Perceptions of African American College Applicants: The Roles of Race, Criminal History, and Qualifications

African Americans are under-represented in higher education and disproportionately represented among offender populations, with poor educational obtainment a risk factor for criminal behavior. While African American students report low acceptance from Caucasian peers that can influence their educational persistence, few studies have examined Caucasian students’ perceptions of African American students, while examining the influence of race and criminal history. This study endeavored to begin to fill this gap. Students evaluated 1 of 24 hypothetical college applicants, manipulated by race, arrest record, and academic qualifications. Results showed that hypothetical Caucasian applicants benefited from no criminal record when evaluated by Caucasian students, and received higher ratings than Caucasian applicants with a drug arrest record and African American applicants with any criminal record. When evaluated by Caucasian students, African American applicants with no criminal record were no more likely to be accepted than Caucasian or African American applicants with a criminal record. In addition, Caucasian students felt more comfortable around the Caucasian applicant with a DWI arrest over the African American applicant with the same arrest. Racial preference for Caucasian applicants by Caucasian participants also emerged when qualifications were mixed (e.g., low GPA/high ACT). These racial differences did not emerge when ethnic minority students rated these same applicants. Yet, when Caucasian students were asked why they chose their ratings, race was never mentioned. These results support research that African American students can experience race-based barriers in higher education by Caucasian peers, but in a form that is less overt and not readily acknowledged.     

College-conocimiento: toward an interdisciplinary college choice framework for Latinx students

This paper builds upon Perna’s college choice model by integrating Anzaldúa’s theory of conocimiento to propose an interdisciplinary college choice framework for Latinx students. Using previous literature, this paper proposes college-conocimiento as a framework that contextualizes Latinx student college choices within the inequitable distribution of institutional resources in the K-12 system. In particular, the framework centers on the notion that a lack of adequate college guidance can influence a cyclical Latinx college choice process. College-conocimiento is defined as a serpentine process where Latinx students reflect on the college information that they receive, in relation to their intersectional identities when preparing for college. The pathway of college-conocimiento entails seven cyclical spaces and aims for students to develop a reflective college consciousness, exemplified through self-advocacy and supporting peers with the college choice process. This paper challenges college choice as a sequential process by noting that students can repeat stages as needed.     

少数民族预科生自主学习英语能力的培养

本文通过对自主学习理论的分析,结合少数民族预科生学习英语的特点,论述了对少数民族预科生自主学习英语能力的培养策略。     

Multiracial matters – disrupting and reinforcing the racial rubric in educational discourse

When studying matters of race and education, there seems to be an assumption that the inclusion of all monoracial populations equates to a comprehensive look at all students, particularly students of color. But what about students who identify with more than one race? How do Multiracial students identify and how are they included/excluded with respect to educational curricula, policies and climates? This growing group presents an immediate opportunity and challenge to the educational community, because while educational researchers appropriately and vigorously pay attention to matters of traditionally under-represented monoracial groups of color, it has yet to be seen where Multiracial students fall into this discourse. Based on a qualitative study of 25 Multiracially identified college students, I explore the ways in which the notion of Multiraciality muddies traditional conversations about race and education in an effort to better understand the potential impact of this ‘new’ demographic within an educational context.     

An Ecological Approach to Racial Environments and Their Relationship to Mental Health

Although research has demonstrated that aspects of racial environments such as racial experiences and racial diversity can relate to psychological health and well-being, few studies have examined what specifically happens when individuals move from one racial environment to another. The present study asked 179 African Americans transitioning to a predominantly white institution (freshmen or junior transfers) about racial diversity (percentage of African Americans) at their prior institution, racial experiences at their prior institution, and racial experiences at the current institution and examined how these characteristics related to self-reported depression. Overall, we found that more negative previous racial experiences predicted greater depressive symptoms in college. Results also revealed a significant three-way interaction such that more positive current racial experiences predicted less depressive symptoms, but only for those students coming from predominantly negative racial environments—low racial diversity and more negative racial experiences. Our findings highlight the complex role of past and present racial environmental factors in influencing psychological health. Implications for African American college students’ success and well-being are discussed.     

Occupational aspirations and ethnic school segregation: social contagion effects among native German and immigrant youths

In this study, I broaden the perspective on young immigrants’ aspirations by looking at their social embeddedness in the host society in terms of their institutionally predefined ties to school peers. In particular, I investigate the relationship between the aspirations of immigrant and native youths with special regard to the social mechanisms that may underlie peer influences. My analyses are based on multilevel data on ninth graders from the German National Educational Panel Study. The results show that a high ratio of immigrants in schools positively influences the aspirations of both immigrant and native German youths by way of school climate. However, the same context has different effects on different groups of origin. For those of Turkish descent, ‘ethnic schools’ are of twofold significance: first, the aspiration gap between Turks and native Germans decreases with increasing segregation, an effect that may be attributable to less perceived discriminatory experiences in school. Second, Turkish young people's stronger adaptation to the climate in ethnically segregated schools reinforces the protective effect of ethnic segregation and, additionally, lowers the aspirations of these youths. That is, immigrants’ stronger orientation towards their in-group seems to contribute to a buffer against discrimination.     

