Thesis Statement
This paper will explore how socioeconomic background influences students’ academic performance and school outcomes and how it affects their success or failure in school and after finishing. I am going to examine this theme by discussing various points like parental involvement, quality of education, and resource availability to argue that chances for success vary among children from diverse backgrounds. By examining the relationships between SES and other parts of educational systems throughout courses, I demonstrate the importance of engaging in efforts aimed at eradicating socioeconomic inequalities as a way of achieving educational equity and improving student achievement.
Background and Review
My study is in the field of education, and school psychology is interdisciplinary in terms of how socioeconomic status (SES) impacts students’ success. I plan to do a comprehensive review of the effects by involving myself in both educational literature and psychological literature, which are related to SES students’ academic achievements, mental health, and social-emotional well-being. When looking up information on education-related resources and articles, I want to understand systemic inequities within our schooling system that invisible divide learners who come from divergent economic backgrounds. These articles offer perspective on the increasingly skewed distribution of resources, a wide array of the schools’ qualities, and differential access to the opportunities which lead to achievement gaps. Looking at how SES connects with race, ethnicity and gender in schools will be my focus as I look to reveal the intensely convoluted relationships that define the lives of students in schools within the context of privilege and disadvantage.
Meanwhile, I am studying psychological research to bring about the social and emotional dimensions of PES in students’ academic success. The psychological literature provides crucial information about cognition, motivation, and socioemotional experiences, which mediate the association between SES and educational accomplishment. I intend to investigate self-efficacy, motivation, resilience, and mindset to understand how SES-related stressors and difficulties might influence students’ beliefs about their academic competencies and psychological health. Additionally, I acknowledge the significance of merging knowledge from both approaches to provide an integrated view of SES and students’ progress. Through an educational and psychological approach, this study addresses the mechanisms through which SES acts in three ways: achievement, social-emotional development, and academic outcomes and opportunities.
As for the structure of my study, the critical literature review will encompass the review of the existing research from the areas of education and psychology. This literature review will serve as the basis for highlighting important themes, deficits in knowledge, and spheres of improvement. Taking into account the nature of my research, I will also give a methods section to describe my research design, showcase my research methods, and data analysis methods that will ensure the reliability and validity of the methodology will be observed.
Claim 1: Students with a lower socioeconomic status do not have access to the same educational opportunities as those from high economic status
According to Peterman (2018), students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are continuously shut out of educational opportunities compared to those accrued by the upper-income contingent. It implies that many school systems within the states aggravate social class inequalities and do not suppress them. The other factor is the funding system associated with local property tax, which tends to have a regressive structure where the poorer school districts have to pay more to get the same amount as better-off districts. As a result, schools in low-income neighbourhoods tend to have fewer resources, including outdated technology, fewer books, and old buildings, creating an unequal environment.
Additionally, students in poor schools are less likely to have a better or experienced teacher, a more advanced curriculum, and also experience interpersonal prejudice within the school. Administrators can feed aptitude-high but SES-low students into lower-track courses where they need to meet the requirements for advancement and the gifted classes where they should be. Also, rules and regulations are unfair to the poorer students whose suspension rates are very high, and they get harsher punishments than the same infractions (Peterman, 2018). These disciplinary actions, which usually do not include any positive reinforcements, are behind the rising rates of students being disengaged from school, dropping out, or being forced into the criminal justice system. The inequalities in college readiness between high-SES and low-SES students are thus being worsened as the primary and secondary education system inequalities surface. Although students from the lower classes have the same academic potential as others, they need more resources and support systems. Therefore, they must refrain from competing on level ground with others for college admissions.
The study by Vadivel in 2023 demonstrates that students from low-income families need help getting superior education and resources compared to those from families with a higher SES. This study outlines factors like parents’ occupation, family income, and parental education as among the determinants of educational achievement. Sociologically, the statistics show that pupils of poorer socioeconomic families are likely to demonstrate lower academic performance, as they have low access to schooling resources and little cognition stimulation. Such a difference favouring the students of wealthy families implies that they have an edge in all learning opportunities compared to those of moderate income and poor. Consequently, Broer et al. (2019) also give a general synopsis of the relationship between a family’s socioeconomic status and general student performance. They touch on the issue of socioeconomic factors such as parental education, household income, and occupation, which influence students regarding educational resources and opportunities. The review puts forward the role of economic, cultural, and social capital in forming academic outcomes, giving an insight into the disparities in educational achievements based on SES.
Paulus et al. (2021) echo this claim by elaborating how a poorer socioeconomic status deprives such students of equal educational access compared to those from a more privileged socioeconomic background. The study shows that the socioeconomic status of parents has a substantial impact on children’s school performance. Children with higher SES parents are more likely to receive recommendations for upper secondary education and attend university than those with lower SES, regardless of their cognitive ability. Moreover, there continues to be a disparity even after adjusting for the achievement levels. It shows the limitations of the system that affect students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Although factors such as home environment and self-efficacy buffer some effects of socioeconomic disadvantage, they do not completely compensate for the inequality in education access. Therefore, the outcomes point towards the necessity of the systemic inequalities’ solution to provide a level playing field where students from low socioeconomic backgrounds would also have the opportunities to succeed in education.
