A Study on the Change in Educational Disparities in Elementary and Middle Schools in Seoul region: Focusing on the Influence of Gender and Family Background

The purpose of this study is to examine the changing patterns of educational disparity and associated factors within the Seoul region over the past decade. This study employed a combined approach of quantitative and qualitative analyses to fulfill its objectives. First, a comparative analysis of the first and second datasets from the ‘Seoul Educational Longitudinal Study’ was conducted to examine the change in degree of variances in the factors influencing academic achievement levels, namely gender, school type, and learners' socioeconomic backgrounds. Second, a Focus Group Interview (FGI) was conducted to gain a comprehensive understanding and implications of the findings derived from these analyses. The findings reveals that the educational disparity based on gender and school establishment type has remained largely unchanged, albeit with noticeable trends. For example, descriptive statistics reveal female students' general outperformance across most subjects, with a narrowing gender gap observed particularly in mathematics. Socioeconomic backgrounds continue to exert significant influence on educational outcomes, notably in the field of Korean language studies in recent data. Conversely, the influence of socioeconomic backgrounds on middle school English outcomes has marginally decreased over the past decade. Subsequent Focus Group Interviews highlighted systemic issues including inadequate support for diverse learners, absence of interventions for students facing emotional and behavioral challenges, and disparities in existing support mechanisms. The current study suggests various policy implications including the establishment of early assessment and data accumulation systems, enhancing tailored teaching and evaluation competencies of educators, and fostering active support and collaboration at the school level.