The university is a highly politicized and fractious realm for students and academics. Amidst trade-offs between the processes of massification, democratization, commodification, and globalization, ...the question of transformation
for
sustainability has become crucial to the social good(s) of higher education. This paper considers academic citizenry within Indian public higher education — a context where the increase in the enrollment of first-generation students and female students, due to affirmative action policies, has not substantially translated into altering the composition of academic staff. Informed by a mixed-method study conducted in 2019 with the participation of academics and those in leadership positions at four higher education institutions, we found that the enactment of such policies was operationalized for the production of the “New Middle Class” by universities. Of concern is that neither the representation nor the participation of academics who are women, “lower” castes, or minorities meets the mark of just, inclusive institutions. Despite the rhetoric of inclusiveness and development, the implementation of related policies clothe subalterns with the veneer of the intellectual class, permitting access on condition that sociocultural identities are concealed, and the hegemonic status quo maintained. Terms such as “quality” and “equality” function as tools for social control rather than serving social justice, where assertions of caste identity and resistance are simultaneously repudiated and misrecognized.
Faculty diversity has benefits for all students; however, increasing faculty diversity may be particularly helpful in reducing academic disparities for students of color. This study examines the ...impact of having a professor of the same race/ethnicity on student performance. A longitudinal model was tested to examine how campus racial/ethnic composition and student-faculty racial/ethnic match impact GPA and graduation for students of color. Campus racial/ethnic climate was included in the model as a potential mediating factor. Results indicated that student-faculty racial/ethnic match, campus racial/ethnic composition, and campus racial/ethnic climate each predicted GPA, which predicted graduation. An indirect relationship between student-faculty racial/ethnic match and GPA through campus racial/ethnic climate was found. Findings stress the need for diverse faculty to enhance student success, ultimately improving grades and retention. Given the benefits to students, a focus on the hiring and retention of faculty of color may be key in addressing academic disparities.
This study aimed to relate school diversity approaches to continuity and change in teacher–student relationships, comparing Belgian‐majority (N = 1,875, Mage = 14.56) and Turkish and ...Moroccan‐minority adolescents (N = 1,445, Mage = 15.07). Latent‐Growth‐Mixture‐Models of student‐reported teacher support and rejection over 3 years revealed three trajectories per group: normative‐positive (high support, low rejection) and decreasing‐negative (moderate support, high‐decreasing rejection) for both groups, increasing‐negative (moderate support, low‐increasing rejection) for minority, moderate‐positive (moderate support, low rejection) for majority youth. Trajectories differed between age groups. Student and teacher perceptions of equality and multiculturalism afforded, and assimilationism threatened, normative‐positive trajectories for minority youth. Diversity approaches had less impact on majority trajectories. Normative‐positive trajectories were related to improved school outcomes; they were less likely, but more beneficial for minority than majority youth.
Despite the importance of field in social work education, little is known about the specific experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students in field placements. In this ...qualitative study with 42 social work students, we explored what factors contribute to meaningful experiences in field. Findings include: (a) connection to the practice area or community being served, (b) the importance of relationships with field instructors, including BIPOC field instructors; and (c) supportive agency context. Implications of this study support the recruitment and retention of BIPOC field instructors, continuing to build field instructors' capacity to engage with issues of race, identity, and oppression, ongoing attention to agency context, and building more robust research regarding racial equity in field.
The underidentification of students with autism is a well-documented phenomenon that implies minority children are less likely to receive autism-specific interventions and services vital for better ...outcomes. Previous research has found that minority children are less likely to be identified as having autism, but recent changes in federal reporting from five to seven racial categories warrant further investigation of minority underidentification in the autism category. This logistic regression analysis of autism count data was conducted to examine differences in identification according to seven racial reporting categories. We calculated the probability of autism identification for each racial group and tested odds ratios for significant differences within each state and Washington, DC. We also compared odds of autism identification for each racial group in each state to the odds of identification for White students in California. Within-state analyses indicated minority students in most states continue to be identified at rates significantly lower than their White counterparts. Between-state analyses revealed White students and minority students in most states were underidentified compared to White students with autism in California. The change to seven racial reporting categories appears to have clarified the extent to which minority students are underidentified in the autism category, which may mean minority students experience restricted access to evidence-based interventions and services for students with autism.
