Educational Sociology Commons^™

Microaggressions: Investigating Physical Therapy Student Perspectives During Clinical Experiences, Dakota Studley, Jocelin Friedman, Ashley H. Campbell, Laurie Shimko, Megan B. Flores

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose: Microaggressions are “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group” (Gilliam & Russel, 2021). The effect of microaggressions has been explored among medical students, however, there is limited literature identifying the frequency and effect of microaggressions on Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of DPT students on clinical experiences to determine: 1) the frequency that students experience microaggressions, and 2) the impact of microaggressions on self-efficacy.

Methods: …

Selection Homophily And Peer Influence For Adolescents’ Smoking And Vaping Norms And Outcomes In High And Middle-Income Settings, Jennifer M. Murray, Sharon Sánchez-Franco, Olga L. Sarmiento, Erik O. Kimbrough, Christopher Tate, Shannon C. Montgomery, Rajnish Kumar, Laura Dunne, Abhijit Ramalingam, Erin L. Krupka, Felipe Montes, Huiyu Zhou, Laurence Moore, Linda Bauld, Blanca Llorente, Frank Kee, Ruth F. Hunter

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

The MECHANISMS study investigates how social norms for adolescent smoking and vaping are transmitted through school friendship networks, and is the first study to use behavioral economics methodology to assess smoking-related social norms. Here, we investigate the effects of selection homophily (the tendency to form friendships with similar peers) and peer influence (a social process whereby an individual’s behavior or attitudes are affected by peers acting as reference points for the individual) on experimentally measured smoking and vaping norms, and other smoking outcomes, in adolescents from high and middle-income settings. Full school year groups in six secondary schools in Northern …

Disability, Race, And Origin Intersectionality In The Doctoral Program: Ableism In Higher Education, Theodoto W. Ressa, Scot Danforth

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This paper explores the experiences of a doctoral disabled student at a university to examine how ableist structures in graduate programs affect access to higher education and post-degree outcomes. Guided by the DisCrit framework and autoethnography approach, the article illuminates systems and processes that disadvantage graduate disabled students. Through intersectional analyses of disability, race, and origin, the article makes visible manifestations of disability microaggressions and systemic ableism, racism, and xenophobia. It interrogates the perpetuation and normalization of academic transgressions, including exclusionary practices that degrade and oppress graduate disabled students and hinder them from seeking success. Finally, the argument is made …

High School Quality Is Associated With Cognition 58 Years Later, Dominika Seblova, Chloe Eng, Justina F. Avila-Rieger, Jordan D. Dworkin, Kelly Peters, Susan Lapham, Laura B. Zahodne, Benjamin Chapman, Carol A. Prescott, Tara L. Gruenewald, Thalida Em. Arpawong, Margaret Gatz, Rich J. Jones, Maria M. Glymour, Jennifer J. Manly

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

We leveraged a unique school-based longitudinal cohort—the Project Talent Aging Study—to examine whether attending higher quality schools is associated with cognitive performance among older adults in the United States (mean age = 74.8). Participants (n = 2,289) completed telephone neurocognitive testing. Six indicators of high school quality, reported by principals at the time of schooling, were predictors of respondents’ cognitive function 58 years later. To account for school-clustering, multilevel linear and logistic models were applied. We found that attending schools with a higher number of teachers with graduate training was the clearest predictor of later-life cognition, and school quality mattered …

Are Deficit Perspectives Thriving In Trauma-Informed Schools? A Historical And Anti-Racist Reflection, Cora Palma, Annmary S. Abdou, Scot Danforth, Amy Jane Griffiths

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Mental health research concerning adverse childhood experiences and neurocognitive trauma has prompted many school districts to pursue the development of trauma-informed schools that attend specifically to the emotional and instructional needs of affected students. Researchers and practitioners are fast proliferating trauma-informed professional practices. Given research findings indicating disproportionate impacts of trauma on students of color and those living in poverty, in this article, we examine the risks of trauma-informed educational programs reanimating cultural deficit theories from the 1960s about marginalized students and families. Educators are challenged to thoughtfully fortify trauma-informed schooling by increasing awareness of deficit perspectives and incorporating critical …

