Effect of Parental Socioeconomic Status on Educational Outcome of Tertiary Level Students at Khulna University

Students' academic performance is impacted by socioeconomic circumstances, which have a substantial impact on the socialization process and are directly related to the role and position of their parents. It is essential to evaluate the extent to which socioeconomic issues influence academic achievement at the tertiary level in order to fulfill the democratic aim of equitable educational opportunity. Thus, the goal of this study is to examine the effects of parents’ socioeconomic status on academic performance of tertiary level students in Khulna University. The sample constitutes 94 students’ who are randomly selected from Khulna University by using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, hypothesis and Tobit regression have been used to fulfill the objective of the study. This study finds that higher parental education correlates with higher academic performance, with 43.96% of fathers and 17.39% of mothers having education above higher secondary. Higher income families (36.17%) also show better academic performance. Hypothesis test finds that number of family members and extra-curricular activities significantly relate to academic performance. Regression result finds that male students and students from joint families have lower academic outcome. Alternatively, parental education, high income and high class profession positively affect the academic performance. Therefore, it is needed to enlighten and sharpen parents’ awareness of the importance and impact cultural practice, attitudes and behavior play in influencing students’ performance.