Who Feels at Home in School? Exploring Satisfaction with School Life across Gender and Class Lines

Abstract

This study examined the differences in students’ satisfaction with school life based on gender and socioeconomic status among government high schools in urban Faisalabad, Pakistan. A total of 800 students participated in the study through a convenience sampling approach. Satisfaction with school life was measured using an adapted version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. This scale consists of five items rated on a five-point Likert scale. Independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc analyses were conducted to assess group differences. Results showed that female students reported significantly higher satisfaction with school life than male students on most items, with moderate effect sizes. Significant differences were also found across socioeconomic groups, where high-SES students expressed greater satisfaction than medium- and low-SES students, supported by medium-to-large effect sizes. These findings highlight that gender and socioeconomic status are important correlates of students’ satisfaction with school life.