Nature, Nurture, And The Meaning Of Educational Attainment: Differences By Sex And Socioeconomic Status, Thalida Em Arpawong, Margaret Gatz, Catalina Zavala, Tara L. Gruenewald, Ellen E. Walters, Carol A. Prescott

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Estimated heritability of educational attainment (EA) varies widely, from 23% to 80%, with growing evidence suggesting the degree to which genetic variation contributes to individual differences in EA is highly dependent upon situational factors. We aimed to decompose EA into influences attributable to genetic propensity and to environmental context and their interplay, while considering influences of rearing household economic status (HES) and sex. We use the Project Talent Twin and Sibling Study, drawn from the population-representative cohort of high school students assessed in 1960 and followed through 2014, to ages 68−72. Data from 3552 twins and siblings from 1741 families …

Gendered Impact Of Caregiving Responsibilities On Tenure Track Faculty Parents’ Professional Lives, Amy C. Moors, Abigail J. Stewart, Janet E. Malley

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Navigating a career while raising a family can be challenging, especially for women in academia. In this study, we examine the ways in which professional life interruptions due to child caregiving (e.g., opportunities not offered, professional travel curtailed) affect pre- and post-tenure faculty members’ career satisfaction and retention. We also examine whether sharing caregiving responsibilities with a partner affected faculty members’ (particularly women’s) career outcomes. In a sample of 753 tenure track faculty parents employed at a large research-intensive university, results showed that as the number of professional life interruptions due to caregiving increased, faculty members experienced less career satisfaction …

Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Students Experiencing Homelessness And Substance Use In The School Context: A Statewide Study, Hadass Moore, Kris De Pedro

Education Faculty Articles and Research

PURPOSE

This study explored differences between lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB)-housed and homeless students regarding substance use patterns on and off school grounds and the unique contribution of homelessness to substance use in school.

METHODS

Data were from the 2013-2015 California Healthy Kids Survey, a statewide survey of school protective factors and risk behaviors. A representative sample of 9th- and 11th-grade students (N = 20,337) was used. Comparisons between housed (n = 19,456) and homeless (doubled up: n = 715; acute homeless: n = 166) LGB students were conducted. We used chi-square tests to compare rates of lifetime, past-30-day, and …

Dress Coding Latinidad? Color-Blind Sexism In School Dress Code Policies, Marisa Quezada

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Whether dressing for the private or public, clothing is an essential aspect of the human experience; making it a topic that all individuals have some form of connection to. Dress code policies have been a point of contestation for many students for centuries, dating back to Native American boarding schools limiting certain types of clothing or the landmark Tinker v Des Moines case of 1969. Even through the courts at the time argued that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate” in regards to their political expression, dress codes continue …

Bridging The Research-Practice Gap: Development Of A Theoretically Grounded Workshop For Graduate Students Aimed At Challenging Microaggressions In Science And Engineering, Amy C. Moors, Lindsay Mayott, Benjamin Hadden

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Efforts to promote diversity and inclusion often lack a theoretical basis, which can unintentionally exacerbate issues. In this paper, we describe the development and evaluation results of a theoretically grounded workshop aimed at reducing microaggressions and promoting ally engagement among graduate students in science and engineering. In Study 1, using a Delphi method, eight science and engineering faculty members with backgrounds in diversity efforts provided feedback on workshop development. In Study 2, 107 graduate and advanced undergraduate students engaged in the 90-minute interactive workshop. Results indicate that attendees found the workshop valuable, developed new skills for ally engagement, and planned …

Ever-Present “Illegality:” How Political Climate Impacts Undocumented Latinx Parents’ Engagement In Students’ Postsecondary Access And Success, Stephany Cuevas

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Using the ecological systems theory, this study highlights the significant impact the political climate in the United States (i.e., anti-immigrant sentiments and violence) has on undocumented Latinx parents’ engagement in their children’s education. Drawing from a larger qualitative, interview-based study that explored how undocumented Latinx parents were involved and engaged in their children’s postsecondary access and success (Cuevas, 2019; 2020), this study focuses on undocumented parents’ experiences and processing of the 2016 Presidential Election. Findings illustrate how the explicit racist, anti-immigrant, and nativist narratives then-Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump campaigned under and won forced undocumented Latinx parents to (re)evaluate how …

