Underrepresented minority (URM) students are subjected to historically rooted inequities when pursuing an education, especially in STEM disciplines with little diversity. In order to make STEM ...education equitable and inclusive, evidence for how students from different racial/ethnic demographics are faring is necessary. We use 10 years of institutional data at a large public US-based university to investigate trends in the majors that Asian, URM, and White students declare, drop, and complete. We find that URM students drop most majors at higher rates compared to other students, particularly in physics and economics. We find alarming GPA trends in that URM students consistently earn lower grades than their Asian and White peers. In some STEM disciplines, the URM students who earn a degree are earning the same grades as the Asian and White students who dropped the major. These troubling trends may signify lack of sufficient support, mentoring, and guidance for the URM students who are already severely disadvantaged particularly at a primarily White institution. These findings call for greater resources and effort for making learning environments equitable and inclusive so that many URM students who come to college with severe disadvantages are appropriately supported and can excel similar to other students.
British university students from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds are less likely to achieve a 'good' degree classification than white students, despite taking prior attainment into ...account. To examine this gap, the current study conducted focus groups with 17 BME students studying health and social care related subjects to understand their experiences of learning and teaching. This was theoretically informed by self-determination theory, which proposes that achieving one's full potential for learning, alongside experience of wellbeing, is supported by environments that help individuals to meet their needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Thematic analysis revealed that BME students encountered many obstacles that inhibited their experience of fulfilment of these three needs, which often undermined their initial desire to achieve their full potential. The findings are discussed in light of how universities can support BME students to achieve their full potential, and in doing so, address the BME attainment gap.
The U.S. teacher population is predominantly White, yet research has not yet determined how teacher race might matter to the identification of students with disabilities. This study examines the role ...of teacher racial composition in special education service receipt. Findings show that schools’ proportion of teachers of color, net of all other factors, is associated with students’ increased odds of receiving special education services for all categories of disability, with the exception of emotional disturbance and autism spectrum disorder. These findings may reflect higher expectations of students held by teachers of color, which may lead to greater special education receipt for students who are not performing as well as expected. Although the effects do not vary by student race for most categories of disability, the evidence presented here suggests that increased representation of teachers of color ameliorates some underrepresentation of students of color in special education.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND
Low‐income and racial/ethnic minority students often face distinct challenges in attending school eading to lower academic performance, low graduation rates, and overall, an ...indicator of diminished long‐term social and financial stability. Chronic absenteeism is a national problem and to address this, a better understanding of risks and points of intervention for the students most at risk is needed. This cross‐sectional study sought to assess risks and protective factors associated with chronic absenteeism in a predominantly low‐income minority school district in Southern.
METHODS
Conducted in southern California, students (N = 24,439) ages 9 to 21 years were recruited. A logistic regression was used to assess the role poor physical and mental health, safety, bullying, and family risk factors attributed to chronic absenteeism.
RESULTS
Results revealed that asthma (odds ratio OR = 1.35, p < .001), being overweight/obese (OR = 1.38, p < .01), presence of family risk factors (OR = 1.49, p < .001), bullying (OR = 0.84, p < .05) and perceptions of safety at school (OR = 1.24, p < .05) increased the odds of chronic absenteeism, while protective factors such as support (OR = 1.30, p < .001), increased sleep (OR = 0.96, p < .001) and positive growth mindset (OR = 0.96, p < .001), mitigated it.
CONCLUSION
This study not only identifies risk but protective factors worth adhering to, to promote school attendance. Future research should further examine the role of mental health in chronic absenteeism.
This meta-analysis synthesizes evidence about the associations of affective teacher-student relationships with bullying perpetration and peer victimization. A systematic database search resulted in ...65 primary studies (k) that met the inclusion criteria. The final sample included 185,881 students from preschool to high school. Separate multilevel analyses were conducted for bullying perpetration (k = 25, N = 97,627) and peer victimization (k = 57, N = 151,653). Results showed small to medium, negative overall correlations between teacher-student relationship quality and both bullying perpetration (r = −.17, 95% CI −.21, −.14) and peer victimization (r = −.14, 95% CI −.17, −.11). Teacher-student relationship quality was also related to less subsequent peer victimization (b = −0.05, 95% CI −0.08, −0.02). Associations between teacher-student relationship quality and bullying were stronger for ethnic minority students and when the same informant reported about both variables. Associations with peer victimization were stronger for negative (e.g., conflict) than for positive (e.g., closeness) relationship indicators and when the same informant was used for both variables. Generally, findings demonstrate that higher-quality teacher-student relationships are related to less bullying perpetration and less peer victimization. Hence, promoting positive and minimizing negative teacher-student relationships may help to tackle school-based bullying and peer victimization.
Impact Statement
The current meta-analysis examined the link between affective teacher-student relationships and two persistent problems in schools: bullying perpetration and peer victimization. Results including 65 primary studies demonstrated that higher-quality teacher-student relationships were related to less bullying perpetration and less peer victimization. Thus, promoting positive and minimizing negative teacher-student relationships may be important targets in bullying prevention and intervention efforts in schools.
