Holland, Megan M.
Researchers: Megan M. Holland
University Affiliation: Harvard University
Email: mholland@fas.harvard.edu
Research Question:
Seeks to understand how integration within the same school may be experienced differently by males and females, as this may potentially lead to gender variation in how students approach future integrated situations
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Sociology of Education
Journal Entry: Vol. 85, Pp. 101-120
Year: 2012
Findings:
- Female minority students who were bused in were less satisfied with their experience at the high school than male minority students who were bused in.
- All minority-bused students expressed the sentiment that integration was their burden, and the white students had little interest in understanding their lives.
- Minority-bused males were able to socially integrate with white students due to their status as athletes and because of white boys interest in inner-city culture (e.g. rap and hip hop).
- School practices facilitated minority-bused boys integration by setting athletes up with host families in the suburb. Minority-bused girls families were less comfortable allowing them to stay with families or staying late for extracurricular activities, since they would have to take public transportation at night to return to their homes.
- Minority-bused boys sought to make themselves more approachable, while minority-bused girls did not because they did not feel valued by the schools. This approachability served to further facilitate minority-bused boys social integration into the school, while further alienating minority-bused girls.