Building Links Between Early Socioeconomic Status, Cognitive Ability, and Math and Science Achievement

Abstract

The present study examined whether and how socioeconomic status (SES) predicts school achievement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) using structural equation modeling and data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Child Care and Youth Development. The present inquiry addresses gaps in previous research linking SES and STEM achievement in high school. Results indicate that maternal education predicts the child’s early environment, which itself predicts the development of executive function (EF) and language, and thereby, STEM achievement. Moreover, children’s language ability and EF development influenced higher-order cognitive skills, such as relational reasoning, planning, and basic calculation skills. However, only relational reasoning strongly predicted high school math and science achievement, suggesting that relational reasoning, but not planning and calculation skills, was central to STEM thinking and learning.

Acknowledgments

This work was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master’s thesis by Angela Blums (née Merritt) at the University of California, Davis. An earlier version was presented at the Society for Research in Child Development in 2015. Special thanks are extended to Zhe Chen, the advisor and thesis committee chair, and to the thesis committee members, Kevin Grimm and Jay Belsky.