Disadvantaged Family Backgrounds Research Articles

School‑Friendly Parents? Characteristics of Parents’ Involvement in Vocational Schools in Hungary

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to examine parental involvement in schools with higher dropout rates, lower dropout rates and disadvantaged family backgrounds. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: In our study, we focus on vocational schools that do not offer a baccalaureate (matura) degree as well as vocational schools that do offer a baccalaureate (matura) degree. In the present study, we used data from a large sample database in Hungary. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: . A number of international studies have examined the importance of parental involvement, especially for pre‑school children and primary school students. Few studies have focussed on parental involvement in secondary education, especially in Hungary where it has only recently become a focus of educational research, but the relationship between secondary education and parental involvement has only been partially investigated. RESEARCH RESULTS: Our results show that we need to pay more attention to these two types of schools. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND APPLICABLE VALUE OF RESEARCH: Based on our questions on parents’ involvement in school, we obtained several significant results. Of the barriers we investigated, we found one to be relevant. Our study is exploratory in nature and aims to gather data and information on parents of VET students. Our objective was to obtain results relevant to VET.

Grandparental income and adverse neonatal outcomes in Finland in 2000 − 2015

Abstract Background Pre-term births and other adverse neonatal outcomes are a major burden to healthcare systems, and they also contribute to long-term health problems. Socioeconomic inequalities in these outcomes are well-documented, but whether grandparental characteristics influence them over and above parental characteristics remains unclear. Methods We used population register data on all singleton children of non-migrant origin, born in Finland in 2000 − 2015 (n = 341,715), linked to their both biological parents and all four grandparents, including an indicator for deceased kin members. We examined whether grandparental income predicted grandchildren's neonatal outcomes (preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age, congenital malformations) in addition to parental income, once accounting for sociodemographic family characteristics such as parental age, parity, education, family structure, and maternal smoking. Results We found a consistent association between lower income and adverse neonatal outcomes, for both mothers and fathers, as well as maternal and paternal grandparents. The gradient was stronger among young mothers (under age 25), e.g., the prevalence of being born small for gestational age was 11% for the highest parental or grandparental income quintile, while for the lowest it ranged from 13 to 15%. Overall, the income gradients clearly attenuated in adjusted models, but remained. Preliminary results suggest grandparental characteristics mainly influence grandchild outcomes through the middle generation, but depending on the outcome, partly independent associations remain. Conclusions Even in the context of a Nordic welfare state, offspring of lower income grandparents are at higher risk of adverse neonatal outcomes, particularly when born to young mothers. This influence mainly, but not fully, passes through the parental generation, suggesting more support should be offered to expecting parents with low income and from disadvantaged backgrounds. Key messages • Lower grandparental income predicts higher risk of adverse neonatal outcomes, particularly when born to young mothers. • Expecting parents with low income and disadvantaged family background should be supported to reduce adverse neonatal outcomes.

Horizontal Advantage: Choice of Postsecondary Field of Study Among Children of Immigrants.

Educational expansion has raised the influence of sorting across postsecondary educational fields on children's future life chances. Yet, little is known about horizontal ethnic stratification in the choice of field of study among children of immigrant parents, whose parents often have moderate absolute levels of education relative to native-born parents but tend to be positively selected on education relative to nonmigrants in the origin country. Using rich administrative data from Norway, we study the educational careers of immigrant descendants relative to the careers of children of native-born parents. Our results show that children of immigrants from non-European countries have a higher likelihood of entering higher education and enrolling in high-paying fields of study compared with children of natives, despite having poorer school grades and disadvantaged family backgrounds. However, immigrant parents' positive selectivity provides limited insight into why children of immigrants exhibit high ambitions later in their postsecondary educational careers. These findings document a persistent pattern of horizontal ethnic advantage in postsecondary education in which ambitious children of immigrants are more likely to enter into more prestigious and economically rewarding fields of study than their fellow students with native-born parents.

What drives academic peer effects in middle school classrooms in China: Peer composition or peer performance?