First Things First: Black Women Situating Identity In The First-Year Faculty Experience, Nakia M. Gray-Nicolas, Angel Miles Nash

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The first year in the education professoriate is an ineluctably critical time to establish a pathway for long-term professional success mirroring a scholar’s commitment to positively influencing students, schools, and communities. For Black women, the distinguished dual marginalization that they endure based on race and gender creates challenges and opportunities during that important start to their career. Through Black feminist thought and portraiture’s intentional blurring of art, life, and scientific boundaries, two Black women tenure track faculty use their ‘pens as weapons’ to explicate the first-year professional experiences. They draw on their narratives and that of three other Black women …

Campus Racial Climate, Boundary Work And The Fear And Sexualization Of Black Masculinities On A Predominantly White University, Quaylan Allen

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This article presents data from a study of Black men and masculinities at a predominantly White university. I argue that the campus racial climate on predominantly White universities are important sites of boundary work where fear and sexualization of Black masculinities are normalized in ways that shape Black men’s social relations on college campuses. In doing so, I will share narrative data of how Black male college students perceive the campus racial climate, with a focus on how they are feared and sexualized in predominantly White spaces. I also analyze the ways in which they managed race, gender, and sexuality …

Educator Perceptions Of Adult-Student Relationships, Racial Climate, And Associated Discipline Techniques, Annmary S. Abdou, Ashley M. Mayworm

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The overuse and misuse of exclusionary and punitive discipline practices in schools have been consistently linked to social and educational inequities across the globe, particularly for students of color. However, there is an ongoing need for a greater understanding of how school climate factors (e.g., adult-student relationships, racial climate) relate to the types of discipline approaches observed, particularly from the viewpoints of educators. The current study used hierarchical multiple regression analyses to investigate teacher, administrator, and staff (N = 168) survey responses from four junior high schools where discipline disproportionality for Latinx students had been previously established. Analyses explored …

Challenging Whiteness At Claremont High School, Terri Nicol Watson, Angel Miles Nash

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Ebony Wright was slated to graduate from Claremont High School in the spring. She was on the honor roll, captain of the girls’ varsity softball and swim teams, and recently awarded an academic scholarship to attend a highly ranked university in the fall. Ebony was a “model” student. How she found herself sitting in the principal’s office several weeks before graduation was a shock to everyone. This case study challenges the function of whiteness in school policies. Aspiring school and teacher leaders are provided with the opportunity to consider the impact of a seemingly race-neutral school dress code policy.

Child Obesity Moderates The Association Between Poverty And Academic Achievement, Ashley W. Kranjac, Dinko Kranjac

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Childhood overweight and obesity are major public health problems in the United States. Children who experience poverty are 1.5 times more likely to suffer with overweight and 1.6 times more likely to have obesity. The extent to which overweight or obesity exacerbates the negative influence of socioeconomic inequality on child academic outcomes has not yet been examined. We estimated the effect of poverty on math and reading achievement trajectories using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) Kindergarten class of 1998−1999 survey data and multilevel growth curve modeling techniques. Our findings indicate that the impact of obesity status is more pronounced …

I’M Every Woman: Advancing The Intersectional Leadership Of Black Women School Leaders As Anti-Racist Praxis, April L. Peters, Angel Miles Nash

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The rallying, clarion call to #SayHerName has prompted the United States to intentionally include the lives, voices, struggles, and contributions of Black women and countless others of her ilk who have suffered and strived in the midst of anti-Black racism. To advance a leadership framework that is rooted in the historicity of brilliance embodied in Black women’s educational leadership, and their proclivity for resisting oppression, we expand on intersectional leadership. We develop this expansion along three dimensions of research centering Black women’s leadership: the historical foundation of Black women’s leadership in schools and communities, the epistemological basis of Black women’s …

When Special Education And Disability Studies Intertwine: Addressing Educational Inequities Through Processes And Programming, Audri Sandoval Gomez, Aja Mckee

