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Description
Studies investigating the social class education gap differentiate between two effects involved in the reproduction of educational inequalities. Primary effects are those that lead to social-class differences in academic achievement, while secondary effects involve the impact of socioeconomic status on academic choices after accounting for students' prior academic success. The aim of this study was to examine the role of one social identity factor – identity incompatibility – in contributing to primary and secondary effects of students' social origins. Specifically, we hypothesized that lower-class students experience mismatch between their socioeconomic background and the stereotype of someone who succeeds in education, which in turn affects their educational outcomes. Data used in this research was collected as a part of a larger research project „Free Career Choice“. Our sample consisted of 1087 (51.4% girls) middle school students (Mage = 12.12, SDage = 0.74) attending 16 schools across Croatia. We specified two separate mediation models and tested them using the structural equation modelling framework. Findings revealed that identity incompatibility significantly mediated the effect of socioeconomic status on educational aspirations, revealing its’ importance in social origins’ secondary effects on students’ educational success. However, identity incompatibility did not mediate the effect of socioeconomic status on academic achievement, indicating that the primary effects of social origins are not attributable to identity incompatibility in the Croatian context. Consequently, while addressing psychological barriers is crucial for mitigating the secondary effects, further research is needed to understand the factors involved in primary effects of social origins on educational disparities.
| Are you currently an Early Career Researcher? | Yes, I am still a student or have not yet received my Ph.D. |
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