Social stratification research has consistently found persistent
inequalities in the academic outcomes of children from different socio-economic
status (SES) groups. Research in the sociology of education has
shown that students from higher SES groups outperform peers from lower
SES groups on various academic indicators as well as make greater academic
progress when assessed at two or more separate points in time.
Recent evidence from the US has also shown that participation in
leisure out-of-school activities (OSA) is among the factors which may
contribute to maintaining or even widening these inequalities. Similar
evidence is lacking in the UK.
The present research focuses on this issue by analysing the role of
participation in leisure OSA in the process of reproduction of social
inequalities in academic outcomes among British school-aged children. The
study draws on social and cultural capital theories to address the following
questions: a) Are there differences in participation in OSA among school-aged
children in dissimilar SES groups?; b) Taking into account children’s
SES, is participation in OSA associated with their academic outcomes?; c)
Does the association between participation in OSA and children’s academic
outcomes vary across different SES groups?
Using data from the third and fourth sweeps of the Millennium
Cohort Study (MCS), when cohort members were aged 5 and 7 years old, the
research explores participation in three categories of leisure activities; a)
social-group activities, b) commercial-public activities, and c) home-centred
activities. Children’s academic outcomes are assessed using verbal and non-verbal
standardised tests, as well as by teachers’ assessment.
The study applied regression models to examine the relationships
between children’s SES, participation in OSA and academic outcomes. The
statistical analyses were carried out in a multilevel framework which enabled
the MCS hierarchical data structure and area variations to be accounted for.
The findings suggest that participation in some, but not all leisure
OSA is one of the factors which contributes to socio-economic inequalities in
educational outcomes among British school-aged children. This is because
participation in OSA is associated with better academic performance among
all students, however those in high SES groups are more likely to be exposed
to such activities. After controlling for SES, gender, family characteristics,
school type, absenteeism and geographical variation, there is a small to
moderate positive relationship between participation in a number of
different leisure OSA and 7-year-olds' academic performance. Interestingly,
variations among children from different SES groups were found in the
extent to which attendance at certain OSA (e.g. after-school clubs) is
associated with academic development between age 5 and 7: children from
lower SES who attend such activities tend to progress more academically
than children from intermediate and higher SES