This article explores the potential uses and extensions of sociocultural theoretical perspectives for integrating and further developing research on race, culture, and learning. Two bodies of ...literature are discussed and synthesized: (1) sociocultural theory and (2) studies on race, culture, and learning. The article proposes how a sociocultural lens might provide insight and suggests new lines of research on issues of race, culture, and learning. The authors argue for the extension of each of four lines of research in the sociocultural tradition: a concern with multiple levels of analysis, cultural practices as a unit of analysis, tools and artifacts as mediating action, and learning as shifts in social relations. In doing so, the authors raise critical questions for the field of education to consider.
Recent scholarship in sociolinguistics and language education has examined how race and language intersect each other and how racism influences linguistic and educational practices. While racism is ...often conceptualized in terms of individual and institutional injustices, a critical examination of another form of racism--epistemological racism--problematizes how racial inequalities influence our knowledge production and consumption in academe. Highlighting the importance of the intersectional nature of identity categories, this conceptual article aims to draw scholars' attention on how epistemological racism marginalizes and erases the knowledge produced by scholars in the Global South, women scholars of color, and other minoritized groups. In today's neoliberal culture of competition, scholars of color are compelled to become complicit with white Euro-American hegemonic knowledge, further perpetuating the hegemony of white knowledge while marginalizing women scholars of color. Valorizing non-European knowledge and collectivity as an alternative framework also risks essentialism and male hegemony. Conversely, the ethics promoted by black feminism emphasizes a personal ethical commitment to antiracism. Epistemological antiracism invites scholars to validate alternative theories, rethink our citation practices, and develop critical reflexivity and accountability.
Youth of color are disproportionately impacted by stressful and traumatic life events, including race‐based experiences, which are linked to negative consequences. School is a salient context where ...youth encounter, witness, and process racial stress and trauma (RST). However, RST is often overlooked within general school‐based trauma models. Thus, we propose the School Trauma and Racial Stress (STARS) blueprint, focused on RST across three levels of the school ecology. By building upon and expanding the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recommendations regarding trauma‐informed approaches (2014), the STARS blueprint applies a multilevel approach to acknowledging and addressing RST within schools. This integrated framework is a call to action across the school ecology, with the goal to increase recognition of RST within school‐based trauma‐informed approaches and to build racial equity and healing for students of color in K‐12 schools. Practical applications for schools are discussed.
Highlights
The School Trauma and Racial Stress (STARS) blueprint builds upon core trauma‐informed elements to explicitly acknowledge and address racial stress and trauma within a multilevel school‐wide approach.
The framework is a call to action to build and sustain pathways towards resistance, healing, and resilience.
Background
Despite the critical role of faculty diversity in the persistence and academic experiences of undergraduate students as well as in the development of engineering innovations, women of ...color (WoC) faculty are still underrepresented in engineering programs across the United States.
Purpose/Hypothesis
This study identifies whether the demographic composition of undergraduate engineering students is correlated with the representation of WoC faculty. It also highlights the institutional‐ and departmental‐level factors that contribute to the race–gender diversification of the engineering professoriate.
Design/Method
Informed by organizational demography as the theoretical framework, the methods include linear and logit regression analyses. Data come from the American Society for Engineering Education, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, and the American Community Survey, and include engineering departmental‐level observations across 345 institutions over 12 years.
Results
Engineering departments that award more bachelor's degrees to women African American/Black undergraduate students are more likely to employ relatively more African American/Black women faculty. This positive relationship is also found among Asian Americans and Hispanics/Latinas.
Conclusions
Research findings demonstrate the relationship between engineering undergraduate composition, as well as other departmental‐ and institutional‐level factors, and the prevalence of WoC faculty. The findings highlight important areas for stakeholders and academic administrators to consider when developing strategies and programs to diversify the composition of engineering faculty.
A large number of educational systems face the challenges of dealing with students from different ethnic minorities and providing equal opportunities for them. In Germany, Turkish students belong to ...the largest ethnic minority group and display the lowest levels of academic achievement in comparison with most other ethnic minority or German students. Teachers’ attitudes toward Turkish students might contribute to the disadvantages of this social group. The aim of this study was to assess preservice teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward Turkish students. Previous research has focused primarily on the attitudes of ethnic majority teachers. Drawing on potential benefits of a cultural match between teachers and students, we considered ethnic majority preservice teachers, preservice teachers with a Turkish background, and those with other ethnic minority backgrounds. Results showed no differences in explicit attitudes but significant differences in implicit attitudes depending on teachers’ ethnic background. Preservice teachers with Turkish backgrounds showed positive implicit attitudes toward Turkish students, preservice teachers from other ethnic minority backgrounds had more neutral attitudes, whereas German preservice teachers had negative implicit attitudes toward Turkish students. Findings are discussed in terms of the cultural match between students and teachers and the benefits of a culturally diverse teaching workforce.
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