Relative Deprivation and Youth Self-perception: A Multinational Analysis

Chenyao Zhang , The Ohio State University

Over the years, relative deprivation has been found influencing the equalizing effect of education. According to Davis (1966), there is a frog pond effect within schools. More recent works recognized the classroom or school level effect on the unequal returns student from different backgrounds receive from school. Previous studies were mainly U.S. based; however, it is important to examine the universality of the frog pond effect. This study extends the analysis of relative deprivation to a multinational level by examining how a student's relative socioeconomic position influence one's self-perception. Three-level hierarchical linear regression models are used to analyze the PISA 2015 dataset, covering 347,078 individuals in 12,297 schools and 54 countries. The results suggest that relative deprivation is universally witnessed across countries, and that students from more advantaged background benefit more from school than their less advantaged peers.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 8. Economy, Labor Force, Education, & Inequality