What Will You Think of Me? Racial Integration, Peer Relationships and Achievement Among White Students and Students of Color

Sabrina Zirkel,

Corresponding Author

Sabrina Zirkel

*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sabrina Zirkel, Director, Social Transformation Program, Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, 450 Pacific Ave., 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94133-4640 [e-mail: [email protected]].Search for more papers by this author

Sabrina Zirkel,

Corresponding Author

Sabrina Zirkel

First published: 11 February 2004

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-4537.2004.00099.x

Citations: 28

Work on this article was facilitated by a research leave and funds provided to the author from the College of the Holy Cross. Special thanks to Bernadette Jean-Josephs and students enrolled in Holy Cross' Advanced Research Lab in Personality for their efforts to help collect and code these data, and to Gretchen E. Lopez, Lisa M. Brown, Irene Frieze, and several anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on previous drafts of this manuscript.

Read the full text

About

PDF

Tools

Share a link

Email
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Wechat

Abstract

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) emphasized that segregation in schools leads the stigmatized students to withdraw from and lower their educational and professional aspirations. I consider this process in a modern sample by examining the relationship between the number of friends students report having at school and their goals and plans and their enjoyment of achievement activities in a sample of elementary and middle school students (N= 80). Students of color were more isolated at school, and this isolation was negatively correlated with interest in academic work. Among White students, however, no relationship between social isolation and interest in academic work was found. Discussion focuses on the role of the social climate in fostering or inhibiting achievement among students of color.

References

Antonucci, T. C. (1986). Social support networks: A hierarchical mapping technique. Generations, X, 10–12.

Google Scholar
Aronson, J. L., Fried, C. B., & Good, C. (2002). Reducing the effects of stereotype threat on African American college students by shaping theories of intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 113–125.
10.1006/jesp.2001.1491
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Arroyo, C. G., & Zigler, E. (1995). Racial identity, academic achievement, and the psychological well-being of economically disadvantaged adolescents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 903–914.
10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.903
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Bowen, W. G., & Bok, D. (1998). The Shape of the River. Princeton , NJ : Princeton University Press.
10.1515/9781400882793
Google Scholar
Braddock, J. H. (1980). The perpetuation of segregation across levels of education: A behavioral assessment of the contact-hypothesis. Sociology of Education, 53, 178–186.
10.2307/2112412
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

Google Scholar
Cantor, N., Norem, J. K., Langston, C. A., Zirkel, S., Fleeson, W., & Cook-Flanagan, C. (1991). Life tasks and daily life experience. Journal of Personality, 59, 425–451.
10.1111/j.1467-6494.1991.tb00255.x
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Cohen, G., Steele, C. M., & Ross, L. D. (1999). The mentor's dilemma: Providing critical feedback across the racial divide. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1302–1318.
10.1177/0146167299258011
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Compelling Need for Diversity in Higher Education (1999). Legal brief reported in Grutter v. Bollinger and James, et al. 0170P FED App. (6^th Cir. 2002).

Google Scholar
Crocker, J. (2002). The costs of seeking self-esteem. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 597–616.
10.1111/1540-4560.00279
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Crocker, J., Major, B., & Steele, C. M. (1998). Social stigma. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology, ( 4th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 554–594). Boston : McGraw-Hill.

Google Scholar
Crocker, J., Sommers, S. R., & Luhtanen, R. K. (2002). Hopes dashed and dreams fulfilled: Contingencies of self-worth and graduate school admissions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1275–1286.
10.1177/01461672022812012
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108, 593–623.
10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.593
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Cross, W. (1995). In search of Blackness and Afrocentricity: The psychology of Black identity change. In H. W. Harris, H. C. Blue, & E. E. H. Griffith (Eds.), Racial and ethnic identity: Psychological development and creative expression. NY : Routledge (pp. 53–72).

Google Scholar
Du Bois, D. L., & Hirsch, B. J. (1990). School and neighborhood friendship patterns of Blacks and Whites in early adolescence. Child Development, 20, 53–72.

Google Scholar
Eckert, P. (1989). Jocks and burnouts: Social categories and identities in the high school. Colchester , VT : Teachers College Press.