Examining educational inequalities in two national systems: a comparison of the North African second generation in France and the Mexican second generation in the United States

This paper aims to compare the educational outcomes of children of immigrants in France and in the United States to highlight the ethnic educational inequalities in both countries. The comparison focuses on children from two groups: North Africans in France and Mexicans in the United States. By using two longitudinal datasets, the French Educational Panel Survey and Add Health, we examine aspirations, expectations, and secondary attainment in the two contexts. We explore in particular the role of parental education on attainment. Immigrant families have high educational aspirations in both contexts. North-African families express higher aspirations than native French with similar background, while there are no significant differences between second-generation Mexicans and the majority group net of parental education. Second-generation children are disadvantaged in school in both countries; they are more likely to drop out and less likely to graduate from high school, but most of the disadvantage is related to their social background. Net of social background, the Mexican second generation does not differ from the majority group while the North African second generation is more likely to get the French high school diploma than their peers of French origins, in line with their high aspirations. However, North Africans are more likely to receive the technological baccalauréat than the general baccalauréat.     

Pre-college and college predictors of longitudinal changes in multiracial college students’ self-reported race

This longitudinal study of 1101 multiracial college students from 105 US institutions reveals the dynamic racial designation choices of participants as freshmen and as seniors, as 56% of the sample gave inconsistent responses about their race over time. Logistic regressions predicting a multiracial designation choice as seniors reveal the pre-college and college factors associated with developing or maintaining this choice over the span of college. Experiences such as living on campus, joining a racial or ethnic student organization, taking an ethnic studies course, participating in a racial awareness workshop, and discussing issues of political or personal importance were each significant predictors of the racial identification patterns examined in this study. The results of this study offer evidence of the need to consider longitudinal changes in students’ race and the ways in which students’ racial identification preferences change between the time they enter and leave college.     

Using Cultivation Theory to Understand American College Students’ Perceptions of Arabs in the Media

Research has shown that Arab portrayals on television have an effect on viewers’ beliefs about Arabs in general. Based on questionnaire responses from 429 undergraduate students, this study sought to examine perceptions of Arabs on television. Results revealed that college students have predominantly antagonistic views about Arabs in general and on television. These findings suggest that television can affect the way college students view reality regarding Arabs and how these perceptions can perpetuate negative stereotypes.     

Tales from the playing field: black and minority ethnic students’ experiences of physical education teacher education

This article presents findings from recent research exploring black and minority ethnic (BME) students’ experiences of Physical Education teacher education (PETE) in England (Flintoff, 2008). Despite policy initiatives to increase the ethnic diversity of teacher education cohorts, BME students are under-represented in PETE, making up just 2.94% of the 2007/8 national cohort, the year in which this research was conducted. Drawing on in-depth interviews and questionnaires with 25 BME students in PETE, the study sought to contribute to our limited knowledge and understanding of racial and ethnic difference in PE, and to show how ‘race,’ ethnicity and gender are interwoven in individuals’ embodied, everyday experiences of learning how to teach. In the article, two narratives in the form of fictional stories are used to present the findings. I suggest that narratives can be useful for engaging with the experiences of those previously silenced or ignored within Physical Education (PE); they are also designed to provoke an emotional as well as an intellectual response in the reader. Given that teacher education is a place where we should be engaging students, emotionally and politically, to think deeply about teaching, education and social justice and their place within these, I suggest that such stories of difference might have a useful place within a critical PETE pedagogy.     

Colorism and School-to-Work and School-to-College Transitions of African American Adolescents

Using multinomial logistic modeling, the current study estimated the impact of skin tone on school-to-work and school-to-college transitions of African American youths. The findings suggest that African American males with the lightest skin tone were more likely to find a job and to be in college than their co-racial peers with darker skin tones. The odds of finding a full-time job were also significantly higher for African American females with the lightest skin tone. Generally, the multivariate results reveal that among the effects examined in this study, the family background factors, marital status, prior achievement, and average school socioeconomic status matter the most.     

Latino/a immigrant parents’ educational aspirations for their children

This study explores Latino/a parents’ educational aspirations and parents’ perspectives on supporting educational attainment as a way to better understand the connection between high educational aspirations among Latino/a parents and hindrances to Latino/a youth educational attainment. Data from focus group interviews with immigrant Latino/a parents suggest that parents’ high educational aspirations are shaped by their lived experiences of their own educational and occupational struggles, their immigrant status, and perceptions of opportunity in the United States. In turn, parents’ perspectives on supporting educational attainment are focused on education in the home and guiding their children to overcome inevitable obstacles. This study contributes to current research by expanding sociological theory related to the status attainment process for Latino/as as well as incorporating parents’ perspectives into the broader body of knowledge about how parents support their children’s attainment.     

