scholarly journals ‘‘I Can Turn It on When I Need To’’: Pre-college Integration, Culture, and Peer Academic Engagement among Black and Latino/a Engineering Students

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony M. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Predominantly Black ◽  
Academic Networks ◽  
College Integration ◽  
White Campuses ◽  
Black And Latino

Drawing on interviews with 38 black and Latino/a engineering students at a predominantly white, elite university, I use a cultural analytic framework to explicate the role of pre–college integration in the heterogeneous psychosocial and academic experiences of students of color on predominantly white campuses. I identify three cultural strategies students of color adopt to navigate the university’s ethnoracially segregated peer network landscape and more specifically, engage majority–white academic peer networks: integration, marginalized segregation, and social adaptation. Integrators, who hail from predominantly white high schools, engage majority–white academic networks with ease, do not experience ethnoracial marginalization, and form predominantly white networks in college. Marginalized segregators, who come from predominantly black, Latino/a, or mixed high schools, exhibit discomfort engaging majority–white academic networks, experience ethnoracial marginalization, and form predominantly same–race or co–ethnic networks in college. Finally, social adapters, who come from high schools with varying ethnoracial compositions, manage their experiences with ethnoracial marginalization to engage majority–white academic networks with ease, and the ethnoracial composition of their college networks varies. The findings extend previous scholarship on the experiences of black and Latino/a students on predominantly white campuses and uncover the cultural processes that contribute to the reproduction of inequality among students of color.

Advocacy for Equity: Extending Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Predominantly White Suburban Schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
April Warren-Grice
Keyword(s):  
Predominantly White ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy ◽  
Culturally Relevant ◽  
Suburban Schools ◽  
Black Educators ◽  
Racial Uplift ◽  
Suburban High Schools ◽  
Relevant Pedagogy ◽  
Black And Latino

Background/Context This article describes Black educators in predominantly White suburban schools who have used advocacy through the lens of culturally relevant pedagogy and serve as Educational Cultural Negotiators to help the students of color in these spaces academically and socially. This article highlights the advocacy needed to address the plight of students of color in suburban schools who disproportionately lag behind their White and Asian counterparts. Purpose/Focus of Study This research focuses on the experiences and reflections of five Black educators who have directed after-school programs in predominantly White suburban schools. Through their experiences and reflections, this study provides a snapshot—part of a larger study—of the ways Black educators use culturally relevant pedagogy to advocate for students of color. Setting Four suburban high schools in a Midwest metropolitan region of the United States. Research Design Qualitative research (i.e., portraiture) was used to capture the reflections and experiences of five Black educators (18–30 years of experience) in predominantly White suburban high schools. I interviewed participants three times during the course of a year, with the last interview conducted as a focus group. I developed interview questions thematically to provide information on each director's background, the role they played in influencing Black and Latino/a student achievement, their experiences as they helped program participants, their insight on sustaining program directors, and suggestions for educational leaders and educators of Black and Latino/a students. Findings/Results Participants shared a sense of racial uplift to address issues of concern with Black and Latino/a students. Racial uplift manifested in the form of racial and academic advocacy. Racial advocacy came through protecting students from various types of mistreatment, neglect, and macro and micro forms of racism. Educators worked with the staff and students to help navigate and negotiate the racial space. Academic advocacy came through encouraging and supporting students to reach their highest potential though mentor-ship, tutoring, student life workshops, college visits, and cultural field trips.

Beyond Posters and Pennants: College-Going Messaging at Three Racially and Economically Diverse Public Schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-42
Author(s):  
Melissa A. Martinez ◽  
Isaac Torres ◽  
Katherine Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
College Going ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
College Going Culture

Context It has been argued that high schools with a majority of students of color and from low-income backgrounds must be purposeful in fostering a college-going culture in order to address the challenges and inequities historically underserved students face in preparing for and accessing a higher education. However, what this looks and sounds like in practice is not always clear, leaving schools seeking common ground on how to create a college-going environment. Purpose Through a symbolic and ecological model of college readiness framework, the messaging associated with the college-going culture at three racially and economically diverse Texas high schools that had consistently high college ready graduate rates was examined. The research questions that guided the study included: What types of college-going culture messages are conveyed at the schools, and how? How might such messaging impact students, school staff and leaders? Research Design This study drew on data from a three-year, multi-site descriptive case study of three public high schools in different regions of Texas that all served approximately 50% or more of students with financial need and 72% to 97% students of color, specifically Latina/o and Black students. Data Collection and Analysis Data was collected during week-long, yearly visits to the three schools and included: school and district documents; individual and group semi-structured interviews with 194 individuals including administrators, teachers, support staff, students, parents, and community members; observations of common areas and classrooms; archival data; and researcher-derived documents including field notes, memos, and photographs of the school grounds and school activities. This paper primarily drew on the pictures taken of the schools (in hallways, classrooms, and shared spaces like cafeterias and libraries), field notes, memos, and interview data that specifically spoke to the visual and verbal messaging associated with the college-going culture. Analysis of data revealed six themes: college is a revered goal with many options; varying degrees of integration; support and resources are at your reach; think college and career; finding funding for college is vital; college is an individual and shared success. Conclusions This study's findings suggest the need to: reconsider what a strong college-going culture entails, re-envision college-going cultures as dynamic, multi-layered, and responsive, reframe postsecondary opportunities so they are more expansive and varied, and re-evaluate inequities in college-going messaging and academic rigor.

