Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-s22k5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-04T12:29:42.899Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Socioeconomic status and wellbeing as predictors of students’ academic achievement: evidence from a developing country

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2021

Cahit Erdem  and
Metin Kaya
Cahit Erdem*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
Metin Kaya
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Bayburt University, Bayburt, Turkey
*
*Corresponding author. Email: cahiterdem@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and wellbeing (WB) on students’ academic achievement, particularly in developing countries; thus, it becomes necessary to understand the nature of these concurrent relationships. This study aimed to explore the relationships between SES, WB and academic achievement, based on the data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018 within the Turkish context. In this cross-sectional study, we used hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis to explore how the independent variables predicted academic achievement in blocks based on data from 6890 students attending 186 schools. The study revealed that the model, including the independent variables, predicted students’ achievement in reading, mathematics and science; however, the prediction level of demographic factors and domains of WB were very low, while SES had the highest prediction level. The results offer insights into the predictors of academic achievement and educational inequalities in the context of a developing country.

Keywords

Wellbeingacademic achievementsocioeconomic statuseducational inequalitiespredictors of academic performance
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , December 2023 , pp. 202 - 220
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amholt, T.T., Dammeyer, J., Carteri, R., & Niclasen, J. (2020). Psychological well-being and academic achievement among school-aged children: A systematic review. Child Indicators Research, 13, 1523–1548.10.1007/s12187-020-09725-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aslanargun, E., Bozkurt, S., & Sarıoğlu, S. (2016). The impacts of socioeconomic variables on the academic success of the students. Uşak University Journal of Social Sciences, 3, 214–234.Google Scholar
Avvisati, F. (2020). The measure of socioeconomic status in PISA: A review and some suggested improvements. Large-Scale Assessments in Education, 8, 1–37.10.1186/s40536-020-00086-xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bae, D., & Wickrama, K.A.S. (2015). Family socioeconomic status and achievement among Korean adolescents: Linking mechanisms of family processes and adolescents’ time use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 35, 1014–1038.10.1177/0272431614549627CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, E.H. (2014). Socioeconomic status, definition. In Cockerham, W.C., Dingwall, R., & Quah, S.R. (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of health, illness, behavior, and society (pp. 2210–2214). Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boarini, R., Kolev, A., & McGregor, A. (2014). Measuring well-being and progress in countries at different stages of development: Towards a more universal conceptual framework. OECD Development Centre Working Papers 325, https://doi.org/10.1787/5jxss4hv2d8n-en.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borgonovi, F., & Pál, J. (2016). A framework for the analysis of student well-being in the PISA 2015 Study: Being 15 in 2015. OECD Education Working Papers 140. http://doi.org/10.1787/5jlpszwghvvb-en CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In Richardson, J. (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. Greenwood.Google Scholar
Bryan, J., Williams, J.M., & Griffin, D. (2020). Fostering educational resilience and opportunities in urban schools through equity-focused school–family–community partnerships. Professional School Counseling, 23, 1–14.10.1177/2156759X19899179CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bücker, S., Nuraydin, S., Simonsmeier, B.A., Schneider, M., & Luhmann, M. (2018). Subjective well-being and academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 74, 83–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caro, D.H. (2009). Socio-economic status and academic achievement trajectories from childhood to adolescence. Canadian Journal of Education, 32, 558–590.Google Scholar
Coleman, J.S., Campbell, E.Q., Hobson, C.J., McPartland, J., Mood, A.M., Weinfeld, F.D., & York, R.L. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Conger, R.D., & Conger, K.J. (2002). Resilience in Midwestern families: Selected findings from the first decade of a prospective, longitudinal study. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 361–373.10.1111/j.1741-3737.2002.00361.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooke, P.J., Melchert, T.P., & Connor, K. (2016). Measuring well-being: A review of instruments. The Counselling Psychologist, 44, 730–757. doi: 10.1177/0011000016633507 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crede, J., Wirthwein, L., McElvany, N., & Steinmayr, R. (2015). Adolescents’ academic achievement and life satisfaction: The role of parents’ education. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–8.10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00052CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Creswell, J.W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Boston, MA: Pearson.Google Scholar
