Using 1,294 fifth and tenth graders who were attending public schools and living in both parents
families in Busan, and their mothers, the study investigated the relationship between maternal
employment and the child's educational aspirations by gender and grade level. The results of the full
sample of fifth and tenth graders showed that after controlling for the child's gender and grade level,
family income, maternal involvement, and parents' educational expectations, maternal employment
influenced children's educational aspirations negatively. The results analyzed separately by the child's
gender and grade level revealed that full-time maternal employment and the number of hours worked
had negative effects on girls'(but not boys') and fifth graders'(but not tenth graders') educational
aspirations. And maternal involvement and parents' educational expectations in part mediated the
negative effects of maternal employment on children's educational aspirations, suggesting that the
harmful effect of maternal employment on children's educational aspirations, especially girls' and fifth
graders' educational aspirations, can be compensated for by working mothers' involvement in
children's education. These findings, gender and age differences, and suggestions for the future study
were discussed.