Silence as Speech

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Predominantly White ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
Marginalized Students ◽  
College Classrooms ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Voice And Silence

This article addresses the multiple meanings of silence for students of color in college classrooms when discussing racism. Educators have yet to understand the complexity behind silence and how both voice and silence work together to illuminate the experiences of marginalized students. Silence often serves as speech, or as a means of “saying.” Through classroom stories, interview data, as well as my own autobiographical experiences, I address the multiple meanings of silence for students of color in a predominantly white classroom.

Negotiations of Women’s Black and Activist Identity Through Dress on the College Campus, 2013–2019

2020 ◽  
pp. 0887302X2096880
Author(s):  
Dyese L. Matthews ◽  
Kelly L. Reddy-Best
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
Black People ◽  
College Campus ◽  
Predominantly White Institutions ◽  
White Institutions ◽  
Women College Students ◽  
White Campuses ◽  
Embodied Practice

Black people, especially Black women, have used dress to reject racism and discrimination and as a means for negotiating their Black and activist identities. Building on past work, we examine how Black women use dress as an embodied practice to negotiate both their Black and activist identities. We focus on a particular space and time: campus life at predominantly White institutions during the Black Lives Matter movement era from 2013 to 2019.To achieve this purpose, we conducted 15 in-depth, semistructured wardrobe interviews with current Black women college students. Overall, we identified three themes relating to Black women college students: experiences on predominantly White campuses, negotiating Black identity through dress, and negotiating activist identity through dress. Examining how Black women negotiate identity through dress recognizes their stories as important through counter-storytelling, allowing Black women to write their own history in their own voices.

scholarly journals Together and Alone? The Challenge of Talking about Racism on Campus

Daedalus ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 148 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-93
Author(s):  
Beverly Daniel Tatum
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
White Students ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Predominantly White Institutions ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Intergroup Dialogue ◽  
White Institutions ◽  
Global World

Higher education institutions are among the few places where people of different racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds can engage with each other in more than just a superficial way, providing students a unique opportunity to develop the skills needed to function effectively in a diverse, increasingly global world. Whether students develop this capacity will depend in large part on whether the institution they attend has provided structures for those critical learning experiences to take place. But what form should such learning experiences take? This essay argues that positive cross-racial engagement may require both structured intergroup dialogue and intragroup dialogue opportunities to support the learning needs of both White students and students of color in the context of predominantly White institutions.

Exploring Perceptions of the Path to Work/Life Success Among Middle School Students of Color

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-453
Author(s):  
Kizzy Albritton ◽  
Jenny L. Cureton ◽  
Janice A. Byrd ◽  
Cassandra A. Storlie
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Community Partnerships ◽  
Comparison Method ◽  
School Students ◽  
Life Success ◽  
Work And Life ◽  
Black And Latino

There are limited empirical studies examining career-related activities for Black and Latino/a students during the middle school years. Using a constant comparison method, this study examined the narrative data of 63 Black and Latino/a middle school students regarding their perceptions of work and life success. The results of this analysis revealed five overarching themes: exposure, support, attainment, family, and effort/persistence. Implications for career and school professionals, as well as the significance of school–family–community partnerships, are discussed.

Teacher Race and Racial Disparities in Special Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Elizabeth Fish
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Emotional Disturbance ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Teachers Of Color ◽  
Special Education Services ◽  
Teacher Race

The U.S. teacher population is predominantly White, yet research has not yet determined how teacher race might matter to the identification of students with disabilities. This study examines the role of teacher racial composition in special education service receipt. Findings show that schools’ proportion of teachers of color, net of all other factors, is associated with students’ increased odds of receiving special education services for all categories of disability, with the exception of emotional disturbance and autism spectrum disorder. These findings may reflect higher expectations of students held by teachers of color, which may lead to greater special education receipt for students who are not performing as well as expected. Although the effects do not vary by student race for most categories of disability, the evidence presented here suggests that increased representation of teachers of color ameliorates some underrepresentation of students of color in special education.

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