Exploring the role of objective and subjective social status on post-secondary students' perceptions and outcomes in online learning

Much research has consistently shown that students from low-SES backgrounds tend to have a variety of lower academic outcomes in university courses than their higher-SES peers, particularly within online courses. Yet, the literature has almost exclusively examined the impacts of objective measures of SES on student outcomes, often ignoring the subjective facets of social status. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of both objective and subjective facets of social status on college students’ academic performance in online learning, while also examining the potential mediating effects of academic self-efficacy, university sense of belonging, and perceptions of connectedness and learning between social status and academic performance. A sample of 419 college students across the United States collected via survey research determined that neither objective or subjective social status predicted academic performance, although academic self-efficacy did mediate the relationship between subjective social status and academic performance in online courses. Qualitative data also provided unique insights into the factors college students often consider when determining their subjective social status. A unique outlier in the data prompted consideration of student identity in the examined relationships between variables. Interpretations of findings, implications on theory and practice, study limitations, and implications for future research are discussed.