International Journal of Psychological Studies; Vol. 6, No. 3; 2014 ISSN 1918-7211 E-ISSN 1918-722X Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 53 Differences in the Participation of Parents in the Education of Mexican High School Students: Relation with Gender and Level of Studies Angel Alberto Valdés Cuervo 1 , Teodoro Rafael Wendlandt Amezaga 1 , Ernesto Alonso Carlos Martínez 2 & Maricela Urías Murrieta 1 1 Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, Cd. Obregón, Sonora, México 2 Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Cajeme, Cd. Obregón, Sonora, México Correspondence: Angel Alberto Valdés Cuervo, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, Calle 5 de Febrero, No. 818 Sur, C.P. 85000, Cd. Obregón, Sonora, México. E-mail: angel.valdes@itson.edu.mx Received: March 10, 2014 Accepted: June 24, 2014 Online Published: July 30, 2014 doi:10.5539/ijps.v6n3p53 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijps.v6n3p53 Abstract The purposes of the study consisted of describing the profiles of subgroups of the parents of high school students based on their participation in the education of their children and establish the relation of these profiles with the gender and level of studies of fathers and mothers. By using a simple random sampling, 374 parents of high school students were selected to participate; of these, 173 (46.2%) questionnaires were answered by fathers and 201 (53.7%) by mothers. By using a K-means cluster analysis, two subgroups of parents were identified and denominated by their participation as “Low Involvement” (n = 205) and “Moderate Involvement” (n = 169) respectively, which presented differences in all the types of participation evaluated. However, in both groups a similar profile was identified, which is characterized by a high participation in aspects related to education at home and a low level with regard to aspects concerning school management. Furthermore, a relationship was found between females and higher education, with a greater involvement in the education of children. It is concluded that diverse difficulties exist in families who participate within the school management. Keywords: parents, education, participation, Mexico 1. Introduction Education is seen as a crucial resource for improving the quality of life of people in the economic, social and personal spheres. Its importance has been strengthened by the function ascribed to it within a development based on the opportunities created by knowledge (Foro Consultivo Científico y Tecnológico [FCCyT], 2006; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2007). In Latin America, governments and civil society have shown signs of recognizing the value of education as a factor that favors the acquisition of skills in people to improve their quality of life and participate in democratic life. Also, since the past half century there has been a gradual expansion of educational coverage at all levels in the region (Bellei, Poblete, Sepúlveda, Orellana, & Abarca, 2013). However, despite this momentum that has been given to education within the region, the efforts have not yielded the expected results regarding a decline in the levels of poverty and inequality (Fundación para la Implementación, Diseño, Evaluación y Análisis de Políticas Públicas [IDEA], 2008; Paes de Barros, Ferreira, Molinas & Saavedra, 2008). The above leads to believe that is not enough to provide educational opportunities to the population, but it is also necessary that these have relevant, efficient and equitable quality to foster and promote social and economic development. Achieving educational quality is far from being a reality in most Latin American countries and Mexico is not the exception. At all levels of the Mexican educational system difficulties reflected in the quality of education are evident; however, the high school level is perhaps where the problems of educational quality in the country are shown more clearly. To get an idea, in 2013 only 58% of young people aged between 15 to 17 who completed middle school, took part in high school education (Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa [INEE], 2013). Moreover, in an