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Personal agency and educational decision-making: insights from middle- and emerging-middle-income school parents in Costa Rica

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Personal agency and educational decision-making: insights from middle- and emerging-middle-income school parents in Costa Rica

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Content Personal Agency and Educational Decision-Making:
Insights from Middle- and Emerging-Middle-Income School Parents in Costa Rica
by
Ellen S. Rose
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
August 2024

© Copyright by Ellen S. Rose 2024
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Ellen S. Rose Certifies the Approval of this Dissertation
Dr. Cathy Krop, Committee Chair
Dr. Ruth Chung
Dr. Lawrence Picus
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2024

iv
Abstract
This dissertation investigates the educational decision-making processes of middle- and
emerging-middle-income school parents in Costa Rica, exploring their perceptions of
educational quality and their willingness to consider low-fee, high-quality private schools as
alternatives to the country’s public school system. Despite Costa Rica’s long-standing
commitment to universal education and its historically high literacy rates, the country faces
declining educational outcomes, growing inequality, and economic challenges. This study seeks
to understand how social and cultural capital influence parental educational choices and their
perceived agency in such decisions. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research combines
quantitative data from surveys with qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews. The
findings reveal that overall, parents are dissatisfied with the current state of public education and
are motivated by the prospect of better educational outcomes for their children. Key factors
influencing their decisions include access to school administration, quality of teachers, and
proximity of school to home. The study’s significance lies in its potential to inform policy and
practice in Costa Rican education, highlighting the need for reforms that increase access to highquality education across socioeconomic strata. By examining a largely unexplored population
and phenomenon, this dissertation contributes to the broader discourse on educational equity and
the role of private schooling in emerging economies. The insights gained may guide
policymakers, educators, and stakeholders in designing interventions that address the educational
aspirations and needs of Costa Rican families, ultimately supporting the country’s economic and
social development. Additionally, this research explores the potential of low-fee, high-quality
private schools to bridge the educational gap between different socioeconomic groups. The
findings suggest that these schools could serve as viable alternatives to underperforming public

v
schools, offering parents more agency and choice in their children’s education. However, the
study also raises critical questions about the long-term sustainability and broader societal impacts
of such efforts. The implications of this research extend to global discussions on the privatization
of education and the effectiveness and ethics surrounding low-fee, high-quality private schools in
offering equitable educational opportunities. The study underscores the importance of
considering parental perspectives and the multifaceted influences on their educational choices in
shaping future educational policies and practices. By focusing on the Costa Rican context, this
dissertation adds a valuable case study to the international literature on educational reform,
parental agency, and the dynamics of public and private education in developing countries.
Keywords: Knowledge Economy; Foreign Direct Investment; Costa Rican Education;
Low-Fee High-Quality Private Schools; Parental Agency; Educational Decision-Making; Social
Capital; Cultural Capital; Habitus; Public vs. Private Education; Emerging Middle Income;
Education Reform; Extracurricular Activities; Social Mobility; School Choice; Educational
Inequality; Global South

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Dedication
For Ian and Ezra who navigated every shoal and storm of this journey with me. I could
not have asked for a more loving or faithful crew. Next stop… Mumbai via the Arabian Sea.
To my mother for her unwavering support and the countless hours spent proofreading. I
am so appreciative of the time, care, and effort that you have devoted to seeing me through this
degree.
Finally, to my father, who I imagine would have been thrilled to have been part of this
moment. You are very much loved and missed.

vii
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee. Dr.
Krop has not only been the most supportive chair that I could ever have hoped for, but also the
most steadfast of mentors. As well, I am so very thankful to Dr. Chung who encouraged me to
undertake a mixed-methods study and guided me at every turn with her expertise and patience.
Dr. Picus always asked just the right questions and helped me think about issues that I never
would have included in this work had he not challenged me to think and research more on
several key topics. Thank you all!
Next, I want to thank my in-laws who treat me as their daughter and show incredible
enthusiasm, interest, and support for all that I do. How exciting that we will now have two Dr.
Roses in the family. Also, I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to JK and Rose Marie. Our
shared enthusiasm for education brought us together years ago and this passion continues to
motivate us to create and innovate for the future. How can I ever begin to thank Pati? Her
unwavering support and wicked sense of humor were the perfect tonic whenever I hit a
stumbling block. As well, a heartfelt thank you to Jeff, KM, Jyoti, and Cathy, who encouraged
me from application to graduation. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention my personal
cheerleaders– the Seal Team! I owe you countless missed lunches, dinners, and trips to El
Silencio.
And last but certainly not least, I want to give a special shout-out to my fellow doctors of
Cohort 11. Who could have imagined that 25 months would have flown by so quickly? With so
many enriching experiences and shared adventures, we are now ready for what comes next–
Congratulations!

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Table of Contents
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication...................................................................................................................................... vi
Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................... vii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi
List of Figures............................................................................................................................... xii
Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................... 1
Problem Statement...................................................................................................................... 2
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................... 4
Definitions................................................................................................................................... 8
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 10
Chapter Two: Literature Review .................................................................................................. 12
Costa Rica: A Distinctive Past and Present .............................................................................. 13
The Privatization of Public Education ...................................................................................... 36
Global Rise of Low-fee Private Schools................................................................................... 38
Theoretical Framework............................................................................................................. 49
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 51
Chapter Three: Methods ............................................................................................................... 53
Organization Overview............................................................................................................. 54
Population and Sample ............................................................................................................. 55

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Data Collection and Instrumentation ........................................................................................ 58
Data Analysis............................................................................................................................ 61
Credibility and Trustworthiness................................................................................................ 62
Validity and Reliability............................................................................................................. 64
Ethics......................................................................................................................................... 65
Role of Researcher.................................................................................................................... 67
Chapter 4: Findings....................................................................................................................... 68
Overview of Participants........................................................................................................... 69
Presentation of Findings ........................................................................................................... 78
Research Questions................................................................................................................... 79
Thematic Findings .................................................................................................................... 86
Summary of Findings.............................................................................................................. 103
Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations for Practice ................................................... 105
Discussion of Findings............................................................................................................ 106
Recommendations for Practice ............................................................................................... 118
Limitations and Delimitations................................................................................................. 126
Recommendations for Future Research.................................................................................. 127
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 129
References................................................................................................................................... 133
Appendix A: Public School Satisfaction Survey ........................................................................ 150

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Appendix B: Private School Satisfaction Survey ....................................................................... 158
Appendix C: University of Southern California Information Sheet for Survey ......................... 165
Appendix D: Interview Protocol for Public School Parents....................................................... 166
Appendix E: Interview Protocol for Private School Parents ...................................................... 167
Appendix F: University of Southern California Information Sheet for
Interview Screening Survey.................................................................................................. 168

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List of Tables
Table 1: Literacy Rates in Central America 16
Table 2: PISA Results for Costa Rica, 2018 and 2022 36
Table 3: Distribution of Public and Private School Parents 71
Table 4: Gender Distribution of Parent Participants 72
Table 5: Level of Educational Attainment of Parent Participants 73
Table 6: Highly Satisfied with Following Aspects of Child’s School… 81
Table 7: Highly Agree Child is… 82
Table 8: Highly Agree Child’s School Offers… 83
Table 9: Interview Questions Focused on RQ1 83
Table 10: Interview Questions Focused on RQ2 85
Table 11: Thematic Research Findings 86
Table 12: Evidence-based Recommendations for Practice 119

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Sample Human Development Indicators in Central America 15
Figure 2: Academic Degrees Granted by Area in Costa Rica 25
Figure 3: Teacher Training in Key Areas in 2020 in Costa Rica 30
Figure 4: Number of Public-School Students in Costa Rica Who Lack Internet Connectivity 31
Figure 5: Costa Rican Public School Closures, 2018-2021 32
Figure 6: ECE National Test Results for Fourth Graders in Peru (2018) 44
Figure 7: Combined Monthly Household Income in USD in Costa Rica 74
Figure 8: Likelihood of Enrollment in LFHQPS in Costa Rica 97
Figure 9: Level of Agency in Educational Decision-making in Costa Rica
by School Affiliation 100
Figure 10: Likelihood of Parent Enrolling Child in LFHQPS 113
Figure 11: Correlation between Level of Educational Completion of a Parent and Child’s
Enrollment in Public or Private School 116
Figure 12: Overall Level of Agency Reported by Parents 117
Figure 13: Top Ten Countries Reporting Greatest Shortages of School Staff 124

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Chapter 1: Introduction
Costa Rica, a country where primary education has been both compulsory and tuitionfree since 1869, has long been recognized internationally for its commitment to universal
education and a high literacy rate (98 percent; UNESCO, 2021). However, with declining
educational outcomes, growing inequality, and a stalling economy, the nation now finds itself at
a crossroads. Today, according to data from EY Parthenon (2023) only 10 percent of first graders
in Costa Rica will go on to earn a high school diploma and 60 percent of the nation’s labor force
does not hold a high school degree (CIEC, 2023). If Costa Rica does not rise to the challenge of
addressing its faltering achievement in the public education system and in meeting the demands
of a rapidly evolving global marketplace, it may see the education gap between rich and poor
children continue to grow, its unemployment rate rise even more sharply, and its status as an
upper middle-income country falter.
For the past two decades, the attainment rate of secondary school diplomas in Costa Rica
has steadily fallen, and now, less than a quarter (24.8 percent) of adults between the ages of 24
and 35 hold high school diplomas (OECD, 2022). To continue its growth, development, and
progress, the country must work diligently to adopt an educational model that places student
success at the forefront of its mission. Considered its most valuable resource and the engine of
the country’s knowledge economy, the Costa Rican people are increasingly underprepared to
meet the needs of the changing demands of the economy (Cambronero, 2023). Therefore,
addressing the challenges of the nation’s educational system must be part of the solution (EY
Parthenon, 2023).
This dissertation examines Costa Rica’s past, present, and future with respect to the
nation’s level of educational achievement and its need for improvement. It suggests an

2
alternative model for education in the country and seeks to better understand how middle- and
emerging-middle-income school parents define quality education, while it also attempting to gain
insight into what may motivate them to enroll their child in a low-fee, high-quality, private
school (LFHQPS). Achieving greater knowledge of a family’s perceived level of agency when it
comes to educational decision-making, particularly as it relates to their social and cultural
capital, is critical to this work.
Problem Statement
Costa Rica, known as Latin America’s longest continuous democracy and one of its most
stable economies, may owe its success, in part, to its forward-looking and comprehensive
education system, something which was enshrined in the country’s constitution in 1949 (Booth,
2019). While Costa Rica’s investment in education has long distinguished it from much of the
region, its public education system is facing great challenges today in preparing the future
workforce (Cambronero, 2023). The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report
(2019) ranked Costa Rica 102 of 141 countries with respect to the skills its secondary school
students possess upon graduating from secondary school. Moreover, results from the 2022
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) demonstrated that, on average, students
in Costa Rica exhibit educational deficiencies at rates even higher than those typically associated
with a country that has a lower level of educational attainment (OECD, 2023b).
As a decreasing number of students are attending secondary school, and even fewer are
completing it, the country is experiencing a crisis in education never before seen (Estado de la
Nación, 2022). When compared to the average secondary school finishing rates of other nations
surveyed by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), Costa Rica
ranked 39 of 42 (OECD, 2022a). Such realities have created an inflection point for a nation that

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has long considered itself a beacon of progress in a region that has been marked by challenges
surrounding security, economic stability, and developmental.
Without wholly reimagining the country’s public school system, the approach that EY
Parthenon (2023) suggests, a potential solution may be found by introducing alternate school
models into the Costa Rican educational marketplace. Scholars such as Levine (2018), Rambla
and Verger (2009), and Carnoy (1998), have written extensively about the ideological, political,
and economic drivers behind turning public education into a market commodity. Their writing
explores legal, international, and myriad stakeholder perspectives on voucher systems and
charter schools as well as the impact of privatization on education quality and access. It is
important to note that there is an ongoing debate on how best to provide high-quality education
to all students, a discussion which explores whether privatization is a viable solution to the
challenges facing public education systems around the globe. Levine (2018) advocates for a
balanced approach that considers the potential benefits of private involvement in education while
still safeguarding public interests and equity.
Countries throughout the Global South such as Colombia, India, Kenya, Mexico, and
Peru have seen an exponential rise in one model in particular—the low-fee private school
(LFPS)— which seeks to offer an alternative to the low-performing public school system for
low-, middle-, and emerging-middle-income families (Tooley, 2021). An analysis of 59 studies
that examined the rise of LFPSs in emerging economies, funded by the United Kingdom’s
Department for International Development, found strong evidence that teaching in LFPSs is
stronger than in public schools and that teachers are more engaged with their students “… in
terms of teacher presence, teaching activity, and teaching approaches are more conducive to
improved learning outcomes [in LFPSs]” (Day Ashley et al., 2014, p. 45). Further, there are

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compelling findings from the same study which demonstrate that better teaching has led to
improved learning outcomes in LFPSs around the Global South (2014).
To date, Costa Rica does not have a robust, affordable K-12 private school offering that
might provide an alternative to students enrolled in the country’s high-priced private schools or
the poorly performing public schools. Thus, implementing an alternative to the current Costa
Rican public and private education model may disrupt the market by introducing greater choice
and offering higher quality teaching. However, even if low-fee, high-quality private school
(LFHQPS) options were offered in Costa Rica, it is unknown whether middle- and emergingmiddle-income school parents, many of whom are unaccustomed to having this type of choice
for their child’s education, would exercise their personal agency and opt in.
Purpose of the Study
Short and Martinez (2019) explained that even coming to consensus on a definition of
middle-income and emerging-middle-income is fraught with complexity. However, for the
purpose of this work, the idea surrounding middle- and emerging-middle-income will be
examined from the lens of consumption and aspiration surrounding education. As the authors
wrote, “as people progress from absolute poverty into middle-income status they have more
disposable income,” and can spend more on goods and services like education (2019, p. 3).
Further, this dissertation explores the ways in which middle- and emerging-middleincome school parents understand how their social and cultural capital influence their decisionmaking processes with respect to their child’s education. To obtain generalizable insights into the
opinions of Costa Rican school parents from the middle- and emerging-middle income who met
a targeted income threshold, qualifying individuals were asked to complete a survey designed to
gain insight into their opinions of their child’s school experience, their definition of high-quality

5
education, the important factors in school selection, and their perceived level of agency in
educational decision-making. Concurrently, semi-structured interviews were conducted to
provide deeper insight into the relationship between social and cultural capital, parental agency,
and habitus in educational decision-making. These interviews were also used to identify the
factors that might motivate parents to enroll their child in an LFHQPS.
The following research questions served as the foundation for this dissertation:
1. What do middle- and emerging-middle-income parents of school children in Costa Rica
perceive as strengths and weaknesses of their child’s education?
2. What would motivate a parent in Costa Rica to move their child from their current
educational institution to enroll them in a low-fee, high-quality private school?
Significance of the Study
Chubb and Moe (1990) wrote that when educational decision-making is taken out of
parents’ hands, they have little motivation to become knowledgeable about, or to participate in,
the process. However, the authors theorized that in “… a market-based system, much of the
responsibility would be shifted to parents because their choices would have consequences for
their children’s education, and thus their incentives to become informed and involved would
become dramatically different” (p. 564, 1990). That is precisely what has happened throughout
the Global South over the past 20 years, as LFPSs have become an alternative to public schools,
even for low-income families (L.E.K., 2019).
Because Costa Rica does not currently offer a robust LFHQPS model, the behavior of
parents, in the face of this option, is unknown. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to contribute to
the literature by studying both a population (middle- and emerging-middle-income school
parents) and a phenomenon (parental attitudes and behavior in educational decision-making) that

6
is both under-examined and ripe for inquiry in Costa Rica. Working to understand what may
motivate parents to change from their educational institution to an accessible, high-quality
private school, if an alternative were available to them, is the cornerstone of this work.
Therefore, gaining insight into what social and cultural capital parents feel that they possess, or
would require, to make this change, will offer further depth and richness when exploring this
complex topic. Such work may also allow a more nuanced understanding of the way that parents
may respond to the possibility of enrolling their child in an LFHQPS.
This is significant because LFHQPSs may create opportunities for those currently
excluded from the higher achieving private school sector in the country and provide an
alternative to the underperforming public system, something which could increase equity.
According to J.M. Restrepo (2023), founder of Cosmos School Network in Medellin, Colombia,
such institutions indirectly exert pressure on the public system to make the necessary changes to
their schools. By examining a population that has seldom been given the opportunity to share
their voices, valuable insight into school parents’ thoughts, ideas, and perceptions may be
acquired. Unless such phenomena are studied, shared, and addressed, low educational attainment
in Costa Rica will likely continue and parents’ voices may never be heard.
The heart of this research is aimed at gaining insight into how parents may respond to the
possibility of enrolling their child in an LFHQPS, if the possibility arose, and the way that social
and cultural capital and habitus contribute to their sense of personal agency in educational
decision-making. In Capitalism and Freedom (1982) and Free to Choose (1980), Milton
Friedman, the Nobel laureate and economist, offered his perspective on school choice and
parental rights in the context of a democratic society (Hentschke, 2017). While Friedman’s work
pertained to the U.S., as Latin America’s longest continuous democracy, such concepts could

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also be examined in the framework of a smaller democratic society such as Costa Rica.
Friedman’s work has long been cited in discussions and debates about school choice, particularly
those about both the seen and unforeseen consequences of such choice.
As Costa Rica is a largely uncontested marketplace with regard to alternate education
models, the testing of theories, the gathering of data, and the analyzing of potential outcomes
should offer insight into this unstudied area. Creswell and Creswell (2018) speculated that
conducting both quantitative and qualitative research through a mixed methods study would
provide a more nuanced, yet more thorough, understanding of the research questions and the
phenomena being examined within a population.
The hope is that the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Education may use these data to gain
insight into the way that a certain population of parents defines high-quality education and what
they seek in a formative educational experience for their child. Finally, this work is intended to
serve as a reference for individuals and organizations that might considering launching
LFHQPSs in Costa Rica, a country where, according to National Institute of Statistics and
Census (2022), 95 percent of its students are enrolled in the public education system and where
parents who have children in the public system have little to no choice as to the location of their
child’s school, the type of instruction offered, or who will teach them.

8
Definitions
This dissertation refers to both governmental and non-governmental actors and uses
specific terms and concepts throughout the work. The following list includes some key
definitions and explanations of organizations that are used most frequently and may be less
familiar to the reader:
CINDE
CINDE is an independent investment promotion agency. Prior to 2023, the state funded a
large part of its annual budget. However, today CINDE receives no funding from the
government.
Emerging-middle-income
Emerging-middle-income generally refers to individuals who are rising from a lower to a
higher socio-economic level, usually in a developing or emerging economy. Such individuals are
thought to have increasingly disposable income, greater educational goals, and changing
aspirations (PWC, 2014).
Estado de la Educación
Estado de la Educación is an annual report on education that is published by an
independent, non-governmental organization and thinktank. The report offers an overview of the
educational climate in Costa Rica and is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Public Education and
the National Council of Rectors.
Estado de la Nación
Estado de la Nación is an annual report published by independent, non-governmental
organization and thinktank, Programa Estado de la Nación para el Desarrollo Humano. Estado
de la Nación offers an overview of the country’s social, economic, and political indicators.

9
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to an investor resident in one economy that
establishes a lasting enterprise resident in another economy. When an investor in another
economy owns at least 10 percent of an enterprise in one economy, that is considered FDI
(OECD, 2023).
Global South
This term encompasses Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. These regions are
predominantly, but not exclusively, characterized by lower income, and are frequently
marginalized politically or culturally. (Dados & Connel, 2012).
Human Capital
Human capital is considered the knowledge, talent, and skills of a population’s labor
force that makes them productive (Abbas et al., 2021).
Knowledge Economy
A knowledge economy is considered to exist when there is a “… greater reliance on
intellectual capabilities than on physical inputs or natural resources” (p. 199, Powell & Snellman,
2004,).
LFPS
Low-fee private schools (LFPS) are affordable, budget, or low-cost private schools that
provide an alternative to costly private schools and state-run public schools.
Ministry of Public Education
The Ministry of Public Education (MEP) is the government agency that has oversight and
is responsible for managing the Costa Rican education system (public and private) from primary
through tertiary.

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OECD
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an
international organization that works to create policies that affect prosperity, equality,
opportunity, and well-being positively (OECD, 2023).
PISA
The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an exam that
measures a student’s ability to employ reading, mathematics, and science “… to meet real-life
challenges” (OECD, 2023, para 1).
Private School
A private school is an educational institution that an organization may run, either
independently or in partnership with the government; it can be non- or for-profit and is
administered by individuals, corporations, NGOs, families, or religious organizations (L.E.K.
Consulting’s Global Education Practice, 2019).
Public school
A school that is funded by the government and free to all school-age children.
Conclusion
This dissertation is comprised of five chapters. The first serves as an introduction to the
research and outlines the problem statement, purpose, research questions, and the study’s
significance. Chapter Two presents a review of the literature that explores Costa Rica’s history
of distinctiveness, the country’s transition from an agrarian to a knowledge economy, the
shortage of skilled human capital, the current state of the Costa Rican education system,
challenges facing public education, alternatives to the current models of Costa Rican educational,
and parental decision-making about education. Chapter Two explores the theoretical framework

11
that served as the foundation for this dissertation. Chapter Three offers an overview of the
research methods that were used to collect, analyze, and interpret the data for this study and
delves into the study’s credibility, trustworthiness, validity, and reliability, as well as ethical
considerations. Chapter Four presents the data and results of this research. Finally, Chapter Five
presents conclusions and potential solutions to the problems of practice and suggests future
research.

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Chapter Two: Literature Review
This chapter presents a review of the literature that helps lay the foundation for this study
which examines how middle- and emerging-middle-income parents of public school children in
Costa Rica perceive the quality of their child’s education; what might motivate a parent to enroll
their child in an low-fee, high-quality private school (LFHQPS) rather than in a public school or
a higher cost private school; and how a certain subset of public school parents perceive that their
social and cultural capital drive decisions about their child’s education. It begins with an
overview of Costa Rica’s distinctive nature, including a historical outline of the country’s
investment in its social and human capital. Then, it continues to examine Costa Rica’s
transformation from an agrarian to a knowledge-based economy and how robust Foreign Direct
Investment fueled the metamorphosis. Next, the literature explores the current state of education
in the country, focuses on the challenges that face its public education system, and prescribes an
alternative to Costa Rican education as it currently stands.
What follows is a discussion of the global rise of LFPSs and an exploration of both
proponents and opponents of this rapidly proliferating educational model. In addition, this
chapter presents two case studies of high-performing LFPSs in Latin America, one in Mexico
and one in Peru, and includes a theoretical examination of the factors that influence parental
decision-making about education. The chapter closes with a discussion of Pierre Bourdieu’s
concepts of cultural and social capital and habitus that will serve as the theoretical framework to
explore: 1) How middle- and emerging-middle-income school parents in Costa Rica perceive the
quality of their child’s education; 2) What might motivate them to enroll in an LFHQPS, and
how the way in which they perceive their social and cultural capital impacts their educational
decision-making.

