Time to change your attitude? Socio-economic status, academic attainment, and time attitudes in Glasgow school children

Abstract

Closing the poverty-related attainment gap in schoolchildren is a stated priority for the Scottish Government. In the present study, we examine the poverty-related attainment gap in Glasgow, a city wherein more than half of the 100 most deprived areas in Scotland are to be found. Further, we examine the potential mediating role of school attendance, academic self-efficacy, and future time attitudes (positive and negative) in the relationship between socio-economic status and academic attainment. Participants (N = 3,812) were from 30 High schools in the Glasgow Local Authority area. In the first instance, we examined the mediating role of both academic self-efficacy and school attendance. Then, in a subsample, we further examined the additional potential of both positive and negative time attitudes to mediate this relationship. Results of Study 1 support the combined partially mediating effect of both academic self-efficacy and higher school attendance on the poverty-attainment relationship. Results of Study 2 show that these variables fully mediate the poverty-attainment relationship, and further evidence a direct effect of both positive and negative time attitudes on attainment. The direct effects of time attitudes on attainment suggest that this construct may be viable in addressing the poverty-related attainment gap across the social spectrum.