Conservative Structures, Liberal Ideas: A Case Study of Admissions Policies at One Elite Liberal Arts College

This is a case study of Midwest College, which has recruited international students and American students of color. The author discovered that while the mission statement of the college is clear and concise, the embodiment of this mission is much more complex and paradoxical. Increasing diversity within the student body is one way Midwest strives to prepare its students for life in an increasingly international and global society. Yet, there are many contradictions between Midwest’s genuine commitment to increasing diversity and the reality that the process of doing so actually perpetuates the reproduction of privilege. Using Foucault’s term, sociologists, like Howard Winant, interpret institution goals to increase levels of diversity within their communities as "racial projects" (Winant 1994). The author argues that the racial project includes celebrating racial differences, demonstrating compassion for students with financial needs, affirming the system of higher education meritocracy, and remaining competitive in terms of finances and status. Methodology includes examining the participation of Midwest in recruiting international students and its implications for engaging issues of racial inequality on campus

Habits that Make, Habits that Break: Gender, Children's Behavior Problems, and Educational Attainment Across Two Decades

Prior to the early 1980s, American men graduated from high school and college at higher rates than American women. Since then, women have comprised a growing majority of high school and college graduates. This growing female advantage in educational attainment carries significant implications for labor markets, marriage markets, fertility and family formation, and child well-being. It also is of consequence for racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequality: The gender gap in educational attainment is largest among minorities and the poor. Extant labor market and social accounts explain 30-60% of the gap, leaving up to 70% unexplained. This dissertation proposes a new, but complementary, explanation. Drawing upon newly-available data from the Children of the NLSY79, which tracks children born in the 1980s until 2010, part one of the dissertation shows that boys' higher average level of early childhood behavior problems explains 15-25% of their lower level of educational attainment compared to girls. Introducing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data, the second and third parts of the dissertation compare children born in the 1980s and 2000s to examine whether the gender difference in behavior problems -- like that in educational attainment -- has become most widespread among minorities and low-income Americans. Findings reveal that, by the 2000s, the gender gap in early childhood behavior problems had spread throughout a wide cross-section of minority children and children from low-income families. The behavior gap emerged even between the black and Hispanic and poor boys and girls with the lowest mother-rated behavior problems. Analysis of potential mechanisms shows that growing gender differences in observed demographic, family, and health factors account for 20%-100% of the growth of the gender gap in behavior problems at different points in the behavioral distribution. Some, but not all, of the growth of the gender gap in behavior problems is accounted for by observed population level trends. Some of the growth of the gap in behavior may be due to perceptions of boys' worsening behavior. Taken together, results predict a widening gender gap in attainment in the coming decades, especially among minority and poor children

sj-docx-1-spq-10.1177_01902725231177644 – Supplemental material for Seeing Behavior as Black, Brown, or White: Teachers’ Racial/Ethnic Bias in Perceptions of Routine Classroom Misbehavior

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-spq-10.1177_01902725231177644 for Seeing Behavior as Black, Brown, or White: Teachers’ Racial/Ethnic Bias in Perceptions of Routine Classroom Misbehavior by Jayanti Owens in Social Psychology Quarterly</p

Racial-Ethnic Heterogeneity in the Relationship Between an Early Elementary School ADHD Diagnosis and Later Child Well-Being

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is America’s most common childhood disorder. Although an ADHD diagnosis can bring positives, recent research uncovers potential negatives associated with diagnosis. This study examines understudied racial-ethnic heterogeneity in the relationships between an early elementary school ADHD diagnosis—with or without medication treatment—and children’s future perceived self-competence, teacher-rated school behaviors, and parent-rated educational expectations. Findings are consistent with the notion that diagnosis can trigger racialized patterns of stigma. That is, relative to undiagnosed matches of the same social class and regardless of medication use, diagnosed Black children demonstrate worse teacher-rated school behaviors, diagnosed White children report poorer perceived self-competence, and parents of diagnosed Hispanic children report poorer educational expectations. Racialized patterns of stigma might amplify the consequences of negative-ability stereotyping on Black children, academic pressure on White children, and mental health stigma on Hispanic children. Findings also highlight the challenges of identification posed by differential unobserved selection into diagnosis

Mediators of stereotype threat among black college students

We hypothesize that the manner in which stereotype threat affects college grade achievement is mediated by institutional context as well as individual characteristics. Drawing on a sample of black students from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen we find weak and inconsistent evidence that institutional characteristics influence the operation of stereotype threat. We find more consistent evidence to indicate that the effect of stereotype threat is conditioned by individual factors such as skin color, multiracial origins, and an integrated upbringing. Most of the effect on grade achievement occurs through the internalization pathway, in which the internalization of negative stereotypes leads to disinvestment manifested by a reduction in academic effort. The reduction in work effort, in turn, lowers grades. We also find evidence that immigrant origin confers protection from the negative effects of stereotype threat through both internalization and externalization mechanisms, though the ultimate effect of grade achievement is rather small

Stereotype threat and college academic performance: A latent variables approach

Stereotype threat theory has gained experimental and survey-based support in helping explain the academic underperformance of minority students at selective colleges and universities. Stereotype threat theory states that minority students underperform because of pressures created by negative stereotypes about their racial group. Past survey-based studies, however, are characterized by methodological inefficiencies and potential biases: key theoretical constructs have only been measured using summed indicators and predicted relationships modeled using ordinary least squares. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshman, this study overcomes previous methodological shortcomings by developing a latent construct model of stereotype threat. Theoretical constructs and equations are estimated simultaneously from multiple indicators, yielding a more reliable, valid, and parsimonious test of key propositions. Findings additionally support the view that social stigma can indeed have strong negative effects on the academic performance of pejoratively stereotyped racial-minority group members, not only in laboratory settings, but also in the real world

Mediators of stereotype threat among black college students

We hypothesize that the manner in which stereotype threat affects college grade achievement is mediated by institutional context as well as individual characteristics. Drawing on a sample of black students from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen we find weak and inconsistent evidence that institutional characteristics influence the operation of stereotype threat. We find more consistent evidence to indicate that the effect of stereotype threat is conditioned by individual factors such as skin color, multiracial origins, and an integrated upbringing. Most of the effect on grade achievement occurs through the internalization pathway, in which the internalization of negative stereotypes leads to disinvestment manifested by a reduction in academic effort. The reduction in work effort, in turn, lowers grades. We also find evidence that immigrant origin confers protection from the negative effects of stereotype threat through both internalization and externalization mechanisms, though the ultimate effect of grade achievement is rather small