Hispanics in Higher Education and the Texas Top 10% Law

This paper examines the consequences of changes in Hispanic college enrollment after affirmative action was banned and replaced by an admission guarantee for students who graduate in the top 10% of their high school class. We use administrative data on applicants, admittees, and enrollees from the two most selective public institutions and Texas Education Agency data about high schools to evaluate whether and how application, admission, and enrollment rates changed under the three admission regimes. Despite popular claims that the top 10% law has restored diversity to Texas’s public flagships, our analyses that account for secular changes in the size of graduation cohorts show that Hispanics are more disadvantaged relative to whites under the top 10% admission regime at both University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University. Simulations of Hispanics’ gains and losses at each stage of the college pipeline reveal that affirmative action is the most efficient policy to diversify college campuses, even in highly segregated states like Texas.     

基于心理应激理论的少数民族大学生就业研究

文章通过对广西5所高校的少数民族大学生就业情况进行调查分析,结果发现:少数民族大学生的就业心理应激源主要受到四个方面的影响,分别为社会因素、家庭因素、学校因素和个人因素;在相同的就业心理应激源上少数民族大学生与汉族大学生存在着差异.因此,对少数民族大学生进行就业指导时,应注意来自各方面的应激源,有针对性地进行指导.     

影响青藏高原少数民族大学生就业的文化因素探析

随着我国的高校毕业生分配就业制度模式的转变,受文化生存环境影响的少数民族大学生群体在就业中受到全面的现代文化的挑战,就业的难度空前加大。现在对少数民族大学生就业问题只是单纯的以经济快速发展来解决,本文认为这种解决办法,实际上不自觉的回避了少数民族大学生在就业中存在的深层次的,也比较抽象的文化层面。少数民族大学生面临的就业危机问题,就是少数民族文化与主流文化(汉文化)发生冲突而导致的一种适应和调整的过程。本文就此方面进行了一定的探讨和论述。     

中国高等教育的少数民族优惠政策与教育平等

本文是对目前中国高等教育的少数民族学生入学优惠政策及相关问题的探讨:一是对中国高等教育招收少数民族学生降低分数段优惠政策的讨论;二是对高等院校民族预科班的设置、招生与培养政策及存在的问题的分析;三是对高等教育实行并轨收费制度后,面对少数民族贫困地区大学生无力负担大学教育费用的现状,国家教育优惠政策应及时介入问题的讨论。本文结合当前少数民族高等教育多样性的现实,运用国内外关于民族政策、民族理论及教育平等理论进行了阐释和解析。     

Parental Expectations and Educational Outcomes for Young African American Adults: Do Household Assets Matter?

African American children are more likely to be poor and live in households that are “asset poor,” with no or very little net worth. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its Child Development Supplement, this article explores whether living in a household with net worth above the sample median seems to promote educational success and the development of human capital over time, irrespective of income. Controlling for parental income and education, as well as gender, household wealth in the form of net worth was the best predictor of parental expectations, high school completion, and college enrollment for young African American adults. A brief discussion of possible asset-building policy options follows.     

Do Expectations Make the Difference? A Look at the Effect of Educational Expectations and Academic Performance on Enrollment in Post-Secondary Education

Despite the belief that education is the great equalizer in American society, previous research has shown that the promises of educational accomplishments have not extended equally across racial/ethnic groups as minorities are less likely to matriculate to post-secondary education. Using data from the second follow-up and base year of the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, we examine the impact of GPA and students’ expectations on the probability of post-secondary enrollment. Specifically, we assess the impact of low achievement on the probability of post-secondary enrollment across racial/ethnic groups. We find that low achievement acts as less of a barrier to post-secondary enrollment for minority students compared with their non-Hispanic white counterparts. Moreover, students with high expectations and low achievement experienced higher probabilities of post-secondary enrollment than students with low expectations and high achievement. Given that minority students are said to have higher expectations, we examine whether the interaction of expectations and achievement varies across racial/ethnic groups. While we did not uncover racial/ethnic differences for low-achieving students with high expectations, our findings suggest that expectations help propel all low-achieving students with high expectations into post-secondary enrollment. This study moves beyond the traditional black/white differences by including a number of racial/ethnic groups.     

The transnational career aspirations of France’s high-achieving second-generation Maghrebi migrants

This article examines the mobility aspirations of France’s high-achieving second-generation Maghrebi migrants. Drawing on in-depth, open-ended interviews with students and graduates of grandes ecoles, prestigious higher education institutions, it delves into the career trajectories they intend to embark on beyond the French borders. Three distinct mobility projects are envisioned by the respondents. While some contemplate intensifying their ties with their parents’ homeland, others envisage moving to a ‘third space’ in which they have commonly lived during their studies and established strong connections. Another group of informants seek to set up hyper-mobile careers spanning multiple global-cities. The article suggests that the threat of discrimination and the desire to defy the nation-based assimilationist rhetoric frame the desire to set up transnational pathways. It further disentangles the role of educational resources, social capital in the places envisioned, as well as gender processes in informing these distinctive ways of engaging with the transnational among second-generation migrants. Lastly, the article examines the specific trajectories of respondents who intend to remain in France.