Examining Black Adolescents' Perceptions of In-School Racial Discrimination: The Role of Gender, Socioeconomic Status and Perceptions of Teacher Support On Academic Outcomes

Abstract

In-school racial discrimination is a risk factor for Black adolescents as it is negatively associated with their academic outcomes including grades and persistence. Scholars have sought to identify protective factors that lessen in-school racial discrimination’s harmful effects. Protective factors consider personal, family and environmental contexts. This dissertation is guided by risk and resilience frameworks, which propose that protective factors help individuals to achieve positive outcomes even in the presence of risk. The present study investigates whether teacher support, an environmental protective factor, buffers the harmful effects of in-school racial discrimination on adolescents’ grades and academic persistence. This dissertation also examines whether teacher support buffering effects differs based on gender or SES. This study used cross-sectional methodology in a sample of three hundred and sixty-four Black seventh grade students (51% female; Mean age= 12.5 years old, SD = 0.6) from three schools located in the suburbs of a Midwestern state. Results did not support study hypotheses as teacher support did not moderate the association between in-school racial discrimination from teachers or from peers and grades or academic persistence. In regards to study hypotheses on gender and SES differences, female adolescents and lower SES adolescents were more negatively impacted by experiences with in-school racial discrimination than their counterparts. In addition, teacher support was positively related to academic outcomes for higher SES Blacks, but not for lower SES Blacks. Implications for social work practice, school interventions and school policy are discussed.