A systematic review and meta-analysis on the associations between perceived teacher-based racial-ethnic discrimination and student well-being and academic outcomes:

Abstract

Although research has overwhelmingly demonstrated the negative consequences of 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 of 1) documenting the links between teacher-based racial-ethnic discrimination (TBRED) and students’ psychological, behavioral, physical well-being, substance use, grade point average and school motivation, and 2) examining whether these associations differ by sample and study characteristics. Based on 69 studies and 263 effect size estimates, we found that TBRED is linked to lower well-being (r = -0.16, 95% [-0.19, -0.12]), higher substance use (r = 0.13, 95% [0.06, 0.20]), and lower academic performance (r = -0.16, 95% [-0.20, -0.13]) 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 ethnic minority students. In addition, gender, publication status, and fewer items that measured 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.

Zooming in on everyday ethnic-racial discrimination: A review of experiencing sampling methodology studies in adolescence

“…In other words, on days where adolescents experienced ERD, they also reported higher levels of maladjustment. This result corroborates previous metaanalyses that reported between-person effects of ERD on mental health and academics with youth and adolescents (Benner et al, 2018;Civitillo et al, 2022). Furthermore, a number of studies reported lagged associations between previous-day ERD and next-day psychological adjustment, providing evidence for the assumed temporal order between ERD and adjustment.…”

“…The focus of this review is on the interpersonal level, and by ethnicracial discrimination (ERD), we mean differential and detrimental treatment of individuals based on their ethnic-racial group membership as perceived by those individuals. Past research among adolescents in Europe, Australia, and the US has shown that experiences of exclusion and rejection based on ethnic-racial group membership pose a serious risk for psychological adjustment, as well as for school performance (see Benner et al, 2018;Civitillo et al, 2022, for meta-analytical evidence).…”

A daily diary study on associations between school-based ethnic discrimination and school engagement

“…Consistent with previous daily diary investigations that compared peer vs. adult sources (e.g., Huynh & Fuligni, 2010), our participants reported experiencing more discrimination from teachers than from peers. It is plausible that some teachers may hold biased views towards ethnic minority students (Civitillo et al, 2023), contributing to be the perception of discrimination by some students. Furthermore, the participants in our study reported experiencing more subtle forms of discrimination from their peers than overt discrimination.…”

“…The second aspect of discrimination, characteristics of source, encompasses the perpetrator of discrimination. There is systematic evidence that perpetrators of ethnic discrimination in the school context are peers, classmates, as well as adult figures such as teachers (Civitillo et al, 2023). Source-specific experiences of discrimination (peer-vs teacher-based) may have a differential impact on school achievement.…”