Parental style and gendered student performance in the South African context of accounting studies

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potentially gendered influence of experienced parental authority style on individual accounting students' academic performance at a large South African university. Data were collected from first-year accountancy students and 953 usable responses were analysed using structural equation modelling. Tests of path invariance were also used to test the moderating influence of gender on the relationships between exposure to parenting style and student performance. Exposure to an authoritarian parental style was found to be negatively associated with student performance. Gender was found to moderate the relationship between exposure to authoritative parenting style and student performance. Experience of an authoritarian parental style was found to be associated with a host of variables representing socio-economic disadvantage. On the basis of these results, it was concluded that the influence of legacy parental style effects may be persistent for individuals who enter university for accountancy studies.