This quasi-experimental study estimates academic peer effects in China's middle school (7th–9th grade) classrooms, using data from a large-scale nationally representative survey of middle schoolers in China. Our study design circumvents endogenous sorting by focusing on 52 schools that randomly assigned incoming 7th graders to different 7th-grade classes. Further, reverse causality is addressed by regressing students' 8th-grade test scores on their (randomly assigned) classmates' average 7th-grade test scores. Our analysis reals that all else equal, a one-standard-deviation increase in (8th-grade) classmates' average 7th-grade test scores raises an individual student's 8th-grade mathematics and English test scores, respectively, by 0.13–0.18 and 0.11–0.17 standard deviations. These estimates remain stable when peer characteristics examined in related peer-effect studies are included in the model. Further analysis reveals that peer effects work through raising individual students' time spent studying per week and their confidence in learning. Finally, classroom peer effects are found to be heterogeneous across subgroups: larger for boys, academically stronger students, students attending better schools (i.e., schools with smaller classes and urban schools), and students with relatively disadvantaged family backgrounds (e.g., lower levels of parental education and family wealth).

Diverse Social Mobility Trajectories: Portrait of Children of New Immigrants in Taiwan

The present study examines the social mobility trajectories of children of new immigrants (those who have at least one new immigrant parent) in early adulthood (between the ages of 18 and 40) in Taiwan. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and online surveys. The findings demonstrate that there is no significant difference between the participating children of new immigrants and the general population in higher education attendance rate and annual income. Family socioeconomic status appears to be a significant factor in shaping their social mobility trajectories. Participants with a stable family financial situation are generally more advantaged, as seven out of eleven of them have graduated from a reputable university and have well-paid jobs. Nonetheless, there are some participants from a disadvantaged family background who have achieved upward mobility because their parents hold a positive attitude toward education and have found ways to support their education. There are other factors that have helped them overcome barriers posed by their family backgrounds such as supportive people, non-governmental organizations, and government policy. Although ethnic identity is trivial in this process generally, it is salient in certain situations thanks to relevant policy programs. The government’s recent emphasis on Southeast Asian languages and cultures and policy programs targeting children of new immigrants have made more choices available to them, which can be observed from their diverse social mobility trajectories.

Fertility Intentions and Sexual Orientation: Evidence from the 2020 Youth Survey in Estonia

Attitudes towards sexual minorities have undergone a transformation in Western countries recently. This has led to an increase in research into the experiences of sexual minorities in a variety of life domains. Although parenthood is a valued life goal only a few small-scale studies have looked into the parenthood goals of individuals in relation to their sexual orientation. The aims of this study are to analyse the diversity of sexual orientation, the factors associated with it and the relationship to fertility intentions among adolescents aged 16 to 19. The study draws on a nationally representative youth survey conducted in 2020 in Estonia (N = 1624), and employs descriptive methods and logistic and linear regression models. The results show that adolescents in Estonia exhibit considerable diversity of sexual orientation, with one-fifth reporting some degree of attraction to their own sex. The minority sexual orientation is more frequent among groups which can be regarded as more open or exposed to new behaviours, but is also associated with a disadvantaged family background. The results reveal a clear negative association between the intended number of children and the minority sexual orientation, which is not explained by other available variables.

The Changing Determinants of Juvenile Crime

Abstract Following decades of increasing crime rates in the U.S., crime participation declined substantially throughout the 1990s, and have remained low in the 2000s. Using the 1979 and 1997 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we identify the determinants of criminal involvement and antisocial behavior. In the 1980s compared to the 2000s, youth from disadvantaged family backgrounds, those with lower skills, and those in urban areas were more disproportionately represented in crime participation. Our results suggest that most of the decline in crime is related to changes in the socio-economic environment and public policy shifts.

The impact of head teacher praise and criticism on adolescent non-cognitive skills: Evidence from China.

