Understanding Why Religious Involvement's Relationship With Education Varies by Social Class

Abstract

Religiosity's impact on adolescent educational outcomes has been widely documented in the sociology of religion literature. Building upon King's conceptual framework of ideological, social, and transcendent resources that are made available to youth through religious participation, we use qualitative and quantitative data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) to explore how the associations between religious involvement and educational outcomes may vary among lower and higher socioeconomic status youth. Our findings indicate significant positive effects of transcendent and ideological resources on educational outcomes, especially among youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, but limited influence of social resources through youth's religious participation.

Religion and Academic Achievement: A Research Review Spanning Secondary School and Higher Education

“…In 95% of the studies, were based on survey analyses and used quantitative analytic tools such as multiple regression. I identified only two articles (5%) that used both quantitative and qualitative methods (Lee and Pearce 2019; Uecker and Pearce 2017). There is not a single article that relied solely on qualitative methods, such as interviews or ethnography.…”

“…Several longitudinal studies using large national data sets show a consistent and positive relationship between religiosity during adolescence and educational attainment (Kim 2015; Lee and Pearce 2019; Lee et al 2007; Lehrer 2004b, 2010; Loury 2004; Mohanty 2016; Stokes 2008) For example, using NLSY79 data, Loury (2004) found that white Mainline Christian adolescents who attended religious services more frequently attained more years of education in adulthood. Using the National Survey of Family Growth 1995, Lehrer (2010) also found that adolescents who frequently attended religious services had completed more schooling by adulthood.…”

“…It appears that disparities in educational attainment rates between religious groups reflect different attitudes towards higher education and human capital investment (Lehrer 2010; Uecker and Pearce 2017). It is not clear how race, social class, gender, and religiosity moderate the relationship between religious tradition and educational attainment, although some evidence suggests that low-SES youth accrue more advantages from their religious involvement (Lee and Pearce 2019). It is noteworthy that very few studies have considered the interaction between religious tradition and religiosity (Lehrer 2004a, 2010).…”

“…As scholars embark on studies to identify mechanisms, they should consider using more qualitative and mixed-methods approaches. This literature review shows that with two exceptions (Lee and Pearce 2019; Uecker and Pearce, 2017), all the existing studies have relied on large scale national surveys. These surveys have indeed been helpful in identifying and describing the associations between religion and educational outcomes.…”

How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception

“…Religious involvement and personal religiosity are also experienced in different ways by social class, which can then translate to different mechanisms of religious influence. In recent work, Lee and Pearce (2019) demonstrate unique relationships between religious involvement and educational outcomes by social class. Youth who have parents with higher education and income tend to view religion as more of a family affair or social activity, and one of a variety of social contexts in which they are safe and encouraged by adults to aspire to a college degree and beyond.…”