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2008). Hedonia, eudaimonia, and well-being: An introduction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 1–11.10.1007/s10902-006-9018-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diaconu-Gherasim, L.R., Tepordei, A-M., Mairean, C., & Rusu, A. (2019). Intelligence beliefs, goal orientations and children’s academic achievement: Does the children’s gender matter? Educational Studies, 1, 95–112.Google Scholar
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psycholgist, 55, 34–43. doi: 10.1037//0003-066X.55.1.34 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Pietro, G., Biagi, F., Costa, P., Karpiński, Z., & Mazza, J. (2020). The likely impact of COVID-19 on education: Reflections based on the existing literature and recent international datasets. Publications Office of the European Union.Google Scholar
Dodge, R., Daly, A.P., Huyton, J., & Anders, L.D. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2, 222–235. doi: 10.5502/ijw.v2i3.4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erdem, C., & Kaya, M. (2020). A meta-analysis of the effect of parental involvement on students’ academic achievement. Journal of Learning for Development, 7, 367–383.10.56059/jl4d.v7i3.417CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fan, H., Li, D., Zhou, W., Jiao, L., & Zhang, L. (2020). Parents’ personality traits and children’s subjective well-being: A chain mediating model. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01078-4 Google Scholar
Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics. Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Forgeard, M.J.C., Jayawickreme, E., Kern, M.L., & Seligman, M.E. (2011). Doing the right thing: Measuring wellbeing for public policy. International Journal of Wellbeing, 1, 79–106.Google Scholar
George, D., & Mallery, M. (2010). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference, 17.0 update. Boston: Pearson Google Scholar
Gregory, T., Dal Grande, E., Brushe, M., Engelhardt, D., Luddy, S., Guhn, M., Gadermann, A., Schonert-Reichl, K.A., & Brinkman, S. (2021). Associations between school readiness and student well-being: A six year follow-up study. Child Indicators Research, 14, 369–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gutman, L.M., & Feinstein, L. (2008). Pupil and school effects on children’s well-being. DCSF.Google Scholar
Gutman, L. M., & Vorhaus, J. (2012). The impact of pupil behavior and wellbeing on educational outcomes. Childhood Wellbeing Center.Google Scholar
Karaağaç Cingöz, Z., & Gür, B.S. (2020). \Ekonomik, Sosyal ve Kültürel Statünün Akademik Başarıya Etkisi: PISA 2015 ve TEOG 2017 Sonuçlarının Karşılaştırılması [The effect of economic, social and cultural status on academic achievement: A comparison of PISA 2015 and TEOG 2017 results]. The Journal of Humanity and Society, 10, 1–42.Google Scholar
Karadağ, E. (Ed.). (2017). The factors effecting student achievement: Meta-analysis of empirical studies. Springer International Publishing.10.1007/978-3-319-56083-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaya, M., & Erdem, C. (2021). Students’ well-being and academic achievement: A meta-analysis study. Child Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-021-09821-4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keyes, C.L.M. (1998). Social well-being. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61, 121–140.10.2307/2787065CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, S.W., Cho, H., & Kim, L.Y. (2019). Socioeconomic status and academic outcomes in developing countries: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 89, 875–916.10.3102/0034654319877155CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkcaldy, B., Furnham, A., & Siefen, G. (2004). The relationship between health efficacy, educational attainment, and well-being among 30 nations. European Psychologist, 9, 107–119.10.1027/1016-9040.9.2.107CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, S., Xu, Q., & Xia, R. (2020). Relationship between SES and academic achievement of junior high school students in China: The mediating effect of self-concept. Frontiers in Psychology, 10.10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02513CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linley, P.A., & Joseph, S. (Eds.). (2004). Applied positive psychology: A new perspective for professional practice. In Positive psychology in practice (pp. 3–14). Wiley.10.1002/9780470939338.ch1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, J., Peng, P., & Luo, L. (2019). The relation between family socioeconomic status and academic achievement in China: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 32, 1–28.Google Scholar
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (2015). The condition of education. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_tva.pdf Google Scholar