Although the importance of teacher feedback has been confirmed by a great number of studies, the association of head teacher praise and criticism with adolescents' non-cognitive skills still needs more deeper and more extensive research. Therefore, how to improve the non-cognitive skills of adolescents, especially those with disadvantaged family and economic backgrounds, has become a key concern in the field of educational practice. Based on CEPS data, this paper used panel regression and PSM-DID methods to analyze the impact of head teacher feedback on an adolescent's non-cognitive skills measured by the big-five personality scale. It found that praise from head teachers favorably influenced adolescents' extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness, yet significantly mitigates their neuroticism. Meanwhile, the effect of criticism from head teachers is bi-facial: It made a positive effect on adolescents' extraversion and openness but impaired their conscientiousness and neuroticism. As rural adolescents notably lag in their non-cognitive skills and are much less likely to be praised by head teachers compared to their urban peers, we estimate that when rural adolescents are frequently praised by their head teachers at the same level as urban students, their gap in extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and conscientiousness would be narrowed by 12.51%, 16.58%, 11.35%, 14.25%, and 24.29%. This finding has significant implications for head teacher teaching and adolescent well-being. The study examined the effects of head teacher praise and criticism on adolescent non-cognitive skills. The results showed that adolescents who were often praised by head teachers developed better non-cognitive skills. While the effect of head teacher criticism was two-sided: it enhances extraversion and openness as well as heightens neuroticism and corrupts conscientiousness. We further analyzed the urban-rural gap in non-cognitive skills and found that rural adolescents significantly lagged, and they have a lower possibility to be often praised by the head teacher, but a higher probability to be criticized. Through the PSM-DID quasi-experimental design, it was suggested that more head teacher praise can improve the non-cognitive skills among adolescents. When rural adolescents are estimated to receive the same amount of praise as urban adolescents, the disparities reduction in their non-cognitive skills can become possible. Our findings are of great significance to promote adolescent non-cognitive skills development and improve educational equity in urban and rural areas.

Ethnic enclaves, early school leaving, and adolescent crime among immigrant youth

Abstract Spatial concentration of immigrant minorities raises concerns about the intergenerational consequences of place-based ethnic inequalities. This study asks how socioeconomic properties of the ethnic neighbourhood environment during adolescence predict future criminal behaviour and early school leaving among immigrant youth using administrative data from Norway. The results show that immigrant youth’s adolescent exposure to better-educated immigrant neighbours from the same origin country is related to lower risks of criminal engagement and higher likelihoods of completing upper-secondary education, while growing up in areas with less-educated coethnics is associated with adverse outcomes. Although effect sizes are modest, these relationships are robust to adjustment for a broad set of background characteristics and fixed effects at the level of neighbourhoods and national-origin groups. Coethnic neighbours’ educational resources are more strongly associated with adolescent crime and early school leaving among immigrant youth from disadvantaged family backgrounds. Overall, these findings support the predictions of influential theories of assimilation which emphasize that access to social capital and socioeconomic resources found within local ethnic enclaves shape the future life chances of immigrant youth.

Psychosocial reserve capacity, family background and selection of an educational path – a longitudinal study from Finland

ABSTRACT Finnish students start academic or vocational track in upper secondary education at age 16 years. Track placement is based on grades, but family background and psychosocial resources may have influences. Using 2014 survey data of Grade 9 students in Helsinki Metropolitan area linked to the Joint Application Registry data as of 2017, we fitted two-level, sex-stratified, generalized structural equation models to determine how reserve capacity (academic self-efficacy and social support), family background, and the comprehensive schools predict track placement. Adjusting for the effect of grades, low reserve capacity and disadvantaged family background increased probabilities of vocational track and non-placement of students. Schools also affected track placement, suggesting differences among comprehensive schools in the area. Findings imply that building reserve capacities of adolescents, through enhancing academic self-efficacy and social support, particularly in those with disadvantaged backgrounds, could increase chances of academic track placement in upper secondary school.

Do Students Prioritize Majors or Specific Colleges? Analyzing the Factors That Influence Preferences in China

China’s college entrance examination has always been regarded as a system that promotes social stability and sustainable development. Students with different characteristics may have dissimilar professional aspirations. Due to the increasing popularity of higher education in China, these characteristics may constitute new influences among students’ professional priorities and educational preferences, and it is interesting to explore how such characteristics, especially family backgrounds, affect these choices. Compared to previous investigations, this study conducted a more systematic and quantitative empirical examination of family background. Accordingly, we used data obtained through a survey on higher education reform conducted by the Graduate School of Education at Peking University. Results showed that family backgrounds significantly influenced student priorities when deciding whether majors or specific colleges were most important. When deliberating over the “unpopular majors” offered at higher-level colleges/universities and the “popular majors” offered at relatively lower-level colleges, students with comparatively advantageous family backgrounds were more likely to prioritize specific colleges; that is, they were more willing to choose higher-level colleges than “popular majors” at lower-level colleges. Conversely, students with relatively disadvantaged family backgrounds were more likely to prioritize majors; that is, they were more willing to forego higher-level colleges/universities in favor of “popular majors” at relatively lower-level colleges.

