Exploring the role of ecological systems and intersectionality in shaping the academic performance of Chinese adolescents

• Factors affecting Chinese students’ academic performance echo Ecological Systems Theory. • Intersectionality analysis sheds light on critical disadvantaged traits. • Three-level mixed-effect models yield more precise estimates. • Preschool, positive school life, and living arrangement shape Chinese adolescents’ academic performance . This study examines Chinese adolescents’ academic performance using an ecological systems framework and intersectionality perspective, based on data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS). We examined micro- (individual- and family-level factors) and meso-level factors (teachers and schools) and considered whether adolescents with relatively more disadvantaged characteristics might have poorer academic performance than otherwise. Our three-level mixed-effects models considered the nested data structure to obtain more precise regression estimates than otherwise. Results from the mixed-effects models indicate that having preschool experience and positive school experiences were consistently positively while living in a single-parent family was consistently negatively associated with adolescents’ academic performance. However, our findings only weakly support the intersectionality perspective; adolescents with disadvantaged characteristics did not necessarily have poorer academic outcomes than expected. These findings underscore the importance of examining multi-layered systems to shed light on how resources and opportunities external to the family in China might carry vital implications for educational equity.