SES and academic achievement are (not always) related: Profiles of student SES, academic achievement and their links to socio-emotional, cognitive, and metacognitive characteristics

SES is a well-established predictor of academic achievement. However, not all students perform according to their SES-background and the predominantly variable-oriented body of research has neglected the investigation of constellations of SES and academic achievement differing from the commonly reported correlational links. This study adopted a person-centered approach to identify different SES-achievement patterns and to compare them in terms of individual psychological characteristics. Data were collected from an SES-diverse sample of 171 French ninth-graders (M age = 14.40 years). We applied latent profile analysis (LPA) to (a) identify the various profiles when considering SES and academic achievement in a national standardized exam, and (b) investigate differences between the profiles regarding individual student characteristics (i.e., school well-being, academic self-concept, text anxiety, executive functions, and metacognition). LPA revealed 4 profiles: Group 1 (‘resilient achievers’, 19.9% of the sample) was characterized by below-average SES but above-average achievement, Group 2 (‘expected high achievers’, 42.1%) by above-average SES and achievement, Group 3 (‘expected low achievers’, 12.9%) by below-average SES and achievement, and Group 4 (‘underachievers’, 25.1%) by above-average SES and below-average achievement. ‘Resilient achievers’ displayed higher school happiness, better working memory and metacognitive knowledge than ‘underachievers’, and higher academic self-concept than ‘underachievers’ and ‘expected low achievers’. Overall, these results suggest that academic resilience of low-SES students is related to socio-emotional, cognitive, and metacognitive resources that should be fostered in all students to promote academic achievement. • Relations between SES and achievement are robust, but only small to moderate. • 45% of students in this study stood out from the expected SES-achievement pattern. • About 20% were resilient achievers with low SES but above-average achievement. • Resilient achievers display cognitive, metacognitive, and socio-emotional resources. • These should be fostered in all students to promote academic achievement.