How does father involvement matter for children’s school readiness in East Asia?

This systematic review aims to synthesize empirical studies investigating the relationship between father involvement and children’s school readiness in East Asia. Both “father involvement” and “school readiness” are multidimensional constructs and literature has been inconsistent in how both constructs should be measured. Due to the educational context in East Asia, “school readiness” has a different connotation in East Asia. This study plans to adopt an inclusive approach in defining father involvement and school readiness and aims to examine , in the context of East Asia, (1) the overall relationships between the two variables, (2) whether any components of father involvement are more strongly related to overall school readiness than other components, (3) whether father involvement is more strongly related to certain school readiness outcomes than others. Related individual, familial, extra-familial and cultural variables will be examined as moderators. Implications for future research, intervention and educational instructions will also be explored.