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Costa Rica: A Distinctive Past and Present
Costa Rica has been described as exceptional, the Switzerland of Central America, and an
oasis of democracy in a regional desert of authoritarianism (Palmer & Molina, 2004). While such
folklore that touts the country’s “exceptionalism” tends to permeate the nation’s collective
psyche, its construct may be better understood as “distinctiveness,” rather than “exceptionalism”
(Booth, 1998). As Gudmundson (2021) explained, this Central American nation of some 5.1
million inhabitants is more similar to the rest of Latin America in its history, challenges, and
interconnectedness than it may care to admit.
To truly understand Costa Rica, one must examine it in a regional context. In Central
America, an isthmus that has been plagued by political unrest, social upheaval, and economic
instability, Costa Rica is one country that has often appeared to be an outlier (Lehoucq, 2005).
However, we can understand how unique it is that Costa Rica’s health, education, safety, and
economic indicators, while they still reflect a developing economy, outpace those of its regional
peers only by viewing the country through a Central American lens (Wilson, 1998; Booth et al.,
2020). Such achievements can be traced back, at least in part, to policy decisions made in the
19th century, when the country began to invest in socioeconomic programs and adhere to the
precepts of a social democracy (Booth, 1998). Over decades and across administrations, the
government’s commitment to this system of thought and action, founded upon social and
economic benefits designed to increase the welfare, health, and security of a nation, has grown
and evolved (Sandbrook, 2007; Booth et al., 2020).
Development Effects of Post-1949 Social and Human Capital Investment
The Constitution of 1844 declared education a “sacred right” in Costa Rica, a guidepost
that, together with the educational reforms of the 1880s (which included the universalization of

14
primary schooling), played a significant role in “… consolidating notions of nation, citizenship,
entitlement, and rights” (Sandbrook, 2007, p. 97). Nevertheless, the Costa Rican civil war
(1948), the abolition of the army, and the constitution that was written in the wake of the civil
war (1949), proved to be watershed events in the nation’s political and economic future. In 1948,
when Costa Rica abolished its army, the government allocated those resources to create
socialized medicine, universal healthcare, and a public school system (Booth, 1998). Over the
decades that followed, such programs became inextricably linked to the nation’s internal and
external identity.
According to Booth et al. (2020), by the 1970s and 1980s, Costa Rica was allocating 20
times more of its fiscal budget to health and human services than to defense. Conversely, during
that same period, healthcare-to-defense spending ratios ranged from one-to-one but to no higher
than four-to-one throughout the rest of region (2020). Given the Costa Rican government’s
investment in, and commitment to, social and educational programs, the country’s poor had a
higher standard of living and a better safety net, on average, than the citizens of other
neighboring countries in Central America (Wilson, 1998).
Central Americanist Consuelo Cruz (2005) offers a unique interpretation of why the
Costa Rican government was so committed to social democracy. In short, “Given … the
country’s inferior military capabilities, intense socioeconomic development was the logical
approach to national fortification,” something that shaped the character and culture of the nation
(p. 113). This strategy appeared to have worked for Costa Rica, because the nation’s progress in
human development and commitment to democracy continued to grow while much of the wider
region of Latin America was marked by low Human Development Indicators (HDIs), civil
unrest, and authoritarian rule (Sandbrook, 2007).

15
As demonstrated in Figure 1, life expectancy in Costa Rica exceeds that in all other
Central American countries. This may be attributed to the country’s investment in a national
socialized healthcare program in the late 1940s. Another indicator that sets the country apart
from most of its regional peers is its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, which places
Costa Rica second in the region, just behind Panama. When compared to other northern Latin
American countries, these two indicators suggest that Costa Rica has made strides in improving
the overall well-being of its citizens as well as in promoting economic growth and stability.
Figure 1
Sample Human Development Indicators in Central America
World Bank, 2023

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As Costa Rica expanded its public education system, citizens began to expect better
levels of schooling for their children. This, in turn, led the country to boast one of the highest
literacy rates in Latin America (Booth et al., 2020). According to data from UNESCO, collected
through population censuses and reported by the World Bank (2022), by 1984, the adult literacy
rate in Costa Rica was 93 percent, a figure that ranks just below far more developed Latin
American countries such as Argentina (94 percent) and Uruguay (95 percent) during the same
period. In sharp contrast to the remainder of Central America, Costa Rica’s literacy rate exceeds
those of all other Central American countries, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Literacy Rates in Central America
Country
First Available
Literacy Rate (%) Year
Most Recent
Literacy Rate (%) Year
Belize 70 1991 81 2001
Costa Rica 93 1984 98 2021
El Salvador 74 1992 90 2020
Guatemala 64 1994 83 2021
Honduras 80 2001 87 2018
Nicaragua 77 2001 83 2015
Panama 88 1980 96 2009
World Bank, 2022
Sandbrook (2007) explained that the period from 1949 to 1979 is considered the “golden
age” of the Costa Rican development state. During those decades, progressive social policies,
together with the state’s increasing involvement in the economy, were meant to be redistributive

17
in nature, a philosophy that was highly consistent with the nation’s social democratic model
(2007). The country’s socialized medicine program expanded rapidly, and by 1970, all citizens
received medical care in the form of social security (Wilson, 1998). The government’s
commitment to the tenets of a social democracy, as demonstrated by the creation of progressive
policy and investment in social and economic welfare, meant that Costa Ricans had access to
education and healthcare and experienced relative peace and prosperity (Cruz, 2005).
Such favorable conditions became the primary determinants of Costa Ricans’ social
mobility. Among other initiatives, the government began to lay the groundwork for economic
diversification, including creating conditions favorable to the investment of private capital
(Wilson, 1998; Booth et al., 2020). Perhaps more importantly, because of the population’s
comparatively high educational level, which became a proxy for having a skilled workforce,
Costa Rican began attracting FDI by the late 1980s, particularly in the areas of software,
hardware, and medical device manufacturing (Palmer & Molina, 2004). According to Hanusheck
and Kimko (2000), accounting for the quality of a country’s labor force is correlated highly with
its growth rates. In Costa Rica’s case, this proved critical for its transition from an agrarian to a
knowledge economy (KE), a concept which is defined simply as a financial system in which
knowledge, rather than physical labor, is the principal determinant of economic growth (Chen &
Dahlman, 2005).
Transformation from an Agrarian to a Knowledge Economy
In a KE, information and talent (rather than labor, resources, or commodities) are said to
determine economic growth. Their acquisition, genesis, distribution, and effective use enhance
development (Chen & Dahlman, 2005). Further, Powell and Snellman (2004) introduced another
hallmark of KE— rapid scientific and technological advancements together with their equally

18
speedy obsolescence. Relying on extensive research, the World Bank identified key elements
prevalent in a successful shift to a KE: 1) sustained investment in education at all levels; 2)
creative mechanisms and paths for innovation; 3) the information infrastructure’s continual
refinement and modernization; and 4) an economy that supports and facilitates market
transactions (Chen & Dahlman, 2005).
However, long before FDI helped transform Costa Rica from an agrarian to a KE, the
country depended heavily upon two crops—coffee and bananas. According to Wilson (1998),
prior to the success of coffee production in the early 1800s, the elite tried unsuccessfully to
cultivate and export a variety of other products, from cattle to cacao. The country found its
leading export crop only after farmers realized that the Central Valley (the area which today is
San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital) provided just the right conditions for coffee production. While
other parts of Central America have a similar climate, until the early 1870s, the country was the
sole producer of coffee in northern Latin America (Booth, 2019).
By 1890, the crop accounted for over 90 percent of the country’s export revenue, and the
coffee boom had bolstered its national economy (Sandbrook et al., 2008). At approximately the
same time that the foreign-owned United Fruit Company was founded, and the Atlantic railroad
was completed, bananas became the country’s second largest export commodity (Wilson,
1998). Costa Rica’s agro-export expansion was delicate because its reliance on overseas markets
was only feasible if those markets continued to grow or at least remained stable. With the onset
of two world wars and economic downturns, both imports to and exports from Costa Rica were
adversely affected (Sandbrook et al., 2008). These global events were the catalyst for a local
crisis. Export-dependent economies are subject to external forces, a reality that left the Costa
Rican economy vulnerable (Paus, 2005). To mitigate such volatility, Wilson (1998) explained

19
that the state continued along the path of social democracy and played an active part in direct
economic intervention.
For some 150 years, from the 1830s to the 1980s, the agro-export business fueled the
Costa Rican economy. However, according to Ferreira and Harrison (2012), in the 1960s and
early 1970s, the government focused on diversifying its markets by shifting from an agro-exportbased economy to an import substitution industrialization (ISI) strategy. Placing large tariffs on
consumer goods, maintaining low import taxes on capital goods, and placing taxes on goods in
which Costa Rica had a competitive advantage proved successful for the next two decades
(Palmer & Molina, 2004). ISI helped build the national industrial sector which, in turn, created
economic stability until the early 1980s, when Costa Rica faced the most severe downturn it had
experienced since the second world war (2004).
With revolutions afoot in El Salvador (1979-1992) and Nicaragua (1979-1990), the
market for domestically produced goods sold regionally contracted sharply and tumbled by 40
percent (Wilson, 1998). In just two years (between 1980 and 1982), the economy had fallen by
nearly 10 percent, and by 1982, the average rate of inflation was over 90 percent (Hildago,
2014). Another compounding factor was Costa Rica’s staggering international debt ($4 billion
USD), one of the highest in the world at that time. Debt service rose from $60 million USD in
1977 to $510 million USD just five years later. This played a role in the country’s currency
devaluation, a sharp uptick in the unemployment rate from 11 to 24 percent, and a staggering 20
percent increase in the percentage of individuals living below the poverty line, 54 percent
(Sandbrook et al., 2008).
The 1980s would eventually come to be known as the “Lost Generation” (Hidalgo,
2014). Nevertheless, with the help of multilateral banks and aid agencies such as the Inter-

20
American Development Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development, Costa Rica
created a strategy to withdraw from ISI and adopt a more outward-facing approach. By
promoting exports and diversification, as well as by creating Free Trade Zones (FTZ), which
offered incentives to companies that would locate to them, Costa Rica made its first foray into
attracting foreign direct investment (OECD, 2012).
Foreign Direct Investment and the Costa Rican Economy
There has been much written about the positive correlation between FDI and economic
growth (Dunning & Lundan, 2008; Cleeve et al., 2015; Khan et al., 2021). In fact, small
countries like Costa Rica, with limited natural resources and small local and/or regional markets,
have increasingly based their economic development strategies on FDI (Paus, 2005). Similarly,
large developing nations as diverse as Mexico and the Philippines have used foreign direct
investment, among other tactics, to bolster their economies and compete against more developed
competitors, an effective method by which to attract high-tech manufacturing and service
industries to their countries (Gereffi et al., 2019). The literature explains that FDI not only has a
positive effect on a country’s economy, but also enhances “human development, domestic firm
performance, innovations and labor force” (Khan et al., 2012, p. 469). In the case of Costa Rica,
for several decades, this appears to be the case.
By all accounts, the country is considered a success story in securing and retaining FDI,
something that has made it a leader in several sectors, such as medical device manufacturing,
biomaterials, and electronics (CINDE, 2022). Another key to its growth was the launch of the
Costa Rican Development Promotion Agency, CINDE, in 1982. With a mission to attract foreign
direct investment in strategic sectors, generate employment, and create opportunities for the
country’s “most valuable asset: its people,” CINDE set a course to use FDI to contribute to the

21
country’s social and economic future (2022). According to Paus (2005, p. 158), “Human capital
is the single most important factor in attracting high-tech FDI to a small latecomer [like Costa
Rica].”
By the late 1980s and 1990s, this innovative approach began to bear fruit, as
multinational corporations (MNCs) such as Baxter (1987) and Intel (1997) set up operations in
the country during that period (OECD, 2012). If there was one moment that was a true turning
point in the story of Costa Rica’s contemporary economic history, it was Intel’s decision to
invest in a $300 million state-of-the-art, semiconductor assembly plant in the country (Ferreira &
Harrison, 2012; World Bank, 2006). This triumph put Costa Rica on the map as a location that
could not only attract the highest levels of FDI, but could also retain it (Gereffi et al., 2019).
Nevertheless, according to the literature, “… achievements were far less in terms of the transfer
of technology, local linkages and knowledge spillovers needed for a more sustainable pattern of
industrial upgrading” (Gereffi et al., 2019, p. 2).
While U.S. high tech and production operations had long preferred countries like
Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore (KPMG & Silk Road Associates, 2014), Central and South
America offered a distinctive advantage—proximity to the U.S., also known as nearshoring or
friendshoring. By the 1990s, the Latin America region was attracting high-tech FDI successfully,
even surpassing Asia during that same period (Peluffo, 2015). The more nearshoring, which
consists of “… relocation of previous overseas activities to countries close to the home country
to achieve greater control; savings on coordination costs; and time‐to‐market reduction,” the
more attractive an option Latin America became for U.S. manufacturers (Piatenesi & AranauCarod, 2019, p. 813). The global giants who established large-scale operations in Costa Rica
were not just seeking efficiencies in production costs that derive from offshoring but were also

22
searching for a workforce that had the talent to meet the high-tech industry’s demands (Ferreira
& Harrison, 2012).
Costa Rica had been an agro-export dominated economy for over 150 years, but by the
early 2000s, it had become the second most successful Latin American country, after Mexico, in
attracting FDI (Paus & Gallagher, 2008). Its rapid growth in high-tech manufacturing over the
past 30-plus years has transformed the nation’s social and economic landscape. However, the
question remains whether it can keep pace with the demand for human capital as more
companies lay roots in Costa Rica.
Deficit in Skilled Labor and Effect on Continued FDI Growth in Costa Rica
A country’s human capital is often considered one of its greatest assets, and its
educational system is a significant factor in preparing its people, particularly when it comes to
creating a skilled labor market (Acosta et al., 2019). While foreign direct investment can be a
motor of change for the government and the economy, it can also “… work as an ‘activator’ of
government policies beyond investment promotion (such as education, competitiveness,
innovation, and production development)” (OECD, 2012, p. 138). Further, the quality of a
nation’s labor is believed to have “… a consistent, strong, and stable relationship with [its]
economic growth” (Hanushek & Kimko, 2000, p. 1203). Nevertheless, if the country lacks the
necessary human capital to fulfill the needs of current, emerging, and future FDI, neither
industry, the country, nor its people will reap the full benefit of such symbiotic relationships
(Zhang & Markusen, 1999).
Ferreira and Harrison (2012) explained that Costa Rica is considered a unique case
because of its successful transition from an agro-export dominated economy to Latin America’s
second largest exporter of software per capita. In fact, the country has worked diligently to

23
attract knowledge-intensive industry as the bedrock of its FDI strategy (CINDE, 2022). Costa
Rica’s export landscape is dominated by the medical device industry, which has emerged as the
nation’s dominant export commodity. As of November 2023, according to CINDE (2023), the
country’s export of precision and medical equipment reached $5 billion, representing a 36
percent growth compared to the corresponding period in 2020. Costa Rica has established itself
as a hub for the global manufacturing of medical devices, with 13 of the world’s top 20
companies, spanning diverse medical domains such as radiology, cardiovascular devices,
endoscopy, and dental equipment having significant operations in the country.
The reasoning behind Costa Rica’s unique approach to seeking knowledge-intensive
manufacturing industries for local investment is that the more specialized the production plant,
the greater the incentive to maintain operations in a host country, rather than assuming the cost
and complication of relocating elsewhere (Dunning & Lundan, 2008). According to the OECD
(2012), costs associated with investing in, and establishing, operations in an offshore site make it
challenging to withdraw from a host economy, part of the calculus that Costa Rica has used to its
advantage.
Unfortunately, Latin America has long faced challenges to progress and innovation,
something that is highlighted in Costa Rica’s shortage of skilled workers and abundance of
unskilled labor (Zapata-Cantu & González, 2021). According to the country’s National Bureau
of Statistics and Census, 60 percent of its labor force is unskilled, indicating that they do not hold
a high school degree (CIEC, 2023). As many new jobs are created to fuel the knowledgeintensive high-tech manufacturing sectors, skilled, well-educated labor is required. The OECD
(2012) reported that while Costa Rican tertiary educational institutions, particularly public,

24
produce high-quality graduates, the fields in which the highest number of individuals are
enrolled are not consistent with industry’s current or future demands.
There has long been a general preference in Costa Rica for studying the social sciences
rather than science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) on both the undergraduate and
graduate levels. However, as seen in Figure 2, there seems to be a shift taking place. Overall,
there is a steady increase in the number of both bachelor and postgraduate degrees. Further,
degrees in the field of education fell from 30 percent in 2000 to 24 percent in 2019, while
degrees in engineering and computer science rose by 165 percent between 2010 and 2019
(Estado de la Educación, 2021).

25
Figure 2
Academic Degrees Granted by Area in Costa Rica
Estado de la educación, 2021, p.268
Training human capital is as necessary as investing in reliable infrastructure to achieve
sustainable development and national growth (Zhang & Markusen, 1999). According to Zhang
and Markusen (1999), at a bare minimum, multinational corporations require both a readily
available, skilled local workforce of engineers, accounting personnel, and technicians as well as
solid infrastructure in telephony, energy, internet, and water. To achieve this, government

26
planning and policy must be part of the equation (Zapata-Cantu & González, 2021). Matching
the skill supply to the industry demand is difficult, but not unattainable. Examining the number
of unfilled positions by sector could offer guidance as to what industry requires for growth and
progress.
Between 2021 and 2022, some 28,000 positions in high-tech fields such as medical
devices, smart manufacturing, and hardware and software production went unfilled in Costa Rica
(CINDE, 2022). Yet, the unemployment rate was between 15 and 16 percent during that same
period (INEC, 2022). As Jorge Sequeira (2023), the former director of the Costa Rican economic
promotion agency, explains, the growing inequality in Costa Rica is a result of the increasing gap
between education and the skills required to work in the advancing economic sectors. The
demand for skilled labor has risen at a greater rate than that for unskilled labor, particularly in the
smart manufacturing sector (CINDE, 2022).
At present, approximately 60 percent of the country’s labor force does not have a high
school diploma, according to both the World Bank (2022) and Estado de la Nación (2022). Many
available positions require skilled labor, a factor that may contribute to the widening wage gap
and the country’s increase in unemployment. According to Andrés Fernández Arauz (2023),
chief economist of the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Agency of Costa Rica, the increase in
inequality between the mid-1990s and the mid-2010s may be attributable to what the author
termed the “lost generation” of Costa Ricans, those who were unable to complete high school
and obtain higher education due to the economic crisis of the early 1980s in Costa Rica.
Today, there may be another “lost generation” comprised of those who had significant
interruptions in their education (due to teacher union strikes and school closures during the
pandemic) and were permitted to graduate without the requisite competencies, and those who left

27
school without during the pandemic, never to return. Augmenting the quality of education and
aligning it more closely to job market demands may help prepare individuals and bridge the
growing gap in inequality (Acosta et al., 2019). Bello (2020) wrote that individuals prepared in
STEM fields tend to have greater access to the highest paying jobs and to employment tracks
with the strongest growth, but there tends to be a dearth of individuals pursuing these educational
paths in Latin America and Costa Rica is no exception. The number of workers prepared for
these fields is not meeting the demand, a challenge that the public and private sectors and
academia must address (Cambronero, 2023). With tens of thousands of positions currently open
in high-tech fields, there is concern that multinational corporations seeking investment in Costa
Rica may look for alternative locations where well-trained human capital is more readily
available (CINDE, 2022).
Current State of the Costa Rican Educational System
The country’s educational system had long been considered a point of pride, but it is now
facing an ever-increasing number of challenges (EY Parthenon, 2023). Despite spending seven to
eight percent of its GDP on education annually, a figure, according to the OECD, that places it
just below the Scandinavian countries, Costa Rica saw its 2022 Programme for International
Assessment (PISA) scores fall dramatically. The country’s 2022 PISA results are among the
lowest ever measured in all three subjects by this indicator (OECD, 2022a). As well, outcomes
from the national Fortalecimiento de Aprendizajes en la Educación Secundaria exhibit
educational deficiencies at rates even higher than those typically associated with a country that
has a comparatively low educational attainment (OECD, 2022a).
With rising rates of attrition across all segments of the public education system, the
country is experiencing an unparalleled crisis, something which came into sharper focus with the

28
onset of the pandemic (Estado de la Nación, 2022). In fact, from 2018 through much of 2021, the
public school system in Costa Rica (which includes primary, secondary, and tertiary education)
experienced prolonged interruptions to in-person learning attributable to a combination of labor
union strikes and pandemic-related closures (EY Parthenon, 2023). The nationwide public
education “shutdown” has had a significant effect on the development of crucial competencies
and skills necessary for the country’s progress, economic growth, and political stability (Estado
de la Educación, 2021). This has brought the nation to an inflection point and has further
exposed disparities between students in the country’s public and private education sectors.
Estado de la Educación (2022), a report that Costa Rica’s Estado de la Nación program
publishes annually, cited that the overall decline in the country’s educational achievement sheds
light on long-standing issues, including but not limited to: inequalities between the public and
private education systems; a need for innovation in teaching and better teacher training; and the
Costa Rican Ministry of Education’s bloated bureaucratic system. Considered a key resource for
policymakers, educators, and researchers, Estado de la Educación (2022) reports that the current
education crisis is the most severe in decades, and various student constituencies, such as
families without internet access and those living in extreme poverty, are experiencing significant
delays in educational progress and achievement (Estado de la Educación, 2021; Estado de la
Nación, 2022).
According to the OECD (2022), a mere 30 percent of adults between the ages of 25 and
34 hold undergraduate degrees in Costa Rica, which represents only a marginal increase from 26
percent in 2008. Although it surpasses most other Latin American countries in tertiary degree
attainment, Costa Rica is still far below the OECD’s average undergraduate degree completion
rate of 39 percent (2022). Moreover, with respect to post-graduate degree completion, at 1

29
percent, Costa Rica lags far behind most other OECD countries that have an average 14 percent
completion rate (OECD, 2017). Solis-Vargas (2019) explained that citizens require education
and critical-thinking skills to help safeguard democracy and, in their absence, the country’s
democracy itself may be at risk.
Challenges in the Costa Rican Public Education System
Dr. Guiselle Garbanzo (2020), former Dean of the University of Costa Rica’s School of
Education, explained that myriad factors have contributed to the country’s current state of
education, but one of the most significant is the lack of rigorous and comprehensive teacher
training. She wrote that when poorly trained teachers enter the workforce, their deficiencies are
reflected in poor student performance (Garbanzo, 2020). In fact, a 2017 survey conducted by the
Ministry of Public Education found that 50 percent of Spanish language teachers who were
surveyed were not familiar with the updated curriculum they were charged with teaching (Estado
de Educación, 2019; OECD 2017). The same study also revealed that 40 percent of English
teachers and nearly 30 percent of mathematics teachers had not mastered the subject that they
taught (2017).
Adding to the data on teacher preparedness, between mid-April and mid-May 2020, a
month into the closure of schools due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Estado de la
Educación (2021) and the Costa Rican Ministry of Education conducted a joint survey that was
sent to public school teachers with email addresses (62,861 in total). With the aim of measuring
five important areas (personal and professional background, training, beliefs about the system’s
efficacy, communication, and educational content), the response rate of the survey was 66.9
percent (42,074 responses), meaning that rich data were gathered on the aforementioned areas.

30
What became clear, as seen in Figure 3, was that a vast number of teachers in the public system,
across varied disciplines, had never received training.
Figure 3
Teacher Training in Key Areas in 2020 in Costa Rica
León & Gómez, 2021
Teacher training and instructor quality appear to be serious challenges in the country’s
public education system. However, that is not the case in the private system. Not only do private
schools offer their own professional training, but the Association of Private Educational Centers
(ACEP) in Costa Rica also offers training for teachers employed at its 90-plus member
institutions (ACEP, 2023). Nevertheless, most students (95 percent) do not have access to private
education and thus are never exposed to teachers who have been trained to do their jobs. In 2018,
only 5 percent of households had at least one student in a private institution (down from 6
percent in 2013; Mata et al., 2021). In 2018, 95 percent of the Costa Rican PK-11 student
population was enrolled in public schools (INEC, 2022).

