ABSTRACT

Worldwide, an increasing number of students seek private supplementary tutoring, known as ‘shadow education.’ Various studies report social class differences in the use of shadow education. High-SES families may invest in shadow education as a form of concerted cultivation, seeking to improve their children’s school achievement. In this study, we apply meta-analytic structural equation modeling to explore relationships between parental education, income, and the use of shadow education across nations and educational contexts. We find robust relationships between parental education, income and the use of shadow education. Moreover, we assess a mediating role of shadow education in the relationship between SES and achievement. Shadow education appears to fulfill a competitive function for privileged families who seek to secure advantage in educational competition. We conclude that educational research, particularly research concerned with inequality of opportunities, needs to take account of the progressively prominent position of shadow education in the educational landscape.

摘要

在世界范围内，越来越多的学生寻求私人补习，即所谓的“影子教育”。各种研究报告了影子教育使用中的社会阶层差异。高社会经济地位家庭可能会投资影子教育作为协同培养的一种形式，寻求提高孩子的学业成绩。在这项研究中，我们应用元分析结构方程模型来探索不同国家和教育背景下家长教育、收入和影子教育使用之间的关系。我们发现父母教育、收入和影子教育的使用之间存在紧密的关系。此外，我们评估了影子教育在社会经济地位与成就之间关系中的中介作用。影子教育似乎为那些寻求在教育竞争中获得优势的特权家庭发挥了竞争功能。我们的结论是，教育研究，特别是有关机会不平等的研究，需要考虑到影子教育在教育领域中日益突出的地位。