Effects of Parental Science Expectations on the Science Interests of Yi Junior High School Students in China: The Chain Mediating Role of Science Experience and Science Self-Efficacy

Currently, the issue of educational equity and balanced regional educational development for minority groups is receiving enormous attention. This study explored the influence of parental science expectations on science interests and related mediating effects on Yi junior high school students in China’s largest Yi-inhabited region. The results of the study found that parental science expectations significantly predicted the science interests of Yi junior high school students; science interests, science experience, and science self-efficacy played a chain mediating role between parental science expectations and science interests; minority areas are likely to suffer from a lack of science resources due to economic and environmental factors, parents’ failure to properly understand the value of science, and students’ lack of extracurricular science experiences, thereby resulting in minority students’ loss of interest in science. Therefore, there is a strong need to improve the science expectations of parents of minority students for their children, increase opportunities for minority students to participate in hands-on science activities and gain access to science media, and enhance their sense of science self-efficacy. These efforts are conducive to promoting increased interest in science among minority middle school students and enhancing educational equity and sustainable social development.