Socioemotional Skills, Secondary School Completion, and the Intersection of Social Background, Ethnicity, and Sex

Previous research has established the significant role of socioemotional skills in educational attainment. There is little agreement, however, about which socioemotional skills are relevant for promoting academic attainment among socioeconomically disadvantaged youth, especially when accounting for the intersection of social background with other social indicators, such as sex and ethnicity. Additionally, whereas most research has focused on higher education participation, evidence is scarce on the competencies that can support youth in gaining the key secondary education qualifications needed for entering further training and skilled occupations. Estimating linear probability models based on the nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (N=15,770, female=49%, ethnic minority groups=33%), this study assesses the role of education-related socioemotional skills (captured by educational expectations, academic self-concept, school engagement) in enabling socioeconomically disadvantaged youth (measured by parental education and social class) of different sex and ethnicity to complete secondary education, crucial for occupational progression in England. Results first show that being female, from a minority group, coming from a more privileged social background, having higher educational expectations, and greater school engagement, significantly and positively predicted individuals’ probabilities of completing secondary education. However, among ethnic minority youth, students from less-educated families benefitted more from ambitious expectations than their peers from higher-educated families, regardless of sex. Among white youth, males from less-educated families benefitted more from positive self-concept than those from higher-educated families, while females from less-educated and lower-class families benefitted more than their more advantaged peers from both a more positive self-concept and higher expectations. These findings suggest that education-related socioemotional skills may serve as compensatory resources for less socioeconomically privileged students. However, distinct socioemotional skills might be especially important to support different subgroups of socioeconomically disadvantaged youth by sex and ethnicity in acquiring the crucial qualifications of secondary education.