From Home to School: Parental Education, Relationships, and Student Engagement in Chinese VET Contexts

ABSTRACT Parental education plays a key role in shaping children's development as part of their family background. However, less attention has been given to students' actual school experiences, especially in the context of vocational education and training (VET). This study explores the influence of maternal and paternal education on the parent–child relationship and student engagement. Based on data from 810 students across six vocational schools in China, SmartPLS‐SEM was utilized to conduct multiple data analyses. The findings indicate that maternal education plays a pivotal role in strengthening engagement, particularly by fostering affective closeness and strong parent–child bonds. Conversely, higher paternal education was associated with lower perceived father–child relationship quality, highlighting complex dynamics in father–child interactions. Additionally, rural students benefit more from parental education, underlining the compensatory role of family involvement in resource‐limited contexts. The findings suggest the need for targeted interventions, such as empowering mothers in less‐educated households, implementing father involvement programs to address relational distance in highly educated families, and designing rural education policies that leverage parental engagement as a key driver of student motivation.