Gender Variation in Racial Discrimination as a Factor in Academic Achievement - Essay Example

Running Head: GENDER VARIATION IN RACIAL DISCRIMINATION Gender Variation in Racial Discrimination as a Factor in Academic Achievement Name Class Date Gender Variation in Racial Discrimination as a Factor in Academic Achievement Introduction Racial discrimination invades all parts of society and is based on variations of physical descriptors that define one ethnic group from another. As communities began to intermingle, the differences from one social group to the next began to emerge as a cause for conflicts just as much as there are economic reasons for conflict. Gender is another aspect of the self that provides a cause for discriminatory behavior. Teachers and related school officials are human and subject to discriminatory feelings that can affect their relationships with the children that they are charged with nurturing intellectually. Those children they affect can be permanently affected by negative discriminatory practices either on a gender or racial level. Adolescents are no exception. Aspects of the identity and the self are compromised when social differences mean that there are discriminatory experiences that place the concept of inferiority within the experiences that help to form the identity when in a school atmosphere. In examining the way in which discrimination is a factor in school experiences, it has been shown that the creation of the identity in the development of adolescents for whom negative experiences have occurred can affect their development and change their future. Gender and Racial Identities Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 25) created a study in which gender discrimination experiences that African American adolescents who were in the 8th grade were examined to see if gender was a factor in discrimination experiences that were associated with academic and psychological function. Girls and boys had no significant variation in the frequency of experiences, but boys reported that they were discriminated against more frequently because of their gender. Aspects of race were more significant in affecting self-esteem while aspects of gender were more important in predicting grade point average and academic achievement. This study shows that how children are treated in regards to identifying factors has an effect on future achievement and their sense of self. Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 26) used a series of conceptual frameworks through which to address their topic. One of these frameworks is the double jeopardy hypothesis. This asserts that Black females will have double marginalization because they belong to two lower status social groups that are considered minorities: female and Black. This means that they are subject to both racial and gender based discrimination. The alternative perspective which applies to Black males is that they suffer from both racial discrimination and discrimination based on their subordination as Black males in order to diminish them as a threat in the male world. Between the two social groups, Black males have the higher level of discrimination experiences because they are perceived as a higher threat. Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 26) also discuss the ethnic-prominence hypothesis which asserts that the racial/ethnic membership has a higher value where discrimination is concerned than the gender membership value. This theoretical framework is in conflict with the double jeopardy hypothesis. In the ethnic-prominence hypothesis the experiences of being Black would have a higher impact on discrimination than the assertion of gender as a factor in discriminatory practices making Black female and Black male experiences similar without the factor of discrimination having much of an impact. Bjorklund and Hernández (2012, p. 282) discuss adolescent and young adult periods of development in relationship to identity as a time in which identity diffusion is becoming more concrete as identity achievement is experienced. The formation of adult identities is related to adolescence when adaption of the identity is conformed to adult identities which have been modeled for them. Bjorklund and Hernández (2012) write that “Particularly surprising is the adolescent foreclosure status where the adolescent…does not actually experience a personal searching period and choice of an identity but rather assumes other peoples’ occupational and ideological identity” (p. 283). In adolescence, seeking people who have the qualities and traits that the individual desires creates a pattern or a series of patterns on which to base their belief systems. Sellers, Copeland-Linder, Martin and Lewis (2006, p. 283) write that this is also a time in which negative experiences can form opinions about the self in which external forces can penetrate the development of the identity and scar its emergence. These scars create impressions upon different aspects of the assertion of autonomy and independence, either causing someone to externalize their frustrations or internalize negative beliefs, and sometimes both. The process of acting out is a way to try and purge the system of the anger that comes from unfair treatment. Learning to cope with unfair treatment is a normal consequence of growing up in a social setting, but when that treatment is a way in which social groups are divided and community is not found in unified experiences, this can create scars on the sense of self that define one as inferior to the other members of the larger social group which in this case is the school system members. Racial Discrimination for Adolescents Sellers, Copeland-Linder, Martin and Lewis (2006, p. 187) state that most of what is known about racial identity has come from experiences with research done on adults. Lowered levels of subjective well-being have been documented in adults who experience racial discrimination. Of the research that has been done in the United States there has been discovered that there is a significant impact from perceived discrimination in a school environment which was negatively related to self-competency beliefs, self esteem, achievement motivation and psychological resiliency. There is a positive correlation to problem behaviors, negative perceptions of friends, anger, and depression. Coping strategies are often created through externalization which includes acting out in ways that express the positively correlated behaviors. Seaton, Yip, & Sellers (2009, p. 407) did a longitudinal study that associated the perception of racial identity and racial discrimination in African American adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18, the results were that the experiences of adolescents was linked to the levels of discrimination that are found within society American society. Therefore, there