How do Socioeconomic Attainment Gaps in Early Mathematical Ability Arise? An Exploration into the Home Environment, Executive Functions, and Verbal Ability

The goal of this research was to explore how early socioeconomic attainment gaps arise in mathematical skills before children begin formal schooling. Previous research has shown socioeconomic disparities in mathematical ability are visible before children begin formal education, and not only persist but widen over the course of schooling. However, we do not have a good understanding of why socioeconomic disparities in early mathematical ability arise, thus limiting our ability to develop interventions to support children before socioeconomic gradients embed. The aim of the current research was to identify child-level and home-level factors that may explain socioeconomic attainment gaps, as factors at these levels may be most susceptible to change. Four factors were explored across five studies: frequency of home mathematical activities (and how parent cognitions about mathematics relate to socioeconomic status and frequency of mathematical activities), inhibitory control, working memory, and verbal ability. These factors were chosen because they (i) relate to early mathematical ability and (ii) show socioeconomic gradients. The studies found that differences in inhibitory control and verbal ability may, in part, explain how these socioeconomic differences arise. Working memory did not appear to explain socioeconomic disparities but did emerge an important factor for early mathematical ability. Frequency of home mathematical activities did not explain socioeconomic attainment gaps in mathematics. In the empirical research, frequency of home mathematical activities did not relate to mathematical ability, but when systematically reviewing the field as a whole, a small positive relation was found. Parent beliefs about the importance of mathematics may help to explain variation in the frequency that parents engage in home mathematical activities with their child. These findings provide an important first step in identifying mechanisms by which socioeconomic disparities emerge. It is vital that future research explores these factors longitudinally before interventions can be developed with the goal of narrowing socioeconomic disparities in early mathematical ability.