31
Estado de la Educación (2021) reported that 99 percent of students who are from families
with low educational attainment are in the public education system. Over time, the disparities
between public and private school students have continued to grow. While in 2019, 30 percent of
students between five and 18 years of age who attended public school were at or below the
poverty line, this percentage increased by 12 points to 42 percent in 2020 (2021). As well, in
May 2020, the Ministry of Education identified those students who did not have internet
connectivity (Figure 4), which effectively meant that they could not participate in virtual learning
during the pandemic. In essence, some 40 percent of the public school population was entirely
marginalized and isolated from the education system during that time because of their lack of
connectivity (Estado de la Educación, 2021).
Figure 4
Number of Public-School Students in Costa Rica Who Lack Internet Connectivity
Estado de la Educación, 2021
Good education is essential for social development, and the quality of teachers is the
foundation for achieving academic excellence, according to Garbanzo (2020). Adding to the
complexity of this panorama, CINDE (2022) explained that the global pandemic has had a
detrimental effect on production and employment in the country, which in turn, has led to an

32
increase in poverty and socioeconomic disparities. While the COVID 19 pandemic caused
significant disruptions to traditional schooling worldwide and resulted in school closures in 65
countries, the OECD (2022) reported that Costa Rican public schools were closed for a more
prolonged period of time (175 days in 2020 and 67 days in 2021) as shown in Figure 5. That is
after the public education system suffered closures for four months in 2018 and two months in
2019 already, due to teacher and union strikes. Having been deprived of significant periods of
learning over a span of four years (2018-2021), public school students also face deficits in
cognitive development and social-emotional growth that can likely be attributed to the shutdown
(Estado de la Nación, 2022).
Figure 5
Costa Rican Public School Closures, 2018-2021

33
The 2018 teacher strikes had extreme adverse effects on public school students,
something which seems to have led the MEP to make the determination that it would promote
nearly all students to the next grade, regardless of whether they had acquired the competencies
required to advance (EY Parthenon, 2023). Although the fiscal challenges and disruptions
attributable to both the strikes and the pandemic are perhaps anomalous, working to address their
repercussions underscores the difficulties inherent in a public education system. The nation’s
“education blackout,” as this period has now been termed, occurred at a time when the public
system was already producing less than solid results with respect to student performance and
attrition (Estado de la Nación, 2019). Another continuing challenge that may alter the country’s
public education landscape is the fact that the share of immigrant students in Costa Rica is
rapidly rising—from 6 percent in 2012 to 12 percent in 2022 (OECD, 2022a). According to the
OECD’s 2022 “Education GPS” report, 4 percent of 15-year-old students are first-generation
immigrants to Costa Rica.
Further Examination of the Costa Rican Public Education System
Unless there is sweeping reform, it is likely that the public school system will continue to
fail the country and prevent its citizens from meeting the challenges it faces (Estado de la
Nación, 2019, 2021, 2022). With this in mind, in 2023, the Costa Rican Ministry of Public
Education, with the private sector’s support through the American Chamber of Commerce,
engaged EY Parthenon (EYP), a global consulting group that has conducted some 3,000
education projects in 95 countries, to design a strategy to increase access to, and the quality of,
Costa Rican public school education (Steinvorth, 2023). From the private sector’s standpoint, the
goal of this project was to support the national public education system in better preparing talent
for its employment pipeline (AmCham, 2023).

34
EYP’s charge from the Costa Rican government was to assist it in:
Design[ing] and implement[ing] an economically, politically, and legally viable
plan to transform public education in the country in a way that will drive longterm economic growth for Costa Rica and opportunities for social and economic
mobility for its citizens.
The strategy is based upon the design and implementation of the ‘next
generation school model’ that will deliver both better educational outcomes and
financial/operational efficiency (EY Parthenon, 2023).
After delivering a diagnostic report, during the first quarter of 2023, about the country’s
educational system, EYP suggested overhauling the country’s public education system
(Steinvorth, 2023). Creating the next generation of public schools for Costa Rica, a model that
propels students toward success and equips them with the right blend of hard and soft skills,
would allow the country to position itself to meet the demands of the human capital required for
continued growth and progress (EY Parthenon, 2023). However, as of June 2023, the project has
been stalled and EY Parthenon has completed no work beyond the general diagnostic referenced
above.
Since approximately 930,000 children in Costa Rica are of compulsory school age (6
to12 years of age) and 95 percent of those attend at least six years of public school, the
government is responsible for educating the vast majority of the country’s school-age children
(Estado de la Educación, 2022). While the percentage of the government’s total expenditure
allocated to primary through tertiary education was 12.8 percent, surpassing the OECD average
of 10.6 percent, Costa Rica still has difficulty meeting the needs of its public school students
(OECD, 2022). Moreover, in comparison to the OECD average of 4.4 percent, at 5.9 percent, the

35
percentage of the country’s GDP spent on primary and secondary education is considerably
higher, yet it has not yielded the results that one might expect (2022).
According to experts, there are opportunities for Costa Rica to improve the efficacy of its
public spending on education to achieve better outcomes, something that EYP will assess if this
project comes to fruition (EY Parthenon, 2023; OECD, 2023a). The OECD’s comprehensive
study of the Costa Rican public school system in 2017 found that the greatest challenges to the
country’s public education system were recruiting, selecting, and training teachers, factors that
EYP also identified as significant areas of opportunity for the country (EY Parthenon, 2023;
OECD, 2017).
The same report found that public school teachers lacked support, mentoring, and
feedback on performance, all elements that could help increase efficacy (OECD, 2017).
Feedback and supervision are crucial to helping teachers become better and more capable
professionals according to Garbanzo (2020). Further, the Ministry of Education’s teacher
evaluation system does not seem to assess its public school teachers in a rigorous or accurate
manner, given that 98 percent of those evaluated were rated “excellent” or “very good,” even
when there is clear evidence that many do not have the knowledge to perform their duties on
even the most basic levels (OECD, 2017).
As demonstrated in Table 2, which reports the country’s PISA results for the last two
testing periods (2108 and 2022), the Costa Rican public education system is not excelling at
educating students. Given that the country ranks 57 of the 81 countries that took part in the 2022
PISA test and that it fell eight positions in the overall rankings from the prior PISA test (2018),
there is considerable room to improve the Costa Rican education landscape (OECD, 2023b).
Given the worsening state of the national public educational system, if accessible education

36
alternatives were available to families who currently rely on public schools it may prompt them
to contemplate prospects beyond the confines of government-operated institutions, mirroring
patterns seen across the Global South. (Heyneman & Stern, 2014).
Table 2
PISA Results for Costa Rica, 2018 and 2022
2018 2022 Score Drop
Mathematics 402 385 ↓18
Science 416 411 ↓5
Reading 426 415 ↓11
OECD, 2022b
The Privatization of Public Education
The debate surrounding the privatization of public education has been both longstanding
and contentious, with proponents and critics alike presenting compelling arguments. At the heart
of this discourse lies a fundamental question: Should education, widely regarded as a pillar of
democratic societies and a driving force behind societal advancement, persist as a public
undertaking or should it embrace a market-oriented, privatized paradigm (Levine, 2018)?
Advocates of privatization, such as the influential economist Milton Friedman, have championed
the concept of school vouchers as a means of empowering parental choice and fostering
competition among educational institutions. In his seminal work, Capitalism and Freedom
(1962), Friedman envisioned a system in which “governments could require a minimum level of
schooling financed by giving parents vouchers redeemable for a specified maximum sum per
child per year if spent on ‘approved’ educational services” (p. 89). This approach, he believed,

37
would allow parents the freedom to choose from a range of private and non-profit institutions,
while the government’s role would be limited to ensuring standards.
However, critics like Frenkiewich and Onosko (2020) contend that the proliferation of
charter schools and voucher programs, fueled by governmental policies in some countries,
undermine the integrity, aim, and purpose of public schooling. Moreover, they believe that
“school privatization erodes democracy, reduces equal opportunity, increases segregation, [and]
diminish[es] transparency” (Frenkiewich & Onosko, 2020, p. 19), without necessarily improving
academic achievement or addressing the root causes of educational disparities.
The transition from publicly controlled education to privatized, corporatized, and marketdriven models marks a significant shift in the governance and objectives of education. Charter
schools, often mislabeled as public, diverge significantly from the traditional public education
system in governance, funding, and operational principles, challenging the conventional
framework of public education (Saltman, 2012). In The Failure of Corporate School Reform, the
author illustrates how advocates of school privatization have framed public schools, especially
those in urban and peri-urban locations, as failing, driven by self-serving motives. Proponents of
privatization, such as Fox and Buchanan (2017), argue that Friedman’s vision of vouchers was
not intended to promote shared societal goals surrounding education but rather as “freedom
tickets from societal goals” (p. 9). This perspective raises questions about the true public nature
and accountability of privatized educational institutions.
The origins of public education can be traced back to the mid-19th century in the United
States, when Horace Mann, a prominent advocate of public education, proclaimed that “in a
democratic society, education should be free and universal, nonsectarian, democratic in method,
and reliant on well-trained professional teachers” (Kirp et al., 2022, p. 4). Around the same time,

38
in 1868, Costa Rica declared primary education both compulsory and tuition-free, reflecting a
shared commitment to accessible and equitable education (Quesada-Camacho, 2005).
As debates over the most cost-effective and efficient methods for the provision of
education continue, concerns regarding the impact of school choice on cultural assimilation and
societal cohesion resonate universally (Russo & Raniere, 2017). Critics like Frenkiewich and
Onosko (2020) warn that the outsourcing of public education to the private sector could be a
retrogressive development which may compromise the democratic principles and objectives
inherent in public education and detract from societal well-being. While critics raise concerns
about eroding democratic values, exacerbating inequalities, and failing to address systemic
issues, it is crucial to further examine the potential that alternate models of education may have
in Costa Rica. This research contemplates a low-fee, high-quality private school model but does
not explore the implementation of either a charter school model or a voucher system in the
country.
Global Rise of Low-fee Private Schools
From Ghana and Bangladesh to Colombia and South Africa, there has been a rise in
LFPSs around the world, a model that serves as an alternative to a public, government-run
education system (Srivastava, 2020). According to Colclough (1997), the initial rise of nongovernment schools for non-elites can be attributed largely to such factors as the inadequate
distribution of government funding to public institutions, the low quality of public education, and
the lack of availability of schools or seats in a school close to home, among others. In essence,
non-government schools have proliferated throughout the developing world in an attempt to meet
the demand that has resulted from an insufficient supply of public-school spaces and the low
quality of instruction. While private schools have been the domain of families with greater

39
economic resources traditionally, in recent decades, this trend has extended to low-income
families who seek something better for their children (Heyneman & Stern, 2014).
Until recently, there was little discussion of LFPSs in the literature. However, over the
past 20 years, there has been greater attention given to understanding these schools’ effect across
fields ranging from international development and psychology to education policy and
economics (Akaguri, 2014; Dixon & Tooley, 2012; Tooley, 2021). Even defining what
encompasses the notion of an LFPS is challenging because they are so varied in the modality of
instruction, ownership, cost, and quality.
For the purposes of this work, I will borrow the definition of private schools from L.E.K.
Consulting’s Global Education Practice that was used in their special report on Private Schools
for Public Good (2019). Private schools, and by extension LFPSs, can be run by organizations,
either independently or in partnership with the government, and can be non- or for-profit, run by
individuals, corporations, non-governmental organizations, families, or religious organizations
(2019). Finally, they can be offered in virtual, hybrid, or in-person formats. Perhaps even more
crucial to recognize is that such institutions do not always deliver high-quality education (OECD,
2022a). Referred to also as affordable, budget, or low-cost or low-fee private schools, LFPSs
provide an alternative to costly private schools and state-run public schools that, in theory, are
free but still require differing levels of investment on the part of the family.
High-cost, private institutions are, by and large, too expensive for most low-, emergingmiddle-, and middle-income families, while the free public system is often ill-equipped to meet
the needs of the families it is meant to serve (Santibañez et al., 2021). Moreover, it fails to
prepare students adequately, in many cases. Numerous scholars have offered insights into the
sharp rise in LFPSs in middle- to low-income countries over the last two decades. Among other

40
reasons, both their supporters and opponents suggest that the rapid emergence of nongovernment schools in developing economies is an attempt by the market to 1) to meet the
demand for education because of a shortage of public schools, and 2) offer alternatives to a
failing public education system (Heyneman & Stern, 2014; Tooley, 2013, 2021).
Brion (2020) explained that cost is one of the most significant factors when parents
consider school options. Nevertheless, according to UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring
Report (2021-2022) and their Institute of Statistics, families, regardless of income level, are often
willing to invest in their child’s education. This may help explain why spending in low- and
middle-income countries such as El Salvador and Indonesia can be as high as 49 percent or 50
percent of a family’s income, for those who opt for private education.
Proponents and Opponents of LFPSs
LFPSs are often the focus of debate, with compelling arguments for and against (Brion,
2020). Some critics of LFPSs argue that the rate of return is not always what a family expected
(Day Ashley et al., 2014). Perhaps more importantly, opponents contend that less scrupulous
institutions are so profit-driven that, in an attempt to maximize earnings, they do not always
invest adequately in their facilities, programs, materials, or teachers (Härmä, 2011). Some write
that low-fee private institutions may overpromise and underdeliver, thus taking advantage of
those families who make the sacrifice to invest in their child’s education, regardless of how
burdensome it may be (Espindola, 2019; Heyneman & Stern, 2014). However, proponents of
LFPSs believe that the proliferation of such institutions across the Global South is a promising
development for individuals, communities, and nations. Shah and Veetil (2006) noted that “…
the continuing decline of the quality of the state education system has led, by default, to one of
the highest levels of privatization of education in the developing world” (p. 3).

41
James Tooley, a staunch proponent of low-fee private education and one of the founders
of the Omega Schools franchise in Ghana, argued that as nation-states in the developing world
continue to fail in their duty to provide education to all, private institutions will emerge and fill
the void (Riep, 2015). According to Riep (2015), with its pay-as-you-go model, the Omega
Schools franchise co-founded by Tooley and Ghanaian entrepreneur Ken Donkoh in 2009, has
had a considerable effect on the education landscape in Ghana. In Tooley’s most recent book,
Really Good Schools: Global Lessons for High-Caliber, Low-Cost Education (2021), which
builds on his earlier work, The Beautiful Tree (2013), the author draws upon stories, data, and
analytical arguments to make the case for the efficacy of the LFPS model.
Another advocate of LFPSs is Julia Moffett, the CEO of the Future Learning Fund, an
investment and strategy company with a mission of accelerating learning in Africa. Tooley and
Moffett, who both work in the LFPS sector, have seen firsthand the way that low-cost schools
such as Bridge International Academies in Kenya and Omega Schools in Uganda, Ghana,
Nigeria, and India, have had a positive effect on the educational landscapes of the countries in
which they operate. Shah and Veetil (2006) noted that “… the continuing decline of the quality
of the state education system has led, by default, to one of the highest levels of privatization of
education in the developing world” (p. 3). While critics of LFPSs have raised important
considerations, there are also compelling examples of LFPSs, and some, in particular, that
operate successfully in contexts similar to Costa Rica, such as Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.
What follows are two case studies of low-fee, high-quality private schools.
Innova—Peru, a Case Study
A background paper written by UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring unit (2021-
2022) reported that Peru experienced a significant increase in education options between 1993

42
and 2016. In 1993, the vast majority of schools in Peru were public (86.74 percent). However, by
2016, public schools accounted for 66.77 percent of the total educational offering in the country,
down by some 20 percentage points. It is important to note that, at the secondary level, the
proportion of public schools is now nearly equal to that of private schools (15.76 percent for
public schools and 14.93 percent for private schools), according to a 2021 UNESCO report. Yet,
even with a high penetration of private schools throughout Peru, long before Innova was
launched in 2010, the country’s education system was not delivering results.
In 2011, Carlos Rodriguez-Pastor, the President of one of Peru’s largest conglomerates,
Intercorp, and Jorge Yzusqui, a businessperson and engineer turned educator, shared their
concerns about the country’s PISA results (Yzusqui, 2023), in which Peru ranked last among 65
countries (OECD, 2012). Rodriguez-Pastor and Yzusqui sought to address this challenge by
working to design a school that could offer middle-income families an alternative to the
country’s public schools; high-cost private schools; and low-cost, low-performing private
schools (Innova, 2023). Their goal was to create an innovative LFHQPS.
In 2009, the duo contracted Ideo, a Silicon Valley-based innovation firm that specializes
in human-centered design solutions, to conceptualize and create everything from the look and
feel of the physical plant to teacher training methods (Ideo, n.d.). One year later, Innova was
born, a project whose name was meant to capture the essence of the network’s innovative nature,
according to Yzusqui (2023). Focused on developing schools where critical thinking, creativity,
and problem-solving were at the center of learning, Ideo designed a student-centered, projectbased educational model, with an eye on real-world application (Ideo, nd). Because of this
emphasis, Innova places a high value on participation in its innovation program, a designthinking experience that challenges its students to create solutions to community issues

43
(Yzusqui, 2023). Also, as technology-centered institutions, Innova schools teach their students
computer and internet literacy starting in kindergarten, integrating tech into most areas of the
curriculum across its K-12 program. However, Yzusqui (2023) explained that what is even more
important to the Innova model is that monthly tuition costs are no more than between $150 and
$225 USD.
Despite the fact that it is a low-cost school network, Innova has been successful in
attracting high-quality teachers and staff. Yzusqui (2023) explained that teachers are drawn to
the network because of the caliber of its training programs and the resources available for
planning and teaching. Beyond requiring comprehensive, ongoing training on curriculum,
teaching, and methodology, Innova provides continuous professional development programs to
ensure that its teachers employ the best techniques and practices in the classroom (Ideo, n.d.).
To gauge the efficacy of its programs, teachers, and student learning metrics, Innova
monitors student performance on national exams in reading and mathematics (Yzusqui, 2023).
As illustrated in Figure 6, in 2018, 65 percent of Innova’s fourth-grade students scored
“satisfactory” on the reading portion of Peru’s Student Census Exam (ECE), compared to 43
percent of other private school students and 36 percent of public school students (Innova,
2023). Perhaps even more striking is that, on the mathematics portion of the ECE, 67 percent of
Innova’s fourth grade students outperformed (62 percent) their peers who study at the country’s
10 most expensive private schools (2023).

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Figure 6
ECE National Test Results for Fourth Graders in Peru (2018)
MINEDU, 2020
With high quality and an affordable price, the network has expanded rapidly to become
one of the largest private school providers in the country. As of June 2023, 12 years after
opening its first school, Innova has over 80 schools and more than 60,000 students (Yzusqui,
2023). It is important to note that Innova has enrolled a diverse student population from both
low- and middle-income families (UNESCO, 2022b). As it works toward further expansion,

45
Yzusqui (2023) explained that 10 additional schools are slated to open in Peru by 2025 and that
further growth throughout Latin America and the Caribbean is also their focus right now. At
present, Innova also operates schools in Mexico and Colombia and is working on a project to
create charter schools with the governments of Jamaica and Guyana, which will also become part
of the network (Yzusqui, 2023). The student-centered, project-based curriculum, integration of
technology in the classroom, and holistic teacher development programs helped earn Innova the
distinction of having been recognized as one of the World Economic Forum’s “16 Most
Innovative Schools in the World” (World Economic Forum, 2020).
Christel House—Mexico as a Case Study
Philanthropist Christel DeHaan, a U.S.-born international entrepreneur, founded Christel
House International (CHI), a K-12 international network of schools, and created the school using
a “poverty-alleviation model” (Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, n.d.). On a trip to Mexico City in
1998, DeHaan was struck by the level of urban poverty and lack of opportunity for the city’s
children. This experience served as the impetus for the creation of the first CHI school, Christel
House Mexico (CHM), later that year (Christel House, 2023). Funded by individual, foundation,
and corporate donations, CHI offers free private school education designed to address the
challenges faced by the population of students it serves (Santibañez et al., 2021).
CHI considers itself a network of learning centers that is designed to have a “… high
social impact for deprived neighborhoods, by providing quality education, nutritious meals,
healthcare, transportation, life skills training, and character development, as well as parent and
community outreach programs” (Christel House, 2023). While CHM follows the Mexican
Ministry of Education’s curricular standards, it also seeks to address broader needs by supporting

46
its families as well as its students throughout their K-12 educational journey (Christel House,
2023).
As of 2023, CHI served 5,000 students, enrolled in its schools in Mexico, Venezuela,
South Africa, the U.S., Jamaica, and India. CHM has 500 students from preschool through high
school and, like the rest of CHI’s learning centers around the globe, its goal is to break the cycle
of poverty by offering its students the education and skills required to become self-sufficient,
contributing members of their communities and families. Some 98 percent of CHM students
graduate from high school compared to their public school peers who have a graduation rate of
between 30 and 40 percent in upper secondary school (Josephson et al., 2018).
According to the results of PISA 2018, students at CHM scored lower in all three PISA
subjects (reading, mathematics, and science) when compared to the average scores of their peers
in other OECD countries (OECD, 2018). Only one percent of students in Mexico demonstrated
a high level of proficiency in at least one subject area, while the OECD average was 16 percent
in the category, overall (2018). Moreover, more than a third of students in Mexico (35 percent)
failed to demonstrate the minimum level of proficiency in all three subjects compared to the
OECD average of 13 percent (2018).
Findings from a study on CHM’s impact, conducted by Santibañez et al. (2021), reported
that students who attended the school performed better in both literacy and mathematics than
their public school peers living in the same conditions of extreme urban poverty. Further, their
research found that parents of CHM students demonstrate greater levels of satisfaction with the
school and have higher expectations that their child will attend college by comparison with
parents of public school children (2021). Another cornerstone of CHI is parental involvement in
their children’s education and in the school. This includes attending parent-teacher conferences,

47
workshops, and training sessions, as well as serving as volunteers at school activities. Parents
themselves can take advantage of literacy and career education counseling and programming,
provided by the school.
Finally, CHI’s College and Careers program is available to its alumni for their first five
years, post-graduation. Helping graduates transition to college life, secure a job, and take
advantage of financial or vocational guidance appears to have proven effective. CHM (2023)
reported that 88 percent of its graduates are employed in permanent positions with benefits
compared to their peers, of whom only 38 percent are employed in stable jobs. This continuing
connection to CHI and its greater social network and community may help strengthen its
graduates’ sense of personal agency. Parker et al. (2022) wrote that when schools support their
students’ sense of personal agency, they lay the groundwork for success during school and
beyond.
Factors that Affect Parental Educational Decision-making
Social theorists such as Max Weber (1925), Anthony Giddens (1976), Pierre Bourdieu
(1977), and Albert Bandura (1997, 2006) wrote extensively about agency in decision-making and
in interactions with the world around us (Campbell, 2009; Parker et al., 2022). However, of
particular interest in the context of education and parental decision-making, the focus of this
dissertation is on “personal” or “human” agency rather than solely on “agency.” This angle
highlights the premise that individuals possess the ability to have “… intentional influence over
their functioning and life circumstances, a fluid phenomenon that changes throughout one’s
lifetime” (Parker et al., 2022, p. 368). In essence, personal agency refers to the importance of
one’s autonomy in shaping and transforming circumstances and outcomes (Barnes, 2000).

48
Because families are typically the primary stakeholders in their children’s education, they should
possess a sense of personal agency when making decisions in that domain (Lareau, 2011).
Strictly defined, the concept of personal or human agency refers to the power that an
individual has to realize their goals, regardless of the social structure surrounding them
(Campbell, 2009). Yet, beyond personal agency, a host of other factors, such as socioeconomic
status, religion, community, and upbringing, among others, affect individuals and their
decisions. According to Buckley and Schneider (2007), in the realm of school choice,
information is key to making decisions and there are many ways in which parents access that
information. While some families seek out experts (such as teachers or community leaders) and
follow their guidance, others rely on their networks and take cues from friends, neighbors, and
colleagues (2007). Still other parents rely on word-of-mouth recommendations.
Regardless of personal agency, parents must make trade-offs between competing
preferences, based upon their own analysis of costs and benefits (Radey et al., 2021). The
preferences and constraints model, based upon Becker’s (1965) concept of household
production, offers valuable insight into the way that families make decisions about schooling,
among other things (Gintis, 2007). It includes determinants such as need, cost, quality, and
preferences, and suggests that families must often select goods and services, such as education,
based upon their budgetary constraints. Moreover, race, ethnicity, and income also factor into
educational decision-making, because these components can reflect status, location constraints,
signifying norms, and cultural values that feed personal agency (Carter, 2005). Considering
sociodemographic characteristics within the preferences and constraints model helps clarify
whether individuals select options based upon desire, need, or other unspecified factors.

