The Three Rs of Academic Achievement: Reading, ’Riting, and Racism

Abstract

Using vocational choice and social dominance theories as theoretical frameworks, the authors examined the effects of ideology/ role congruency on differential institutional rewards. The authors reasoned that congruents (i.e., individuals high in antiegalitarianism in hierarchy-enhancing [HE] social roles and low in antiegalitarianism in hierarchy-attenuating [HA] roles) would receive higher institutional rewards than would incongruents (i.e., individuals high in antiegalitarianism in HA social roles and low in antiegalitarianism in HE roles).Furthermore, it was predicted that ones continued exposure to the university environment would increase the probability of being a congruent. The authors used a large sample of university students, with grade point average as the operationalization of institutional reward. Role was defined as the students major, and antiegalitarianism was defined by a classical racism scale.As expected, (a) ever ything else being equal, congruents received higher grades than did incongruents, and (b) the probability of being a congruent increased with university experience.The assumption that the congruence between workers personalities and job types is associated with greater job satisfaction and occupational success has been a major theme within vocational psychology for some time (see, e.g.,

Person-Organization Congruence and the Maintenance of Group-Based Social Hierarchy: A Social Dominance Perspective

“…Research conducted by van Laar et al (1999) supports this line of reasoning. This research, based on a large sample of college students, examined the relationship between students' sociopolitical 'fit' with their majors and students' grade point averages (GPAs).…”

“…Research by van Laar et al (1999), while not at all conclusive, offers further suggestive evidence. This research suggests that there may be differential attrition rates for college students who 'fit' with their majors sociopolitically versus those who do not.…”

“…Interestingly, this 'fit' can be found even between college students-who commonly have ver y similar backgrounds and very indefinite sociopolitical attitudes-and the courses of study they pursue (e.g. Altemeyer, 1998;Guimond, 1999;Guimond, Palmer, & Bégin, 1989;Sidanius et al, 1991Sidanius et al, , 2003van Laar et al, 1999). Specifically, students pursuing degrees that would typically lead to HE careers (e.g.…”

“…We then turn to a discussion of the processes believed to guide this sociopolitical 'fit'. Following the lead of the occupational congruence literature, social dominance theory posits five (non-mutually exclusive) processes: selfselection, institutional selection, institutional socialization, differential rewards, and differential attrition (see van Laar et al, 1999). We examine evidence for each of these processes in detail.…”

The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status, Course Delivery Method, and Student Success at a State College: A Single Institution Analysis

“…A number of psychological factors (Marsh & Roche, 2000;Zimmerman & Bandura, 1994) and background characteristics (Farkas & Hotchkiss, 1989;Van-Laar, Sidanius, Rabinowitz, and Sinclair, 1999) have been identified as contributors to student success. Background characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, and SES have an impact on student success in college (ASHE, 2005).…”