Low Socioeconomic Status Students Research Articles

Will I fit? The impact of social and identity determinants on teamwork in engineering education

In engineering as with many STEM spaces, the environment delivers many cues that affect psychological fit, which affects choices students make. Teamwork experiences can be particularly challenging for equity-deserving students. Using focus groups at a medium-sized multi-cultural Canadian university, we examined how engineering students navigated and experienced teamwork and how that interacted with social determinants (e.g., money and time constraints) and identity, including gender, race, and sexuality. We used the framework of State Authenticity as Fit to Environment to develop themes of teamwork choices, experiences, and outcomes. Social fit (respect from peers) and self-concept fit (whether self-image matches stereotype) affected many choices and experiences including selection of teammates with similar identities or allies. Women and low socio-economic status students sought self-concept fit by avoiding coding within teams. Visibly under-represented students felt pressure to excel to validate self-concept fit. The team environment itself sent messages about social and self-concept fit to many students, though the focus on collaboration and applications with social benefits often aligned with goal fit. These fit-guided choices and threats to fit nudged many students away from engineering careers. Interventions to address factors that cause negative experiences for marginalized students include strategic group composition, supporting mentorship and affinity groups, rotating group roles, structured collaboration, inclusive teamwork training and increasing diversity.

Expected and unexpected long-term effects of values affirmation in school.

An earlier study in a school in England found that a series of brief values affirmation writing exercises, performed over the course of a school year by students aged 11-14, increased the mathematics attainment of students of low socioeconomic status (SES). This pre-registered follow-up of the original study aims to investigate the long-term effects of values affirmation on low-SES students' attainment. The sample consisted of all students in the analytical sample of the original study who remained at the school and for whom the necessary data were available, N = 409 (95 low-SES). The students' results in high-stakes national standardized assessments at age 16, taken two to four years after the affirmation, were analysed. The evidence did not support the pre-registered hypotheses that values affirmation would raise the attainment of low-SES students in mathematics and English. However, exploratory analyses suggested that for low-SES students in two of the three-year groups, the intervention increased Attainment 8, a broad policy-relevant measure of academic attainment, and increased the attainment of boys in English (in particular English Literature) but reduced the corresponding attainment of girls. The results suggest that the benefits of values affirmation can differ by student cohort and by school subject and that they might be time-limited in some circumstances. This suggests a set of hypotheses that future research could test in order to advance understanding of when values affirmation is, and is not, successful for school students over a sustained period.

A critique of ‘Strong Beginnings’ initial teacher education reforms: mandating neuroscience as core curriculum within the ‘what works’ movement

AbstractThe paper studies the rise of neuroscience in initial teacher education, paying attention to the relatively recent Australian Government (2023) report titled ‘Strong Beginnings’. In taking up a critical policy sociology lens, we focus on the first priority within the reforms, which is mandating brain science and the ‘brain and learning’ as core curriculum within initial teacher education. The reforms will embed standardised curriculum into initial teacher education and tie this curriculum to graduate teacher standards, bracketed within prescribed texts, ideologies and agendas. The reforms are positioned within the ‘what works’ movement, increasing accreditation and certain types of evidence, and the role and authority of intermediary organisations, including the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). It promotes research that has been paid for by the think tank Centre for Independent Studies and aligned with the Australian Education Research Organisation and Education Endowment Foundation. In this paper, we endeavour to highlight how the singular and narrow focus on brain-based approaches is not only reductionist, but also potentially generative of oppressive technologies. The mandating of standardised curriculum and brain science undermines educators, including initial teacher educators, and bolsters private interests in education. The standardisation of core curriculum, which will be tied to accreditation processes and graduate teacher standards, is underpinned by a punitive-accountability based approach. Furthermore, whilst it is less visible, these reforms contain brain science tropes redolent of eugenics and deficit framings of low socio-economic status students.

Relationships between elementary teachers' enjoyment and students' engagement across content areas and among student groups.

We explored associations among teachers' self-reported enjoyment for teaching mathematics, science, and English language arts and their students' self-reported behavioral engagement in each content area, and how these associations varied depending on student sex and socioeconomic status. Participants included 33 fourth-grade teachers and 443 students from 14 schools in the Southwestern United States. Multiple regression models with cluster robust standard errors was used. Models regressed students' content-area engagement on teachers' content-area enjoyment, controlling for students' initial engagement in that content area and other relevant covariates. Teachers' English language arts and mathematics enjoyment were each positively associated with students' engagement in each content area, and an interaction effect was detected in mathematics whereby lower socioeconomic status students with low-mathematics-enjoyment teachers reported lower mathematics engagement. Findings extend recent research highlighting teachers' emotions, and more specifically positive emotions, as factors that can be leveraged to support student learning, as well as provide more nuanced information about the contexts and student groups for whom these processes may be most relevant. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Beyond academics: Links from teaching practices in Swedish schools to students’ achievements and mental health complaints