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The inception of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in 1975 provided hope and the opportunity for equitable educational experiences for individuals with disabilities. Forty-five years later, the United States remains in a deficit-driven, medical model educational system with deeply rooted inequities continuing to segregate students because of their disability. A disability studies in education framework allows for complex components of teaching and programming for students with disabilities to be explored in a practical way that promotes inclusive education for all students. Examining special education practices through a social model of disability with a focus on ability and …

Examining The Multiple Sites Of Meaning In A Participant Photography Project With Black Male College Students, Quaylan Allen

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Participant photography is a visual method that has been widely used in research to elevate the voices of historically marginalized populations. Although much has been written about the nature of the visual method, including its benefits and challenges, less is known about how meaning is made of the visual images as they move throughout the research process. To this end, this article draws upon data and the methodological notes from a research study examining Black masculinities and employs a critical visual methodology to examine the different sites of meaning-making in a participant photography research project with Black college men. First, …

Mechanisms Study: Using Game Theory To Assess The Effects Of Social Norms And Social Networks On Adolescent Smoking In Schools—Study Protocol, Ruth F. Hunter, Felipe Montes, Jennifer M. Murray, Sharon C. Sanchez-Franco, Shannon C. Montgomery, Joaquín Jaramillo, Christopher Tate, Rajnish Kumar, Laura Dunne, Abhijit Ramalingam, Erik O. Kimbrough, Erin Krupka, Huiyu Zhou, Laurence Moore, Linda Bauld, Blanca Llorente, Olga L. Sarmiento, Frank Kee

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

This proof of concept study harnesses novel transdisciplinary insights to contrast two school-based smoking prevention interventions among adolescents in the UK and Colombia. We compare schools in these locations because smoking rates and norms are different, in order to better understand social norms based mechanisms of action related to smoking. We aim to: (1) improve the measurement of social norms for smoking behaviors in adolescents and reveal how they spread in schools; (2) to better characterize the mechanisms of action of smoking prevention interventions in schools, learning lessons for future intervention research. The A Stop Smoking in Schools Trial (ASSIST) …

For Us: Towards An Intersectional Leadership Conceptualization By Black Women For Black Girls, Angel Miles Nash, April L. Peters

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This article is based on a STEM education case study that illumines the work that three Black women school leaders do specifically on behalf of Black girls, and in examining their asset-based approaches, conceptualises their work by articulating an intersectional leadership framework. By historicising and explicating the rich legacy of Black women school leaders, and specifically including the theoretical dispositions in which their pedagogy is rooted, we shine a light on the lacuna that exists in educational leadership that specifically articulates their praxes when working on behalf of students with whom they identify – that is, Black girls. Black women …

Voices Of Mixed-Race Asian Students On College Campuses, Amy Sara Lim

Honors Papers and Posters

Research suggests that there are a growing number of people who identify as mixed-race Asian Americans, and thus there is a growing need to understand and document their experiences (Literte,2009; Sims 2010; Tamai, Nakashima, Williams, 2017). The central question of this study is: how do mixed-race Asian students’ racial identities affect their identities as learners within social, emotional, academic and physical contexts? The goal of this research project is to explore the educational experiences of mixed-race Asian students at a Southern California university with the intention of developing a critical mixed-race pedagogy for educators and scholars. Through mixed methodologies involving …

Change-Makers: A Grassroots Approach To Culturally Responsive Leadership And Teaching, Abigail Amoako Kayser, Angel Miles Nash, Brian Kayser

Education Faculty Articles and Research

While achievement and opportunity gaps and systemic racism exist in the majority of school districts across the United States, not every school district authentically acknowledges and addresses these issues. In this case study, researchers examine a PreK–12 school district situated in a racially and economically diverse mid-Atlantic city in which race- and class-based discrimination have been well documented and recent episodes of extreme racial violence have affected the community. The school district, which employs 1,300 teachers and serves over 14,000 students, developed and implemented a grassroots approach by forming a district-wide culturally responsive leadership team. Through interviews with 10 culturally …

Her Voice: Engaging And Preparing Girls With Disabilities For Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math Careers, Amy Jane Griffiths, Angel Miles Nash, Zachary Maupin, Sneha Kohli Mathur