49
Well beyond the construct of personal agency, Carter (2005) and Lareau (2011) also
addressed the ways in which social norms and sociodemographic characteristics affect school
decisions as reflected in the interplay between financial realities and values. The discipline of
economics frequently employs rational choice theory (RCT) to explain such decisions. Because
the concept of “rational” behavior is so loaded, Gintis (2007) argued that viewing such behavior
through the lens of the beliefs, preferences, and constraints model may be more apt. Tversky and
Kahneman (1986) concluded that “… the logic of choice does not provide an adequate
foundation for [ ] decision-making” because individuals commonly violate most tenets of RCT
(p. 252). Thus, parental decision-making processes, particularly in the context of school choices,
are influenced by a complex interplay of social norms, sociodemographic characteristics, beliefs,
preferences, and financial constraints that may affect their sense of agency.
There is an increasing body of literature that has begun to address the spending habits and
patterns of the emerging-middle-income consumer in the Global South (Short & Martinez,
2019). This new class is perceived as ambitious in the realms of education and employment and
competitive with its peers with regard to spending and material goods (Arrow & Dasgupta,
2009). According to Murphy et al. (1989), from a consumption perspective, attaining middleincome status means having the financial capability to afford a greater range of goods and
services and to have the willingness to pay more for better quality. Aspirations such as owning a
home, purchasing a car, and obtaining a degree in higher education, goals that were previously
unattainable due to limited resources, are now within reach (Short & Martinez, 2019).
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework upon which this dissertation is based draws upon French
sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural and social capital and habitus, which he used

50
to illuminate social structures and mechanisms that affect the individual’s social status and
success (Bourdieu, 1977a, b; Bourdieu, 1997). Bourdieu’s work on these theories evolved
throughout his career, which spanned from the 1960s to the early 2000s (Roksa & Robinson,
2017). Researchers such as Edgerton and Roberts (2014) and Gaddis (2013) wrote that these
concepts are often employed separately, but when taken together, they “… hold significant
explanatory potential” (Edgerton & Roberts, 2014, p. 193). Thus, this study will use the
Bourdieuian trifecta of cultural capital, social capital, and habitus as the lens through which to
explore middle- and emerging-middle-income parental behavior in decision-making and a
parent’s sense of personal agency to determine educational choices for their child.
Bourdieu wrote that cultural capital is the knowledge, skills, and cultural assets that
individuals acquire through their upbringing and throughout their lifetime and that social capital
is defined as the resources to which individuals have access through their social networks
(Bourdieu, 1977a). In combination with cultural and social capital, Bourdieu’s concept of habitus
can be explained as the tendencies and behaviors that an individual develops as a result of their
exposure to their environment as well as to a “… learned set of preferences or dispositions by
which a person orients to the social world,” (Edgerton & Roberts, 2014, p. 195). Dumais (2002)
posited that expectations should be considered a crucial element of habitus because they help
illuminate the way that the individual internalizes social structure and where they fit within it.
In the context of parental decision-making and school selection, cultural capital may be
considered the knowledge and resources that parents employ to access information about a
school’s academic programs, the quality of its teachers, its level of safety, and its proximity to
home or work, among others. Bourdieu would argue that parents with higher levels of cultural
capital are better equipped to navigate the school selection process to determine what

51
institution(s) might best meet their child’s needs and by extension, that of their family (Gaddis,
2013; Roksa & Robinson, 2017). Moreover, Lareau’s (2011) work showed the way that habitus
shapes the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that parents have toward the educational goals they
have for their children, something that is based upon their own socialization, background, and
upbringing.
This theoretical framework, which is built upon the ideas of cultural and social capital
and habitus, will provide the foundation upon which to analyze the way that parents’ cultural
resources and social backgrounds influence their behavior with respect to making decisions
related to school selection for their children. By gaining insight into perceptions of social
processes and cultural factors that influence behavior, this work intends to better understand
what may motivate middle- and emerging-middle-income parents in Costa Rica to consider
enrolling their child in an LFHQPS, if given the option to do so.
Conclusion
This chapter explored the literature relevant to the key concepts, historical antecedents,
and frameworks upon which this study was based. Overall, it demonstrated that the current state
of public education in Costa Rica does not offer students the level of excellence or rigor needed
to prepare them for success in either the local or global marketplaces. Developing economies
across Africa, Asia, and South America have seen an exponential increase in LFPSs intended as
an alternative to low-achieving public schools and high-priced private schools. However, Costa
Rica does not currently offer a robust LFPS model. Therefore, the question remains whether
middle- and emerging-middle-income school parents in the country would see the value and
employ their personal agency to enroll their children in an LFHQPS, if such an option were
available. Chapter Three discusses the recruitment process and methods of data collection

52
employed in this work to obtain broader and deeper insights into parental satisfaction with the
country’s school and their perceptions of the possibility of enrolling their children in a low-fee,
high-quality private school, should that option become available.

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Chapter Three: Methods
Over the past two decades, developing economies throughout the Global South have
seen an exponential increase in LFPSs intended as an alternative to low-achieving public
schools and high-priced private schools (Tooley, 2020). Implementing an alternative to the
current Costa Rican public and private education options, one which promotes excellence
and is both scalable and affordable, may increase levels of secondary school diploma
attainment, facilitate access to higher quality education, and ultimately play a vital role in
better preparing the workforce of the future.
This mixed-methods research was undertaken to gain insight into whether parents in
Costa Rica see the value of enrolling their child in a low-fee, high-quality private school
(LFHQPS) and to identify what factors might influence their decision to make a change in their
child’s education. The purpose of using this type of design is to combine the advantages of the
distinct elements of quantitative research (larger sample size, trend analysis, and ability to
generalize results) with those of qualitative research (focus on a small sample, attention to detail,
and in-depth understanding) (Creswell & Creswell, 2013). For this study, a 15-minute
quantitative survey and 45-minute, one-on-one qualitative interviews were employed to gain
insight into the following research questions:
1. What do middle- and emerging-middle-income parents in Costa Rica perceive as
strengths and weaknesses of their child’s educational institution?
2. What would motivate a parent in Costa Rica to transfer their child from their current
educational institution to a low-fee, high-quality private school?
This chapter offers an overview of the research methods that were used to collect,
analyze, and interpret the data in this study. It begins with an overview of the organization from

54
which the sample was drawn, describes the overall population and the sample, and then provides
an explanation as to how the data were analyzed. Finally, the chapter offers a description of
credibility and trustworthiness (for the qualitative study) and validity and reliability (for the
quantitative study) and closes with a discussion of the ethical considerations.
Organization Overview
The Group (a pseudonym), the organization whose employees were studied, is a multiindustry conglomerate with holdings and operations across 15 countries throughout South,
Central, and North America, and the Caribbean. The organization itself is not the object of study
in this dissertation and is not significant to the research. Rather, the middle- and emergingmiddle-income employees who have school-age children and are within a specific income range,
as described below, are those of interest. The organization is used merely as a means by which to
identify and select a representative sample of parents.
For the purposes of this study, sampling and data collection took place solely in Costa
Rica, the country of focus for this research and where a large concentration of The Group’s
companies and operations are headquartered. The nine Costa Rican-based business units under
The Group’s collective umbrella employ approximately some 3,200 individuals. Each company
has an independent board of directors, management team, and a managing director, with no
overlap between companies in either leadership or employee responsibilities.
The Group was selected because the researcher is employed in one of its nine member
companies and was granted authorization by the Chairman of Board to study its population of
middle- and emerging-middle-income employees.

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Population and Sample
This research was designed to gain insight into how satisfied middle- and emergingmiddle-income school parents are with their child’s education, the level of their sense of personal
agency, and the way that cultural and social capital and habitus factor into their educational
decision-making process. Because of the challenges associated with sampling a national
population of public school parents, a convenience sample drawn from The Group, while not
ideal, offers a more feasible option for this study, particularly given the time-limited nature of
this project (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Selection of interview participants was based upon
what Guba and Lincoln (1989) referred to as maximum variation sampling and used the
following criteria: participants’ willingness to be interviewed; their child’s current school
affiliation (public or private); and their income level.
While the “average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita [is]
USD $16,517 a year” (OECD, 2020) in Costa Rica, the target population for this mixed-methods
study is parents who have at least one child enrolled in school in Costa Rica and have a
minimum gross annual household income of $24,000. This benchmark was selected to estimate
the monthly cost for a family who may opt to enroll its child in an LFHQPS. With a gross,
combined income of $24,000, a family would spend approximately 13.5 percent of its income on
their child’s tuition annually, if the cost of monthly tuition is $325, a figure conceived of in the
current financial model for an eventual LFHQPS in Costa Rica.
A study on educational spending conducted by UNESCO (2021b) found that families in
low-income countries tend to shoulder a greater financial burden for their children’s education
than those who live in higher-income countries. In more developed economies, the typical share
of a family’s monthly household income allocated to educational expenses is approximately five

56
percent (2021). Yet, in the Global South, educational spending can be as high as between 25 and
80 percent of a family’s income (2021). Thus, at 13.5 percent of a family’s gross annual earnings
(assuming a combined annual income of $24,000), the cost of tuition for this new PK-11 school
model in Costa Rica would fall below the average amount spent on private education throughout
the developing world.
Creswell and Creswell (2018) explained that in a convergent mixed-methods design,
which this study purports to be, qualitative and quantitative data collection occur simultaneously,
and the data are examined together to provide a comprehensive analysis. Moreover, using
different research methods, with varying strengths and weaknesses, offers the researcher the
opportunity to triangulate and ultimately determine whether reliable conclusions can be reached
(Maxwell, 2013). This study began with a brief survey administered to approximately 2190 of
The Group’s employees who earned at least $12,000 USD annually.
Participants who responded that they did not have a child currently enrolled in public
school were informed that their participation in the survey was needed and they were taken to the
end of the instrument. From that group, I received dozens of emails stating that they had a child
or children in private school and wanted to share their perspective. Based upon the outpouring of
support for the research and the desire to contribute, I adjusted my research to include private
school parents, as discussed below.
By surveying a relatively large set of individuals in a systematic, structured manner,
findings can be generalized beyond the sample examined (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). The
survey instrument for this research was designed to gain insight into 1) the features and aspects
of a school that parents deem particularly important; 2) what parents believe constitutes a quality
education; and 3) what their level of satisfaction is with their child’s current education. One

57
question on the quantitative survey also screened for respondents’ willingness to participate in a
one-on-one interview. As surveys were submitted, they were reviewed to identify those who
indicated a willingness to volunteer for a one-on-one, 45-minute interview.
A purposeful and criteria-based sampling approach was employed for the qualitative
aspect of the study. Purposeful sampling involves selecting study participants based upon
specific characteristics or qualities deemed essential to the research, without relying on random
or probability-based methods (Johnson & Christensen, 2015). For this part of the study,
participants who responded to the questionnaire or contacted the researcher via email, met
specific predetermined criteria (explained in the “interviewing” section), and indicated their
willingness to be interviewed were recruited for one-on-one, semi-structured interviews.
The selection of 17 interviewees for the qualitative study was based upon what Guba and
Lincoln (1989) explained is a maximum variation sample, a process that is both ongoing and
iterative. The goal is that the interviews conducted with a diverse group offer insights into a host
of complex and interwoven phenomena. Before the formal interview process began, a pilot was
conducted which helped refine the interview guide and identified gaps in representation. The
following criteria were employed to select the participants:
• Willingness to be interviewed
• Child’s school affiliation (public or private)
The data collected from the interviews, together with the survey results, were used to measure
how open the target population may be to enrolling their child in an alternative to the current
Costa Rican public and private education models and what factors may be important in making
that determination.

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Data Collection and Instrumentation
This cross-sectional study employed a mixed methods approach to investigate the way
that middle- and emerging-middle-income school parents in Costa Rica perceive the quality of
their child’s education, what might motivate them to enroll their child in an LFHQPS, and what
the relationship is between social and cultural capital and personal agency in their educational
decision-making processes. A purposeful convenience sample, based upon the criteria outlined
above, was utilized. Creswell and Creswell (2018) noted that convenience samples are a “less
desirable” type of sample but are still employed widely because of access and availability (p.
150).
The data collection process took place between October 2023 and February 2024 and
consisted of two methods of data collection: method one included two brief surveys that were
administered to some 2190 individuals and method two involved conducting one-on-one
interviews with 17 willing participants, 10 public school parents and seven private school
parents. Survey and interview items were developed based upon Merriam and Tisdell’s (2016)
approach to qualitative research design and Creswell and Creswell (2018) and Robinson and
Leonard’s (2019) guidelines for developing mixed-methods studies. Finally, my committee chair
at the University of Southern California reviewed the survey and interview questions and the
study was also submitted to the University’s Institutional Research Board for review and
approval before data collection began.
Surveys
The 17-question survey for public school parents (Appendix A) and the 18-question
survey for private school parents (Appendix B) was sent via email to the 2190 possible
participants. One additional question regarding how much private school parents paid in tuition

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was added to the survey targeting those parents. Each survey was sent to all 2190 possible
respondents, in two separate administrations. The first survey targeted public school parents and
respondents who indicated that they did not have a child in public school were taken to the end
of the survey, thanked for their time, and told that their participation was not required at the
moment. The second survey targeted private school parents and respondents who indicated that
they did not have a child in private school, were taken to the end of the survey, thanked for their
time, and told that their participation was not required at the moment.
The instruments were created based upon the theoretical framework and the research
questions that serve as the foundation for this dissertation. Because the study was conducted in
Costa Rica, a Spanish-speaking country, the survey was administered in Spanish. After IRB
approval was obtained, a pilot survey was administered to maximize the instrument’s validity
and reliability and allowed the survey items, instructions, and format to be improved (Creswell &
Creswell, 2018). As an incentive for participation, respondents who completed the survey were
directed to an electronic link in which they could choose to provide their contact information
(email address and phone number) so that they could be entered into a raffle which offered an
attractive, yet modest prize (to avoid a perception of coercion)—five raffle winners were given a
$50 USD gift card.
The survey items were closed-ended questions designed to obtain insights into the
participant’s level of satisfaction with their child’s school experience, their definition of a quality
education, the characteristics they deem important in a school education, the level of personal
agency they perceive they have in making educational decisions for their child, and their
thoughts about transferring their child to a low-fee, high-quality private school. The final survey

60
question asked if they would be willing to volunteer for a one-on-one interview to further
explore their ideas and thoughts on these topics.
As the surveys were collected, respondents who indicated their willingness to participate
in the interview (conducted in Spanish or English depending on the participant’s preference) and
who met the criteria described above, were contacted via email for scheduling. While the survey
data is important to understanding the opinions and attitudes of a large population, the in-depth
interviews provided more nuanced insight into the participants’ experiences and perspectives.
Interviews
Rubin and Rubin (2012) underscored that it is incumbent upon the researcher to motivate
people and “… convince [them] to participate in your project while you build sufficient trust to
persuade them to talk openly to you…” (p. 77). Since the interviews covered topics such as
school selection, satisfaction with aspects of their child’s current education, the level of
empowerment they feel in making educational decisions for their child, and their thoughts and
feelings about the possibility of transferring their child to an LFHQPS, it was crucial to gain their
confidence. As Bogden and Biklen (2007) explain, “… the interview is used to gather descriptive
data in the [participant’s] own words so that the researcher can develop insights on how
[participants] interpret some piece of the world” (p. 103).
In this study, purposeful, two-tier sampling was employed to select a target of between 15
and 20 parents to be interviewed. The idea of purposeful sampling is based upon the theory that
the researcher seeks to gain a deeper understanding of certain phenomena, but also seeks a
heterogeneity of perspectives (Maxwell, 2013). The 17 interviews were split between public (10)
and private (seven) school parents.

61
Conducted in October 2023 with public school parents and in February 2024 with private
school parents via Zoom, the semi-structured interviews were recorded with participants’ prior
consent. The semi-structured format allowed me to balance between a highly structured and
unstructured interview, while also permitting a mix of more- and less-structured questions
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). After each of the interviews, while details were still fresh, I wrote
observational notes detailing my initial impressions and some preliminary findings. I also kept a
research journal throughout the process in an attempt to better explore my own subjectivity and
its potential effect on my research. Rubin and Rubin (2012) noted that only by understanding
one’s own preconceptions can researchers discipline their subjectivity, mitigate the potential
effect it may have on a study, and ultimately increase credibility and reliability.
After 10 interviews with public school parents and seven interviews with private school
parents, I knew that I had conducted an appropriate number of interviews because the variance in
responses had reached saturation. This meant that the same information and responses to
questions began repeating, without the addition of new information (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Finally, as an expression of gratitude for having participated in the study, each interviewee was
offered the equivalent of a $25 gift card, something that was explained during the recruitment
process. As Glesne (2011) discussed, this type of reciprocity is intended to be no more than a
token of appreciation because what may be more important than offering a tangible reward is
listening intently to the participant as they share their thoughts, opinions, and ideas, and letting
them know how much their time and contribution to the study is appreciated.
Data Analysis
Because of time constraints, data collection and analysis of quantitative results took place
concurrently, reaching out via email to survey respondents who indicated that they were

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amenable to participating in a semi-structured interview. At the conclusion of each interview, its
content was transcribed automatically using Zoom’s voice-to-text function. The transcripts were
then cleaned by a process of multiple auditory reviews to verify the accuracy of the transcription
and allow errors generated by the voice-to-text application to be corrected. Once transcripts were
finalized, they were coded based upon a priori coding created from the research questions,
interview questions (which were also consistent with the research questions), and the theoretical
framework. Harding (2013) suggested that while beginning with a priori coding is helpful,
looking for commonalities by interpreting transcripts is crucial in analyzing data. The codes were
then refined through a process of “open coding” and adjusted through an iterative process as new
trends and patterns emerged across transcripts (Maxwell, 2013). Additional observations and
insights were highlighted on the transcripts to acquire a deeper understanding of the data. To
ensure that the analyses and observations were interpreted through the proper lens, during each
stage of the study, data and findings were compared with the initial research questions and the
dissertation’s theoretical framework. Finally, the survey and interview data were compared and
analyzed for coalescence and divergence and conclusions were written.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Ensuring credibility and trustworthiness in qualitative research requires that the
investigation is conducted in an ethical manner (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). While methods and
procedures do not guarantee validity, they help mitigate threats to credibility and trustworthiness
and improve the validity of the research and its findings (Maxwell, 2013). In the qualitative
portion of this mixed-methods study, I served as the primary instrument of data collection, which
necessitated careful consideration of ethical concerns and potential biases that I may hold. I had
some preconceived notions about how informed parents were about alternative schooling

63
options; how involved the parent might be in educational decision-making for their child; and the
level of educational attainment of the parents. When conducting the interviews, my role was to
be sensitive to the participant’s context, meaning, and experiences, to remain flexible while
adapting to the changing nature of the research process, and to adjust research questions and data
collection methods as insights emerged, while disciplining my own subjectivity (Lochmiller &
Lester, 2017).
Creswell and Creswell (2013) asserted that understanding one’s biases and reflexivity as
a researcher are important considerations in qualitative research because the more that
researchers are aware of their own biases, the more they can work to subjugate them. As such, it
was crucial that I understood the way that my own background (especially as an international
resident of Costa Rica), experiences (particularly in the realm of education), and perspectives
influenced my research. “Discussions of research quality have also identified complexities
related to researcher positionality and reflexivity, which are often understood as transparency
about the author's perspective regarding the research” (Secules, 2021, p. 20). By reflecting on my
positionality and engaging in reflexivity, I was able to identify biases, mitigate against their
potential influences, and increase the transparency and validity of the research, also helping
ensure ethical practice.
Obtaining rich data, employing respondent validation, searching for discrepant evidence
and negative cases, triangulating, and comparing, helped increase the study’s trustworthiness
(Maxwell, 2013). Maxwell advised that employing verbatim transcription of interviews is crucial
to obtaining precise details, a process that increases reliability. To clarify ambiguity, this
research employed respondent validation to mitigate bias by soliciting participant feedback. This

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systematic method of feedback that Maxwell proposed is a technique used to obtain both
feedback on the data and conclusions from participants.
Validity and Reliability
Ensuring the validity and reliability of the quantitative portion of this study was crucial to
increasing the accuracy of its results overall. The key to this is using a well-designed research
instrument that measures what the researcher intends to examine (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). In
this study, the survey purported to measure: the respondent’s level of satisfaction with their
child’s education, definition of a quality education, notions of what is important in their child’s
education, level of empowerment in making educational decisions, and thoughts about
transferring their child to an LFHQPS. To increase the questionnaire’s reliability, survey items
needed to be clear, straightforward, objective, and presented in the respondents’ native
language—Spanish (Robinson & Leonard, 2019). As discussed previously, the survey was pilot
tested to help ensure that all participants understood the questions in the same manner and that
any issues with the survey instrument were identified prior to its launch.
In addition, obtaining a representative sample of the population of interest was crucial.
For this study, the population of interest was middle- and emerging-middle-income school
parents who have a combined annual household income of at least $24,000. Securing a sample
size sufficient to yield statistically significant results was crucial to increasing validity and
reliability. Because a convenience sample was utilized for this research, the nature of sample size
is addressed in greater detail in the “Limitations and Delimitations” section of this chapter. In
addition, to ensure confidence in sample size and mitigate potential bias for non-response, it was
this study’s goal to obtain the highest possible response rate. One of the strategies employed to
maximize the response rate was to explain in both the recruitment email and at the outset of the

65
survey that the respondent’s input may contribute to creating a new school, an LFHQPS, that can
offer a high-quality, accessible educational model that might serve as an alternative to what is
currently available in the local education landscape. Another strategy that was employed was
conveying in the recruitment email that upon completion of the survey, respondents could opt
into a raffle for a modest, yet attractive prize. Finally, reminder emails were sent to prospective
respondents at three intervals throughout the process.
In addition, high levels of validity and reliability can be further ensured by addressing
potential bias in the methods outlined above. These strategies increased the accuracy of results
and consistency, thereby enhancing the study’s overall reliability. Finally, as Merriam and
Tisdell (2016) indicated, reviewing ethical considerations throughout each phase of the research
process increases the study’s overall reliability and validity. Following ethical guidelines
contributes to greater transparency, rigor, and diligence in data collection and analysis which
enhances reliability and validity.
Ethics
As a practitioner-scholar conducting a human participant-centered mixed-methods study,
I wanted to be particularly attentive to potential ethical considerations. Lochmiller and Lester
(2017) asserted that the researcher has a moral and ethical responsibility to obtain participant
consent, ensure that no harm is done, and protect the participant’s identity. Moreover, adhering
to these professional and ethical principles is intrinsic to my own personal values and the
behavior of an emerging practitioner-scholar.
The process of informing participants of their rights and explaining the study’s
procedures was fundamental to ensuring that my work was conducted ethically, particularly with
respect to the researcher-participant relationship (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Participants in both

66
the written survey and the interview were provided with an “Information Sheet” (Appendices C
and D) that explained the parameters of the study, the risks, benefits, and guarantees about
confidentiality. As part of the discussion on “informed consent,” I offered information about the
nature and purpose of the study as well as the way that the subsequent data would be used. This
was designed to ensure that participants had sufficient information to determine whether they
wanted to take part in the research (Glesne, 2011).
In my role as the Executive Director of one of The Group’s member companies, it is
important to consider potential ethical considerations related to my position. While my role and
responsibilities are only pertinent to one of The Group’s nine business units, I hold a high-level
leadership position within the conglomerate, a reality that could raise concerns about a potential
power dynamic (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). According to Glesne (2011), most research
relationships are asymmetrical, and the balance of power resides with the researcher. Given my
position in The Group, I aimed to minimize the potential power imbalance by 1) building trust
with the participants by including an explanatory note about the research’s purpose, and 2)
clarifying that my role in the study was that of a researcher and doctoral student (Secules et al.,
2021).
In addition, I assured respondents who opted to participate that their data would remain
secure and confidential and would not be shared with anyone in The Group. Finally, to help
mitigate power dynamic issues, I listened attentively to the participant thoughts and ideas,
answered their questions about the study, and worked to achieve a “conversational partnership”
designed to establish both trust and a connection (Rubin & Rubin, 2012, p. 92). Merriam and
Tisdell (2016) noted that the researcher has a duty to ensure that participants understand that 1)
their involvement in the study is entirely voluntary and 2) they may withdraw at any time

67
without prejudice. A note at the beginning of the survey and before the start of the interview
explained to participants that they could opt out at any time.
Role of Researcher
In both the quantitative and qualitative studies, it was paramount that I adopt the tenet of
“do no harm,” which includes abiding by ethical principles, obtaining informed consent,
ensuring confidentiality, and protecting human subjects and their data (Rubin & Rubin, 2012;
Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). These practices have the benefit of increasing the validity of the
study. In quantitative research, the researcher’s role is to design a study that is reliable, valid, and
produces data that can be generalized (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). Throughout the process of
data collection, analysis, and interpretation, I worked to recognize my own biases. In doing so, I
better understood how and whether these factors affected the outcomes of the research, my
findings, and their interpretation.
In the qualitative portion of the study, in which the researcher serves as the primary
instrument of data collection, their role is to understand and interpret social phenomena from the
participant’s perspective (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Finally, discovering and disciplining my
own subjectivity was essential in conducting reliable research, particularly during the qualitative
phase of this study. By using reflexivity, I explored my assumptions and biases and also reflected
upon the way that they may influence my research (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017).

