Countless studies on education incorporate measures of socioeconomic status (SES). But this metric is, perhaps surprisingly, rather ill-defined and has incorporated many varying components since its inception in the early twentieth century. Because the choice of SES measures can directly affect results in education research, formulating a clear understanding of what defines this important measure is imperative for understanding the needs of students.
A recent 2023 study published in Educational Researcher examines decades of research on SES to see how its components have changed over time—and ultimately, to help and encourage education researchers to better define and standardize SES measures. The authors sought to answer many questions to help advocate for a better SES metric for use in education research, including: What are the most popular components? And how have they changed in popularity over time?
The authors defined SES as the measurement of the economic, social, and cultural resources that a person possesses. They identified three theoretical frameworks of SES, which acted as lenses for their analysis of components. The authors then systematically screened hundreds of academic articles to find those that both explicitly created or examined SES measures and were within the field of education. This process yielded ninety-two publications released between 1916 and 2020. They grouped components, measured their frequency, and examined changes over time.
The study found 150 SES measures and 392 components within those measures. The authors deemed forty-five of these components to be popular, which were defined as those that had been referenced in four or more articles. Across time, the three most popular components among the articles studied were parental education, parental occupation, and income. They also found that measures of income, education, occupation, and material possessions were common in every decade studied.
However, measures of possessions have changed over time, from asking if individuals have items such as furnaces in earlier studies to digital devices in recent ones. The authors found a shift from measures of social capital (like the clubs a mother is a member of) to financial (including items like the use of public assistance) and cultural capital (such as private and public school attendance). They describe this shift as concerning, citing research arguing that all forms of capital are important for educational success, as well as other research claiming that social capital is more influential in success than financial capital. Likewise, many modern measures contain subjective components, which the authors believe provide valuable insights but are used too inconsistently. They also discussed their belief that the prominently used free and reduced-priced lunch (FRPL) variable is a flawed measure of student need due to its broadness, reliance on familial enrollment, and the community enrollment that sometimes see students receiving it based on the school they attend.
Due to the abundance of variable components within these measures, which the authors describe as having compounded in the last century, they argue that education researchers should create a standardized and streamlined SES measure. They also argue that because components of these metrics are historically products of their time, they will eventually need to be adapted to fit contemporary contexts.
The authors conclude by recommending the adoption of a multi-item measure of SES that is designed for use with the specific populations researchers want to analyze and is careful not to include too many items. They also recommend that education researchers use large preexisting data sets, like PISA, that contain multiple measures of SES, rather than relying on the flawed FRPL metric.
Ultimately, a standardized but adaptable measure of SES that is relevant to the population studied can provide a better understanding of student needs and ensure proper representation of disadvantaged students in vital education research.
SOURCE: Kody Long and Rachel Renbarger, “Persistence of Poverty: How Measures of Socioeconomic Status Have Changed Over Time,” Educational Researcher (2023).
