Socioeconomic status, parenting factors and academic achievement among Chinese adolescents aged 12–13: How do they relate?

Abstract

Extensive research has shown that students from higher socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds generally outperform their lower SES peers. Nevertheless, some low SES students succeed, albeit it ‘against the odds.’ Coleman's (1988) theory of social capital in the family suggests that financial capital, human capital and social capital all affect educational outcomes jointly and are intercorrelated. Thus, it may be that parenting factors, as indicators for social capital in the family, are especially key for young people from low SES backgrounds where other forms of capital are low. This research explored the associations among parenting factors, SES, and academic achievement by analysing data from over 7800 Chinese adolescents (aged 12–13) in the nationally representative China Education Panel Survey (CEPS). Hierarchical linear regression models confirmed that SES was positively associated with academic achievement in mathematics, Chinese and English. However, parenting factors explained slightly more variance than SES when predicting academic achievement. Among parenting variables, parental educational aspirations for their child was the strongest predictor, while parental responsiveness also showed consistently positive associations. Significant interactions between SES and parental factors were observed. Parental demandingness was more negatively associated with achievement for high‐SES students than their lower‐SES peers. Conversely, parental time was more negatively associated with achievement for lower‐SES students. These findings suggest that parenting practices, while important, did not fully compensate for SES disparities but may operate differently depending on SES. Future research should examine these dynamics in earlier ages and explore factors relate to class and school environments.