Written by Elizabeth Sanderson
For some of us, school was fun, a time to be mischievous, mess about, and misbehave. For others, school was miserable, and some may even say, trivial and pointless. But do our school experiences define us? And does how we behave in school impact the chances of success in later life? A recent study by Rodica Ioana Damian, Marion Spengler and Brent W. Roberts (2018) aimed to investigate just this.
The researchers looked at the role of student characteristics and behaviours in a longitudinal study over a 50-year period, using a large United States representative sample of high school students. Specifically, they focused on whether being a responsible student, showing interest in school, have good writing skills and reading skills was related in any way to later occupational prestige, educational attainment and income (11 years and 50 years after).
The study reported some interesting findings:
- Being responsible in school was related to higher educational attainment and occupational prestige at both follow up time- points.
- Having interest in school was related to higher occupational prestige 11 years after school, and higher income 50 years after school.
- Reading skills were related to higher educational attainment, income and occupational prestige at both follow up time-points.
- Writing skills were related to higher educational attainment and higher occupational prestige at both follow up time-points.
- Finally, if the student was more responsible and had more interest in school, they tended to have fewer problems with reading and writing skills.
So, it seems that being engaged in school matters. Who’d have thought our parents were right? This study highlights that the way someone interacts with school is important when it comes to later success. Although, it seems important to add that the observational nature of the study limits causal inferences, and that parental socio-economic status and IQ are likely to contribute also. However, if you want a take-home message then here goes. Students: by applying yourself at school you give yourself the best chance at a positive future. Parents: you may want to try to reinforce interest in school with your children (though let us know if you find a magic wand for doing that!).
References
Spengler, M., Damian, R. I., & Roberts, B. W. (2018). How you behave in school predicts life success above and beyond family background, broad traits, and cognitive ability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(4), 620.