BackgroundDespite extensive research on the relationship between teaching practices and learning outcomes, limited attention has been given to their potential links with students’ mental health. AimsThis study investigates the relationships between three teaching practice types – teacher-centered, student-centered, and student-dominated – and both student mental health complaints and academic achievement. It furthers explores variations in these associations based on students’ socioeconomic status (SES). SampleThe analysis includes 4573 grade 9 students (aged 15–16 years) in the Swedish comprehensive school system. MethodsEmploying structural equation modelling techniques, we analyze a dataset comprising students’ cognitive test scores, their perceptions of classroom processes, self-reported mental health complaints, as well as register data on teacher-assigned grades and parental education. ResultsTeacher-centered practices are positively associated with academic achievements but lack robust links with mental health complaints. Conversely, student-centered practices are positively associated with academic achievements and correlate with lower mental health complaint frequencies. However, student-dominated practices demonstrate poor relationships with both mental health and academic achievements. Limited variations based on students’ social background reveal only two differing associations between low and high SES students: teacher-centered teaching shows stronger academic achievement associations for low SES students, while student-dominated teaching is more adversely linked to low SES students' mental health. ConclusionsThe results affirm the benefits of both teacher- and student-centered teaching practices for academic achievement while cautioning against excessive self-directed teaching. Importantly, the study highlights the role of instructional approaches in shaping not only academic outcomes but also students’ mental health.

The Effects of the Flint water crisis on the educational outcomes of school-age children.

In 2014, the municipal water source in Flint, Michigan was switched, causing lead from aging pipes to leach into the city's drinking water. While lead exposure in Flint children increased modestly on average, some children were exposed to high lead levels. Surveys of Flint residents show the water crisis was also associated with increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. We use Michigan's administrative education data and utilize synthetic control methods to examine the impact of the crisis on Flint's school-age children. We find decreases in math achievement and increases in special needs classification, even among children living in homes with copper (rather than lead) water service lines. Low socioeconomic status students and younger students experienced the largest effects on math achievement, and boys experienced the largest effects on special needs classification. Our results point toward the broad negative effects of the crisis on children and suggest that existing estimates may substantially underestimate the overall societal cost of the crisis.

Designing a University Environment for Inclusive Digital Education – Methods and Approaches

The rapid development and implementation of digital technologies in education and the forced shift to fully distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated the existing problems and challenges of access to higher education for disadvantaged students, have brought to the fore the need for systemic change, aimed at building crisis-resilient university ecosystems where inclusive education and digital transformation are considered in their interconnectedness to provide appropriate infrastructures and technologies for inclusive digital learning. Designing such systems requires applying an interdisciplinary design approach with careful consideration of the needs and wants of all user groups and especially those vulnerable to exclusion. The article presents the methodology and results of a study aimed at identifying the needs, barriers and issues faced by students of low socio-economic status, which is part of a wider international initiative to develop university ecosystems for inclusive digital learning, in in which universities from six countries of the European Union participate.

Quality and quantity: How contexts influence the emergence of teacher bias

A growing body of research has demonstrated that teachers’ judgements may be biased by the demographics and characteristics of the students they teach. However, less work has investigated the contexts in which teachers may be most vulnerable to bias. In two pre-registered experimental studies we explored whether the quality of students’ work, and the cognitive load placed on the grader, would influence the emergence of biases relating to socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnicity. In Study 1, teachers (N = 397) graded work of either high or low quality that had ostensibly been written by a student who varied in terms of SES and ethnicity. We found that SES and—to a lesser extent—ethnicity biases were more likely to manifest when the standard of work was below average, largely favouring a student from an affluent White background. In Study 2, an undergraduate sample (N = 334) provided judgements based on an identical piece of work written by a student who varied by SES and ethnicity. Importantly, they formulated these judgements whilst working under high or low cognitive load, which was manipulated via a simultaneous listening task. Results showed that under high cognitive load, a student from an affluent White British background was afforded a boost in grading that was not afforded to Black Caribbean and/or lower SES students. These findings highlight contexts in which teachers may be most prone to biased judgements and should be used by educational institutions to de-bias their workflows, workloads and workforces.

