Understandings of Subjective Social Status and Predictors of Educational Achievement among Youth

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Research has come to acknowledge that subjective social status (SSS), one’s perceived social standing, is a metric that can be used to predict child outcomes even after controlling for measures of objective socioeconomic status (SES; e.g., parent occupation). This symposium will explore youths' understanding of SSS and how SSS predicts outcomes with long-term implications (e.g., academic achievement) across three papers.
The first paper investigates perceptions of SSS from youth (12 to 25 years old) with LGBTQ+ parent(s) via semi-structured interviews. Results from a thematic analysis suggest that youth consider multiple factors, in addition to objective measures of SES, such as identity or symbolic gestures (e.g., receiving a disability check) to understand SSS.
The next two papers quantitatively investigate how SSS predicts educational outcomes, after controlling for objective indicators of SES. The second paper focused on associations among SSS, psychological well-being, and educational engagement in a large sample of 8th graders diverse in race and first-generation American status. Results indicate an indirect effect: SSS was associated with psychological well-being, and in turn, educational engagement.
The third paper reports on how SSS predicts academic achievement and retention among first-year university students. Perceived belonging with peers mediated the relationship between SSS and retention suggesting that SSS and belongingness are important for academic success. Implications as to how these mixed method studies contribute to our understanding of SSS, educational engagement, and perceived belonging among diverse youth will be discussed.

Sub Unit

• Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Chair

• Kay Simon, University of Kentucky

Discussant

• Tiffany Yip, Fordham University

Individual Presentations

• Examining Narratives of Subjective Social Status Among Diverse Youth with LGBTQ+ Parent - Presenting Author: Madi T Diomede, University of Kentucky; Non-Presenting Author: Kay Simon, University of Kentucky; Non-Presenting Author: Rachel H. Farr, University of Kentucky

• It’s the comparison that matters: How local subjective social status and school belonging predicts academic achievement and retention among adolescents - Presenting Author: Christia Spears Brown, University of Kentucky; Non-Presenting Author: Stephanie McKee, University of Virginia; Non-Presenting Author: Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi, University of Virginia; Non-Presenting Author: Ellen Usher, University of Kentucky; Non-Presenting Author: Xiao-Yin Chen, University of Georgia

• Negotiating Identity in Early Adolescence: Perceived Social Class, Psychosocial Adjustment, and Educational Engagement - Presenting Author: Rashmita S. Mistry, University of California - Los Angeles; Non-Presenting Author: Aprile D Benner, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: Farin Bakhtiari, California State University, Fresno