Student's Economic Level to Academic Achievement
Bunga Mustika, Tantri Adiwijaya, Windy Yudiawati Putri, Wilodati Wilodati, Ade Gafar Abdullah,
and Ari Arifin Danuwijaya
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords: Academic Achievement, Bidikmisi Scholarship, Student’s Economy Level.
Abstract: This research is motivated by the comparison of academic achievement level of students which is seen from
the economic level. The level of student economy can be seen from several aspects, and one of them is the
entrance of higher education.There are several types of college entrance paths including entry point through
Bidikmisi scholarship and Independent pathways. This study aims to determine the comparison between the
achievement level of bidikmisi students with Independent student. This research technique uses non-
inferential comparative quantitative approach with t-test calculation. Respondents in this study were
undergraduate students majoring in Sociology education, in one of state universities in Bandung. The results
of this study indicate that there is a comparison of academic achievement between students of Bidikmisi and
Independent pathways.
1 INTRODUCTION
The economic background of higher education
students always varies from high to low economic
class. The relationship between economic factor and
student performance can be seen from students'
academic achievement and their entrance point to the
university. Many students are successful to pursue
their further study in some universities through some
scholarships, such as the "Bidikmisi Scholarship",
which is a scholarship program from the Indonesian
government aiming for students from low social class
families. Meanwhile, there are some students
attending universities after passing independent
university’s selection test (which is organized by the
University itself. This form of test has high entrance
fee and is commonly taken by students from high
social class as. According to Barker and Hoskins
(2015), family background can have an effect on
student performance, and student performance is
seen from its achievement can be influenced by the
factors behind it, one of them is economic factor
(Ngoma, Ntale, & Abaho, 2017).
The size of students' academic ability can be seen
from their GPA (Islam & Islam, 2013). Students who
have a high GPA are students who are diligent, active
in class, and smart. Students who enter through the
path of Bidikmisi Scholarship are identical with
students who are smart. When they enter the
university, they have to go through several process
requirements that have been set. The purpose of this
research is to see how the influence of the entrance
to the university towards student achievement
between students of Bidikmisi Scholarship path with
those of independent test path. Social class becomes
an important aspect in higher education (Lehmann,
2012). Upper middle-class students will easily get
into the desired university, but it is different from
students from low social class families who must try
hard to get a scholarship.
Socioeconomic status (SSE) is a composite
measure of the economic and social position of an
individual or family relative to others based on
income, education, and employment. When analyzing
SSE families, education and employment of mothers
and fathers are examined (GOP, 2008), as well as
income combined, compared to individuals, when
their own attributes are assessed. The nature of the
relationship between socioeconomic status (SSE) and
student achievement has been debated for decades,
with the most influential arguments appearing in
Educational Equal Opportunity and Inequality in the
United States, and a number of questions were
commissioned in Australia. One's education is closely
related to their lives of opportunity, income and well-
being.
Education plays an important role in sharpening
the skills of an individual who makes him or her a
Mustika, B., Adiwijaya, T., Putri, W., Wilodati, W., Abdullah, A. and Danuwijaya, A.
Student’s Economic Level to Academic Achievement.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education (ICSE 2017) - Volume 2, pages 553-556
ISBN: 978-989-758-316-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
553

ready-to-find and gain employment, as well as a
special qualification that groups people with the
highest SES of the lowest SES. Lareau (2003) speaks
to the idea of integrated cultivation, in which middle-
class parents take an active role in the education and
development of their children using the control of
organizing activities and fostering a sense of rights
through discussion. Lareau (2003) argues that low
income families do not participate in this movement,
causing their children to have a sense of constraint. A
division in educational attainment is thus born out of
two differences in child rearing. In theory, low-
income families have unsuccessful children to the
level of middle-income children, who feel entitled,
are argumentative, and more prepared for adult life
(Lareau, 2003)
Poverty is not a curse for adults but for children as
well even more. These are the children who are easily
victimized by hunger, growth, illness, physical and
mental disability, harassment, early marriage, child
trafficking, and others. These are environmental
factors that contribute greatly to children living in
poverty being four times more likely to have learning
disabilities than non-poverty students (Apple & Zenk
1996). According to (Casanova, Garcia-Linares,
Torre, & Carpio, 2005), it is a combination of
environmental factors as well as family influences
that contribute to student academic success. Children
who come from poverty are not provided the same
tools as the rich, they have entered the school behind
those who do not live under the same conditions.
Some studies have shown that problems start with
parents and lack of education and understanding of
the needs of children.
This article is based on a study, which is an
attempt to explore various factors that have an impact
on achievement, depending on the different
socioeconomic status in society and how it impacts
on student academic achievement. This study also
examines the literature to reveal that the
socioeconomic status of parents can significantly
contribute to the achievement of good grades in
college. This paper illustrates the impact of income,
employment on the level of student education, and the
impact of many socioeconomic indicators on
individual student achievement.