is a continuation of the experiences of adolescents into the experience of adulthood that perpetuates the level of discriminatory experiences that were experienced during the adolescent years. This means that the scars on the sense of identity and self that evolve as obstacles to success are not healed and will continue to cause barriers to achievement. Harris-brit, Valrie, Kurtz-Costes and Rowley (2007, p. 669) write that one of the aspects of social construction is that groups can form social barriers to the discrimination that affects the individual member so that a sense of pride can develop and create protections. Messages that are important for racial pride and that prepare other members of the group for the effect of bias have been shown to moderate the negotiations between self-esteem and discrimination. In research that studied the effect of positive racial messages on the experience of discrimination, it was found that a buffer was created between the biases of external forces and the sense of identity that was founded on positive racial concepts. Parental messages that create pride in racial identity and prepared children for the biases in the world was significantly important in creating community and also barriers to those external negative forces. Self-esteem came from knowing that bias exists and from knowing that inferiority was not a legitimate factor of the identity, even when implied by other people. Gender Discrimination Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 27) state that gender discrimination is universal across almost all races, with dominance usually residing in the male gender of a culture. Social expectations and roles are a significant source of the creation of identity and the sense of self. Gender also influences how educational development will occur. Gender discrimination will create a negative impact through various factors including lowered self esteem, depression, and restricted occupational aspirations. The psychological and physical development of an individual may also be highly impacted where bias in relationship to gender is experienced. In most experiences, gender bias is against the female gender and the development of the identity is negatively defined by roles and the potential for occupational goals. The experiences of African American women are identified by them as being distinct between their racial experiences of bias and their gender experiences of being biased. Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 27) discuss the experiences of gender may be very different where racial factors affect gender bias. Where White girls are concerned, they are generally perceived with lower intelligence than White males, where Black males are perceived to have lower intelligence than White females. They are, in fact, considered less intellectual than Black females. This is a significant social problem in that the achievement of Black males is an endemic problem is lowered because of bias that is imposed upon them in the school system. As children are perceived as being stereotypically beneath standard they are not encouraged or helped in the same way than children who are stereotypically perceived as being more intelligent. Value becomes ascribed according to factors of gender and race, thus creating deficits that are in direct conflict with achievement. According to Bryan, Glynn and Kittleson (2011, p. 1050) there is a direct relationship between the social cognitive theory and the motivation to learn. The researchers focused on the sciences as course of study in order to determine how self-efficacy and self determination were factors in motivating students to learn science based subjects. Students with higher levels of self-efficacy and self determination were shown to have better applied motivation to their course studies in science. For African American boys, experiences of bias cause problems in the perception of self-efficacy and self determination because they disengage from their school experiences. When they are perceived as being less intelligent and are treated with this type of bias, they have little motivation to pursue higher courses of study. Conclusion The effect of gender bias where racial bias is present is that African American boys will be perceived, and some will then perceive themselves, as having lower levels of intelligence than their classmates. The study done by Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 27) shows that the effect of bias where both gender and race are combined places African American males in the lower perceived intelligence social group below both male and female White students and Black female students. If these biases are demonstrated to adolescents who are in the process of forming their sense of self and identity then this can create negative outcomes in both the perpetuation of stereotypes and the feelings of inferiority that male Black students may perceive. Strong parental influences that send positive messages about racial identity as well as preparation on how to handle bias about race and gender can counteract these effects, just as membership in a strong racially based social group with the same messages. What has been determined above anything else, however, is that racial and gender based bias must be eradicated from school institutions so that every child has an opportunity to develop their occupational aspirations and find support for their sense of self and identity as they develop and grow into high functioning members of society. Resources Bjorklund, D. F., & Hernández, B. C. (2012). Child & adolescent development: An integrated approach. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Bryan, R. R., Glynn, S. M., & Kittleson, J. M. (2011). Motivation, achievement, and advanced placement intent of high school students learning science. Science Education, 95(6), 1049-1065. Cogburn, C. D., Chavous, T. M., & Griffin, T. M. (2011). School based racial and gender discrimination among African American adolescents: Exploring gender variation in frequency and implications for adjustment. Race Social Problems. 3(25), 25-37. Harris‐Britt, A., Valrie, C. R., Kurtz‐Costes, B., & Rowley, S. J. (2007). Perceived Racial Discrimination and Self‐Esteem in African American Youth: Racial Socialization as a Protective Factor. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17(4), 669-682. Seaton, E. K., Yip, T., & Sellers, R. M. (2009). A longitudinal examination of racial identity and racial discrimination among African American adolescents. Child development, 80(2), 406-417. Sellers, R. M., Copeland‐Linder, N., Martin, P. P., & Lewis, R. H. (2006). Racial identity matters: The relationship between racial discrimination and psychological functioning in African American adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 16(2), 187-216. Read More