Fostering creative thinking in the family: The importance of parenting styles

Family plays an important role in students’ creative thinking development. However, the effect of parenting styles on creative thinking remains unclear. Using a sample of 2,143 students from a high school in northern China (58.47% girls; Mage = 16.45), the study examined the relationship between parenting styles and creative thinking. We find that the dimension of parental emotional warmth is positively related to students’ creative thinking, while parental rejection and overprotection are negatively associated with creative thinking. Father's emotional warmth has a larger positive effect on creative thinking than mother's, while maternal rejection and overprotection have a greater negative effect on creative thinking than father's. We provide some suggestive evidence that students’ internal locus of control and self-esteem mediate the relationship between parenting styles and creative thinking. The results of heterogeneity analysis show that parenting styles play a greater role in the creative thinking of girls, lower grade students, and those with disadvantaged family background. In a sense, parenting interventions that target creative thinking among underprivileged students will yield higher returns. This study unraveled the effect of parenting styles on students’ creative thinking, explored the mechanisms of the development of this relationship, and examined the heterogeneous effects of different groups. Implications, limitations and recommendations for further research were also discussed.

Psychological Distress Among Chinese College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Attitude Toward Online Courses Matter?

Due to the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), taking online courses has become a “new normality” for college students. This study paid particular attention to the role of college students’ attitude toward online courses (ATOC) in shaping their psychological distress during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Participants were from a national panel survey that has been administered before and during the COVID-19 epidemic. Besides bivariate analysis, a multivariate regression model while adjusting for a lagged dependent variable (i.e., pre-COVID distress) was estimated to show the association between ATOC and during-COVID distress. We found that respondents from a disadvantaged family background (i.e., below-college parental education, below-average family economic condition, and rural residence) were more likely to have an “unsupportive” ATOC. Moreover, both bivariate and multivariate analyses confirmed that respondents with a “neutral” or “unsupportive” ATOC had greater during-COVID psychological distress, compared to their counterparts with a “supportive” ATOC. Given the persistent spread of the COVID-19 worldwide and the profound onsite-online transition in course delivery in higher education, students’ perceptions and evaluations of the massive online courses should be carefully considered and integrated into curriculum reforms in both present and post COVID-19 situations.

Accumulating Roma cultural capital: First-in-family graduates and the role of educational talent support programs in Hungary in mitigating the price of social mobility

Based on 165 in-depth, narrative life story interviews with first generation graduates, fieldwork with educational support initiatives and auto-ethnography, this article contributes to the literature on whether and how structural educational inequality can be compensated by talent support programs and whether and how these programs can mitigate the price of education-driven upward social mobility for those Roma and nonRoma Hungarians who come from socio-economically disadvantaged families. Upwardly mobile Roma who achieve social ascension through academic high achievement usually travel vast social distances that straddle class and ethnic context. Many of their mobility trajectories are accompanied by a set of challenges that are unique to college educated, racialized, underrepresented minorities. To overcome these challenges, and to compensate for the inequality of life chances that originate from their socially and economically disadvantaged family backgrounds and from an unequal and highly selective educational system, upwardly mobile minority students join educational support initiatives or organisations. This paper, drawing on the narratives of our research participants, argues that particular types of these initiatives or charitable foundations that deploy an ethnically targeted complex approach, can equip their beneficiaries with different types of capital. Amongst these, one of the most important is the Roma cultural capital. The newly gained capitals are necessary for the first-in-family Roma mentees to get through higher education and succeed in the labour market in the context of the specific challenges they face. These initiatives mitigate the price of social ascension the most. The paper uses a case study of Romaversitas to demonstrate its main findings.

Resilience and inclusion. Evaluation of an educational support programme

ABSTRACT Our study presents the phenomena of inclusion and resilience through a Hungarian education programme (Arany János Programme) aimed at enhancing equity. The focus of the research conducted in 2017/2018 was to explore the family backgrounds and personal stories of disadvantaged Roma/Gypsy students and youth, as well as to examine the correlation between student success (resilience) and integration of support programmes (inclusive environment). This study focuses on two target groups: students currently enrolled in the programme and students who have already completed the programme. Questionnaire-based data were collected from all of the AJP students (N = 3279). Life path interviews were also conducted with young adults who had finished the programme (N = 28). The research study has identified a correlation between student success (resilience) and the support programmes (inclusive environment), the former manifesting itself despite disadvantaged family backgrounds and lack of initial capital.