College Students Discuss an Important Location to Them During the Pandemic Through Building Websites

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many college students, including low-income and racial minorities, experienced stressors related to their physical and psychological health, relationships, finances, and academic status. Moreover, most students had possessed difficulty previously in writing about their personal and communal identities and needs; exploring place-related rhetorics; and engaging in digital composition practices, including creating a website. This article presents an exploratory case study, which applies a mixed-methods approach employing a convergent-parallel strategy, involving an assignment where students used digital composition practices to build a website about a place, such as their hometown or a local park, that was important to them during the pandemic. The study involved 65 low socioeconomic status (SES) students from a rural university with a Native American subpopulation. For the assignment, students explored their identity and background, as well as how they and their location of choice were impacted by the pandemic. As outcomes of formulating a website about two difficult topics for the students to raise, their identity and the pandemic’s impact upon themselves as part of the greater, epic crisis, students learned to think critically; examine their personal and cultural pandemic-related concerns; research information about their place of choice; make creative decisions about their website; draft, compose, and revise digital work; and reflect upon their project. In completing a website about an important location as the study’s aim, students became more willing to consider their background and the pandemic’s impact on them and to gauge the 24 potentially related stressors they experienced tied to their physical and mental health, familial and social relationships, financial outlook, and academic goals. The author delineates the website assignment’s objectives, and both students and faculty raters measured students’ writing outcomes upon completing their site. Keywords: place, environmental issues, identity, COVID-19 pandemic, stressors, websites, digital composition

Family socioeconomic status and foreign language emotions: Moderation of teacher–student relationships

Family context has been found to influence achievement emotions, but the factors that might moderate this association remain relatively unexplored. To address this gap, this research examined the moderation of teacher–student relationships (TSR) in the link between family socioeconomic status (SES) and emotions in foreign language (FL) learning drawing on control-value theory of achievement emotions and attachment theory. The research involved 4,155 eighth-grade students from China, who completed scales reporting their SES, FL enjoyment, FL anxiety, and FL burnout. The moderating effect model demonstrated that TSR played a moderating role in the relationship between SES and negative emotions in FL learning such as anxiety and burnout. However, no significant moderation was observed between SES and FL enjoyment. Specifically, a warm TSR was found to alleviate the negative impact of low SES on negative emotions in FL learning, such as anxiety and burnout. Conversely, TSR did not demonstrate the capacity to enhance the positive emotions associated with FL learning, such as enjoyment, among students from higher SES backgrounds. This research suggests the necessity to intervene with low SES students, with the aim of fostering supportive TSR and ultimately alleviating negative emotions in FL learning.

Predictors of middle school students’ perceptions of automated writing evaluation

This study examined middle school students' perceptions of an automated writing evaluation (AWE) system, MI Write. We summarize students' perceptions of MI Write's usability, usefulness, and desirability both quantitatively and qualitatively. We then estimate hierarchical entry regression models that account for district context, classroom climate, demographic factors (i.e., gender, special education status, limited English proficiency status, socioeconomic status, grade), students' writing-related beliefs and affect, and students' writing proficiency as predictors of students' perceptions. Controlling for districts, students reporting more optimal classroom climate also reported higher usability, usefulness, and desirability for MI Write. Also, model results revealed that eighth graders, students with limited English proficiency, and students of lower socioeconomic status perceived MI Write relatively more useable; students with lower socioeconomic status also perceived MI Write relatively more useful and desirable. Students who liked writing more and more strongly believed that writing is a recursive process viewed MI Write as more useable, useful, and desirable. Students with greater writing proficiency viewed MI Write as less useable and useful; writing proficiency was not related to desirability perceptions. We conclude with a discussion of implications and future directions.

The relationship between stress and sociodemographic and academic characteristics among students

The study presents an active and turbulent period of life in which almost all students face stress. Due to that, this paper examines the presence of stress in student population and the contribution of sociodemographic and academic characteristics to explaining stress that they experience. The research included 170 students from different universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, namely "Džemal Bijedić" University in Mostar, the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, the Islamic Pedagogical Faculty in Zenica, the Islamic Pedagogical Faculty in Bihać and the Faculty of Philosophy in Tuzla. The research findings showed that 38.2% of the respondents experienced moderate, severe or very severe stress symptoms, which is not an insignificant result. Based on the results of a linear regression analysis, we determined that socioeconomic status is a significant stress factor (β=.204, p=.008), while gender (β=.113, p=.142) and age (β=.005, p =.950) are not significant stress factors among students. Moreover, as far as academic characteristics are concerned, GPA (β=-.017, p=.826) is not a significant stress factor in student population, while study status (β=.157, p=.043) and the year of study (β= -.166, p=.033) present significant stress factors. Using the independent samples T-test and One-way ANOVA, we determined that female students are more susceptible to stress than male students (t=2.408, p=.017), that older students experience a higher level of stress (F=3.110, p=.043), and that students of lower socioeconomic status exhibit a higher level of stress (F=3.258, p=.040). When it comes to academic characteristics, the research findings indicated that there is no statistically significant difference in the level of experienced stress based on GPA (F=1.446, p=.231) and the year of study (F=2.384, p=.055); however, the research showed that part-time students show a higher level of stress compared to full-time students (F=6.23, p=.002). Keywords: stress, sociodemographic characteristics, academic characteristics, students.