Google Scholar
Effects of segregation and the consequences of desegregation: A social science statement. (19531998). Reprinted in W. E. Martin, (Ed.). Brown v. Board of Education: A brief history with documents (pp. 142–151). NY : Bedford, St. Martin's Press.

Google Scholar
Epstein, J. (1985). After the bus arrives: Resegregation in desegregated schools. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 23–44.
10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01127.x
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Ethier, K., & Deaux, K. (1990). Hispanics in ivy: Assessing identity and perceived threat. Sex roles, 22, 427–440.
10.1007/BF00288162
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Ethier, K., & Deaux, K. (1994). Negotiating social identity when contexts change: Maintaining identification and responding to threat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 243–251.
10.1037/0022-3514.67.2.243
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. U. (1986). Black students' school success: Coping with the “Burden of ‘acting white'. Urban Review, 18, 176–206.
10.1007/BF01112192
Google Scholar
Garcia, E. E., & Hurtado, A. (1995). Becoming American: A review of current research on the development of racial and ethnic identity in children. In W. D. Hawley & A. W. Jackson (Eds.), Toward a common destiny: Improving race and ethnic relations in America (pp. 163–184). San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.

Web of Science®Google Scholar
Graham, C., Baker, R., & Wapner, S. (1985). Prior interracial experience and Black student transition into predominantly White colleges. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1146–1154.
10.1037/0022-3514.47.5.1146
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Hallinan, M. T., & Smith, S. S. (1984). The effects of classroom racial composition on students' interracial friendliness. Social Psychology Quarterly, 48, 3–16.
10.2307/3033777
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Hallinan, M. T., & Teixeira, R. A. (1987a). Opportunities and constraints: Black-White differences in the formation of interracial friendships. Child Development, 58, 1358–1371.
10.2307/1130627
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Hallinan, M. T., & Teixeira, R. A. (1987b). Students' interracial friendships: Individual characteristics, structural effects, and racial differences. American Journal of Education, 95, 563–583.
10.1086/444326
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Hurtado, S., Milem, J., Clayton-Pedersen, A., & Allen, W. (1999). Enacting diverse learning environments: Improving the climate for racial/ethnic diversity in higher education. (Ashe-Eric Higher Education Report Volume 26 No. 8). Washington , DC : The George Washington University, Graduate School of Education and Human Development .

Google Scholar
Khmelkov, V. T., & Hallinan, M. T. (1999). Organizational effects on race relations in schools. Journal of Social Issues, 55, 627–645.
10.1111/0022-4537.00139
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Kubitschek, W. N., & Hallinan, M. T. (1998). Tracking and students' friendships. Social Psychological Quarterly, 61, 1–15.
10.2307/2787054
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Lonczak, H. S., Abbott, R. D., Hawkins, J. D., Kosterman, R., & Catalano, R. F. (2002). Effects of the Seattle Social Development Project on sexual behavior, pregnancy, birth, and sexually transmitted disease outcomes by age 21. Archives of Pediatric Medicine, 156, 438–447.
10.1001/archpedi.156.5.438
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Lonczak, H. S., Huang, B., Catalano, R. F., Hawkins, J. D., Hill, K. G., Abbott, R. D., & Kosterman, R. (2001). The social predictors of adolescent alcohol misuse: A test of the social development model. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 62, 179–189.
10.15288/jsa.2001.62.179
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
McNeely, C. A., Nonnemaker, J. M., & Blum, R. B. (2002). Promoting school connectedness: Evidence from a national longitudinal study of adolescent health. Journal of School Health, 72, 138–146.
10.1111/j.1746-1561.2002.tb06533.x
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Miller, L. P. (1996). Tracking the progress of Brown. In E. C. Lagemann & L. P. Miller (Eds). Brown v. Board of Education: The Challenge for Today's Schools. NY : Teachers College Press.

