Pathways to Low-SES Student Success in Science: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

• In Event: Understanding Identities Along STEM Educational Pathways

Abstract

Widespread concern about the links between unequal socioeconomic status (SES) and science achievement has motivated efforts to understand how some low-SES students succeed in science despite their disadvantages. The present study leverages the strengths of fsQCA to identify multiple pathways leading to low-SES student success in science. Accordingly, a sample consisting of 1460 low-SES 15-year-old Chinese students was drawn from the 2015 PISA and explored via a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The results showed that seven combinations of factors related to parental emotional support, school science instruction practices, and science-related attitudes were equally predictive of high achievement in science. Moreover, even when some causal conditions were absent, low-SES students could still succeed in science if other conditions are fully met.

Authors

• Shaohui Chi, East China Normal University

• Zuhao Wang, East China Normal University