Adolescents want to be teachers? Affecting factors and two-decade trends in 39 educational systems

Given the significance of teacher quality and the pressing need to address teacher shortages worldwide, understanding the dynamics of adolescents’ career decision-making among adolescents is crucial. This study aimed to shed light on the evolving landscape of adolescents’ teaching career expectations and its influencing factors using the Programme for International Student Assessment data spanning two decades. Results showed that (a) differences between boys’ and girls’ expectations for teaching careers had narrowed in many advanced economies, with an increasing number of boys aspiring to become teachers. (b) The disparities between high and low socioeconomic status students’ expectations for teaching had also been reduced, while efforts were still needed to recruit prospective teachers from diverse backgrounds. (c) Boys required enjoyment of reading, self-efficacy, and family and teacher support to be attracted to teaching careers, but girls were naturally inclined to be teachers. Importantly, each economy exhibited its unique combinational pattern of pull and push factors. The findings emphasised the need to address the human resource shortages on multiple fronts, particularly reducing gender disparities, engaging boys in teaching careers, and promoting inclusivity in the teaching profession.

Acing the test: Educational effects of the SaberEs test preparation program in Colombia

Education in Colombia and Latin America is characterized by significant gaps in the quality of education as measured by standardized test scores. This paper assesses the impact of a Colombian program called SaberEs, which strengthens preparation for standardized cognitive tests such as the high school exit exam in Colombia (Saber 11) for low socioeconomic status students. The program provides competency-based training sessions to develop skills for analyzing and solving specific types of questions within school hours. Our difference-in-differences estimates show that SaberEs increased Saber 11 scores by 2.22 ranks (or 0.074 standard deviations), which implies that the socioeconomic achievement gap was reduced by 23% regarding the control schools. Also, students affected by the program experienced a significant increase in access to tertiary education and merit-based scholarships in Colombia.

School-Level Socioeconomic Status and Nutrient Content of Outdoor Food/Beverage Advertisements.

We examined if areas around schools with more students of lower socioeconomic status (SES) have more total food/beverage advertisements and/or more advertisements with poorer nutritional content as compared to areas around schools with fewer students with lower SES. All outdoor food/beverage advertisements within a half-mile radius of 47 middle and high schools in the United States were objectively documented in 2012 and coded for nutritional content. The total number of advertisements and the macronutrient and micronutrient contents (total calories, fat (g), protein (g), carbohydrate (g), sugar (g), and sodium (mg)) of food and beverage items depicted in the advertisements were calculated. In total, 9132 unique advertisements were recorded, with 3153 ads displaying food and beverages that could be coded for nutrient content. Schools located in areas of lower SES (≥60% students receiving free/reduced-price lunch) had significantly more advertisements displaying food and beverages that could be coded for nutrient content (z = 2.01, p = 0.04), as well as advertisements that contained more sodium (z = 2.20, p = 0.03), as compared to schools located in areas of higher SES. There were no differences in calorie, fat, protein, carbohydrate, or sugar content. Policies to reduce the prevalence of outdoor food and beverage advertising are warranted.

Type of School as a Socioeconomic Indicator and its Impact on the Nutritional Status, School Performance, Self-Esteem of Basic School Students (10-12 Years Old) in Khartoum Locality, 2014

Adolescence, a critical phase of rapid physical, social, and psychological growth, encompasses individuals aged 10 to 19 years, Evaluating nutritional status for decades has involved standard methods like dietary, anthropometric, biochemical tests, and clinical signs, often incorporating socioeconomic status (SES) as a key determinant. The study aimed to assess the nutritional status of students (10-12 years old) attending three types of basic schools whose families’ SES was categorized according to school fees paid as high, medium and low. Methodology: This cross-sectional community-based study investigated the influence of family socioeconomic status (SES) on the nutritional status, school performance, and self-esteem of children aged 10-12 years attending basic schools 2014. 210 participants were chosen. Data were collected through anthropometric measurements and a questionnaire covering demography, dietary patterns, self-esteem assessments, and school performance obtained from schools. Statistical package for social sciences version 26 used for analysis. Result: Data from 210 students (45.2% boys, 54.8% girls) The findings revealed a significant impact of family SES (P=000) on nutritional status, energy and protein intake, school performance, and self-esteem. Low SES families had a higher prevalence of underweight children (66.7%), while high SES families had more overweight and obese children. Those from high SES consumed more animal foods, fast foods, fresh fruits, and vegetables compared to medium and low SES groups. High school grades were predominantly achieved by high and medium SES students, with low SES students obtaining lower grades. Normal-weight students exhibited better school performance and self-esteem than overweight, obese, and underweight students. In conclusion, family SES significantly influenced the nutritional status, school performance, and self-esteem of children attending basic schools. Recommendations, to ensure students' well-being, ..

