Browsing by Subject "SES"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The role of social class models in the relationship between socioeconomic status and academic achievement.
    (2009-05) Lee, Kyoungwon
    Educational models of achievement almost always include SES measures but these measures are typically selected in an atheoretical way. Using social class theories to conceptualize SES in a study and to help select SES measures should enhance the credibility of inferences. The social class theory literature was reviewed and used to identify SES measures consistent with particular theories. The reviewed social class theories were Weberian, Marxian and Occupationalist theories and SES measures consistent with these theories were income, education, and occupation, respectively. A meta-analysis was used to provide an empirical test of the effect of selecting SES measures in a theoretically grounded way on the relationship between SES and achievement. The results indicated that there were small differences favoring the theoretically grounded measures. The importance of educational researchers turning to the social class literature for guidance in conceptualizing and measuring SES is discussed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Should I Stay or Should I Go? : Fit, Belonging, and College Persistence Decisions for Students from Low-Income Families
    (2017-06) Snyder, Seth
    College persistence and completion rates for students from families earning low incomes are consistently lower than for students from wealthy families. Some of these inequitable gaps may be associated with students’ perceptions of fit and belonging at higher education institutions dominated by upper-middle-class systems and norms. This mixed-methods study investigates how structural fit and sense of belonging are related to persistence choices made by low-income students who are members of a college-access program. Findings from 628 completed surveys suggest that sense of belonging is associated with persistence choices, but structural fit factors dominate persistence choice in multivariate analyses. Findings from 14 individual interviews support the survey findings, with participants discussing their adjustment to college and experiences as college students. The overall results of the study support earlier research findings of the centrality of financial aid and other aspects of structural fit in college persistence choices as well as the importance of all students feeling that they belong and are valued on college campuses.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Socioeconomic status moderates the etiology of alcohol use
    (2013-05) Hamdi, Nayla Rashad
    This study examined whether socioeconomic status (SES), measured by household income and educational attainment, moderates genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use. We found that genetic effects were greater in low-SES conditions, while shared environmental effects (i.e., environmental effects that enhanced the similarity of twins from the same families) gained importance in high-SES conditions. This basic pattern of results was found for both income and education and replicated at a second wave of assessment spaced nine years after the first. Our findings indicate that the etiology of alcohol use varies as a function of the broader social context. Thus, efforts to find the causes underlying alcohol consumption are likely to be more successful if such contextual information is taken into account.