Although research has overwhelmingly demonstrated the negative consequences of perceived racial-ethnic discrimination on children's and youth's well-being and academic outcomes, context- and ...perpetrator-specific discrimination experiences are rarely disaggregated. Racial-ethnic discrimination in the school environment is common, and the perpetrators are often teachers who may treat racial-ethnic minority students unfairly. This work used a three-level multilevel approach to meta-analytically synthesize existing evidence with the aim to (a) document the links between perceived teacher-based racial-ethnic discrimination (TBRED) and students' psychological, behavioral, and physical well-being, substance use, grade point average and school motivation, and (b) to examine whether these associations differ by sample and study characteristics. Based on 68 studies and 259 effect size estimates, we found that perceived TBRED is linked to lower well-being (r = −.15, 95% confidence interval CI −.18, −.12), higher substance use (r = .13, 95% CI .06, .20), and lower academic performance (r = −.16, 95% CI −.20, −.13) with substantial heterogeneity across effect sizes. Similarly, TBRED had small-to-medium negative associations within each domain of well-being and academics. The results were partially moderated by school racial-ethnic composition, suggestive of a protective function of a higher concentration of racial-ethnic minority students. In addition, more reliable scales and a greater number of items measuring TBRED were associated with stronger negative correlations with well-being. These findings highlight the importance of increasing awareness around issues of racism and discrimination in initial teacher training and professional development. We encourage further exploration of effect size heterogeneity and call for research on TBRED outside the United States.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
This meta-analysis of 68 studies found that perceiving teacher-based racial-ethnic discrimination (TBRED) is detrimental to both students' well-being and academic outcomes to similar degrees. These findings demonstrate that teachers bear responsibility for the well-known discrimination-to-adjustment link and that the negative impact of TBRED is not limited to the academic domain but extends to well-being. The results imply that there is a dire need for changes in teacher training and professional development that not only educate teachers on what to teach their students (i.e., subject content) but also on how to teach in increasingly diverse schools in equitable and culturally responsive (i.e., nondiscriminatory) ways.
An increasing body of research on critical consciousness explores how youth understand and react to inequality in their social contexts. The operationalization of critical consciousness remains ...inchoate, however. Developmental psychology traditionally conceptualizes critical consciousness as three components (critical reflection, political efficacy, and critical action), but how levels of these components combine for different youth or relate to outcomes remains unclear. This article uses latent class analysis to examine how components of critical consciousness pattern together in a sample 448 of marginalized (racial/ethnic minority) youth, and relate to demographic characteristics, socioemotional outcomes, and academic well-being. We identify four classes of critical consciousness components differentiated by their level of critical reflection, beliefs about the fairness of the United States, and external and internal political efficacy. Ethnicity was related to class membership, but gender and socioeconomic status were not. Controlling for race/ethnicity, we find differences in cross-sectional measures of depression, academic engagement, academic competence, and grades of youth across these classes and identify sociopolitical efficacy as a key predictor of positive youth development. Our findings provide theoretical clarity and practical insight into the complexity of critical consciousness and the combination of components that is most beneficial for positive youth development.
The purpose of this study was to determine if sexual minority students in supportive school environments experienced fewer depressive symptoms and lower rates of suicide ideation, plans and attempts ...("suicidality") than sexual minority students in less supportive school environments. In 2007, a nationally representative sample (N = 9,056) of students from 96 high schools in New Zealand used Internet tablets to complete a health and well-being survey that included questions on sexual attractions, depressive symptoms, and suicidality. Students reported their experience of supportive environments at school and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) bullying, and these items were aggregated to the school level. Teachers (n = 2,901) from participating schools completed questionnaires on aspects of school climate, which included how supportive their schools were toward sexual minority students. Multilevel models were used to estimate school effects on depressive symptoms and suicidality controlling for background characteristics of students. Sexual minority students were more likely to report higher levels of depressive symptoms and suicidality than their opposite-sex attracted peers (p < .001). Teacher reports of more supportive school environments for GLBT students were associated with fewer depressive symptoms among male sexual minority students (p = .006) but not for female sexual minority students (p = .09). Likewise in schools where students reported a more supportive school environment, male sexual minority students reported fewer depressive symptoms (p = .006) and less suicidality (p < .001) than in schools where students reported less favorable school climates. These results suggest that schools play an important role in providing safe and supportive environments for male sexual minority students.
The purpose of this study was to estimate the 6-month incidence rates of sexual assault, physical dating violence (DV), and unwanted pursuit (e.g., stalking) victimization among sexual-minority ...(i.e., individuals with any same-sex sexual experiences) college students with comparison data from non-sexual-minority (i.e., individuals with only heterosexual sexual experiences) college students. Participants (N = 6,030) were primarily Caucasian (92.7%) and non-sexual-minority (82.3%). Compared with non-sexual-minority students (N-SMS; n = 4,961), sexual-minority students (SMS; n = 1,069) reported significantly higher 6-month incidence rates of physical DV (SMS: 30.3%; N-SMS: 18.5%), sexual assault (SMS: 24.3%; N-SMS: 11.0%), and unwanted pursuit (SMS: 53.1%; N-SMS: 36.0%) victimization. We also explored the moderating role of gender and found that female SMS reported significantly higher rates of physical DV than female N-SMS, whereas male SMS and male N-SMS reported similar rates of physical DV. Gender did not moderate the relationship between sexual-minority status and victimization experiences for either unwanted pursuit or sexual victimization. These findings underscore the alarmingly high rates of interpersonal victimization among SMS and the critical need for research to better understand the explanatory factors that place SMS at increased risk for interpersonal victimization.
Addressing teacher turnover is critical to stemming the country's continuing teacher shortages. It is also important for school effectiveness, as the academic and financial costs of teacher turnover ...to student learning and district budgets are significant. Using the most recent nationally representative data from the National Center for Education Statistics' Schools and Staffing Surveys, the authors detail which teachers are leaving, why, and which students are most impacted. The study finds higher turnover rates in the South; among mathematics, science, special education, English language development, and world languages teachers; in schools serving students of color and from low-income families; and among teachers of color. The study also finds that several factors are associated with higher turnover rates, including lack of administrative support, teacher salaries, and alternative certification. The paper reviews policy strategies that can address teacher turnover.
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