After-School Tutoring, Household Substitution and Student Achievement: Experimental Evidence from Rural China

Worldwide children’s access to after-school learning activities is highly dependent on family backgrounds. Concern over the implications of such activities for child development and educational inequality has led to a global rise of public provision of after-school learning support. However little is known about inter-actions of public after-school activities and household investments in children’s learning. This paper contributes to the literature on the effects of public inputs on household inputs and student achievement in after-school settings. We build a model that integrates public and private inputs to produce student achievement through two competing mechanisms – diminishing returns to total inputs and complementarity between public and private inputs. When diminishing returns dominate complementarity, the model predicts the substitution away of private inputs due to increases in public inputs for all households, although the extent of crowding-out is smaller and therefore the test score gains are larger for children from disadvantaged family backgrounds facing higher costs of private inputs. We implement a randomized controlled after-school tutoring experiment in rural China where many children are left-behind by both parents and cared for by grandparents. During the program, tutees living with parents reported large and significant reductions in the amount of tutoring received at home, whereas tutees living apart from both parents reported much smaller, and often insignificant, reductions. We find that tutees’ math scores improved significantly, and more for children living without parents, although there is no evidence for improvement in tutees’ endline reading scores.

Do parental resources moderate the relationship between women’s income and timing of parenthood?

Abstract Previous research has concentrated on the associations between higher incomes and delayed entry into parenthood, disadvantaged family background and early childbirth, and the availability of public childcare and fertility. This paper examines the extent to which parental resources moderate the relationship between women’s income and entry into parenthood, comparing two countries with very different levels of public family support: Finland and the United States. We use Cox regressions with data from the 1979 US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Finnish Census Panel data to demonstrate both striking similarities and differences between the two countries. First, high-income women from disadvantaged backgrounds postpone entry into parenthood in both countries. Second, high parental resources are associated with postponed entry into parenthood among low-income women. However, we find differences between the two countries regarding which parental resource is most influential. While parental income is important in the US, parental education matters most in Finland.

Depression in Later Life: The Role of Adult Children's College Education for Older Parents' Mental Health in the United States.

Research on the socioeconomic gradient in mental health links disadvantaged family background with subsequent symptoms of depression, demonstrating the "downstream" effect of parental resources on children's mental health. This study takes a different approach by evaluating the "upstream" influence of adult children's educational attainment on parents' depressive symptoms. Using longitudinal data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (N = 106,517 person-years), we examine whether children's college attainment influences their parents' mental health in later life and whether this association increases with parental age. We also assess whether the link between children's college completion and parents' depression differs by parents' own education. Parents with children who completed college have significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms than parents without college-educated children, although the gap between parents narrows with age. In addition, at baseline, parents with less than a high school education were more positively affected by their children's college completion than parents who themselves had a college education, a finding which lends support to theories of resource substitution. Offspring education is an overlooked resource that can contribute to mental health disparities among older adults in a country with unequal access to college educations.

Technical and vocational education in China: enrolment and socioeconomic status

ABSTRACT This paper uses a Probit regression model to empirically examine the characteristics of participants in upper-secondary technical and vocational education (TVE), relative to upper-secondary academic schools. Using a nationally representative dataset from China, this study finds that compared with academic schools, participants of upper-secondary TVE tend to come from relatively disadvantaged family backgrounds, particularly in terms of parental education levels. Given TVE enrols a significant proportion (38%) of students at the upper-secondary level, these findings call for government policies aimed at improved equality in education access. This study also finds that students of secondary specialised schools, the most selective type of TVE schools, are more likely to be females. This first empirical study on TVE enrolment in China, the largest developing country, significantly adds to the literature on vocational education.

From dawn till dusk: Implications of full-day care for children’s development

An important issue on the political agenda of many developed countries is the intensive margin of formal child care and, consequently, the effects of expanding the operating hours of child care institutions. We add to this debate by studying the effects of offering full-day child care on child development. Specifically, we analyze the consequences of a substantial increase of full-day slots at the expense of half-day slots and hence, when holding the extensive margin constant. The conversion was triggered by several reforms to the German child care system. Using unique administrative data covering the full population of eight birth cohorts in one West German state, we find that more hours have a negative effect on children’s socio-emotional well-being. Subgroup analysis suggests that this result is driven by children from disadvantaged family backgrounds, especially those from low-education backgrounds, single-parent households and migrant families. On a brighter note, we find that full-day care has a positive effect on the school readiness of immigrant children.