al., 2018) of preschool as well as school-aged children, in the Czech Republic,
Greece, and Portugal. Our findings add to previous research about the major role
of poverty in shaping educational outcomes, including attitudes towards school (see
Garcia et al., 2019), and add to evidence on the need for strong anti-poverty policies
focusing on Roma communities (Ivanov et al., 2015). We emphasise the role
of mesosystemic predictors such as contact with non-Roma parents which may play
a key role in shaping Roma mothers' beliefs about education. Therefore, we add
to previous research which has accentuated microsystemic and sociodemographic
characteristics of families by showing the role of mesosystemic variables.
There is evidence of differences between Roma and non-Roma low-income parents'
involvement in (pre)school formal (Pahic et al., 2011) as well as informal activities
and events, with Roma parents participating less than non-Roma (Ferreira et al.,
2021; Frew et al., 2012). Therefore, understanding what Roma mothers think about
their children's education or their aspirations is key to helping those who are directly
(e.g., teachers) or indirectly (e.g., policymakers) involved with Roma children's education
by tackling persistent disadvantages and marginalisation. Mothers' views can
inform national and European policymakers regarding improvements in educational
systems and support services, based on culturally informed research.
Acknowledgements This study was conducted in the context of the ISOTIS project (www.isotis.org) and
funded by the European Union, within the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (grant agreement No.
727069). It was also supported by the NPO "Systemic Risk Institute" number LX22NPO5101, funded
by European Union—Next Generation E U (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, NPO: EXCELES).
We thank all the participants for their contribution to this research. The Czech author thanks all researchers
involved in data collection (namely Kateřina Canigová, Lenka Kissová, Zuzana Szabó Lenhartová,
Zdeněk Svoboda, and Ladislav Zilcher) and the mediators who assisted the research team during the
whole project in the localities of Brno and Ústí and Labem. The Greek author also thanks all researchers
involved in data collection (especially, Ioanna Strataki, Eleftheria-Elektra Karachaliou, and Stylianos
Fragkioudakis), the mediators who assisted the research team during the whole project (namely, Konstantinos
Paiteris, Christos Martselos, Tsevat Oglou, Eleftherios Konstantinidis, Maria-Paraskevi Konstantinidou,
Alexandra Karagianni), as well as the social services of the municipalities of Aghia Varvara, Ilion,
and Acharnon. The Portuguese authors also thank all researchers involved in data collection (especially
Ines Ferreira, Leonor Neves, and Sofia Guichard) and the institutions (e.g., Santa Casa da Misericórdia
de Lisboa and Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Amadora), schools and professionals (e.g., local community
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Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech. 1081
mediators) within the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Oporto, who supported us in reaching out and
contacting participant mothers.
Funding Open access publishing supported by the National Technical Library in Prague.
Declarations
Conflict of interest The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of
this article.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as
you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons
licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article
are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is
not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission
directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licen
ses/by/4.0/.
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Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
Jana Obrovská is assistant professor at the Department of Education, Faculty of Education, Masaryk University.
In her research she focuses on topics such as student diversity, inclusive education, socio-cultural
disadvantage and ethnicity, both from educational as well as sociological perspective. She is and has been
principal investigator in basic research projects focused on differentiated instruction in teaching practice
(2019-2021, 2023-2025) and was involved in international projects such as ISOTIS (2017-2019). Currently,
she is also member of the The National Institute for Research on Socioeconomic Impacts of Diseases
and Systemic Risks (SYRI).
Cecilia Aguiar is an assistant professor at Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa and a senior researcher at
CIS-IUL. With a background in developmental and educational psychology, her research focuses mostly
on quality and inclusion in early childhood education.
Carla Sofia Silva is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon, and a
researcher at the Research Center for Psychological Science (CICPSI). Her research focuses mostly on
investigating the role of relational experiences with significant others on children's and adolescents'
developmental outcomes.
Konstantinos Petrogiannis is Professor of Developmental Psychology and currently Head of the Department
of Early Childhood Education & Care, University of West Attica, Athens. His main areas of interest
are, among others, early childhood care/education impact on children's development, parents-child
relationship, parental involvement, and children's resilience. He has been member and team director in a
number of national and European research projects, namely, CARE (2014-2017), ISOTIS (2017-2019),
PARTICIPA (2019-2022).
Springer
1088 J. Obrovská etal.
Authors and Affiliations
Jana Obrovská1
• Cecilia Aguiar2
© • Carla Sofia Silva2
© •
Konstantinos Petrogiannis3
©
Cecilia Aguiar
cecilia.rosario.aguiar@iscte-iul.pt
Carla Sofia Silva
cscfm@iscte-iul.pt
Konstantinos Petrogiannis
kpetrogiannis@uniwa.gr
1
Faculty of Education, Department of Education, Masaryk University, Poříčí 31, 603 00 Brno,
Czech Republic
2
Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
(ISCTE), CIS-IUL, Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal
3
Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, University of West Attica, Agioy
Spyridonos 28, Egaleo, Athens, Greece
Springer