From status and rank to report card: Examining the influence of social class on adolescent academic achievement

To advance understanding of the relations between social class and adolescent development, the current study examined the extent to which both objective SES (i.e., parental education level, qualified for Free or Reduced-Price Lunch; FRPL) and adolescents' perceptions of their subjective SES (i.e., subjective social status (SSS), social class identity) influenced educational outcomes via social interactions with peers and psychological well-being across the first 2 years of high school. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of adolescents in the Southwest U.S. and included 724 adolescents who completed annual surveys in 9th and 10th grade. In total, 40% were White, 33% Latino/a/x, 9% Asian, 6% Black, and 12% biracial/multiracial. Slightly more than half (54%) of participants were female, and 39% were from families deemed economically disadvantaged based on student eligibility for FRPL. Results of structural equation modeling analyses indicated evidence of multi-mediation, such that higher SSS and social class identity in the 9th grade were associated with fewer social struggles, which in turn were linked to better psychological well-being and higher school engagement, which was associated with higher grades at the end of 10th grade. Sensitivity analyses confirmed evidence of mediation, controlling for course grades in 9th grade. The study findings highlight adolescents' subjective perceptions of SES as meaningful, distinct forces in their social and academic lives, positioning this dimension of identity as a critical lens for understanding how inequality shapes youth development.