Abstract

International studies show that the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on learning outcomes is particularly strong in emerging countries. Chile is one of the countries where the correlation between SES and achievement is strongest. Despite this finding, academically outstanding students exist in vulnerable conditions. This phenomenon is known as academic resilience. Resilient students are exemplary cases that may open a new way to approach the task of optimizing schooling conditions for vulnerable youth, particularly in developing educational systems. The present study investigates the common characteristics of these students, their families, and schools in Chile. A multilevel logistic analysis of resilience indicated that avoiding repetition, the presence of the mother at home, positive attitudes toward reading, and schools’ sociocultural level and climate are important predictors. These results might be the first step toward the design of resilience-building programs to treat vulnerability as a circumstantial situation and not as an unalterable condition.