<p>Nowadays, parents of secondary school students in mainland China are increasingly anxious about their children’s education, a concern can that negatively impact the well-beings of both parents and children. Mothers, in particular, often exhibit higher levels of education anxiety compared to fathers. Previous research has established that women are generally more susceptible to anxiety and that mothers tend to be more involved in parenting. This study aimed to determine whether gender itself is a primary factor in heightened educational anxiety among mothers or if their greater involvement in their children’s education contributes more significantly to their elevated levels of concern. We collected data from 794 parents of secondary school students using two questionnaires: Parenting Anxiety Scale and Parenting Involvement Questionnaire, then applied mediation analysis to test whether behavior management involvement mediated the effects of gender on parental educational anxiety, and a two-fold Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to test whether gender per se or parents’ behavior management involvements caused the difference in parental educational anxiety between mothers and fathers. The results revealed that mothers exhibited significantly higher levels of educational anxiety compared to fathers. Behavioral management involvement emerged as a significant mediator in this relationship. Specifically, mothers were more involved in managing their children’s behavior, which partially explained the gender disparity in educational anxiety. Notably, gender itself did not directly influence parental educational anxiety; rather, the degree of behavioral management involvement played a more substantial role. The findings of our study shed light on measures we can take to ease the stress of Chinese mother face.</p>