Kurlaender, Michal, & Yun, John T.
Researchers: John T. YunMichal Kurlaender
University Affiliation: UC Davis; University of California, Santa Barbara
Email: mkurlaender@ucdavis.edu
Research Question:
What are the benefits of school desegregation and diversity measured by a nonacademic outcome with social implications (comfort working).
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: American Journal of Education
Journal Entry: Vol. 113, No. 2, pp. 213-243
Year: 2007
Findings:
- The idea is to examine the impact of racial diversity and desegregation on minority students’ White peers or on students from different racial/ethnic minority groups.
- Evaluate the role of school racial composition in promoting civic and democratic outcomes for all students.
- At higher levels of percent White, the relationship between percent White and comfort decreases.
- All racial groups report higher levels of comfort with people of different racial and ethnic groups than do White students.
- All students in schools with higher levels of percent other race are more positive on the outcome comfort, but this association is different across racial/ethnic groups.
- Students who are in more diverse environments do report greater comfort with their peers from different racial/ethnic groups.
- By using different types of school racial composition measures it is less difficult to understand the relationship between the school environment and a variety of outcomes and to more accurately represent the diversity of impacts that are possible from school compositional factors in a time of rapidly changing school enrollment demographics.
- Results suggest that the greatest amount of benefit to changes in white enrollment can be gained at lower shares of percent White. In fact, having very large White enrollment s may not be necessary for the benefits of desegregated schooling to be realized.
- School-level racial diversity is an important factor for student-level outcomes such as comfort.