Does Socioeconomic Status Moderate the Relationship Between School Belonging and School-Related factors in Australia?

Abstract

Sense of school belonging has a strong impact on adolescents’ well-being, and whilst there are many factors that can influence school belonging, two of the most salient factors include perceived teacher support and exposure to bullying. While the association between school belonging and teacher support and school belonging and exposure to bullying are well documented in the literature, less is known about how these relationships vary depending on students’ socioeconomic status (SES). The aim of this study was to investigate whether SES moderated the relationship between school belonging and these school-related factors. The sample was drawn from the 14,273 Australian 15 and 16-year-olds who completed the 2018 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey. Linear regression analyses revealed that the association between school belonging and teacher support was not moderated by SES and there was a positive relationship between SES and sense of school belonging, even after accounting for teacher support, exposure to bullying and other student and school characteristics. Despite limitations, this study fills a gap in the literature, provides a foundation for further research to build on, and has potential implications for how safety should be promoted for students of both high and low SES for teacher support to more strongly influence their sense of school belonging.