ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Educational Psychology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1568532

This article is part of the Research TopicCulture and Emotion in Educational Dynamics - Volume IIIView all 11 articles

Immigrant Parents at Early Educational Centers: Parental Involvement and Its Relationship with Intercultural Sensitivity

Provisionally accepted
Marian BilbaoMarian Bilbao1*Florencia GuglielmettiFlorencia Guglielmetti2María José Mera-LempMaría José Mera-Lemp3José J PizarroJosé J Pizarro4,5Denisse FernandezDenisse Fernandez1Gonzalo Martínez-ZelayaGonzalo Martínez-Zelaya3
  • 1Alberto Hurtado University, Santiago, Chile
  • 2Gabriela Mistral University, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
  • 3Viña del Mar University, Viña del Mar, V Valparaíso Region, Chile
  • 4Departamento de Métodos de Psicología Social y Ciencias del Comportamiento, Universidad del País Vasco, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
  • 5Catholic University of the North, Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile

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This study explores the role of intercultural sensitivity in predicting immigrant parental involvement in early education in Chile. Using a sample of 347 immigrant parents, we assessed parental involvement levels, intercultural sensitivity, and perceived facilitators and barriers to participation, with several sociodemographic variables. Results from multinomial logistic regression showed that higher intercultural sensitivity significantly predicted greater parental involvement in children's educational activities. Parents with lower intercultural sensitivity were 75% more likely to report "almost never" participating than those with high intercultural sensitivity. The educational level also played a role, as parents with technical education were significantly less involved than those with university education. Among facilitators, a positive climate among parents increased the odds of always participating, while the presence of other immigrant families in school paradoxically correlated with lower involvement. Regarding barriers, parents who perceived that the school lacked a special approach for immigrant families were 3.79 times more likely to report low participation. These findings highlight the importance of fostering intercultural sensitivity in school communities to enhance immigrant parental engagement in early education. Implications for educational policy and practices promoting inclusive and culturally responsive environments are discussed.

Keywords: immigrant parents, parental involvement, intercultural sensitivity, immigrant early education, Intercultural education

Received: 30 Jan 2025; Accepted: 15 Apr 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Bilbao, Guglielmetti, Mera-Lemp, Pizarro, Fernandez and Martínez-Zelaya. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Marian Bilbao, Alberto Hurtado University, Santiago, Chile

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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