Black Girls and School Discipline: The Role of Teacher’s Race, Pubertal Development, and Discipline Philosophy on Discipline Decisions

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether school discipline sanctions issued to female students are attributed to their racial background and developmental status and if this relation differs by teacher’s racial/ethnic background and discipline philosophy. Drawing from a sample of 515 practicing educators from the United States, an experimental design was employed to examine if teacher’s discipline decision-making differed by student’s race, student’s developmental status, and teacher’s racial/ethnic background and discipline philosophy. Results suggest that teacher’s racial/ethnic background and discipline philosophy were the most salient predictors of discipline severity. Implications for future research on school discipline and Black girls are discussed.

Black Women’s Body Image: Implications for Identity Formation and Well-Being

“…In the media, the presentation of European aesthetics is normalized and given greater values, even if it negatively impacts or is unachievable for Black women. For example, Black girls' pubertal development and skin color have been associated with greater monitoring and punishment in school settings, where Black girls receive harsher punishment than their White peers (Blake et al, 2022;Morris, 2016;Osinubi et al, 2022). Similarly, American cultural spaces still enforce European hair standards on Black women in work and educational spaces, despite evidence of these practices' real potential for psychological and physical harm (e.g., Dawson et al, 2019;Essien & Wood, 2021;Trusty et al, 2023).…”