Google Scholar
Moody, J. (2002). Race, school integration, and friendship segregation in America. American Journal of Sociology, 107, 679–716.
10.1086/338954
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Moody, J., & Bearman, P. (2002). Shaping school climate: School context, adolescent social networks, and attachment to school. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Google Scholar
Ogbu, J. U. (1995). Cultural problems in minority education: Their interpretations and consequences—Part II: Case studies. The Urban Review, 27, 271–297.
10.1007/BF02354409
Google Scholar
Oyserman, D., Gant, L., & Ager, J. (1995). A socially contextualized model of African-American identity: Possible selves and school persistence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1216–1232.
10.1037/0022-3514.69.6.1216
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Oyserman, D., Harrison, K., & Bybee, D. (2001). Can racial identity be promotive of academic efficacy? International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 379–385.
10.1080/01650250042000401
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Oyserman, D., & Swim, J. K. (2001). Stigma: An insider's view. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 1–14.
10.1111/0022-4537.00198
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Patchen, M. (1982). Black-White contact in schools: It's social and academic effects. West Lafayette , IN: Purdue University Press.

Google Scholar
Patterson, J. T. (2001). Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and its Troubled Legacy. Oxford , England : Oxford University Press.
10.1093/oso/9780195127164.001.0001
Google Scholar
Pettigrew, T. P. (1998). Intergroup contact theory. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 65–85.
10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.65
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2000). Does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Recent meta-analytic findings. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), The Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology: Reducing prejudice and discrimination. (pp. 93–114). Mahwah , NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc .

Google Scholar
Phinney, J. S. (1996). Understanding ethnic diversity: The role of ethnic identity. American Behavioral Scientist, 40, 143–152.
10.1177/0002764296040002005
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Quinn, D. M., & Spencer, S. J. (2001). The interference of stereotype threat with women's generation of mathematical problem-solving strategies. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 55–71.
10.1111/0022-4537.00201
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Rowley, S. J., Sellers, R. M., Chavous, T. M., & Smith, M. A. (1998). The relationship between racial identity and self-esteem in African American college and high school students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 715–724.
10.1037/0022-3514.74.3.715
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Schmader, T., Major, B., & Gramzow, R. H. (2001). Coping with ethnic stereotypes in the academic domain: Perceived injustice and psychological disengagement. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 93–111.
10.1111/0022-4537.00203
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Sellers, R. M., Chavous, T. M., & Cooke, D. Y. (1998). Racial ideology and racial centrality as predictors of African American college students' academic performance. Journal of Black Psychology, 24, 8–27.
10.1177/00957984980241002
Google Scholar
Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52, 613–629.
10.1037/0003-066X.52.6.613
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 797–811.
10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Steinberg, L., Dornbusch, S. M., & Brown, B. B. (1992). Ethnic differences in adolescent achievement: An ecological perspective. American Psychologist, 47, 723–729.
10.1037/0003-066X.47.6.723
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Tatum, B. D. (1987). Assimilation blues: Black families in a White community. NY : Basic Books.

Google Scholar
Tatum, B. D. (1997). “Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” And other conversations about race. NY : Basic Books.

Google Scholar
Tatum, B. D. (2004). Family life and School experience: Factors in the racial identity development of Black youth in White Communities. Journal of Social Issues, 60, 117–136.
10.1111/j.0022-4537.2004.00102.x
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Triesman, U. (1993). Recruiting and retaining minority students and women in the sciences. Paper presented at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester , MA .

Google Scholar
Wells, A. S. (1996). Re-examining social science research on school desegregation: Long- versus short-term effects. In E. C. Lagemann & L. P. Miller (Eds.), Brown v. Board of Education: The challenge for today's schools (pp. NY : Teachers College Press.

Web of Science®Google Scholar
Wells, A. S., & Crain, R. L. (1994). Perpetuation theory and the long-term effects of school desegregation. Review of Educational Research, 64, 531–555.
10.3102/00346543064004531
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Zirkel, S. (2002). Is there a place for me? Role models and achievement among White students and students of color. Teachers College Record, 104, 357–376.
10.1111/1467-9620.00166
Web of Science®Google Scholar

Citing Literature

Volume60, Issue1

April 2004

Pages 57-74

What Will You Think of Me? Racial Integration, Peer Relationships and Achievement Among White Students and Students of Color

Abstract

References

Citing Literature

References

Information

About Wiley Online Library

Help & Support

Opportunities

Connect with Wiley

What Will You Think of Me? Racial Integration, Peer Relationships and Achievement Among White Students and Students of Color

Abstract

References

Citing Literature

References

Related

Information