The effects of socio-economic development on student academic performance and life plans: A cross-national analysis

Abstract

This paper investigates the independent effects of country-level socio-economic variables, home background variables, and school variables on science knowledge and career plans. The data are taken from standardized questionnaires and tests in eighteen countries conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) on national random samples of students. Country-level variables were added to the individual student files, all samples were reduced to approximately equal size for each country, and the data from the countries were pooled, giving a total sample size of 18,000 students. PLS path modelling procedures with latent variables were applied. The main findings show that the level of socioeconomic development exercises an independent positive effect on academic performance in science, but a negative effect on the career orientation of students. These findings are discussed in the context of variations in the relationship between education and employment choice across different development levels of countries. Possible social consequences and policy implications are suggested.