Okoye, N.S., & Okecha, R.E. (2008). The interaction of logical reasoning ability and socio-economic status on achievement in genetics among secondary school students in Nigeria. College Student Journal, 42, 617–624 Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2017). PISA 2015 Technical Report. OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2019a). PISA 2018 Results (Volume II): Where All Students Can Succeed. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/b5fd1b8f-en.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2019b). PISA 2018 Assessment and Analytical Framework. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/b25efab8-en.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Özdemir, C. (2016). Equity in the Turkish education system: A multilevel analysis of social background influences on the mathematics performance of 15-year-old students. European Educational Research Journal, 15, 193–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phan, H.P., Ngu, B.H., & Alrashidi, O. (2016). Role of student well-being: A study using structural equation modeling. Psychological Reports, 119, 77–105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rüppel, F., Liersch, S., & Walter, U. (2015). The influence of psychological well-being on academic success.” Journal of Public Health, 23, 15–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollard, E.L., & Lee, P.D. (2003). Child well-being: A systematic review of the literature. Social Indicators Research, 61, 59–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reardon, S.F. (2011). The widening academic achievement gap between the rich and the poor: New evidence and possible explanations. Russell Sage Foundation Press.Google Scholar
Reardon, S.F., Valentino, R.A., Kalogrides, D., Shores, K.A., & Greenberg, E.H. (2013). Patterns and Trends in Racial Academic Achievement Gaps among states, 1999–2011. –https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/patterns-and-trends-racial-academic-achievement-gaps-among-states-1999–2011 Google Scholar
Ripple, C.H., & Luthar, S.S. (2000). Academic risk among inner-city adolescents: The role of personal attributes. Journal of School Psychology, 38, 277–298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryff, C.D., & Keyes, C.L.M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719–727.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sarıer, Y. (2016). The factors that affect students’ academic achievement in Turkey: A meta-analysis study. Hacettepe University Journal of Education, 31, 1–19.10.16986/HUJE.2016015868CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sirin, S.R. (2005). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Review of Educational Research, 75, 417–453.10.3102/00346543075003417CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smeding, A., Darnon, C., Souchal, C., Toczek-Capelle, M.C., & Butera, F. (2013). Reducing the socio-economic status achievement gap at university by promoting mastery-oriented assessment. PLoS ONE, 8.Google ScholarPubMed
Soykan, A., Gardner, D., & Edwards, T. (2019). Subjective wellbeing in New Zealand teachers: An examination of the role of psychological capital. Journal of Psychologists and Counselors in Schools, 29, 130–138. doi: 10.1017/jgc.2019.14 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strøm, I.F., Thoresen, S., Wentzel-Larsen, T., & Dyb, G. (2013). Violence, bullying and academic achievement: A study of 15-year-old adolescents and their school environment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 3, 243–251.10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.10.010CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suldo, S., Thalji, A., & Ferron, J. (2011). Longitudinal academic outcomes predicted by early adolescents’ subjective well-being, psychopathology, and mental health status yielded from a dual factor model. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 17–30.10.1080/17439760.2010.536774CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suna, H.E., Tanberkan, H., Gür, B.S., Perc, M., & Özer, M. (2020). Socioeconomic status and school type as predictors of academic achievement. Journal of Economy Culture and Society, 61, 41–64. https://doi.org/10.26650/JECS2020-0034 Google Scholar
Thomson, S. (2018). Achievement at school and socioeconomic background: An educational perspective. Npj Science of Learning 3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-018-0022-0 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ungar, M., & Liebenberg, L. (2011). Assessing resilience across cultures using mixed methods: Construction of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 5, 126–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villalba, C.M.H. (2014). Socioeconomic status (SES). In Michalos, A.C. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research. Springer.Google Scholar
Voyer, D., & Voyer, S.D. (2014). Gender differences in scholastic achievement: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 1174–1204. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036620 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wanberg, C.R., Csillag, B., Douglass, R.P., Zhou, L., & Pollard, M.S. (2020). Socioeconomic status and well-being during COVID-19: A resource-based examination. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105, 1382–1396. http://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000831 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiss, L.A., Wasterhof, G.J., & Bohlmeijer, E.T. (2016). Can we increase psychological well-being? The effects of interventions on psychological well-being: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PLoS ONE, 11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158092 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitley, A.M., Huebner, E.S., Hills, K.J., & Valois, R.F. (2012). Can students be too happy in school? The optimal level of school satisfaction. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 7, 337–350.Google Scholar
Winding, T.N., & Andersen, J.H. (2015). Socioeconomic differences in school dropout among young adults: The role of social relations. BMC Public Health 15, Article number 1054.10.1186/s12889-015-2391-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witter, R.A., Okun, A.M., Stock, W.A., & Haring, M.J. (1984). Education and subjective well-being: A meta-analysis. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 6, 165–173.10.3102/01623737006002165CrossRefGoogle Scholar