The thesis provides a theoretical generalization and scientific solution to the problem of forming readiness for conscious parenting among high school students, which consisted in the theoretical justification and experimental verification of pedagogical conditions to improve the efficiency of this process. The feasibility of studying this issue has been caused by the need to overcome the contradictions between: the state's need to improve the social status of the family, to clarify its pedagogical potential and insufficient use of this potential in real practice; between the growing demands of the society for the readiness of young students for conscious parenting and the negative dynamics in the formation of this readiness; the urgent need of teachers and curators in institutions of higher education in the contemporary complex of scientific and methodological support of the process of forming readiness for conscious parenthood among students and the lack of such a complex in higher education. The scientific novelty of the research results is as follows: pedagogical conditions for the formation of readiness for conscious parenting of students in institutions of higher education have been theoretically substantiated and experimentally verified; the essence of conscious parenting as a process of interaction between parents and children and with each other on the basis of a conscious attitude to their parental responsibilities, introspection of their own motives, activities and behavior, perception of each family member as an unconditional value and as a system that includes relevant knowledge, skills, values, parental guidance, feelings, attitudes, positions, qualities, styles of family upbringing; readiness of students for conscious parenthood as a stable personal formation, characterized by a conscious focus on the birth of a child, a conscious choice to be a father (mother), a responsible attitude to parental functions, the acquisition of necessary knowledge and skills for child care and upbringing; structural components of this readiness (motivational, cognitive, personal, activity-oriented, axiological) and their content as well as criteria, indicators, levels of formation of this readiness; methods, forms, and means of forming readiness for conscious parenting of students in institution of higher education have been further developed; the development of the concept of parenthood in historical retrospect has been clarified and analyzed.