Based on the above background, the researcher is
interested in investigating the comparison between
the academic achievement of Bidikmisi students and
the Independent students measured through the
academic achievement index (GPA) during the
lecture period.
2 METHODS
This research was a quantitative research. The object
of this research were undergraduate students
majoring in Sociology in one of the University in
Bandung. The population of this study was all
students of sociology consisting of 120 students. The
sample were as many as 30 students, consisting of 21
female and 9 male students. Their age ranged from 18
to 21 years old. Parent income ranges from less than
Rp. 5,000,000 to more than Rp. 5,000,000. The
number of students from Bidikmisi program were 10
people while the students through Independent were
20 people. The sampling used a purposive sampling
as the study involved students with certain criteria of
having background of university entrance through
Bidikmisi scholarship and Independent path. The data
werfe obtained from closed questionnaire with the
number of questions 15 items.
In this study, the calculation of data using Likert
scale which aims to compare the score of
understanding, describe and measure the extent to
which the entrance point of students to the University
with academic achievement. The data analysis
technique used inferential statistic calculation
through non parametric comparative analysis of t-test.
This analysis was chosen because this research seeks
to illustrate the clear comparison between the two
understandings between the entry point and the
academic achievement. The calculation begins with
performing coding from the shared questionnaire,
testing the validity of the data from the coding results,
testing the reliability, and calculating data analysis
using t-test calculation. The calculation was chosen to
prove the test of research hypothesis that is:
Ho: There is no comparison between student
achievement of Bidikmisi and Independent.
H1: There is a comparison between student
achievement level of Bidikmisi and Independent.
3 RESULT
The difference of academic achievement level
between Independent and Bidikmisi students with
significant value 0.01 <0.05 indicates that the data is
not homogeneous. The value of t obtained 2.81 at df
28. The value of t obtained is compared with t table
on df 28 with probability 0.05 that is equal to 1.70.
So, the value of t obtained was 2.81 which was higher
than t table of 1.70. Thus, the value of t arithmetic was
positive. There was a significant difference regarding
ICSE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education
554

the academic achievement between Bidikmisi and
Independent students.
Then, it can also be seen from p value of 0.01
(<0.05) indicating that the difference is statistically
significant at probability 0.05. Thus, Ho is rejected
meaning that there is a comparison between the level
of academic achievement of Bidikmisi and
Independent students. This is supported by the
average difference between Bidikmisi and
Independent students of 0.6 because the positive
value of Bidikmisi students has an average of 3.1
while the Independent students have an average of
2.5. There is a difference of level of academic
achievement between Bidikmisi and Independent
students although it was not so great (0.6).
Figure 1: Academic Achievement of Students Viewed
From State University Entrance Path.
Figure 1 shows the comparison of academic
achievement (GPA) between Bidikmisi students and
Independent students. It is seen that the students of
Bidikmisi obtaining GPA of 3.49 – 3.99 were 58,3%
higher than the students of Independent who obtained
as 41,7% with the difference of 16,6%. There were
only 16.7% Bidikmisi students who got GPA 3.00-
3.49, while the Independent students with a GPA of
3.00-3.49 were as much as 83.3%. It can be concluded
that Bidikmisi students tend to have higher levels of
academic achievement compared to Independent
students.
4 DISCUSSION
The socioeconomic status of students is most often
determined by combining parental level education,
employment status and income level. Studies have
repeatedly found that socioeconomic status (SSE)
affects student achievement.
Candidates who want to enter the state university
must conduct a selection process. In Indonesia, the
selection of college entrance includes some pathways,
two of which are Bidikmisi scholarship and
Independent. Bidikmisi scholarship path is for
students with low economic level and is fully funded
by the Indonesian government, while Independent
path is for students coming from middle and upper
economic level and funded by their parents.
The result of the research shows that there is a
comparison between student achievement level of
Bidikmisi and that of Independent. Student of
Bidikmisi have higher GPA than Independent
students. The socioeconomic status of parents can
significantly contribute to the achievement of good
grades in higher education. (Annette, 2003). This is
due to the higher learning motivation possessed by
bidikmisi bidikmisi.
5 CONCLUSION
Based on the result, the comparison between the
academic achievement level of the Independent with
the Bidikmisi students in the sociology department
shows that there is a comparison between the
students' GPA with the economic level which is seen
from the entrance point of Higher Education. The
results of this study prove that Bidikmisi students
GPA’s relatively better/higher than Independent
students.
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16.7%
58.3%
100%
83.3%
41.7%
0
3.00-3.49 3.49-3.99 4
Bidikmisi
Mandiri
Student’s Economic Level to Academic Achievement
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Ngoma, M., Ntale, P.D., Abaho, E. 2017. Social-economic
factors, student factors, student academic goals and
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