How informal mentoring by teachers, counselors, and coaches supports students' long-run academic success

We document a largely unrecognized pathway through which schools promote human capital development – by fostering informal mentoring relationships between students and their teachers, counselors, and coaches. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents, we explore the nature and consequences of natural mentoring relationships by leveraging within-student variation in the timing of mentorship formation as well as differences in exposure among pairs of twins, best friends, and romantic partners. Results across difference-in-differences and pair fixed-effect specifications show consistent and meaningful positive effects on student attainment, with a conservative estimate of a 9.4 percentage point increase in college attendance. Effects are largest for students of lower socioeconomic status and robust to controls for individual characteristics and bounding exercises for selection on unobservables. Smaller class sizes and a school culture where students have a strong sense of belonging are important school-level predictors of having a K-12 natural mentor.

Socio-economic status moderates the relationship between values and subjective well-being among Chinese college students

Personal values and socioeconomic status (SES) both influence adolescents’ subjective well-being, yet there is still a need to explore whether differences in values and SES have different impacts on one’s subjective well-being (SWB). This study examined the moderation effect of SES in the relationship between two values (self-improvement and collective responsibility) and SBW. A sample comprising 600 Chinese college students (23.40% boys, mean age = 21.21, SD = 1.56) were measured twice over the course of one year using the Chinese Adolescent Values Questionnaire and the Subjective Well-Being Questionnaire. Results showed that self-improvement value may promote SWB of students with a low SES, but this result was not seen in the students with a high SES. Meanwhile, collective responsibility value may promote SWB in students with a low SES, while it may reduce SWB in students with a high SES. Our findings suggested that self-improvement and collective responsibility values can help low SES students access resources and support, helping them overcome unfavorable situations. However, a different picture was shown for students with a high SES. In contrast to the low-SES students, these two values seemed to restrict the growth of students with a high SES, hampering their pursuit of their own goals and interests, which may ultimately diminish their SWB.

Educational strategies to reduce the achievement gap: a systematic review

Despite continuous efforts, the educational achievement gap is still, in most societies, a significant obstacle to ensuring more equity and social justice. Much of this inequality derives from belonging to historically discriminated groups. Indeed, coming from a lower socioeconomic status (SES), of an immigrant, or descendant situation, being Black, Hispanic, Gypsy, or any other racialized condition, still strongly influences academic attainment, school dropout and career choices. However, many innovative strategies and policies have been implemented to minimize this bias. This investigation proposes to gather, assess, and analyze these most recent interventions and perceive which of these present a better level of efficacy. Using the PRISMA guidelines, this Systematic Review of Literature yielded 27 studies that fit the inclusion criteria. The analysis considered the level of efficacy, intervention method and scope. Results show that targeted strategies, such as working on reading abilities and school subjects' focused interventions are more effective in improving minorities' and lower SES students' attainment. Other beneficial initiatives include whole-school, state and community-based projects, innovative pedagogies, and, finally, programs that deal with the psycho-social consequences of racism and discrimination, e.g., the internalization of negative perceptions and expectations. Overall, there is a strong need to develop mixed-method and longitudinal designs that will further our knowledge about what type of measure works, while considering a situated and contextual perspective, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.

Dropouts and transfers: socioeconomic segregation in entrance to and exit from the Chilean higher education

ABSTRACT This study explores the disparate trajectories of students in Chilean higher education and how these alter socioeconomic segregation within this system. The study follows the cohort of students who entered higher education in 2011 for eight years through census-type data. It uses two segregation indexes to make novel comparisons of socioeconomic segregation at the beginning and the end of their passage through higher education. The results show high dropout rates among students of low socioeconomic status, and high mobility between degree programs and institutions across the socioeconomic spectrum, with significant nuances in the type of mobility experienced by different socioeconomic groups. However, dropouts and transfers between degree programs, institutions, and types of institutions do not significantly modify the levels of socioeconomic segregation seven years after entrance. These results indicate that socioeconomic segregation in higher education is set to a large extent upon entrance to this system.