The backstage of schooling: Aspirational engagement with private tutoring in the Seoul Capital Area

Abstract

Drawing on an institutionalist account of private tutoring as a para-institution symbiotic with formal schooling, this study examines whether adolescents' participation in private tutoring reflects dissatisfaction with school or the strategic pursuit of credentialed futures. We analyze multilevel data from 1122 middle school students in 49 schools in the Seoul Capital Area using hierarchical generalized linear models. A random forest model with Shapley-based feature attributions provides a supplementary analysis. We find that tutoring participation varies systematically by occupational aspirations: orientations toward stable, credential-dependent careers predict higher participation, whereas aspirations toward physically active careers predict lower participation. Factors aligned with school-improvement narratives, including class-size reduction and expanded after-school support, have limited explanatory power. These findings recast private tutoring as positional consumption that both rests on and reinforces the institutional legitimacy of formal schooling.