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Chapter 4: Findings
The purpose of this study was to gain insight into parental preferences, opinions, and
levels of agency surrounding educational decision-making for school-age children in Costa Rica.
Understanding and accounting for parental perspectives regarding a child’s education has
become increasingly important but has yet to be widely explored in a systematic way (McClain,
2010). Views, attitudes, and experiences of parents as they navigate and shape their child’s
educational trajectory have received little attention in academic literature to date. While research
on the relationship between parents and schools has expanded significantly over the last 10
years, direct accounts from parents regarding their interactions with and opinions of schools
require further inquiry.
The active role of parents, especially those from middle- and emerging-middle-income
backgrounds, has been largely ignored, according to McClain (2010). Thus, this mixed-methods
study sought to contribute to the literature by offering insights into both an under-studied
population and subject. Moreover, as a dissertation of practice, this mixed methods study was
designed with the aim of providing insight into what parents seek in their child’s education and
how those findings may be applied to bring a low-fee, high-quality private school (LFHQPS)
model to a country in which this educational pathway does not widely exist.
Using the Bordieuan trifecta of cultural capital, social capital, and habitus as the lens
through which to examine the quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data, two central
questions guided this research.
1. What do middle- and emerging-middle-income parents of school children in Costa Rica
perceive as strengths and weaknesses of their child’s educational institution?

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2. What would motivate a parent in Costa Rica to move their child from their current
educational institution to a low-fee, high-quality private school?
Both surveys, one capturing the perceptions of public school parents and the other of
private school parents, were designed to address each research question (RQ). As well, they were
utilized to recruit school parents to participate in qualitative interviews. The one-on-one
interviews were also intended to address both RQs. Further, while the first RQ focused on
understanding levels of satisfaction parents have with their child’s current educational institution,
the second RQ aimed at gaining an understanding of the level of personal agency felt by parents
in shaping their child’s educational trajectory.
This chapter presents the research findings and begins by introducing the study’s
participants. Subsequently, it details four thematic findings that emerged from analyzing the
quantitative and qualitative data. The chapter ends with a brief conclusion before moving to
chapter five.
Overview of Participants
In this research, both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to gain insight
and perspective into attitudes and opinions of middle- and emerging-middle-income parents of
public and private school students in Costa Rica. The framework that helped shape this research
was based upon the trifecta of cultural capital, social capital, and habitus developed by
sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1997). It was through this lens that parental behavior and personal
agency in educational decision-making were explored.
Employing a sequential explanatory design model (Creswell & Creswell, 2018), the study
began with collecting quantitative data from parents of public school students in Costa Rica, who
were anonymous respondents to a survey. Next qualitative data were gathered through one-on-

70
one interviews with volunteers who had also participated in the survey. These interviews were
meant to provide further insight into the quantitative data as well as to address the study’s second
research question.
Upon concluding the interviews, drawing some initial inferences, and reviewing the
survey data further, it became clear that the voices of individuals who might also have interest in
enrolling their child in a new LFHQPS were missing— parents whose children were currently
enrolled in a private school. Therefore, a second survey and an additional round of one-on-one
interviews were launched to explore how private school parents perceive the strengths and
weaknesses of their child’s education. Moreover, they were asked to provide insight into their
opinions about the possibility of transferring their child to an LFHQPS, if one were to begin
operating in Costa Rica. Upon completion of the data collection portion of the study, there were
qualitative and quantitative data from both public and private school parent participants.
Participants
Because of the challenges associated with sampling a national population of middle and
emerging-middle-income public and private school parents, a convenience sample drawn from
employees of “The Group” (a pseudonym), a multi-industry conglomerate active in 13 countries
across the Americas and the Caribbean, was utilized. Specifically, the sample, and by extension
the study, targeted those with school-age children within a proscribed income bracket. The
conglomerate itself is not the subject of this dissertation. Rather, it serves as a vehicle by which
to gain access to a representative sample of school parents.
With quantitative and qualitative data gathered from participants in The Group, a data set
consisting of 116 completed, valid surveys from parents of public school students; 114
completed, valid surveys from parents of private school students; 10 interview transcripts from

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parents of public school students; and seven interview transcripts from parents of private school
students. The quantitative data from each survey were cleaned, organized, and merged to create
one data set with 230 respondents.
Survey Participants
As seen in Tables 3 and 4, not only were the number of public and private school parents
nearly even, but the ratio between female (55 percent) and male (45 percent) survey respondents
was also well-distributed.
Table 3
Distribution of Public and Private School Parents
School Number of parents % of parents
Private 114 50.43
Public 116 49.56
Total 230 100%

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Table 4
Gender Distribution of Parent Participants
Gender Number of parents % of parents
Men 103 44.78
Women 127 55.22
Total 230 100%
Table 5 shows the distribution of educational achievement of the study’s participants, in
which only 4.35 percent of respondents, all of whom are public school parents, had not
completed their secondary studies. Half had earned a bachelor’s degree and slightly under 20
percent had earned a graduate degree. When compared to national figures, it appears as if the
sample population has significantly higher levels of educational attainment. According to both
the World Bank (2022c) and Estado de la Nación (2022), approximately 60 percent of the
country’s labor force does not hold a high school diploma.

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Table 5
Level of Educational Attainment of Parent Participants
Educational level Number of parents % of parents
Below high school diploma 10 4.35
High school diploma 62 26.96
Bachelor’s degree 116 50.43
Graduate degree 42 18.26
Total 230 100%
Figure 7 depicts income levels of both private and public school parents who participated
in the study. Nearly half (48 percent) of private school parents reported a combined, monthly
household income of the equivalent of over $3000 USD, whereas only 26 percent of public
school parents reported an income in that range. At least two-thirds of all survey participants
reported earnings above the average national household monthly income of $1,961 (INEC,
2022).

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Figure 7
Combined Monthly Household Income in USD in Costa Rica
Profile of Interviewees
What follows are brief descriptions of the 10 public school parents and the seven private
school parents who were interviewed for the qualitative portion of the study. All interviewees
were given pseudonyms to safeguard their identity.
Public School Parent Interviewees
Fernanda, female, obtained her highest degree from a public high school and currently
works part-time in one of The Group’s retail stores; she hopes to secure a full-time position
within the same organization. Fernanda has one child in public high school and one child who is
12-months old, who is cared for by Fernanda’s mother. The families live in the same
neighborhood. Fernanda defines quality education as, “accessible and captivating. If it does not
captivate the student, they will not stay engaged.”
Gabriel, male, obtained his highest degree from a public high school. During primary
school, he attended a private Catholic school. He currently works at The Group’s retail bank and
has one child in the third grade at a public school outside the greater metropolitan area of San

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Jose. Because of his experience with a certain teacher during primary school, Gabriel defines a
quality education as one that has dedicated teachers who follow a student’s progress and take an
interest in their lives.
Jose, male, obtained his highest degree, a bachelor’s degree, from a public university. He
recently began working as a payroll coordinator in the back office of The Group’s retail and
hospitality company. Prior to joining the group, Jose worked in an education technology
foundation. He has one child in the third grade at a public school and defines a quality education
as one that offers more than the basics (reading, writing, and math) and provides opportunities in
music, art, English language and technology.
Noemi, female, obtained her highest degree from a public high school and is the manager
of one of The Group’s retail stores. She has one child who is in the third grade in a public school.
Noemi defines a quality education as one that has teachers who are dedicated and demand
excellence from their students.
Rafael, male, obtained his high school degree from one of the most highly regarded
public schools in the country. He began his bachelor’s degree at a public university but graduated
from a private university with a licentiate. At present, Rafael is finishing a master’s degree at a
private university. He is a manager at one of branches of The Group’s retail banks and has two
children—the elder in public high school and the younger in a public preschool. Rafael defines a
quality education as one where teachers require students to think critically and analytically and
where they are prepared to work in a multilingual environment.
Marisia, female, obtained her highest degree from a private university outside of San
Jose and is a bank manager at one of The Group’s branch locations outside of the greater
metropolitan area of San Jose. She has two children—the elder is in sixth grade, and the younger

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is in first, both in public school. Marisia defines a quality education as one in which teachers
dedicate their attention to all students but especially to those who require additional support.
“My mother was a teacher and that influences the way I think about education.”
Sabrina, female, obtained her highest degree from a public high school. However, she
earned a certificate in advanced English from a public university, a program underwritten by a
previous employer. She is an assistant at one of The Group’s retail divisions and has one child
who is in first grade in public school. Sabrina defines a quality education as one in which
teachers teach beyond the basics and push students to excel, especially in technology and
English.
Jorge, male, obtained his highest degree from a private university. He is a coordinator in
the central offices of The Group’s retail and hospitality company and has one child who is in
sixth grade in a public school. Jorge defines a quality education as one in which “teachers work
with students in the way that best matches their learning needs and helps them succeed.”
Juana, female, obtained her highest degree from a public high school. She is a manager
at one of The Group’s retail stores and has three children in public school—the eldest in seventh,
the middle in fifth, and the youngest in preschool. Juana defines a quality education as one in
which teachers successfully work with a variety of students with differing levels and abilities to
captivate their interests.
Laura, female, obtained her highest degree, an associate’s, from a private institution. She
is a senior salesperson at one of The Group’s retail stores and has three children, all of whom
study in public school —the eldest is in 10th; the middle is in eighth; and the youngest in fourth.
Laura defines a quality education as one in which “teachers teach with both love and rigor.”

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Private School Parent Interviewees
Gilda, female, attended a private high school and received her bachelor’s from a private
university. At present, she is finishing a master’s degree. She works in The Group’s central
administration as a coordinator. Gilda has one child in fourth grade at a private school. She
defines a quality education as one that “offers a variety of opportunities to students both inside
and outside the classroom and teaches primarily in English.”
Maria, female, obtained her highest degree from a public high school and works in The
Group’s retail bank. Maria has one child who is a senior in private school. During the pandemic,
she placed her child in private school to have face-to-face classes. She defines a quality
education as one that “teaches students English or another language and prepares them to work
in an English-language environment…. Also, a quality education focuses on preparing students
for technological readiness.”
Arturo, male, attended public school and received his bachelor’s from a public
university. He is currently studying for a second master’s degree. Arturo is a manager at The
Group’s hospitality company. He has two children enrolled in private school, one in the fifth
grade and the other in the seventh grade. He defines a quality education as one that challenges
students and creates an environment in which they can excel, especially in STEM fields and
English, areas that he believes are fundamental for success.
Pablo, male, attended a prestigious public high school and was accepted to the country’s
top technological university where he completed a bachelor’s and a licentiate. He works as a lead
in The Group’s technology company. Pablo has one child in the sixth grade who is enrolled in a
private school outside of the greater San Jose metropolitan area. He defines a quality education
as one that goes beyond the fundamentals like high-level reading, writing, and arithmetic and

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helps students find their passions. He attributes his public high school experience as a key driver
for pursuing a STEM-related career.
Miriam, female, attended a private high school and received her bachelor’s from a
private university. She works in The Group’s retail company as a coordinator. She has two
children, one who graduated from an online homeschool program and the other who is in the 11th
grade at a private school. Miriam believes that a quality education is one that is “holistic and
cares for the student academically and emotionally.”
Crystal, female, attended a private high school and received her bachelor’s and master's
from a private university. She works in one of The Group’s retail chains as a manager. Crystal
has one child in the second grade at a private school and another who is in preschool at a
different private institution. She defines a quality education as one that “offers its curriculum in
English and prepares students in a range of technologies so that they are prepared for the future.”
Juan, male, attended public school and received both his bachelor’s and licentiate from a
private university. He works in The Group’s retail bank in a managerial position. Juan has one
child who is in the seventh grade in a private school outside of the greater metropolitan area. He
defines a quality education as “one that nurtures students and supports them academically and
emotionally.” He commented that post-pandemic, the latter has become even more important.
Presentation of Findings
Buckley and Schneider (2007), who have written extensively on school preferences and
choice, explain that “while many dimensions of parent-choice behavior have been analyzed, one
of the most important, and one of the most contentious, is the question of what aspects of schools
parents prefer [when selecting an educational institution]” (p. 186). The authors further discuss
that while survey data have often revealed that parents across racial and socioeconomic groups

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favor schools with quality teachers and strong test performance, they seldom publicly express
concern over the demographic makeup of the student body in terms of race or socioeconomic
status. Nevertheless, expressed preferences do not always align with actual parental choices.
Empirical observations suggest that decisions on school selection can be influenced by a variety
of other factors that parents may never openly discuss (2007).
In Costa Rica, where LFHQPSs are not prevalent, the opinions of parents when presented
with this option remain unexplored. This dissertation aims to fill a void in the current research by
delving into both an underrepresented demographic (middle- and emerging-middle-income
parents of school children) and an under-studied dynamic (parental attitudes and actions when
making educational decisions) within the Costa Rican context. The findings detailed in this
section are supported by both survey data and qualitative interviews and the instruments that
were developed for this study were meant to capture perceptions from two distinct, yet related,
populations—parents of public and private school students.
This mixed methods study was designed around two research questions which probed
parental perceptions of school quality; factors that influence parents in school choice; and the
level of agency parents have to undertake educational decisions. In the section that follows, the
RQs and methods used to gather data for each are explored in greater depth.
Research Questions
This section will discuss the survey and interview questions supporting each of the
study’s research questions. In addition, key summary data related to parental satisfaction with
their child’s private or public school will be provided as a foundation to the thematic findings
that will follow.

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Research Question 1: What do middle- and emerging-middle-income parents of school
children in Costa Rica perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of their child’s educational
institution?
In seeking insight into the level of satisfaction with their children’s current educational
institution and what factors may motivate a parent to change their child’s school, specifically to
an LFHQPS, a mixed methods approach was employed. In the survey, three questions (numbers
10, 11 and 12), each with three sub-questions, were deployed to explore RQ1. These questions
offered important insight into how satisfied parents are with their child’s current school,
something that offers background on preferences and opinions of the study’s participants.
Using a four-point Likert scale, these items probed the level of satisfaction respondents
have with distinct aspects of their child’s education. Question 10 explored parental opinions
regarding the child’s well-being at school; question 11 the level of satisfaction with personnel
and facilities at the school; and Question 13 the child’s academic preparation and progress in
school. Overall, private school parents demonstrated a higher level of satisfaction with their
child’s educational institution than their public school counterparts. The data in Table 6 reveal a
gap in the proportions of parents reporting high levels of satisfaction with key aspects of their
child’s school when comparing private and public institutions.
For both teacher quality and facility adequacy, the percentage of private school parents
indicating a high level of satisfaction (36 percent) was nearly two and half times greater than the
corresponding 15 percent of public school parents. This ratio represents a sizable difference.
While still reflecting a considerable disparity favoring private schools, the divide was less
pronounced with regard to administrative performance. Here, the proportion of highly satisfied
private school parents (27 percent) exceeded that of their public school counterparts (15 percent)

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by a factor of nearly double rather than two and a half times as observed for teaching staff and
facilities.
Table 6
Highly Satisfied with Following Aspects of Child’s School…
School Type Teachers Administration Facilities
Public 15% 15% 15%
Private 36% 27% 36%
Like the previous table, the data presented in Table 7 highlight differences in parental
perceptions of their child’s educational experience across three key metrics—academic progress,
safety, and happiness in school. Regarding the student’s academic progress, 46 percent of private
school parents highly agreed that their child was making good progress, double the 23 percent of
public school parents who expressed the same high level of agreement. An even more
pronounced gap emerged in relation to perceived safety, with 52 percent of those from private
schools highly agreeing that their child was safe, versus just 27 percent of public school
parents—a ratio of nearly two to one.
The largest disparity, however, appeared in the assessment of the child’s happiness. Here,
over half of private school parents (53 percent) highly agreed that their child was happy,
compared to only 28 percent of their public school counterparts—a difference that is nearly
double.

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Table 7
Highly Agree Child is…
School Type Making Good Progress
in School
Safe in School Happy in School
Public 23% 27% 28%
Private 46% 52% 53%
The data presented in Table 8 reveal another substantial gap between parental perceptions
of the quality of education and preparation for future success when comparing public and private
school settings. For both metrics examined—whether the school offers high-quality education
and adequately prepares students for success—an identical pattern emerged. Some 41 percent of
private school parents highly agreed with these positive assessments, nearly double the
corresponding 21 percent of public school parents, indicating a high level of agreement.
The ratio of private to public school parental perceptions aligns at just below double to
one for both measures of educational quality and preparedness. This divide demonstrates much
more favorable views among those whose children attend private institutions versus public
schools on these key indicators. This contrast points to a significant divide in parental
satisfaction across these fundamental aspects of schooling based on the public or private nature
of the institution.

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Table 8
Highly Agree Child’s School Offers…
School Type Offers High Quality Education Prepares Students for Success
Public 21% 21%
Private 41% 41%
As detailed in Table 9, four questions were utilized during the one-on-one interviews to
gain insight into RQ 1 and will be discussed within the thematic findings that follow.
Table 9
Interview Questions Focused on RQ1
Question Target
Tell me what you like about your child’s school.
Public and
Private School
Parents
Has there been a time when you felt dissatisfied with an aspect or aspects
of your child’s education? If so, can you please elaborate.
How much do you think that you spend per month on school?
Do you feel that school may be able to improve something? If so, can you
please share your thoughts?
Research Question 2: What would motivate a parent in Costa Rica to move their child from
their current educational institution to enroll them in a low-fee, high-quality private school?

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The aim of this question, as explored through both quantitative and qualitative data, was
to gain insight into factors that might be important to parents in making the decision to transition
their child from a public school which is tuition-free to a private school which is costly. Further,
this question was intended to explore the level of social and cultural capital parents believe they
have when it comes to making educational decisions for their child.
As part of the survey, three questions (numbers 12, 15 and 17)were deployed to explore
RQ2. Using a four-point Likert scale for Questions 12 and 15 and a 10-point scale for Question
17, these items examined what parents sought in an LFHQPS, and what the likelihood was of a
parent transferring their child from their current school to an LFHQPS, if one were available.
Item 12, comprised of eight sub-questions, probed what offerings are important in an
ideal school; Question 15 sought to understand how likely a parent may be to enroll their child in
an LFHQPS; and Question 17, with a 10-point scale, asked parents to rate the factors that might
influence their decision to enroll their child in an LFHQPS. Finally, Question 14, which
employed a four-point Likert scale, asked parents to indicate the level of agency they felt they
had regarding educational decision-making for their child.
One-on-one interviews were conducted to further explore RQ2. The aim was to gain
deeper insight into 1) what factors may drive a parent when making educational decisions for
their child, and 2) what level of agency a parent has in shaping their child’s educational
trajectory. Table 10 provides the list of questions that were employed during qualitative
interviews to probe Research Question 2 and will be discussed within the thematic findings that
follow.

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Table 10
Interview Questions Focused on RQ2
Question Target
Have you ever considered enrolling your child in a private school? If so, please
tell me about that.
Public
What private schools do you consider provide the kind of education that you
might look for your child?
Public
How much might you consider spending for an LFHQPS? Public and
Private
School
Parents
If there were an LFHQPS available for your child, what would you be looking
for from that school?
If an LFHQPS opened in your community, would you consider enrolling your
child? If so, what would make you do so? What would you be looking for in that
school?
If not, please elaborate and explain what may keep you from doing so?
What do you think that your family would think if you transferred your child to
an LFHQPS? What do you think that your friends would think? What do you
think that your community would think?
Would you need support if your child attended an LFHQPS? Please elaborate. Public

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Thematic Findings
In analyzing the data, both anticipated and unanticipated findings emerged. Overall, the
unique insights that arose fell into four thematic groupings, as described below. Table 11
introduces the themes and indicates the RQ to which each relates. Finally, the chart helps
identify what data were used to elaborate each finding. It is interesting to note that the richness of
the mixed methods approach utilized in this study provided a more nuanced understanding of
parental attitudes, aspirations, needs, and expectations.
Table 11
Thematic Research Findings
Thematic Findings RQ Data Type Employed for Analysis
Factors, both clear and unforeseen, impacting parental
school choice
1, 2 Survey and Interview
Co-curricular and extracurricular activities seen as
fundamental to child’s development
1, 2 Interview
The LFHQPS model garnered great interest 2 Survey and Interview
Public school parents report higher levels of agency
than quantitative data demonstrate
2 Survey and Interview
Thematic Finding 1: Factors, Both Clear and Unforeseen, Impacting Parental School
Choice
The motivations behind educational decisions made by parents on behalf of their children
are multifaceted, often blending divergent yet convergent rationales. An analysis of the

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quantitative and qualitative datasets in this study reveals a varied set of preferences and opinions
among parents, trends that will be discussed throughout this chapter. During one-on-one
interviews with public and private school parents, most participants emphasized the importance
of schools offering robust STEM and English language programs. Nevertheless, statistical
analysis of the data identified four significant factors that hold the greatest importance for
parents in their educational decision-making processes and notably, STEM education and
English language instruction did not emerge as top priorities.
The divergence between parental emphasis on some factors discussed during one-on-one
interviews and the statistical significance of other factors that emerged in the survey data reveals
the complexity of parental priorities. While in a more public setting, parents prioritized certain
aspects of their child’s education, reflecting what might be considered broader societal
aspirations, their actual choices, when alone and responding to a survey anonymously, were
perhaps influenced by more immediate and relationship-based considerations. This discrepancy
in the data suggests that what parents articulated in an interview-setting might not entirely
encompass the order or range of their priorities.
The methodologies employed in collecting and analyzing data further compound this
difference. Qualitative interviews capture the nuanced, aspirational goals of parents, whereas
quantitative analysis uncovers broader, more universally applicable priorities. Essentially, while
STEM and English are valued for their relevance, other factors—embodied in the connection
with school leadership, logistical feasibility, and quality of teachers—play a more critical role in
shaping a parent’s educational decisions. This finding underscores the holistic view parents hold
towards their child’s education, where competing influences shape their choices, suggesting a

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deeper, more contextual basis for decision-making beyond the aspirational components
highlighted during interviews.
Rafael, the father of a public school child, explained “for our kids, learning English is
non-negotiable because of Costa Rica’s proximity to the US…. Also, our schools need to teach
technical skills such as coding and programming because without them, our children won’t be
prepared for the future.” It was not surprising that parents expressed these ideas because their
professional experience of working in The Group has likely demonstrated the importance of
these and related skills. A private school mother of one, Crystal, explained that she selected her
child’s school based on the rigor of the mathematics and science education as well as the quality
of the English program, stating, “maybe having a high quality STEM program at school used to
be optional, but today, it’s a must.”
In fact, 15 out of the 17 parents interviewed mentioned the importance of schools
offering both robust English and STEM programs. Moreover, all ten public school parents
interviewed discussed their dissatisfaction with the lack of quality STEM and/or English
language instruction at their child’s educational institution. They also stressed the necessity of
LFHQPSs exceling in both of these areas, among others. Gabriel, the father of a public school
student, discussed how the Costa Rican economy requires more engineers to continue growing.
However, he lamented the fact that public schools are doing little, in his opinion, to stimulate
excitement in STEM education and careers, “If teachers do not expose our children to how
exciting science and technology are and how those fields help solve problems, how will they
ever dream of becoming engineers?”
Conversely, the private school parents interviewed believed that STEM and English
programs were strengths at their institutions and even served as drivers for some in choosing to

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enroll their child at that particular school. Arturo, a private school father of two, echoed the
above sentiment and explained that he learned English as an adult and still struggles with it.
Therefore, it was important to him that his children gain fluency in English from an early age. He
explained, “I chose my children’s school based on the high level of English language instruction
and the brand new computer labs that had just been installed when I enrolled my first child.”
Arturo conveyed that he and his wife are highly satisfied with their children’s school and believe
that it has more than met their expectations.
Despite the importance shown to both STEM and English language programs during
interviews, quantitative analysis reveals that for parents, irrespective of their child’s current
school type, factors such as accessible administration, trained teachers, and proximity to home
hold greater significance in the decision of whether to enroll their child in an LFHQPS. The
regression analysis quantitatively assesses the impact of various factors on the parental decisionmaking process of school selection. In investigating the key factors that influence parental
decisions as to whether to enroll their child in a low-fee, high-quality private school, a logistic
regression model was employed to quantify the impact of various school characteristics. The
analysis yielded several significant findings that help clarify the priorities and considerations
driving possible enrollment choices.
Foremost among the factors exhibiting a significant positive association with increased
odds of enrollment was the accessibility of the school’s administration. The correlation
coefficient of r=.190 (p = .002) indicates that greater perceived accessibility of administrative
personnel was associated with an increased likelihood of a parent selecting that school. This
underscores the role that open communication and responsiveness from leadership play in
cultivating an environment aligned with parental confidence and investment in an institution.