Claim 2: Students from high socioeconomic status have an excellent chance for lifetime achievement and become rich upon graduation.
Vadivel et al. (2023) provide the findings from a descriptive method used in survey research design that investigates children’s socioeconomic background and academic achievement. It suggests that students from these families might fail to attain educational excellence because of insufficient resources, unsatisfactory parental involvement, and lack of vision or drive for college education. These results highlight the necessity of undertaking such interventions as providing free vocational and technical education to benefit school-going children from low socioeconomic status. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of parental education and information programs targeting parents from poor SES families to overcome the lack of excitement of students about education in low SES students.
Broer et al. (2019) give a highly detailed account of the literature that addresses SES links with educational success. Proxy variables like parental education, family income, and occupation are discussed, and their value for research in education is assessed. Moreover, it examines the underlying theories of how family SES affects student achievement by utilizing economic, cultural, and social capital concepts. The review underlines the variety of these interconnections and stresses that the environmental conditions and school systems should be considered while studying SES-linked differences in educational achievement.
In their studies, Vadivel et al. (2023) and Broer et al. (2019) both contribute their viewpoints on socioeconomic status (SES) as a multidimensional component of educational outcomes. By incorporating data from both sources in a collective way, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of the SES mechanisms responsible for student achievement and pinpoint areas of possible improvement towards educational inequities. Nevertheless, they suggest the necessity of interdisciplinary approaches that combine theoretical insights from education and psychology to examine the impact of SES on academic performance and the emotional wellbeing of students.
Claim 3: Those who have a lower socioeconomic status suffer from more negative psychological effects than those who have a higher socioeconomic status.
The idea that people with lower SES experience more negative psychological effects than their higher SES counterparts is supported by Manstead’s research (2018) on the psychology of social class. The article mentions that socioeconomic status heavily influences individuals’ psychological wellbeing in many dimensions. For instance, individuals from the lower/working class often have a lowered sense of personal control and tend to attribute social events to unambiguous, outside factors that they have no control over, which, in the end, increases the perceived threat and reduces their psychological wellness. In addition, low-income individuals very often tend to need help in obtaining educational and professional opportunities due to their being the middle-class norms that are too rigid, thus making the conditions of inequity worse. Furthermore, it can be noted that poorer individuals, who usually manifest more empathy and prosocial behaviours, are more vulnerable to economic threat-induced prejudice.
According to Hermida et al. (2015), there is a ton of evidence to support the view that persons with lower socioeconomic status (SES) tend to report increased psychological distress than those of higher SES. Several studies mentioned in the article show that SES impacts the development of cognitive abilities, executive functions, and academic achievement, with social inequalities affecting prefrontal cortex function, neurocognitive abilities, and selective attention in children. Furthermore, how poverty shapes cognitive functioning, cumulative risk, and child development are emphasized, implying that low socioeconomic conditions can bring long-lasting negative consequences on mental health. Hence, the paper highlights the significance of targeting socioeconomic disparities to prevent the mental health disorders associated with inferior SES individuals.
Conclusion
This study clarifies the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on the educational outcome and the socio-emotional wellbeing of less advantaged children. The paper explores the structural disparities inherent in the educational system and the emotional consequences of SES faced by students from the low SES group. Therefore, the work aims to stimulate thinking and actions among parents and educators about the situation of the students. This issue is significant because of its implications for education and the provision of guidelines for developing policies and practices in place of educational equity and combating socioeconomic disadvantages. Low SES students may be at a disadvantage in many ways. They may need more school supplies, not have access to after-school programs and summer camps, or live in neighbourhoods where most of the population are also low SES students. By recognizing these barriers and providing targeted student support and resources to address these issues, we can make even our public schools more inclusive and equitable. The objective of this paper is to leave the audience with a conviction to, among other things, demonstrate compassion and emotional support to students with low socioeconomic status. By mentioning the specific problems they experience and giving them the proper services and chances to do so, we can help them overcome these difficulties and realize their full potential. Through education, we offer opportunities for social advancement, and by paying attention to equality and celebrating diversity, we can discover a fair society for everyone.
References
Broer, M., Bai, Y., & Fonseca, F. (2019). A review of the literature on socioeconomic status and educational achievement. IEA Research for Education, 7–17.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11991-1_2
Hermida, M. J., Segretin, M. S., Prats, L. M., Fracchia, C. S., Colombo, J. A., & Lipina, S. J. (2015). Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology, and education: Interdisciplinary development of an intervention for low socioeconomic status kindergarten children. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 4(1–2), 15–25.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2015.03.003
Manstead, A. S. (2018). The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour. British Journal of Social Psychology, 57(2), 267–291.https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12251
Paulus, L., Spinath, F. M., & Hahn, E. (2021). How do educational inequalities develop? The role of socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, home environment, and self-efficacy along the educational path. Intelligence, 86, 101528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2021.101528
Peterman, D. E. (2018). Socioeconomic status discrimination. Virginia Law Review, 104(7), 1283-1357.
Vadivel, B., Alam, S., Nikpoo, I., & Ajanil, B. (2023). The Impact of Low Socioeconomic Background on a Child’s Educational Achievements. Education Research International, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/6565088
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