Low-Socioeconomic Status Students Turn Their Academic Failure to Success: A Synthesis of Qualitative Research

Abstract

Although many studies have examined how low-socioeconomic status (SES) individuals achieved academic success despite the odds, most of them focused on a few ethnic minorities. The purpose of our study was to include different ethnicities and identify what factors contributed to low-SES student academic success after failure with a systematic review of 19 qualitative studies, which were published between 2000 and 2018. Our findings revealed three themes: (a) family and others’ support and influence, (b) motivation, and (c) learning strategies. As expected, a strong factor was that individuals received support and assistance from their family and extended family. By the same token, students also received help and encouragement from their teachers, tutors, peers, and school. Successful students also had strong motivation to achieve their educational goals. However, not all individuals had such sources of support. Even though some students received negative feedback from their own family and others, they used it as a source of motivation to succeed. We also found that some students experienced culture shock and cultural adaptation to new cultures as motivation. Learning strategies was not a dominant theme, but some students used effective time management and application to manage their schoolwork. The findings in our study would contribute to researchers, educators, and school officials who are interested in educating disadvantaged students who manage to achieve academic success despite adversity.