Academic success of students with low socioeconomic status: Explanation and evaluation of a model with a mixed-methods approach.

Abstract

Background: In this research, a model of factors affecting students' academic success with low socioeconomic status (SES) was explained and evaluated.

Materials and methods: A mixed-methods research design was used to explain academic success and evaluate it. From this point of view, the research was divided into two parts: grounded theory (GT) and structural equation modeling (SEM). For the qualitative part, semi-structured interviews were held with 49 students, parents, and teachers from Roshtkhar City, one of the less privileged areas of the department of education in Razavi Khorasan Province in Iran. In the second part, this model was tested using the multistage cluster random sampling method on 314 students from Roshtkhar City with the SEM method. The instrument used in the quantitative section was a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability have been confirmed.

Result: It was found that the causal conditions had significant effects on the phenomenon of the academic positive perspective of students with low SES (β = 0.77), academic positive perspective on the implementation of academic success strategies in low SES areas (β = 0.6), context background on the implementation of strategies (β = 0.28), intervening conditions on the implementation of strategies (β = 0.12), and implementation of interactions and strategies of students with low SES on the consequences of academic success (β = 0.86). The phenomenon of academic positive perspective clarified the complexity of the academic success of students with low SES.

Conclusion: The examined paradigm model can be a suitable model for the academic success of students with low SES.