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Similarly, the presence of well-trained, qualified teaching staff emerged as a significant
factor (r=.287, p = 0.003) in probability of enrollment. Parents also place a premium on ensuring
their child receives instruction from educators equipped with expertise, a factor that may
supersede considerations such as infrastructure in the decision calculus. On the other hand, how
close a school is to home seems to influence possible enrollment. As distance between home and
school increased, the chances of a family enrolling their child in that school decreased (r= -0.155,
p = 0.004). This finding aligns with pragmatic constraints parents face, necessitating an
assessment of educational quality against logistical feasibility and the associated costs or
inconveniences of lengthy commutes.
While academic excellence and availability of STEM education seemed to make parents
somewhat more likely to choose a school, it was not by much. The numbers showed small
positive effects, but not strong enough to say that they had great impact on choice. This hints that
in this specific group of affordable yet high-quality private schools, parents might assume the
academics will be strong and science and math will be taught well. Therefore, they do not focus
too much on such areas when choosing a school. These factors were not statistically significant
at the conventional 0.05 level, making these characteristics less central in their enrollment
decisions.
Notably, factors such as proximity to workplace, quality of facilities, bilingual education,
and security were non-significant, implying that such attributes did not hold great importance in
shaping parental enrollment preferences. Specifically, holding all other factors constant, the
probability of enrollment falls below the 50 percent mark. This suggests that certain positive
conditions, as captured by the predictor variables in the model, need to be present for enrollment
in an LFPS to become more probable than not.

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This hierarchy underscores the idea that parents value community, relationships with
their child’s school, and proximity (keeping their children closer to home) over purely academic
concerns. Interestingly, 12 out of the 17 parents interviewed highlighted cost-related concerns
regarding school transportation and after-school childcare, factors that contribute to the issue of
school location. This might reflect a broader parental calculus that values high-quality education
but also weighs the importance of staying connected to their child and their school. Security and
school facilities, while considered, ranked lower in influence within the decision matrix.
Parents who were interviewed and surveyed had overlapping priorities when it came to
their children’s education. Nevertheless, what they manifested openly as priorities during
interviews, STEM and English language education, differed from what can be seen in the
quantitative results.
Thematic Finding 2: Co-curricular Classes and Extracurricular Activities Seen as
Fundamental for Child’s Development
Varying levels of satisfaction with regard to different aspects of a child’s school came to
light when analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data, although consistent across both sets
of data and both sets of parents was the high value placed on co-curricular classes and
extracurricular activities. In the survey, several groups of questions were used to explore the
predictive relationship between parental satisfaction with their child’s school and the child’s
enrollment affiliation (public or private). This thematic finding discusses some of the
correlational analyses in which school type (public or private) was associated with the level of
satisfaction that parents exhibited with regard to their child’s wellbeing in school, preparation,
and fundamental to their child’s development. To produce a score as to parents’ overall
impressions about these concepts, composite variables were created by combining multiple

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individual variables or items that measure different components of the aforementioned
categories.
Analysis of these composite variables (student well-being and preparation) demonstrated
that private school parents exhibited higher levels of satisfaction with regard to both indicators
than did their public school counterparts. An examination of the mean ratings on a one to four
scale (1= highly dissatisfied, 2= dissatisfied, 3= satisfied, and 4= highly satisfied) demonstrated a
contrast between private and public school participant perceptions. For the private school
parental cohort, the average satisfaction score of 3.35 was slightly higher than the 3.27 mean for
preparedness—both figures are in the “satisfied” to “highly satisfied” ranges of the scale. This
clustering just above 3.25 indicated broadly positive assessments nearing the highest “highly
satisfied” level.
Public school parents exhibited a pattern in their responses that was decidedly more
negative, with an average 2.88 satisfaction score and 2.77 for preparedness. These ratings were
squarely located in the “dissatisfied” category, between the two and three scale points. These
values quantify an overall sense of discontent with both the general satisfaction levels and the
perceived adequacy of preparation of their child. The differential between the private school’s
narrowly sub-4 means and public school’s mid-2 range averages amounts to approximately 0.5
scale points for each metric assessed. This half-point gap represents a substantive qualitative
split—with private school participants tending towards “high” satisfaction/preparedness and
public school parents toward broad dissatisfaction on these dimensions.
The analysis of the composite variables for student wellbeing and preparation revealed
strong internal consistency reliability, as evidenced by Cronbach’s alpha values. The student
well-being composite had an alpha of 0.91. Similarly, the student preparation composite variable

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had an alpha of 0.93. The mean scores for the student wellbeing and student preparation
composites were 3.1 and 3.0 respectively.
This quantitative portrait painted a picture of diverging sentiments based on school type,
with private institutions engendering highly positive attitudes and public schools general
negativity regarding satisfaction with the experience and how effectively students are being
equipped for the future. While these results provided interesting insights, what became clear
from one-on-one interviews was that what affected parental “satisfaction” and their perceived
strengths or weaknesses in their child’s education, regardless of school affiliation—a place of
strong agreement—was the importance of educational institutions offering co-curricular classes
and school-based extracurricular activities.
Scholars have long examined the role of extracurricular activities and how involvement
in these programs correlates with social benefits, academic performance, and levels of
educational success in children and adolescents. Moreover, research suggests that engaging in
extracurricular activities offers young people an opportunity to build social capital through
expanding their networks and helping them feel more connected, while also supporting their
sense of community and belonging (Feldman & Matjasko, 2005).While neither co-curricular or
extracurricular activities were taken into consideration for the predictive model on enrollment in
an LFHQPS, a weakness that will be discussed in Chapter Five, there was strong agreement by
public and private school parents who were interviewed as to their importance.
All 10 of the public school parents interviewed indicated that the skills and experiences
acquired during classes such as art, music, soccer, and dance, in the form of co-curricular and
extracurricular activities, were fundamental to their child’s development. Only one parent
attested to the fact that their child’s school offered one extracurricular program—violin—in

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which her child was enrolled. Moreover, during interviews, public school parents lamented the
fact that the public education system seems to be failing in this area.
Jorge, the father of a public school student explained, “my child’s school doesn’t even
offer physical education, let alone theater or art. There have been so many budget cuts that many
schools, like my child’s, don’t have any of these special classes which are so important.”
Whether co-curricular or extracurricular, public school parents agreed that their children would
benefit from having such experiences and see the lack of availability in their institutions as a
critical weakness. Noemi, the mother of a third grader in public school, discussed why she feels
these offerings are central to a child’s education:
Schools need enrichment subjects because they are so important for the social and
emotional development of our kids. Maybe they aren’t an educational priority for
some people, but learning to work with others and develop problem solving skills
are necessary abilities. Those types of life skills can best be learned in programs
like band, soccer, and dance.
In contrast to their public school counterparts who voiced their displeasure with the lack
of extracurricular offerings in the public system, all seven private school parents interviewed
mentioned their satisfaction with the range of enrichment, extracurricular, and co-curricular
programs offered by their child’s school. Gilda, the mother of a private school student, concurred
with Noemi about the importance and need for children to engage in such activities, stating,
“When I looked at schools, before enrolling my son at his current institution, I focused on what
was happening at each school beyond academics. Experiences like Model United Nations,
varsity soccer, and the innovation hubs, are invaluable because of the opportunities that they
offer in social-emotional learning.” From the interviews with private school parents, it is clear

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that their children’s institutions have placed an emphasis on providing high-quality
extracurricular experiences for their students, something in which the parents find value. Miriam,
the mother of a private school student, believes that a school “should provid[e] opportunities to
explore subjects and activities [beyond standard classes] because it offers a different type of
learning.”
In fact, four of the seven private school parents interviewed indicated that having such
offerings at an LFHQPS would be a crucial factor in whether they might transfer their child.
Furthermore, six out of the 10 public school interviewees discussed the fact that they would be
willing to pay more for an accessible private school if it offered school-based extracurricular
activities. Pablo, a father who recently moved his child to a different private school after the
pandemic, indicated the primary reason for doing so was to stimulate his child’s creativity and
nurture her sense of self. “The school where my daughter was enrolled had no extracurriculars.
At her new school, she is taking acting classes and math Olympics training, after school. We
think that because of these opportunities, her confidence is growing and that is exactly why we
continue to make the investment in private school.” In fact, Fredricks and Eccles (2008) have
seen that higher self-esteem, higher psychological resiliency, and lower rates of depression are
associated with students’ involvement in extracurricular activities.
Both public and private school parents who were interviewed discussed the importance of
co-curricular and extracurricular involvement for their children. Interestingly, there was not a
difference between the types of extracurricular programs that the families who were interviewed
seem to value. The activities that were consistently mentioned by parents, regardless of school
affiliation, were: soccer, band or music, dance, computing or coding, and theater.

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Thematic Finding 3: The LFHQPS Model Garnered Great Interest in Public and Private
School Parents
Historically, families in Costa Rica with fewer resources have had more limited choices
when it comes to their child’s education. To date, the country’s education landscape does not
include an accessible K-12 private school model, one that could serve as an alternative to costly
private schools or low-performing public schools. Furthermore, the public school system does
not offer a voucher system and schools, in general, are assigned to students based upon
geographic location. Because of this context, it is unknown whether parents, especially those
with children in public school, would have an interest in an alternate educational offering, such
as a low-fee, high-quality private school, if one were made accessible to them. As well, there are
no available data from private school parents as to whether they might consider transferring their
child to a high-quality, low-cost private school because such an option, by and large, does not
currently exist within the Costa Rican educational landscape.
Therefore, one aim of this study, as discussed above, was to gain insight into what
factors, if any, might motivate a parent in Costa Rica to transfer their child from their current
educational institution to a low-fee, high-quality private school, if it existed. The findings
demonstrated that both public and private school parents have interest in enrolling their child in
an LFHQPS, given certain conditions and circumstances. However, it is important to note that all
parents who were interviewed cite financial considerations as a key driver for contemplating this
possibility.
Laura, a public school mother of three, shared her perspective as to why she is worried
about her children’s education and why she would welcome an alternative.

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I’m not ungrateful to the system, far from it. But I do believe there is lots of room
for improvement when it comes to the level of teaching and the curriculum,
especially when it comes to math, science, and English. I am gravely concerned
about the future of education in Costa Rica because we seem to be regressing,
instead of progressing, so we need to do something different.
Figure 8, presented by school affiliation (private or public), shows the likelihood of a
parent enrolling their child in an LFHQPS. Over half of private school parents (56 percent) and
over two-thirds (68 percent) of public school parents who participated in the survey indicated
that they would be “highly likely” to enroll their child in an LFHQPS, if the opportunity
presented itself. Overall, 61 percent of parents surveyed responded that they are “highly likely”
to enroll their child in an LFHQPS.
Figure 8
Likelihood of Enrollment in LFHQPS in Costa Rica
Similar to the quantitative data, the qualitative data demonstrated that both public and
private school parents manifested a positive disposition toward enrolling their children in an
LFHQPS. Nevertheless, while five of the seven private school parents interviewed signaled their

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interest in learning more about the LFHQPS, they also explained that as long as it were
financially viable for their child to remain in their current private school, they would have little
interest in changing institutions.
Jose, a private school father, spoke openly about the appeal of having an LFHQPS in
Costa Rica, stating, “right now, my family is happy with our school, and we can afford the
tuition. But if our finances or other circumstances necessitated a change, I would start with this
low-fee, high-quality private school, if it exists by then.” Because all private school parents who
were interviewed discussed their high level of satisfaction with their child’s school, it seemed
difficult for them to imagine making a change.
Conversely, the 10 public school parents who participated in the one-on-one interviews
spoke about their enthusiasm for the launch of an LFHQPS and asked to be kept informed if
there were updates on progress toward such a school opening. In general, all parents interviewed
made it clear that affordability was a defining factor for them. Marisia, a public school mother of
two, explained her family’s search for an affordable private school for her child:
Believe me, there isn’t an accessible private school in San Jose. I know this
because we looked everywhere, to the point where the distance between home and
school no longer even mattered to us. We were willing to make the effort to drop
off and pick up our children anywhere, but we couldn’t find even one option that
was affordable.
Given that the average monthly cost of a private school in San Jose is $750 USD, all
public school parents interviewed indicated that figure was far greater than what they could
afford to pay for their child, especially if they had more than one. Fernanda, a public school
mother of two, spoke with optimism about the possibility of eventually enrolling her 12-month

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old in an LFHQPS. “I could never think of having both kids in a private school at once but since
my boy is graduating from high school next year, maybe this new [private] school will work out
for the baby,” Fernanda explained. She added, “I work part-time but if I can get more hours and
the price is alright, I would like to enroll her so that she can have a better education than what
her brother has in public school.”
By offering the LFHQPS model to Costa Rica, middle- and emerging-middle-income
parents may have greater choice when it comes to their children’s education, something which at
present, does not widely exist for public school parents. However, even if an LFHQPS opens in
Costa Rica, the question remains as to whether parents have the required agency to transfer their
child from their current school to a new type of educational institution.
Thematic Finding 4: Public School Parents Self-Report Higher Levels of Agency Than
Quantitative Data Demonstrate
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of “agency” emphasizes the interplay
between individual capacities and the limitations imposed by society when making choices.
Embedded in that concept is Bourdieu’s (1977a) notion of habitus, which in a more nuanced
manner, speaks to an individual’s sense of freedom when it comes to decision-making. Habitus,
or the ingrained habits, skills, and dispositions developed over a lifetime, shapes not only our
perceptions but our ability to act without conscious effort (1977a). Drawing upon these concepts
to gain insight into parental decision-making in the realm of education, this study utilized a
mixed methods approach to gain a greater understanding into the level of agency that parents
believe they possess when making educational decisions for their children.
During interviews, public and private school parents alike indicated that they possess
high levels of agency when shaping the course of their child’s education. Nevertheless, three of

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the seven private school parents spoke about their perceived pressure surrounding not only
having their children in private school but in which private school. Figure 9 shows the
distribution of responses, divided by school affiliation (public or private), to Question 14 on the
survey which asked parents, “to what extent do you perceive that you have the authority to make
decisions concerning your child’s education?” The data show that the percentage of public
school parents (12.5 percent) who indicated that they have no agency with regard to educational
decision-making is four times higher than that of their private school parent counterparts (3.57
percent). Perhaps just as noteworthy is the fact that nearly half (46.8 percent) of private school
parents responded that they have complete agency in educational decisions while just over a
quarter (26.8 percent) of public school parents feel as if they possess the same level of
educational decision-making power.
Figure 9
Level of Agency in Educational Decision-making in Costa Rica by School Affiliation
Both Juana and Sabrina, two public school parents, seemed perplexed when asked about
questions aimed at understanding their sense of agency in the realm of educational decision
making for their children. Attempting to explore the Bordieuan concept of habitus, these

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discussions revolved around what others (family members, neighbors, and friends) might think if
they transferred their child from a public school to an LFHQPS; whether they felt they might be
judged for doing so; and how comfortable they might feel transferring their child, even if others
did not support their decisions.
While “agency” emphasizes the capacity of individuals to act independently and make
choices freely, it is habitus that might act like an invisible hand in unconsciously guiding
decisions. “I’m not sure who else would care about the decisions I make about my children’s
education,” responded Juana, when topics related to empowerment in school decision-making
were discussed. Sabrina admitted to feeling perplexed by these questions she was asked
regarding agency, stating, “I make educational decisions every day for my child, and I do not
care what anyone thinks about my decisions.”
Conversely, Crystal, a private school mother of two, when asked about her ability to
make independent decisions about her children’s education, sheepishly admitted that she feels
pressured and influenced by what others think about her choices, voicing, “I’m embarrassed to
admit that I would probably never consider putting my boys in a low-cost private school, even if
it was high-quality, because if I did switch them, people would probably think I was crazy.”
Given Crystal’s background of having attended a private school in Costa Rica, she possesses
what Bourdieu defines as social (network and connections) and cultural (education and skills)
capital. However, rather than feeling that she has the ability to make her own choices, Crystal's
response revealed that she feels less than free to make decisions due to perceived social
pressures. Arturo, also a private school father of two, indicated that his drive to place his sons in
a private school is based on social considerations. “It’s a financial stretch for us to have the boys

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at Valle (a pseudonym) but we do it because it offers access to the right network and teaches
English and math at the highest levels.”
Attempting to gain insight into how parents navigate educational decision-making for
their children, while taking into account the opportunities and constraints that exist given their
unique backgrounds and circumstances, this research revealed nuanced differences in perceived
agency between parents of public and private school students. While interviews suggested a
higher level of perceived agency among all parents, survey data underscored the disparity in
agency levels, particularly noting that most parents reported a significantly higher sense of
decision-making power than the quantitative data showed.
This discrepancy was further illuminated by personal accounts shared during one-on-one
interviews. These insights indicate that while parents have the potential to make educational
decisions for their children, the extent to which they exercise that power varies and is likely
influenced by their backgrounds, constraints, and societal norms. Bourdieu (1977a) argued that
cultural capital encompasses the array of knowledge, skills, and cultural resources people gain
throughout their lives and upbringing, experiences that in these populations are unique to middleand emerging-middle-income families. These theories further articulated that social capital
pertains to the network of resources accessible to individuals via their social connections, a
factor often based on educational and economic backgrounds. Alongside these concepts, the
notion of habitus, which refers to the patterns and behaviors developed through environmental
exposure and is characterized by acquired preferences or orientations towards the social realm,
impacts how and why individuals make certain decisions, in this case, regarding education.

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Summary of Findings
The purpose of this study is to better understand parental preferences, opinions, and
levels of agency surrounding educational decision-making for school-age children in Costa Rica.
The analysis of this mixed methods study identified four major thematic findings: (1) STEM and
bilingual education are less important than factors such as an accessible school administration
and school proximity; (2) parents, both public and private school, consider co-curricular and
extracurricular classes important to their child’s development; (3) the LFHQPS model garnered
interest from both public and private school parents; and (4) public school parents self-reported
higher levels of agency than quantitative data demonstrate.
It is not surprising that the data, quantitative and qualitative, show that private school
parents are more satisfied with their children’s education than their public school counterparts.
Interestingly, while public school parents reported high levels of agency during one-on-one
interviews, quantitative data show otherwise. In fact, they exhibit lower levels of agency when
compared to private school parents. Furthermore, during interviews, both public and private
school parents underscored the importance of having extracurricular and co-curricular activities
at school, something which they believe build life skills and create opportunities for their
children.
Finally, when parents publicly discuss factors influencing school selection, those may be
different from what they indicate when responding to an anonymous survey. As Buckley and
Schneider (2007) write, expressed preferences do not always align with actual parental choices
because school selection is highly personal and strongly influenced by a variety of factors that
some parents may choose not to discuss publicly. The last chapter of this work draws upon these

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findings to offer evidence-based recommendations for implementing a low-fee, high quality
private model in Costa Rica.

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Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations for Practice
Numerous studies have explored parental educational decision-making across the globe,
yet a discernible gap persists in understanding the dynamics behind such decisions among
parents in Costa Rica. This study aims to enrich the conversation by delving into the perspectives
of middle- and emerging-middle-income parents in Costa Rica regarding the quality of their
child’s education, their perceived autonomy in making educational decisions, and the
considerations that might compel them to enroll their child in a low-fee, high-quality private
school (LFHQPS), should such an option emerge. Given the current scarcity of LFHQPS
offerings in the country, this exploration is particularly relevant, because it aims to gain insight
into potential shifts in parental behavior and preferences in the context of an evolving
educational landscape.
This study, which was mixed methods, was guided by the following research questions:
1. What do middle- and emerging-middle-income parents of school children in Costa Rica
perceive as strengths and weaknesses of their child’s educational institution?
2. What would motivate a parent in Costa Rica to move their child from their current
educational institution to enroll them in a low-fee, high-quality private school?
In the fifth and final chapter of this work, evidence-based recommendations are offered,
grounded in the findings that parents in Costa Rica, both public and private school, feel they
have some sense of agency when it comes to making educational decisions for their children.
Moreover, participants demonstrated an interest in educating their child at an LFHQPS, if given
the opportunity. Not surprisingly, private school parents, overall, were more satisfied with their
child’s education than their public school counterparts. Nevertheless, public school parents, on
the whole, were still somewhat satisfied with their child’s education.

