Transcript Ethnicity and Educational Achievement: Data and Explanations

“Race”, Ethnicity and Educational Achievement:
Data and Explanations
Click here for teaching notes and an essay on “Race”, Ethnicity
and Educational Achievement
Click here for a PPT on Social Class and Educational
Achievement
Click here for a PPT on Gender and Educational Achievement
Click here for more information on the Sociology of Education.
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“Race” , Ethnicity and Educational Achievement
Introduction
“Race” and Ethnicity
Relevant data
IQ theory and its limitations
Ethnic minorities, social class disadvantage and educational
achievement
Ethnicity and culture
Ethnicity and racism in schools and in the wider society
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Introduction
The following slides provide an overview of the extent and causes of
ethnic inequalities of educational achievement
I hope that the slides will provide a useful basis for the more detailed
study of this topic and that they also prove useful for revision
purposes
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“Race” and Ethnicity
In many Sociology texts the term “race” appears in inverted
commas.
The term “race” relates to supposed biological differences such as
differences in skin colour, hair texture or shape of eyes as between
different social groups .
However it can be shown that it is perfectly possible that if we
consider at random, say, two white people and one black person,
the overall genetic characteristics of one white person and the black
person may be more similar than those of the two white people.
For this reason most sociologists do not consider “race” to be a
meaningful concept which is why it is placed in inverted commas.
However, most sociologists do see “race” as a dangerous concept
which can lead to the persecution of one “race” by another.
The term ethnicity relates to cultural differences which may exist as
between different social groups and sociologists see this term as
more useful than “race” for the analysis of different social groups.
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement: Relevant Data [1]
Data indicate that relationships between ethnicity and educational
achievement are complex.
Successive cohorts of students in all ethnic groups have increased
educational achievements in the last 30-40 years.
At GCSE level [using national statistics of percentages of students
gaining 5 or more GCSE A*-C grades ] Chinese students are most
successful, followed by Indian –origin, White, PakistaniBangladeshi-origin and Afro-Caribbean –origin students.
There are also significant local variations in ethnic educational
achievements
Female students out-perform male students in every ethnic group.
Upper and middle class students our-perform working class students
in every ethnic group.
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement: Relevant Data [2]
Data on free school meal eligibility show that this appears to have a
greater adverse effect on some ethnic minority students than on
others: for example free school meal eligibility has little adverse
effect on Chinese students.
Ethnic minority students who are relatively unsuccessful at GCSE
level are more likely than are unsuccessful white students to remain
in education.
The broad patterns observable at GCSE level vary slightly at at
Advanced level: Chinese students are still the most successful but
White students are more successful than Indian Origin students
Ethnic minority students are more likely than white students to enrol
on undergraduate courses.
However they are less likely than white students to enrol at higher
status universities and also less likely to gain first class or upper
second class degrees.
Click here for some useful recent statistics from the Office of
National Statistics.
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement : IQ Theory
Theorists: Jensen, Herrnstein, Eysenck, Burt, Murray
These theorists claim that Intelligence can be defined clearly
They claim that intelligence can be measured accurately via IQ tests
They claim that USA data indicate clear ethnic differences in
intelligence as measured in IQ tests even allowing for ethnic
differences in social class membership
In their interpretation research on identical twins suggests that about
80% of the variation in intelligence among individuals can be
explained by genetic factors
They conclude that environmental factors , therefore, are less
important than genetic hereditable factors as determinants of
intelligence
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement: IQ Theory [Criticisms]
Intelligence cannot be defined clearly or accurately measured by IQ tests.
IQ tests may be culturally biased which disadvantages some ethnic minority
students and especially working class ethnic minority students.
Some students may not be at their best when they take the tests
Others may not take the tests seriously
Student IQ test scores can improve with practice, suggesting that they do
not measure fundamental intelligence
The relative importance of genetic and environmental factors in determining
intelligence is unknown but genetic factors are unlikely to be as significant
as suggested by IQ theorists
In the USA the performance in IQ tests of Northern Black Americans has
been higher than that of Southern Black Americans and the performance of
both groups has improved over time suggesting that environmental factors
are significant determinants of intelligence
Some ethnic minority students, most notably Chinese and Indian –origin
students are now out-performing white students which means that the
orthodox conclusions of IQ theory certainly do not apply to them.
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement : Social Class Disadvantage
Ethnic minority members are distributed throughout the UK class structure
but members of some ethnic groups are disproportionately likely to be found
in working class occupations. Therefore they are disproportionately likely to
experience a range of adverse material circumstances associated with
membership of the working class such as:
Low birth weight
Fewer pre-school play groups and nurseries in working class areas
Greater risk of poor diet, under-nourishment, tiredness and sickness
Absence may be caused by the need to care for sick siblings because
parents cannot afford to take time off work
W/C ethnic minority students may feel especially forced to take part-time
paid work which may interfere with their studies.
