Perceptions of socio-economically less-privileged students about academic success

Education and achieving academic success is the protective factor of teenagers and young people against the harmful effects of low socio-economic status. The current research was based on qualitative phenomenological method in order to understand the concept of academic success from the point of view of students with low socio-economic status, parents and teachers of disadvantaged areas.

The current research was conducted with a qualitative approach and a phenomenological method. The participants included 49 people who were selected by purpose-based sampling. The data collection method was semi-structured interview. To analyze the data, the seven-step Claysey model was used. The collected data were organized in the form of categories and concepts related to each category.

After analyzing the data of the study, 22 subthemes and 6 main themes were obtained to define academic success. Examining the lived experiences of these activists showed that the academic positive perspective, attachment to success, academic creativity, academic lifestyle, role competence and the achievement context are the themes that give meaning to academic success in less privileged areas.

Based on the obtained results, the perception of less privileged students towards the phenomenon of academic success was different from the previous definitions of academic success and it is a mental, emotional and behavioral process including the academic positive perspective, attachment to success, academic creativity, academic lifestyle, role competence and being in the achievement context.