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This chapter begins with a discussion of how the study’s findings connect back to the
literature and the theoretical framework upon which this work is based. Next, it offers
recommendations for practice, discusses the limitations and delimitations of the study, and
proposes areas for future research. The chapter concludes with a summary of the study and its
potential impact.
Discussion of Findings
This section provides an overview of the findings presented in Chapter 4 and their
relationship to the literature, reviewed in Chapter 2. Utilizing the Bordieuan trifecta of cultural
capital, social capital, and habitus, this framework served as the lens through which to explore
middle- and emerging-middle-income parental behavior in decision-making and a parent’s sense
of personal agency to determine educational choices for their child. Four central themes emerged
from this mixed methods study: 1) factors, both clear and unforeseen, impact parental school
choice; 2) co-curricular and extracurricular activities are seen as fundamental to a child’s
development; 3) the LFHQPS model garnered great interest for public and private school parents
alike; and 4) public school parents report higher levels of agency than quantitative data
demonstrate. Some of the findings aligned with the literature, while others diverged, and even
highlighted gaps which create opportunities for further research. This chapter offers a discussion
of the thematic findings and how cultural capital, social capital, and habitus impact personal
agency when it comes to parents making educational decisions for their children.
Thematic Finding 1: Factors, Both Clear and Unforeseen, Impacting Parental School
Choice
While some findings in this research were expected, others offered unexpected insight
into how and why a parent might choose a school for their child. In the realm of school choice,

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scholars explain that information, gleaned from a variety of sources such as school
administrators, teachers, family, colleagues, and even personal observation, is crucial to making
better informed school decisions (Buckley & Schneider, 2007; Härmä, 2013; Zuilkowski et al.,
2018). Interestingly, the survey data from this research demonstrate that two of the most
significant factors impacting school choice for families are whether there are “accessible
administrators” and “quality teachers” at the institution. It seems as if parents in Costa Rica, just
like their global counterparts, rely both on guidance from and skills offered by these figures
when it comes to selecting a school for their child, factors which are supported by the literature.
Regardless of how much freedom a parent may feel they have when it comes to making
educational decisions for their child, they must make trade-offs between competing preferences,
based upon their own analysis of costs and benefits (Radey et al., 2021). The preferences and
constraints model, based on Gary Becker’s (1965) concept of household production, offers a
framework that might be useful for understanding how a parent makes decisions about their
child’s education. The model suggests that parents weigh the costs and benefits of educational
investments in their children against their preferences and constraints (Cobb-Clark et al., 2019).
Social and economic disadvantages often limit a family’s capacity to invest in their child’s
development, namely their education. If that is the case, it may perpetuate the cycle of
disadvantage from one generation to the next (2019).
During interviews, both public and private school parents spoke about the costs
associated with educating their child but mentioned that they were willing to make certain
sacrifices to help ensure that their child had the best education available to them. Scholars note
that race, ethnicity, and income also factor into educational decision-making, because these
components reflect status and location constraints, signifying norms and cultural values that feed

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personal agency (Carter, 2005). While this study did not explore race or ethnicity, it did gather
data on income variables which showed a high correlation between income and school
affiliation. Some 48 percent of private school parents reported a combined, monthly household
income of the equivalent of over $3000 USD, whereas only 26 percent of public school parents
reported an income in that range.
In the realm of school selection, beyond economic factors, parental decisions are driven
by multifaceted factors such as social conventions, demographic traits, personal beliefs, and
preferences, which collectively influence their ability to act autonomously (Radey et al., 2021).
Data from the study, both qualitative and quantitative, revealed a central issue, beyond the cost
of tuition, was the educational institution’s proximity to home, something that might have
multiple interpretations. Härmä (p.561, 2019) explained that “it is extremely important to parents
to keep their children safe, meaning that the closeness to home of many private schools is
another major draw (after perceived quality).”
Two additional reasons while parents explained that proximity to home is so fundamental
is due to concerns surrounding school transportation and childcare. All 10 public school parents
who were interviewed explained that extended family members help with school pick up, dropoff and/or after-school childcare. Of the seven private school parents interviewed, four
mentioned that proximity to home was an important factor when selecting their child’s school
and indicated that they drive their child to school on a daily basis.
More recent scholarly work has explored the consumption behaviors and trends of the
rising middle-income segment in the Global South (Short & Martinez, 2019). According to the
literature, this group is characterized by its drive for advancement in education and employment,
as well as in its tendency to engage in competitive consumption and acquisition of material

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assets. Murphy et al. (1989) highlight that achieving middle-income status is synonymous with
having the financial means by which to access a more diverse and higher quality array of
products and services, including education. Of the 10 public school parents interviewed, all
spoke about the importance of trying to provide their child with a high-quality education with the
intention of increasing their child’s prospects of having a more successful future. Moreover, each
parent discussed their willingness to stretch their budget further to pay for an accessible and
high-quality education if a viable option became available.
This theme addressed Research Question 1, which aimed to delve into the principal areas
of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among parents, concerning their child’s educational
experience, as well as Research Question Two, which sought to gain insight into what might
motivate a parent in Costa Rica to enroll their child in a low-fee, high-quality private school. In
general, this finding suggested that there are myriad reasons that impact school choice when a
parent is given the opportunity to choose an educational institution. Yoon (2020) suggests that in
environments in which parents bear the majority of the responsibility of choosing a school for
their child, Bourdieu’s theories help demonstrate the connection between these decisions and the
broader system of social hierarchy. The concept of habitus, as developed by Bourdieu, illustrates
how class divisions are both influenced by and contribute to maintaining these distinctions,
offering a vital perspective for understanding how the selection of schools acts as a tool for
maintaining social stratification (Cobb-Clark et al., 2019). The next section explores one of the
key factors that emerged—the availability of school-based extracurricular activities—in
influencing school satisfaction and selection.
Thematic Finding 2: Co-curricular Classes and Extracurricular Activities Seen as
Fundamental for Child’s Development

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Although the initial scope of this study did not contemplate an investigation into the role
of extracurricular activities in school selection or their significance in the development of schoolaged children and adolescents, the theme surfaced in a pronounced way during the qualitative
phase of this research. This unexpected finding highlighted the relevance of extracurricular
activities when it came to overall satisfaction of parents with their child’s school and areas of
opportunity that educational institution. Furthermore, it became clear that the availability and
quality of extracurricular and cocurricular programs at a school have the potential to impact
educational decision-making for both public and private school families in Costa Rica.
Engagement in structured, school-based, extracurricular clubs and activities, such as athletics,
the arts, or robotics, has been positively correlated with a child’s overall well-being, according to
research (Kort-Butler & Hagewen, 2010).
A substantial body of research has demonstrated that these types of programs not only
reinforce social networks but also enhance school commitment, advance educational
achievements, and foster healthy lifestyle choices and prosocial behaviors (Eccles et al., 2003;
Marsh & Kleitman, 2002; Patterson, 2017). Both Patterson (2017) and Feldman and Matjasko
(2005) have highlighted the well-documented, positive correlation between participation in such
activities and favorable attitudes towards school, encompassing an array of benefits from
enhanced social and academic self-perception to higher educational aspirations, increased
homework completion, reduced absenteeism, improved academic performance, and higher rates
of college enrollment.
Although the quantitative dimension of this study did not gather data on co-curricular or
extracurricular programs, insights gleaned from qualitative research, interviews with parents
from both public and private schools, underscored the essential role that participation in such

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programs plays. Beyond the literature, parents in this study spoke about the opportunities
extracurricular activities provide for their children to develop soft skills, pursue personal
interests, explore subjects not covered in their child’s standard curriculum, and bolster selfconfidence.
Moreover, extracurricular activities are seen as crucial for building community
connections and accessing mentorship (Eccles et al., 2003), though this was not explicitly
mentioned by parents in this study. Notably, four out of the seven private school parents pointed
to the networking opportunities provided by their children’s schools through extracurriculars,
highlighting the importance of such offerings in schools and the social capital that it provides.
Fredricks and Eccles (2008) wrote that engagement in school and community activities is wellacknowledged to foster positive developmental outcomes in high school students, a topic that has
generated considerable scholarly attention. However, there appears to be a vacuum in research
focusing on the effects of extracurricular participation on elementary and middle school students,
something which highlights fertile ground for new research.
Just as with the previous theme, this one also addressed Research Questions 1 and 2.
However, this finding offered insight into an area—extracurricular and co-curricular activities—
which parents seem to view as essential to their child’s educational and social emotional
development. Every public school parent who was interviewed discussed their dissatisfaction
with the lack of extracurricular and co-curricular offerings at their child’s school. Conversely,
their private school counterparts spoke about the varied and high-quality nature of the
extracurricular and co-curricular activities offered by their child’s school, each signaling that was
a driver in selecting that educational institution. From the attention that this subject received
during interviews, it is clear that these parents place a high value on experiences and activities

112
offered at school that transcend the bounds of traditional curricular offerings. The section that
follows focuses on this study’s second research question and discusses the interest that a new
educational model—a low-fee, high-quality private school—garnered amongst parents who
participated in this study.
Thematic Finding 3: The LFHQPS Model Garnered Great Interest in Public and Private
School Parents
The Costa Rican educational landscape, to date, is a binary structure, comprised of public
schools that are ostensibly free of cost and private schools that are considered prohibitively
expensive for most families. Few educational offerings, beyond these, exist in the country.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Census, known as INEC, (2022), 95 percent
of students in Costa Rica are enrolled in the national public education system, a statistic that
implies that the majority of families have limited options regarding their child’s school location,
curriculum, or educators and administrators responsible for overseeing and imparting their
child’s education. Because of the realities associated with these two paths, gaining insight into
how parents may respond to the possibility of enrolling their child in a school with an alternate
model—an LFHQPS—is at the heart of this research.
As seen in Figure 10, of the parents surveyed, 61 percent responded that they would be
“highly likely” to enroll their child in an LFHQPS, if the option were available. Interestingly,
only two percent of all parents surveyed responded that they would be “unlikely” to enroll their
child. When disaggregated by public or private school parents, 68 percent and 56 percent
respectively, demonstrated a high likelihood of enrolling their child in a low-fee, high-quality
private school.

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Figure 10
Likelihood of Parent Enrolling Child in LFHQPS
Data from one-on-one interviews with parents mirrored these findings and offered
nuances that contributed further depth to the analysis of the quantitative data. While 15 of the 17
parents interviewed expressed interest in enrolling their child in an LFHQPS, most of the private
school parents mentioned that as long as their financial circumstances afforded them the ability
to continue paying the tuition at their child’s current educational institution, they would keep
them there because, overall, they were satisfied with most aspects of the school. Conversely,
public school parents showed excitement about having an opportunity to enroll their child in a
low-fee, high-quality private school, but were cautious to mention that the cost of attending the
LFHQPS would be one of the most significant factors in defining whether their child might
attend.
In fact, Akugari (2014) highlighted how the financial implications of education
significantly influence parental choice regarding schooling. Perhaps it is this reality that has led
to the widespread emergence of Low-Fee Private Schools (LFPSs) around the globe, especially
in regions with significant low- and middle-income populations (Tooley, 2009). Such schools

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operate independently and do not typically accept government funding, making them
independent in nature and allowing tuition and fees to be set based on factors such as geographic
location, community competition, and the perceived quality of services offered, especially in
terms of infrastructure and teachers (Day et al., 2014). LFPSs may be administered by nongovernmental organizations, religious groups, or private sector entities, including networks of
schools and even family-run operations. It is important to note that this trend is on the rise in the
Global South even though many of those countries, including Costa Rica, offer public education
at no cost (Akugari, 2014). The reality of this changing educational landscape might prompt
further critical inquiry into what might motivate middle- or emerging-middle-income families to
opt for a fee-based educational institution for their child over free government-sponsored
education.
The socioeconomic background of a parent significantly influences educational decisions
for their children, as they gain access and utilize varying levels of information based on their
status (Singer & Lenhoff, 2022). This differential access to information underscores the distinct
pathways through which parents navigate educational choices, highlighting the intricate
relationship between socioeconomic factors and decision-making in education. Not only do
parents with greater economic resources, according to Singer and Lenhoff (2022), circulate
privileged information within their more exclusive social networks, but they also have greater
financial resources to invest in their child’s education.
Since Costa Rica does not offer a robust LFHQPS model, it is still speculative whether
this may alter the country’s educational panorama. This theme, addressed in research question
two, explored the motivations a parent in Costa Rica may have to transfer their child from their
current educational institution, public or private, to a low-fee, high-quality private school. The

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findings suggest that an LFHQPS model might have potential in Costa Rica. Nevertheless, it
would have to meet the diverse expectations and needs of the public and private school families
it intends to serve. The fourth and final part of the discussion section explores the difference in
the level of agency reported by public school parents during one-on-one interviews and what the
survey data show.
Thematic Finding 4: Public School Parents Self-Report Higher Levels of Agency Than
Quantitative Data Demonstrate
Insights surrounding parental agency were revealed through a comparative analysis of the
study's qualitative and quantitative data, highlighting a fundamental aspect underpinning this
research—the interplay between social capital, cultural capital, and habitus and their collective
impact on agency within the context of educational decision-making. Throughout this research, it
became evident that Bourdieu’s concepts offer greater context regarding the nuanced ways in
which parents from varying socioeconomic and educational backgrounds in this study navigate
educational pathways for their children. Human capital, with its emphasis on the value of social
networks, also significantly influences parental decisions in education, as those with stronger
networks are often better positioned to access information and opportunities that can enhance
their child’s educational outcomes (Barnes, 2000).
This research demonstrated a high correlation between participants with greater
educational attainment and a child’s enrollment in private school, depicted in Figure 12. Of the
114 private school parent participants surveyed, only 17 had not completed a bachelor’s degree
or higher, whereas of the 116 public school parents surveyed, 31 had not completed a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Furthermore, as might be expected, there was a high correlation between a
family’s income level and its school affiliation (public or private), as demonstrated in Figure 12.

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This is complemented by cultural capital, which includes not only formal education and
knowledge, but also subtle nuances, preferences, and cultural awareness acquired through the
family upbringing (Bourdieu, 1977b). Scholars such as Dumais (2002) and Bourdieu (1977a)
explain that parents with higher levels of cultural capital tend to be better equipped to navigate
the educational system, advocate for their child, and instill values and dispositions conducive to
academic success.
Figure 11
Correlation between Level of Educational Completion of a Parent and Child’s Enrollment in
Public or Private School
Data from interviews suggest that parents from lower-income and/or less high-achieving
backgrounds (habitus) may hold a different set of expectations and strategies regarding their
children’s education, potentially focusing on immediate economic stability over long-term
educational investments (Edgerton & Roberts, 2014). Conversely, parents from higher-income or
more educated backgrounds, whose habitus is shaped by a different set of social norms and
expectations, are more likely to view education as a fundamental pillar for future success (2014).

117
Research shows that they prioritize investing in their child’s educational journey from an early
age (Lareau, 2011).
Overall, the data from this study demonstrate that when examined through the lens of
Bourdieu’s theoretical framework, it becomes clear that social and cultural capital, alongside
habitus, play important roles in shaping the agency of parents across different socioeconomic
spectra, as seen in Figure 12, thereby influencing educational decision-making in ways that may
perpetuate existing inequalities. These insights underscore the need for educational policies and
practices that recognize and address the varied levels of capital and habitus that influence
parental decisions and aim to create a more equitable educational landscape. This very idea is in
line with the concept of LFHQPSs discussed throughout this work
Figure 12
Overall Level of Agency Reported by Parents

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Such an approach underscores the belief that individuals have the ability to actively shape
their own functioning and life situations, a capacity that evolves over the course of a lifetime
(Parker et al., 2022). Personal agency, therefore, emphasizes the critical role of individual
autonomy in influencing and changing one’s life conditions and results (Barnes, 2000). Given
that families play a central role in making educational choices for their children, it is argued that
they should exercise personal agency in these decisions (Lareau, 2011). What follows are
recommendations for practice which were developed as an outcome of the evidence-based
findings that emerged from this mixed methods study.
Recommendations for Practice
Based on the findings of this study, this section provides recommendations intended to
facilitate a pathway to a more successful launch of an LFHQPS in Costa Rica. The three
recommendations outlined in this section offer an opportunity to build and maintain meaningful
connections with families in the community; ensure that quality administrators and teachers are
recruited, hired, trained, and retained; and create a high-quality extracurricular activities offering
that enriches the lives and wellbeing of students. The three recommendations proposed align
with the findings from this study, while also taking into consideration the challenges associated
with offering a high-quality, low-cost private education model in Costa Rica.
The recommendations include: 1) launching a community engagement program for an
LFHQPS model; 2) creating a robust extracurricular and co-curricular offering; and 3) building a
rigorous administrator and teacher recruitment, training, and retention strategy. Table 12 presents
a summary of the recommendations and how each aligns with the findings and the literature
upon which this research was based.

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Table 12
Evidence-based Recommendations for Practice
Recommendation Connection to Findings Connection to Literature
Design and Implement
Community Engagement
around LFHQPS model
1. Factors, Both Clear and
Unforeseen, Impact Parental
School Choice
3. The LFHQPS Model
Garnered Great Interest in
Public and Private School
Parents
4. Public School Parents SelfReport Higher Levels of
Agency Than Quantitative Data
Demonstrate
Campbell, 2009
Carter, 2005
Chubb & Moe, 1990
Bandura, 2006
Bourdieu, 1977
Friend, 2021
Lareau, 2011
Parker et al., 2022
Weber, 1925
Create High-quality
Extracurricular and Cocurricular Offerings
1. Factors, Both Clear and
Unforeseen, Impact Parental
School Choice
2. Co-curricular Classes and
Extracurricular Activities Seen
as Fundamental for Child’s
Development
Kort-Butler & Hagewen,
2010
Eccles, 2003
Feldman & Matjasko, 2005
Fredricks and Eccles, 2008
Gintis, 2007
Marsh and Kleitman, 2002
Build Rigorous Administrator
and Teacher Recruitment,
Training, and Retention
Strategy
1. Factors, Both Clear and
Unforeseen, Impact Parental
School Choice
Becker, 1965
Buckley & Schneider, 2007
Carter, 2005
Gintis, 2007
Short and Martinez, 2019

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Recommendation 1: Design and Implement Community Engagement around LFHQPS
Model
While parents, especially those of public school children, shared the weaknesses that they
perceived in their child’s school, it is important to note that there is not one educational
institution or model that could ever offer everything that a family might hope for or expect from
their child’s school. Nevertheless, with decreasing budgets, higher rates of student attrition, and
fewer teachers trained in the subjects which they are imparting, public schools in Costa Rica,
which educate 95 percent of the country’s students (INEC, 2022), do not seem to be meeting the
needs of the families that they seek to serve (Garbanzo, 2020).
If LFHQPSs aspire to launch in Costa Rica, they should consider designing and
implementing a community engagement strategy, a recommendation that speaks to the study’s
findings associated with personal agency and educational decision-making. This program would
seek to support, educate, and involve parents to increase their social and cultural capital by
connecting them to their child’s prospective educational institution and provide them with the
information they require to make informed educational decisions.
Creating a space to dialogue, share information, receive feedback, and promote
consensus-building is crucial for successful implementation (Stone, 2002). Webber (1986) and
Susskind (2009) underscore the idea that providing clear and full information to stakeholders and
offering ample space for dialogue is crucial to the success of most programs or policies. As well,
doing so might provide a forum in which the LFHQPS can share its vision, connect with
families, and promote wider community engagement.
Chubb and Moe (1990) wrote that in a market-based educational system, parents bear a
greater responsibility for deciding the trajectory of their child’s education and such decisions

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directly impact a child’s future. In that scenario, a family’s motivation to become better informed
and engaged in the educational process significantly increases as does their need to grow their
networks and standing (Dumais, 2002). However, not all parents possess the social or cultural
capital to do so (Bourdieu, 1977a). Building upon the need for parents to become better
informed, this recommendation aims to provide a space in which families can meet future
administrators and teachers, thereby developing their cultural and social capital in the way of
building networks and gaining access to information that may help inform their decision-making.
Acknowledging the complex influences on individual choices, Friend (2020) explores
how social capital, a concept examined by scholars such as Li, Savage, and Warde (2008), plays
a critical role in facilitating or hindering social mobility and shaping life outcomes. Friend
(2020) also suggests that an individual’s social network impacts their access to resources. In the
case of educational decision-making, the LFHQPS’s community engagement program could
foster a sense of connectedness and serve as a foundation upon which to build a greater sense of
cultural and social capital which in turn might serve to bolster levels of personal agency.
Bourdieu’s (1977a) theories add to this dialogue by illustrating how social orders are
perpetuated through educational hierarchies, reflecting the broader distribution of cultural capital
among classes. This research, grounded in Bourdieu’s writings, collectively underscores the
importance of recognizing the interdependence of personal agency and social structures in
understanding the forces that mold individual paths and cultural dynamics.
Recommendation 2: Create Full Extracurricular and Co-curricular Offerings
The findings from the qualitative phase of the study, though initially unforeseen, shed
light on the essential role that extracurricular activities play on the educational landscape in
Costa Rica as well as their influence on a family’s school selection process. Frederick and Eccles

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(2008) suggest that participation in school-based extracurricular activities—ranging from sports
and the arts to specialized clubs like programming—is intrinsically linked with enhanced student
well-being. Further, research points to the benefits of such engagements, demonstrating their
capacity not only to foster social connections but also to increase dedication to school, elevate
academic performance, and encourage the adoption of positive social interactions (Marsh &
Kleitman, 2002; Martinez et al., 2016; Patterson, 2017)
Given these insights and the emphasis that parents seem to place on the importance of
school-based extracurricular opportunities, any LFHQPS entering the Costa Rican market should
prioritize creating a robust co-curricular and extracurricular offering. Doing so will not only
enhance the institution’s appeal to prospective families but will also contribute significantly to
the holistic development of its students (Kurt-Butler & Hagewen, 2008). For parents of public
school students looking to transfer to a private school, this may be a family’s first experience
with school-based extracurricular activities. Therefore, issues surrounding pricing and
transportation home might be significant considerations, whereas parents of private school
students looking to transfer to an LFHQPS would likely have more points of comparison for
school-based extracurriculars and might measure a new institution’s offerings against those at
their current school. As discussed during parent interviews, such activities are seen as an
essential complement to traditional academic curricula, providing students with life skills such as
teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving abilities which parents indicated are critical for
success in both the personal and professional realms.
In implementing this recommendation, the LFHQPS should consider a collaborative
approach that involves students, parents, and educators in the planning and design of such
programs, because without meaningful stakeholder input and engagement, programs often fail

123
(Leong & Howlett, 2022). This collaborative effort can also help identify gaps in current
offerings and tailor a more inclusive and responsive extracurricular program that captures the
interests of children and teenagers. Ultimately, by offering diverse and high-quality, schoolbased extracurricular and co-curricular programs, the LFHQPS can promote stronger, more
connected communities, laying a solid foundation for greater student success and well-being.
Finally, extracurricular activities serve as a critical platform for challenge and
achievement outside of traditional academics (Allen et al., 2018; Fredericks & Eccles, 2008). For
some, these activities are opportunities to gain additional skills and recognition, while for others,
they represent a unique avenue for success that might be unattainable in the academic arena. The
social recognition and respect garnered through achievement in these activities, regardless of
academic ability, can lead to positive psychosocial outcomes and a sense of belonging within the
school community, factors that have been seen to help create both social and cultural capital
(Allen et al., 2018; Feldman & Matjasko, 2005).
Recommendation 3: Build Rigorous Administrator and Teacher Recruitment, Training,
and Retention Strategy
The data from this study, both qualitative and quantitative, showed that parents place a
high value on having an “accessible administration” and “qualified teachers,” when selecting an
educational institution for their child. Given these findings, the importance of ensuring the
recruitment, training, and retention of skilled school administrators and talented teachers may
just be the bedrock of a new LFHQPS in Costa Rica. Continued training has been shown to
significantly bolster teacher retention by addressing professional growth and job satisfaction, as
well as through fostering a collaborative culture (Garcia & Weiss, 2019). Having both engaged
and effective administrators and teachers is paramount because they are the factors that most

124
directly affect educational delivery, student outcomes, and institutional reputation (Mourshed et
al., 2010).
Nevertheless, to be successful, the LFHQPS must also address the teacher labor shortage
in Costa Rica, something that is not only endemic to this country but is also a global challenge.
The Economic Policy Institute’s fifth report (2019) in a series which examines teacher shortages
and their contributing factors found that the prevalence of the shortages is significant,
substantial, and on an upward trajectory. Moreover, this shortage disproportionately affects lowincome schools, which are especially challenged in attracting and retaining qualified teachers. As
seen in Figure 13, a 2022 OECD report discussing the latest PISA results, shows that Costa Rica,
according to data collected from school principals, has the second highest school staffing
shortage out of the 81 countries that participated in PISA 2022.
Figure 13
Top Ten Countries Reporting Greatest Shortages of School Staff
OECD, 2022
This scenario underscores the urgency of addressing educational equity and enhancing
teacher recruitment and retention strategies to mitigate the disparities in teacher quality across
different school environments. In order to recruit and retain the best educators, offering ongoing

125
training and perhaps even access to graduate education, fostering environments that support
ongoing professional growth, and recognizing teaching and school leadership as high-value
professions (Garcia & Weiss, 2019; Mourshed et al., 2010) could be essential to its success.
Furthermore, to recruit, train, and retain school leaders and teachers, the LPHQPS might
consider building a strategy that empowers its educators and promotes a culture in which peerled innovation and creativity become the primary drivers of performance (Williams et al., 2022).
This shift towards professionalization in the fields of teaching and school administration involves
employing best practices and lessons from other countries like Finland, where teachers are
trusted and respected and given high levels of autonomy (Sahlberg, 2021). As well, strategies
such as providing on-demand professional development for new teachers, offering incentives for
trained educators, and facilitating real-world teaching experiences through school-university
partnerships show promise (Craig, 2017). While there is no “one size fits all” solution to
combating teacher labor shortages, innovations taken from other countries and employed locally,
might facilitate greater success in attracting, motivating, training, developing, retaining highquality teachers and administrators (2017).
Student achievement is closely linked with the economic and societal progress of nations,
highlighting the critical role that skilled teachers play in facilitating student learning and
wellbeing. Research has consistently shown that the quality of teachers stands as the most
significant factor influencing student outcomes (William et al., 2022). Moreover, research has
shown that sustained and effective teaching has the potential to mitigate the educational
challenges faced by students at risk, underscoring the transformative power that dedicated
educators have in shaping student outcomes and, by extension, contributing to the broader
advancement of society (2022).

126
Limitations and Delimitations
Creswell and Creswell (2018) define limitations as influences or constraints beyond the
control of the researcher that might affect the study’s outcomes, findings, or interpretations.
According to the authors, these limitations can stem from the research design, the methodology,
or external factors that potentially limit the generalizability and validity of the study’s results.
The first limitation of this mixed-methods research is based on the fact that the gathering of data
and writing of this dissertation is associated with a program that is a cohort-based, executive
model, designed to be completed in 25 months. Given the reality of this timeline, conducting a
more comprehensive study was not possible.
As well, because of practical constraints, surveying the entirety or a much larger
proportion of the national population of middle- and emerging-middle-income parents of public
and private school students in Costa Rica was also not feasible. Therefore, this research was
conducted with what Lochmiller and Lester (2017) term a convenience sample. In this case, the
participants were individuals who worked at a national conglomerate, The Group (a pseudonym),
to which I was granted access because of my position as a director within the organization.
Because I am a leader in one of the business units in The Group, participants might have
felt some level of social pressure to respond to the survey (which was anonymous) and/or the
interview questions in ways they deemed socially acceptable. This phenomenon, known as
response bias, refers to a variety of cognitive biases that may affect the accuracy of respondents’
answers in surveys, questionnaires, and interviews (van de Mortel, 2008). This bias can occur
when participants give answers they believe are expected, socially acceptable, or reflect
positively on them, rather than offering their true thoughts or feelings, something that could
impact the validity of the research (van de Mortel, 2008).