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement: Social Class Disadvantage
No quiet room for study
Parents unable to afford relevant books, trips or personal computers
Parents unable to afford part-time private tuition or full time private
education
Parents unable to afford housing in catchment areas of most
effective schools
Parents and students fearful of debts associated with higher
education
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement : Cultural Circumstances
Studies of sociologists such as Hyman, Sugarman and Douglas have
suggested that white working class students might be disadvantaged
educationally because of their lack of ambition, strong present time
orientation and unwillingness to defer gratification. The same difficulties
could, in principle, arise for working class ethnic minority members.
However the above studies have also been widely criticised and in any case
we must analyse ethnic minority cultures themselves rather than assume
that white working class and ethnic minority working class pupils are broadly
similar.
It is possible that some ethnic minority students might be disadvantaged
because English is not their first language. However several studies [Driver
and Ballard{1981}; The Swann report {1985}; Moodood and others{1997}]
suggest that in many cases language difficulties have mostly been
overcome by the age of 16.
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement : Cultural Circumstances [2]
Some sociologists have suggested that some ethnic minority members
might be disadvantaged by their family lives, having noted the large
proportion of Afro-Caribbean origin single parent families and the limited
involvement of some Pakistani-Bangladeshi parents with their children’s
education.
However there is also good evidence that Afro-Caribbean origin parents
[single or otherwise] and Pakistani-Bangladeshi parents do see education
as very important.
For example, they have set up their own week-end schools to offset what
they see as the limitations of the official school system.
Secondly, the fact that ethnic minority pupils are more likely than white
pupils to remain in education after the age of 16 suggests a beneficial
parental interest.
Thirdly a study by Moodood and others{2004} showed that rates of
participation in Higher Education were higher for ethnic minority students
than for white students and that parental encouragement was an important
factor encouraging ethnic minority students to opt for Higher Education
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement : Racism in Schools and in the
Wider Society
Excessive emphasis in UK school curriculum on UK culture at the expense
of ethnic minority culture in the teaching of, for example, English, History
and Geography.
Insufficient numbers of ethnic minority teachers to act as positive role
models.
Conscious or unconscious racism of teachers although it is difficult to
assess the actual extent to which teachers are consciously or unconsciously
racist.
Possibility of negative labelling and unfair allocation to lower streams
resulting in educational failure and self-fulfilling prophecies.
Importance of systems of educational triage whereby teachers concentrate
on borderline pupils who might gain 5 A*-C GCSE grades , secondly on high
achievers and only minimally on students who were often Black and
considered unlikely to gain A*-C passes.
Higher rates of school exclusion especially among Afro-Caribbean origin
boys
These points might be linked to the concept of Institutional Racism.
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The Concept of Institutional Racism
In the Lawrence Inquiry Institutional Racism was defined as follows:
” The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate
and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or
ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes and behaviour
which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice,
ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping that disadvantage
ethnic minority people. It persists because of a failure of the
organisation openly and adequately to recognise and address its
evidence and causes by policy, example and leadership. Without
recognition and action to eliminate such racism it can prevail as part
of the ethos or culture of an organisation. It is a corrosive disease.”
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement : Racism in Schools and in the
Wider Society [2]
There are several relevant studies which, however, are difficult to
summarise on PowerPoint Slides.
Bernard Coard
Cecile Wright
Heidi Mirza
Mac An Ghaill
David Gilborn and Dianne Youdell
M.O’Donnell and S. Sharpe
Click here for some information on some of these studies but you
should also consult your textbooks at this point for fuller relevant
information. [I shall provide further links when the site is more fully
developed].
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Ethnicity and Educational Achievement : Racism in Schools and in the
Wider Society [3]
It should be noted that the first 5 studies mentioned on the previous
slide all suggest the schools themselves do contribute in various
ways to the educational difficulties of some ethnic minority students.
However the study by M. O’Donnell and S. Sharpe suggests that
there is at least some possibility that some schools may be more
conscious nowadays of equality of opportunity issues and that they
have introduced policies designed to increase equality of opportunity
for both female and ethnic minority students.
It has been claimed also that ethnic minority pupils are more likely to
encounter racism from other pupils and from members of the wider
society than from teachers.
However these experiences of racism may provoke justified
frustration and anger from the some ethnic minority pupils which
teachers feel must be countered with disciplinary procedures,
possibly including pupil exclusion. In this view teachers are
responding to a situation for which they are not themselves
responsible.
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“Race”, Ethnicity and Educational Achievement: Conclusions
This concludes the introductory presentation. Additional information
can be found by following the link on slide number 14.
However you must also use your textbooks to familiarise yourselves
with some of the detailed conclusions of the various sociological
studies which are relevant to this topic.
Once you have done this , it is important for examination purposes
to be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the various
theories which are used to explain patterns of ethnic educational
achievement.
You should be able to improve your evaluation skills via further class
discussion of the issues involved.
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