Determinants of Academic Achievement in Republic of Korea

Using nationally representative data from the Korean Education Longitudinal Study, this study examines the sources of differences in academic achievement among South Korean youth, with special attention given to the role of socioeconomic background and region. With respect to socioeconomic background, results show that there are significant socioeconomic gaps in academic achievement even after controlling for the other variables. When it comes to region, results show that while there are significant achievement gaps across different regions, these regional achievement gaps are attributable to differences in family, student, and school characteristics across regions. Limitations, policy implications, and future research directions are discussed.