127
When I gained access to this population, I understood the possibility that if the pool of
2190 potential participants differed too widely from the target population, it might introduce bias
into the results (Pazzaglia, 2016). Furthermore, Johnson and Christensen (2015) explain that one
cannot technically generalize from a convenience sample to a broader population, a factor that is
a weakness of this research. Another possible limitation of this study was the self-selection of
those who participated, particularly in the qualitative portion of the research. It is unclear
whether those who opted to volunteer for one-on-one interviews are truly representative of the
broader population of those surveyed. If they are not, the data may reflect a limited perspective.
A delimitation, a boundary set by the researcher which determined what was included
and what was excluded, of this work is the theoretical framework that was used to frame the
study, create the instruments, and analyze the data. By attempting to gain insight into parental
agency through the lens of social and cultural capital and habitus, other valuable insights may
have been overlooked. Another delimitation of this study is that all of its respondents, while
working in different business units of The Group, are employees of the same overall
organization, a factor which may increase bias and limit perspectives.
Recommendations for Future Research
Since this sample was composed of individuals who work for the same national
conglomerate in Costa Rica, it would be valuable to replicate this study with a random and
perhaps more representative sample of parents with children in public or private schools.
Furthermore, since this was a relatively small sample, having a greater number of participants
might offer deeper insight into the opinions of this understudied population, parents of school
children.

128
Also, given that Research Question 2 examined how likely a parent might be to enroll
their child in a theoretical LFHQPS, once a school with such specifications is operating in Costa
Rica, it would be valuable to study the satisfaction of those parents whose children are attending
the LFHQPS. It might also be interesting to gain further insight into the factors that influenced
the families’ decisions to embrace the new educational model and whether they perceive a
difference in the quality of the education that their child is now receiving versus that at their
previous educational institution.
The significance of school-based extracurricular activities emerged as a prominent theme
through qualitative data gathered from one-on-one parental interviews. This thematic insight was
not incorporated into the quantitative survey instrument, as the survey was deployed prior to
conducting the interviews, precluding the opportunity to explore this area in a quantitative
manner. Going forward, research which aims to understand the level of satisfaction families have
with their child’s new educational institution or what factors influenced their child’s transfer to
their new school should include variables related to the importance and impact of school-based
extracurricular and co-curricular offerings. As previously highlighted, there is considerable
literature examining the effects of extracurricular activities on adolescents. However, there is a
gap in the research focusing on the influence of these activities on students in elementary and
middle school stages. This presents another area for future investigation.
Finally, there is not a significant body of literature devoted to how emerging-middleincome parents make educational decisions for their children or whether and how they may
invest in their child’s development. Perhaps conducting a comparative study on educational
decision-making of that group across countries in the Global South might offer deeper insight
into a subject and population that requires further research.

129
Conclusion
This mixed methods study aims to enrich the conversation surrounding educational
decision-making and agency among middle- and emerging-middle-income parents in Costa Rica,
a population and a topic that are understudied. Using the Bordieuan trifecta of cultural capital,
social capital, and habitus as the lens through which to examine the data, this research offers
insight into parental opinions regarding the quality of their child’s education, their perceived
autonomy in making educational decisions, and the considerations that might compel them to
enroll their child in a low-fee, high-quality private school, should such an option emerge.
Considering the limited number of LFHQPS schools in the country, this inquiry holds particular
significance as it endeavors to offer a better understanding of the potential transformations in
parental attitudes and choices within the context of what may become an evolving educational
environment.
From the analysis, four pivotal themes emerged: 1) The significance of accessible school
administration and the proximity of school to home outweigh the importance of STEM and
bilingual education; 2) the universal agreement among parents as to the critical role of cocurricular and school-based extracurricular activities in fostering a child’s holistic development;
3) the interest that the low-fee, high-quality model generated in both public and private school
parents, underscoring its potential appeal across diverse contexts; and 4) the divergence in the
level of self-reported agency that public school parents have in making educational decisions,
when compared to quantitative data.
Based upon these findings, three recommendations were proposed which were designed
to take into consideration the challenges associated with offering a high-quality, low-cost private
education model in Costa Rica:

130
1) Design and launch a community engagement program for the LFHQPS model;
2) Create a robust extracurricular and co-curricular offering; and
3) Build a rigorous administrator and teacher recruitment, training, and retention
strategy.
Given their key positions in discussions surrounding educational equity, the balance
between state and private sector responsibilities in public service provision and the universal
right to quality education, low-fee private schools (LFPS) have garnered a great deal of
controversy (Brion, 2020). This has prompted increased examination and scrutiny from scholars,
education leaders, and regulatory agencies alike. Whether one is a champion or a critic of the
proliferation of low-fee private schools throughout the Global South, it seems as if their
emergence was inevitable, according to Härmä (2013). The author explains that low-cost private
educational institutions might be considered a natural entrepreneurial reaction to the state’s
inability to meet its obligation of providing free, high-quality basic education to all.
Ideally, a country’s collective aim should be for its public education system to provide
accessible, quality education. However, until governments in many emerging economies
reimagine their education systems, LFPSs and other private sector solutions will likely continue
to emerge because they offer alternatives to parents willing and able to invest in their child’s
education. Critics like Härmä (2013, 2019) and Heyman and Stern (2014) argue that such
institutions are not the answer because some owners have been known to exploit parents with
limited education by overcharging, overpromising, and underperforming.
Nevertheless, in the short-term, low-fee private schools have become a widespread
interim solution for low- and middle-income families who cannot afford high price private
education but are seeking an alternative to the public education system (Espinolda, 2019). It is

131
important to note that the basis of this research contemplated a low-fee, high-quality private
school educational model, not a low-fee private school model. Throughout this work, there was a
strong and intentional emphasis given to the notion of creating more accessible high quality
education alternatives for families. In this vein, the Bordieuan trifecta of social capital, cultural
capital, and habitus offered a useful lens by which to examine educational decision-making by
middle- and emerging-middle-income school parents in Costa Rica. What has become
painstakingly clear is that unless there is extensive reform to the country’s public education
system, government schools will continue to fail the country and prevent it from making social
and economic progress.
The failure of the Costa Rican Ministry of Education to improve educational quality
highlights the imperative for an external solution that emerges from the inherent drive of parents
to offer their children better learning opportunities and outcomes. In seeking alternatives, beyond
the purview of governmental education, it is essential to acknowledge that low-fee private, highquality private schools may offer a model that could provide an option for those with the
personal agency and financial means to make a change to their child’s educational trajectory and
outcome. Creating an education model, built on a foundation of community input and
engagement, might just offer a pragmatic starting point for reform.
The ideas shared in this work underscore the importance of leveraging parent-driven
efforts and their personal agency to transcend the limitations of governmental approaches to
education. This type of collaborative strategy, one that encompasses community insights and
aspirations towards achieving educational excellence, supports families in their role as their
child’s education advocate and decisionmaker. Collaboration is the cornerstone of meaningful
educational transformation because it emphasizes the critical function that families play in

132
shaping not only their child’s educational future but also the broader educational landscape of the
country.

133
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150
Appendix A
Public School Satisfaction Survey
Start of Block: Consent and Introduction

Your voluntary participation in this online survey about parental perceptions of education in
Costa Rica is greatly appreciated. By proceeding with the survey, you provide informed consent
to contribute your valuable insights to my research. Your responses will remain confidential, and
you can withdraw at any time from this survey without any penalty.
If you do not consent to take part in this research, please exit the survey now.

Page Break
Thank you for taking the time to participate in this 15-minute survey. The information that you
share will be used for research purposes at the University of Southern California's Rossier
School of Education as part of a doctoral dissertation project on education in Costa Rica. It is my
responsibility as a researcher to guarantee that your data is kept private and is protected.

To thank you for your participation, at the end of the survey, you can opt into a raffle for the
chance to win a $50 gift certificate to LineUp. Five winners will be chosen at random.

If you have any questions about this research or your participation, please feel free to contact the
researcher, Ellen Rose at esrose@usc.edu and/or click the Information Sheet.

Thank you,
Ellen Rose

Page Break

1. Do you have a child (or children) currently attending public school?
o Yes
o No

Skip To: End of Block If 1. Do you have a child (or children) currently attending public school?
= No

151
Page Break
2. What is your gender?
o Male
o Female
o Prefer not to disclose

3. What is your marital status? (estado civil)
o Single
o Married
o Civil Union
o Separated or divorced
o Widowed

Page Break
4. What is the highest level of education you have reached?
o Elementary School
o High School
o Bachillerato universitario
o Licenciatura
o Grado profesional mayor a licenciatura (doctorado, MBA, etc.)

5. What best describes your family's monthly household income?
o Under 550.000 CRC
o Between 550.000 CRC and 800.000 CRC
o Between 801.000 and 1150.000 CRC
o Between 1151.000 and 1500.000 CRC
o Over 1.500.000 CRC

Skip To: End of Block If 5. What best describes your family's monthly household income? =
Under 550.000 CRC

152
Page Break
6. What cantón do you live in?
__________________________________
7. How much time do you spend traveling to and from work daily?
When selecting an option, please calculate roundtrip commute.
o Less than 30 minutes
o Between 30 minutes and an hour
o Between one and two hours
o Between two and three hours
o Over three hours
Page Break
8. How many children do you have?
o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5 or more
Page Break
End of Block: Consent and Introduction
Start of Block: Yes respondents thank u
Thank you for taking this survey and for contributing to the understanding of parental
perceptions of public and private school education in Costa Rica.

153
Please feel free to contact Ellen Rose at esrose@usc.edu, if you have any questions or would like
to learn more about this research.
End of Block: Yes respondents thank u
Start of Block: Yes respondents
NOTE
The following questions refer to your oldest child currently enrolled in PK-11.
9. In which level of school is your oldest PK-11 child currently enrolled?
o Preschool (PK, Kinder, Prep)
o Primary school (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th)
o Middle school (6th, 7th, 8th)
o High school (9th, 10th, 11th)
10. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Strongly
disagree Disagree Agree
Strongly agree
a. My child is
making good
academic
progress at
school.
o o o o
b. My child is
safe at school.
o o o o
c. My child is
happy at
school.
o o o o
Page Break
11. Please rate your level of satisfaction with the following aspects of your child’s school.
Extremely
dissatisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied
Extremely
Satisfied

154
a. Teachers
o o o o
b.
Administration
o o o o
c. Facilities
o o o o
12. In an ideal school, how important would the following factors be?
Unimportant Slightly
important
Important Very
important
a. Academic
excellence
o o o o
b. Proximity to
home or work
o o o o
c. Trained teachers
o o o o
d. Accessible school
administration
o o o o
e. Quality of
facilities
o o o o
f. Safety and
security
o o o o
g. Bilingual
education
o o o o

155
h. STEM education
(Ciencias,
Tecnología,
Ingeniería y
Matemáticas)
o o o o
Page Break
13. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Strongly
disagree
Somewhat
disagree
Somewhat agree Strongly agree
a. My child’s
school provides
high-quality
education.
o o o o
b. I would
recommend my
child’s school to
other families.
o o o o
c. My child's
school prepares
them for
success.
o o o o
14. To what extent do you feel that you have a say in making decisions about your child's
education?
o Not at all
o Minor influence
o Moderate influence
o Complete control
Page Break
15. How likely would you be to enroll your child in a private school, if an affordable option were
available to you?

156
o Extremely unlikely
o Somewhat unlikely
o Somewhat likely
o Extremely likely
16. Which of the following best describes your opinion about enrolling your child in private
school?
o I think it will put them at a disadvantage
o I think it will have no impact on their success
o I think it will give them a slight advantage
o I think it will give them a significant advantage
Page Break
17. Please rank how the following factors might influence your decision to enroll your child in a
private school.
0 2 4 6 8 10
a. Academic excellence
b. Proximity to home
c. Proximity to work
d. Trained teachers
e. Accessible school administration
f. Quality of facilities
g. Safety and security
h. Bilingual education
i. STEM education (Ciencias, Tecnología,
Ingeniería y Matemáticas)
Page Break

157
End of Block: Yes respondents
Start of Block: No respondents
Thank you for your time and interest in supporting this project. At this time, we are looking for
insights from individuals with children in public school.
End of Block: No respondents

158
Appendix B
Private School Satisfaction Survey
Start of Block: Consent and Introduction
You received a first survey about the perception of parents regarding the education of their
children in public schools in Costa Rica. On this second occasion, I would like to obtain the
opinion of those collaborators of Grupo Huella who have enrolled their children in a private
school. Therefore, this online survey is about the perception of parents regarding the education
of their children in private schools in Costa Rica.
Your participation is voluntary, and you are not obligated to complete it; you may withdraw at
any time. If you do not wish to continue, please exit the survey. By continuing with the survey,
you are giving your consent to contribute to this research study. The information provided is
confidential.

Page Break
Thank you for taking the time to participate in this 15-minute survey. The information you share
will be used for research purposes at the Rossier School of Education and the University of
Southern California, as part of my doctoral thesis project on education in Costa Rica. It is my
responsibility as a researcher to ensure that your data remains private and protected.
As a token of appreciation for your participation, at the end of the survey, you may choose to
enter a drawing for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate for LineUp. Three winners will be
randomly selected.
If you have any questions about this research or your participation, please feel free to contact me,
the researcher, at esrose@usc.edu and/or click on the Information Sheet.
Thank you,
Ellen Rose
Page Break
1. Do you have one or more children registered in a private school?
o Yes (1)
o No (2)

159

Skip To: End of Block If 1. Do you have one or more children registered in a private school? =
No

Page Break

2. What is your gender?
o Male
o Female
o Rather not say

3. What is your marital status?
o Single
o Married
o Common Law
o Separated or divorced
o Widowed

Page Break
4. What is your highest degree earned?
o Unfinished elementary
o Finished elementary
o High School diploma
o High school diploma (vocational)
o Associate's Degree
o Bachelor's Degree
o Licentiate
o Graduate degree or higher

5. What is your monthly household income?
o Between 450.000 and 550.000 CRC
o Between 551.000 CRC and 800.000 CRC

160
o Between 801.000 and 1.150.000 CRC
o Between 1.151.000 and 1.500.000 CRC
o More than 1.500.000 CRC
Page Break

6. How much time, daily, do you spend commuting to and from work?
o Under 30 minutes
o Between 30 minutes and 1 hour
o Between 1 and 2 hours
o Between 2 and 3 hours
o More than 3 hours
Page Break
7. How many children do you have?
o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5 or more
Page Break
End of Block: Consent and Introduction
Start of Block: No respondents
Thank you for your time and interest in participating in this research project. At this moment, we
are collecting information from collaborators of Grupo Huella with children enrolled in the
private education system
End of Block: No respondents
Start of Block: Yes respondents

161
The following questions refer to your eldest child, K-12.
8. What level of school is your child currently enrolled in?
o Preschool
o 1st through 5th
o 6th through 8th
o 9th through 11th
9. How much do you agree with the following statements?
Highly Disagree Disagree Agree Highly Agree
a. My child is
making good
progress in
school.
o o o o
b. My child is
safe at school.
o o o o
c. At school, my
child is happy.
o o o o
Page Break
10. Please indicate your level of satisfaction regarding the following areas:

162
Page Break
11. In an ideal school, how important are the following factors?
Not important Somewhat
Important
Important Very important
a. Academic
excellence
o o o o
b. Proximity to
home or work
o o o o
c. Trained faculty o o o o
d. Accessible
administration
o o o o
e. Quality of the
facilties
o o o o
f. Safety o o o o
Highly
Dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Satisfied Highly
Satisfied
a. Teachers
o o o o
b. Administration
o o o o
c. Facilities
o o o o

163
g. Bilingual
eduaction
o o o o
h, STEM
Education
o o o o
Page Break
12. How much do you agree with the following statements?
Highly Disagree Disagree Agree Highly Agree
a. My child's
school offers
high quality
education
o o o o
b. I would
recommend your
child's school to
other families
o o o o
c. My child's
school prepares
them for success.
o o o o
13. How much agency do you feel that you have in the decision-making process involving your
child's education?
o No agency
o Minimal agency
o Moderate agency
o Complete agency
Page Break
14. If Grupo Huella offered the option of a private institution that was low cost and high quality,
how probable would it be that you would enroll your child?
o Not probable

164
o Somewhat probable
o Not highly probable
o Highly probable
Page Break

15. Please classify how these factors could affect your decision of enrolling your child or
children in said institution, 0 being the least influential and 10 being the most.
0 2 4 6 8 10
a. Academic Excellence
b. Proximity to home
c. Proximity to work
d. Trained faculty members
e.Accessible administrators
f. Quality of facilities
g. Security
h. Bilingual education
i. STEM Education
Page Break
End of Block: Yes respondents

165
Appendix C
University of Southern California Information Sheet for Survey
My name is Ellen Rose, and I am a student at the University of Southern California. I also hold a
role as the Executive Director of Texas Tech-Costa Rica.
I am conducting a research study on parental opinions and attitudes about public school
education in Costa Rica. The name of this research study is “Personal Agency and Educational
Decision-making: Insights from Middle- and Emerging-Middle Income Parents in Costa Rica.”
I am seeking your participation in this study.
Your participation is completely voluntary, and I will address your questions or concerns at any
point before or during the study.
You may be eligible to participate in this study if you meet the following criteria:
1. You have a child or children in public school.
2. You are over 18 years old.
If you decide to participate in this study, you may be asked to do the following activities:
1. Complete an online, 15-minute survey.
2. Opt into an online raffle for the chance to win a $50 gift card.
After you complete the survey you will receive, you will be asked if you would like to opt into a
raffle for a $50 gift card, as a way to thank you for your participation in this study. Five winners
will be selected.
I will publish the results of this research in my dissertation. Participants will not be identified in
the results. I will take reasonable measures to protect the security of all your personal
information. All data will be de-identified prior to any publication or presentations. I may share
your data, de-identified with other researchers in the future.
If you have any questions about this study, please contact me: esrose@usc.edu or +506 8917-
2244. If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board at +1 323 442-0114 or email
irb@usc.edu.

166
Appendix D
Interview Protocol for Public School Parents
Research Questions Interview Questions
Welcome questions -Tell me about your own school experience.
-What did you enjoy most about school?
-How do you define a high quality education?
RQ 1: What do middle- and
emerging-middle-income parents
of school children in Costa Rica
perceive as strengths and
weaknesses of their child’s
education?
-Tell me what you like about your child’s school.
-Has there been a time when you felt dissatisfied with an aspect or aspects
of your child’s education? If so, can you please elaborate?
-Do you feel that school may be able to improve something? If so, can you
please share your thoughts?
RQ 2: What would motivate a
parent in Costa Rica to move their
child from their current
educational institution to enroll
them in a low-fee, high quality
private school?
-Have you ever considered enrolling your child in a private school? If so,
please tell me about that. If not, please tell me why not?
-If there were a high-quality, LFHQPS available for your child, what would
make you send them?
-If a high-quality, LFHQPS opened in your community, would you
consider enrolling your child? If so, please tell me about that. If not, please
elaborate why not.
-What may keep you from doing so?
-What do you think that your family would think if you sent your child to
private school? What do you think that your friends would think? What do
you think that your community would think?
-Would you need support if your child attended private school? Please
elaborate.

167
Appendix E
Interview Protocol for Private School Parents
Research Questions Interview Questions
Welcome questions -Tell me about your own school experience.
-What did you enjoy most about school?
-How do you define a high quality education?
RQ 1: What do middle- and
emerging-middle-income parents
of school children in Costa Rica
perceive as strengths and
weaknesses of their child’s
education?
-Tell me what you like about your child’s school.
-Has there been a time when you felt dissatisfied with an aspect or aspects
of your child’s education? If so, can you please elaborate?
-Do you feel that school may be able to improve something? If so, can you
please share your thoughts?
RQ 2: What would motivate a
parent in Costa Rica to move their
child from their current
educational institution to enroll
them in a low-fee, high quality
private school?
-If there were a high-quality, LFHQPS available for your child, what would
make you send them?
-If a high-quality, LFHQPS opened in your community, would you
consider enrolling your child? If so, please tell me about that. If not, please
elaborate why not.
-What would the school need to offer for you to do so? What might keep
you from doing so?
-What do you think that your family would think if you sent your child to
private school? What do you think that your friends would think? What do
you think that your community would think?

168
Appendix F
University of Southern California Information Sheet for Interview Screening Survey
My name is Ellen Rose, and I am a student at the University of Southern California. I also hold
a role as the Executive Director of Texas Tech-Costa Rica.
I am conducting a research study on parental opinions and attitudes about public school
education in Costa Rica. The name of this research study is “Personal Agency and
Educational Decision-making: Insights from Middle- and Emerging-Middle Income Parents in
Costa Rica.” I am seeking your participation in this study.
Your participation is completely voluntary, and I will address your questions or concerns at any
point before or during the study.
You may be eligible to participate in this study if you meet the following criteria:
1. You have a child or children in a Costa Rican public school.
2. You are over 18 years old.
If you decide to participate in this study, you will be asked to do the following activities:
1. Complete an online five-minute survey.
2. Consider participating in a 45-minute, one-on-one interview over Zoom.
I will publish the results in my dissertation. Participants will not be identified in the results. I
will take reasonable measures to protect the security of all your personal information. All data
will be de-identified prior to any publication or presentations. I may share your data, deidentified with other researchers in the future.
If you have any questions about this study, please contact me: esrose@usc.edu or +506 8917-
2244. If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board at +1 323 442-0114 or email
irb@usc.edu.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This dissertation investigates the educational decision-making processes of middle- and emerging-middle-income school parents in Costa Rica, exploring their perceptions of educational quality and their willingness to consider low-fee, high-quality private schools as alternatives to the country’s public school system. Despite Costa Rica’s long-standing commitment to universal education and its historically high literacy rates, the country faces declining educational outcomes, growing inequality, and economic challenges. This study seeks to understand how social and cultural capital influence parental educational choices and their perceived agency in such decisions. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research combines quantitative data from surveys with qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that overall, parents are dissatisfied with the current state of public education and are motivated by the prospect of better educational outcomes for their children. Key factors influencing their decisions include access to school administration, quality of teachers, and proximity of school to home. The study’s significance lies in its potential to inform policy and practice in Costa Rican education, highlighting the need for reforms that increase access to high-quality education across socioeconomic strata. By examining a largely unexplored population and phenomenon, this dissertation contributes to the broader discourse on educational equity and the role of private schooling in emerging economies. The insights gained may guide policymakers, educators, and stakeholders in designing interventions that address the educational aspirations and needs of Costa Rican families, ultimately supporting the country’s economic and social development. Additionally, this research explores the potential of low-fee, high-quality private schools to bridge the educational gap between different socioeconomic groups. The findings suggest that these schools could serve as viable alternatives to underperforming public schools, offering parents more agency and choice in their children’s education. However, the study also raises critical questions about the long-term sustainability and broader societal impacts of such efforts. The implications of this research extend to global discussions on the privatization of education and the effectiveness and ethics surrounding low-fee, high-quality private schools in offering equitable educational opportunities. The study underscores the importance of considering parental perspectives and the multifaceted influences on their educational choices in shaping future educational policies and practices. By focusing on the Costa Rican context, this dissertation adds a valuable case study to the international literature on educational reform, parental agency, and the dynamics of public and private education in developing countries.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Rose, Ellen Schwartzman (author)

Core Title Personal agency and educational decision-making: insights from middle- and emerging-middle-income school parents in Costa Rica

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Global Executive

Degree Conferral Date 2024-08

Publication Date 08/07/2024

Defense Date 05/06/2024

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Costa Rican education,cultural capital,education reform,educational decision-making,educational inequality,emerging middle income,extracurricular activities,foreign direct investment,global south,habitus,knowledge economy,low-fee high-quality private schools,parental agency,public vs. private education,school choice,social capital,social mobility

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Krop, Cathy (committee chair), Chung, Ruth H. (committee member), Picus, Lawrence O. (committee member)

Creator Email eschwart@gmail.com,esrose@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113998TAV

Unique identifier UC113998TAV

Identifier etd-RoseEllenS-13349.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-RoseEllenS-13349

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Rose, Ellen Schwartzman

Internet Media Type application/pdf

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Source 20240807-usctheses-batch-1194 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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