The Importance of Segregation, Discrimination, Peer Dynamics, and Identity in Explaining Trends in the Racial Achievement Gap

Fryer, Roland G.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-53707-2.00004-9

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Because both settings we examine include primarily Hispanic students, our results are generally supportive of the “acting white” hypothesis, whereby minorities may face peer sanctions for certain behaviors (Fordham and Ogbu 1986; Austen-Smith and Fryer 2005; Fryer 2011; Fryer and Torelli 2010). 5 More broadly, Austen-Smith and Fryer (2005) and Fryer (2007) model the trade-off between group loyalty and economic success.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 57%

How Does Peer Pressure Affect Educational Investments?

Bursztyn

Jensen

2015

The Quarterly Journal of Economics

216

107

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When effort is observable to peers, students may try to avoid social penalties by conforming to prevailing norms. To test this hypothesis, we first consider a natural experiment that introduced a performance leaderboard into computer-based high school courses. The result was a 24 percent performance decline. The decline appears to be driven by a desire to avoid the leaderboard; top performing students prior to the change, those most at risk of appearing on the leaderboard, had a 40 percent performance decline, while poor performing students improved slightly. We next consider a field experiment that offered students complimentary access to an online SAT preparatory course. Sign-up forms differed randomly across students only in whether they said the decision would be kept private from classmates. In nonhonors classes, sign-up was 11 percentage points lower when decisions were public rather than private. Honors class sign-up was unaffected. For students taking honors and nonhonors classes, the response depended on which peers they were with at the time of the offer, and thus to whom their decision would be revealed. When offered the course in a nonhonors class (where peer sign-up rates are low), they were 15 percentage points less likely to sign up if the decision was public. But when offered the course in an honors class (where peer sign-up rates are high), they were 8 percentage points more likely to sign up if the decision was public. Thus, students are highly responsive to their peers are the prevailing norm when they make decisions.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 57%

How Does Peer Pressure Affect Educational Investments?

Bursztyn

Jensen

2015

The Quarterly Journal of Economics

216

107

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“…Social psychologists note ''stereotype threat'' as a possible contributor to the gap, wherein test takers of stigmatized racial groups worry that they may confirm stereotypes about intelligence, and thus perform worse due to this stress (Steele and Aronson 1995). Other explanations are socio-cultural, suggesting that minority peer groups reward disengagement or that certain racial identities are not conducive to valuing academic success (Fryer 2010), although this explanation has been strongly contested and met with much countervailing evidence (e.g., Warikoo and Carter 2009). Finally, some scholars point to the disproportionate rate at which Black, Hispanic, and American Indian students are disciplined and suspended, distracting from learning time and undermining school connectedness.…”

Section: Literature Review Racial Disparities In Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Racial School Climate Gap: Within‐School Disparities in Students’ Experiences of Safety, Support, and Connectedness

Voight

Hanson

O’Malley

et al. 2015

American J of Comm Psychol

270

156

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This study used student and teacher survey data from over 400 middle schools in California to examine within-school racial disparities in students' experiences of school climate. It further examined the relationship between a school's racial climate gaps and achievement gaps and other school structures and norms that may help explain why some schools have larger or smaller racial disparities in student reports of climate than others. Multilevel regression results problematized the concept of a "school climate" by showing that, in an average middle school, Black and Hispanic students have less favorable experiences of safety, connectedness, relationships with adults, and opportunities for participation compared to White students. The results also show that certain racial school climate gaps vary in magnitude across middle schools, and in middle schools where these gaps are larger, the racial achievement gap is also larger. Finally, the socioeconomic status of students, student-teacher ratio, and geographic location help explain some cross-school variation in racial climate gaps. These findings have implications for how school climate in conceptualized, measured, and improved.

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“…Occupational segregation is an important theme in the labor economics literature and has been the subject of many theoretical and empirical studies over several decades (Albelda, 1986;King, 1992;Charles and Grusky, 1995;Anker, 1997;Reardon and Firebaugh, 2002;Fryer, 2010). However, despite its centrality to any understanding of labor market outcomes, studies of occupational segregation have been very rare for developing countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of Gender and Racial Occupational Segregation Across Formal and Non‐Formal Labor Markets inBrazil, 1987 to 2006

Salardi

2014

Review of Income and Wealth

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This study provides a unique analysis of the evolution of gender and racial occupational segregation in Brazil covering the period from 1987 to 2006. Employing a newly harmonized occupational classification, it provides new insights into the nature and evolution of occupational segregation and on the forces driving these changes over this period of time. Three major findings emerge. First, gender segregation is always greater than racial segregation, but the latter has been more persistent over time. Second, segregation has declined mainly in the formal labor market. Third, this decline has been mainly driven by changes in gender and racial composition within occupations.JEL Codes: J71, O17

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The Importance of Segregation, Discrimination, Peer Dynamics, and Identity in Explaining Trends in the Racial Achievement Gap

Cited by 15 publications

References 31 publications

How Does Peer Pressure Affect Educational Investments?

How Does Peer Pressure Affect Educational Investments?

The Racial School Climate Gap: Within‐School Disparities in Students’ Experiences of Safety, Support, and Connectedness

The Evolution of Gender and Racial Occupational Segregation Across Formal and Non‐Formal Labor Markets inBrazil, 1987 to 2006

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