THE ROLE OF SCHOOL IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL SOCIAECONOMIC STATUS (SES) AND THE CHILD'S ACHIEVEMENT AND ASPIRATION

Abstract

Literature has found considerable agreement that the parental socioeconomic status (SES) of a child is positively related to the child’s outcomes. However, despite the hope for education to be the channel of enhancing social mobility, some studies have found that the school system might play a role in reproducing these economic advantages. Hence, this study explores the role of school variables in this relationship between parental SES and the child’s achievement and aspiration using Singapore public secondary school data from the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2015 (PISA2015) (n=6084). Regression models studying the relationship between parental SES and the child’s achievement and aspiration found a significant and positive relationship in Singapore public secondary schools, with this relationship appearing to be slightly stronger than the international average. Furthermore, mediation analyses found the availability of co-curricular activities (CCAs), perceived unfair treatment by the teachers and school autonomy to be partial mediators of this positive relationship, suggesting that the public schools play a role to reproduce economic advantage and influence the achievement and aspiration of the student. At the same time, class size is found to have no relationship with achievement and aspiration in Singapore. While these findings have implications for teachers in their treatment of students and schools in the variety of CCAs they offer, systemic changes in our education system is also required to level the playing field for these students from families of lower SES. In these areas, social workers can also support these change efforts by being the mediators between students, teachers, school management and policy makers, helping the school system better understand the needs of these students from families of lower SES and iv being advocates for the policy changes.