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Description
Little is known about the role of social-emotional skills in supporting disadvantaged youth in completing key benchmark qualifications, and potential differences by social background, sex, ethnicity. This study addressed this gap by estimating linear probability models based on the nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (N=15,770). The findings reveal that social-emotional skills (captured by academic expectations, academic self-concept, school engagement) significantly predicted the probability of completing at least secondary education, even when controlling for social background and academic achievement. Additionally, youth with fewer socioeconomic resources (i.e., lower parental education and class) benefitted significantly more from higher expectations and a more positive self-concept. These latter differences further varied by sex and ethnicity. These findings suggest that social-emotional skills may serve as compensatory resources for less socioeconomically advantaged students. However, distinct socio-emotional skills might support different disadvantaged subgroups in acquiring crucial benchmark qualifications of secondary education.