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related fields comprise the top 30 occupations expected to grow the fastest by 2026. This increase in job opportunities, coupled with the evolution of technology, is creating higher demands for diversity in the labor market. Currently all students require innovative training and support from a young age to pursue STEM careers successfully. However, women and girls with disabilities face unique barriers along the STEM education pipeline. In this paper, we report the current and projected labor market trends in the United States. We then consider how this labor market information can be used by …

Reflections On Critical Pedagogy In America Latina: La Lucha Continua, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"When I speak in Mexico, I support efforts there to create a revolutionary critical pedagogy—one that has not been domesticated and depotentiated by neoliberal dogma. This means the inclusion of a decolonial pedagogy which challenges the “coloniality of power” (patron de poder colonial) that still resides at the heart of post-colonial societies. I would advise as a central, overarching goal of critical pedagogy the struggle for a socialist alternative to the “value form of labor” that exists in capitalist societies throughout North and South America, and that such efforts must be transnational in scope since capitalism is now transnational in …

Tiger Moms, Dragon Dads, And Baby Pandas: Cultural Expectations Of Success Among Asian-American College Students, Corinne Tam

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Family sociologists explore the societal conditions contributing to the need for young adults to move home following the completion of school. This is known as the boomerang phenomenon, and it can be seen as part of a new life stage in which young adults explore their identities, are unstable and self-focused, feel in-between adolescence and adulthood, and sense broad possibilities for the future. Although scholars explore this condition for contemporary young adults, previous literature does not account for the extra pressures that Asian-Americans face. This research project asks, How do college-aged Asian-Americans deal with expectations of success in a contemporary …

Let’S Talk: An Examination Of Parental Involvement As A Predictor Of Stem Achievement In Math For High School Girls, Nicol R. Howard, Keith E. Howard, Randy T. Busse, Christine Hunt

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This research was conducted to examine the influence of parental involvement, in the form of parent conversations, on mathematics achievement for high school girls. Data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) public-use file provided a sample of 13,694 students, including 6,592 girls for our analyses. A scale for measuring parent conversations was developed and regression analyses were conducted to examine whether this scale variable predicted mathematics achievement. Results indicated that conversational parental involvement was a significant predictor of mathematics achievement for Black and White girls, but not Hispanic and Asian. Implications for research and policy initiatives are …

Mathematics For Whom: Reframing And Humanizing Mathematics, Cathery Yeh, Brande M. Otis

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"In this paper, we share a process in which we, as mathematics teacher educators and education researchers, have worked in collaboration with K–6 teachers and students to analyze the purported neutrality of mathematics textbook word problems and to consider ways to use mathematics to analyze social inequities in the world. In the sections that follow, we describe the framework that grounds our development of justice-oriented mathematics curriculum and share an example of how textbook analysis can serve as an entryway to investigations that raise students’ awareness of social issues while developing their power as mathematics thinkers and doers. Drawing from …

School‐Level Body Mass Index Shapes Children's Weight Trajectories, Ashley W. Kranjac

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND

Embedded within children's weight trajectories are complex environmental contexts that influence obesity risk. As such, the normative environment of body mass index (BMI) within schools may influence children's weight trajectories as they age from kindergarten to fifth grade.

METHODS

I use 5 waves of the ECLS‐K—Kindergarten Class 1998‐1999 data and a series of multilevel growth models to examine whether attending schools with higher overall BMI influences children's weight status over time.

RESULTS

Results show that, net of child, family, and school sociodemographic characteristics, children who attend schools with higher rates of obesity have increased weight compared to children who …

(In)Visible Men On Campus: Campus Racial Climate And Subversive Black Masculinities At A Predominantly White Liberal Arts University, Quaylan Allen

Education Faculty Articles and Research

There is an emerging body of literature examining the academic success of Black men attending predominantly White colleges and universities, though less is known about Black college men’s experiences at liberal arts institutions. In this paper, I draw upon semi-structured and photovoice interview data from a study on Black male college students attending a predominantly White liberal arts institution in the USA. Specifically, I will present narrative and visual data of how Black college men perceive the campus racial climate and make sense of their (in)visibility at the university. Drawing upon poststructuralist theories of gender and critical race theory, I …