Large Family Contexts in Inclusive Education: Lights and Shadows from a Bibliometric Perspective

Abstract

Across the literature, family involvement is recognized as a key factor for academic progress, inclusive education and personal development. However, family size is rarely examined in bibliometric analyses, despite growing attention to socioeconomic and family-related factors influencing educational participation and inequality. Although empirical evidence does not establish a direct relationship between family size and inclusive education, existing research suggests that inclusive practices are more effective when family-related challenges are acknowledged. This study maps the representation of large families within the literature addressing educational inequality, participation, and inclusion-related processes. A bibliometric and co-occurrence analysis of 395 Web of Science publications (retrieved March 2026) was conducted using VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel. Findings revealed that research emerged in the 1990s and expanded after 2016, with the United States, Ethiopia, and China as leading contributors. Six thematic clusters were identified: socioeconomic participation, child vulnerability, educational outcomes, fertility and gender dynamics, and household-level constraints. Results indicate that large families are unevenly addressed, appearing more frequently in research on educational inequality than in inclusive education. Based on these findings, the study proposes a conceptual framework describing the “lights and shadows” of large family contexts in inclusive education, capturing both constraining and enabling dimensions associated with family structure.