Psychosocial Benefits of Ethnic Diversity in Urban Middle Schools

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The purpose of this research is to test a set of interrelated hypotheses about the psychosocial benefits of racial/ethnic diversity in urban middle schools. It is hypothesized that greater diversity can benefit students' mental health, intergroup attitudes, and school adaptation via three mediating mechanisms: (1) decreases in perceived vulnerability; (2) the formation and maintenance of cross-ethnic friendships; and (3) the development of complex social identities. These mediating mechanisms are examined in Aims 1-3. In Aim 4, the moderating influence of school structural characteristics, such as academic tracking, that may limit the mixing opportunities of students are explored. The hypotheses outlined in the four aims will be examined in a 3-year longitudinal study of approximately 3500 6th grade students as they enter one of 14 urban middle schools in southern California. The large sample will be ethnically diverse, comprised of Latino, African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, White, and multi-ethnic students. The 14 middle schools that these students attend will be carefully selected to vary in racial/ethnic composition and level of diversity. Data on students' perceived vulnerability, cross-ethnic friendships, and social identities as well as the outcomes of mental health, intergroup attitudes, and school adaptation will be gathered in fall and spring of 6th grade and in spring of 7th and 8th grade, for a total of four waves of data. Structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling will be used to track growth and change in these interrelated variables over time. By studying pathways to successful adaptation, the overarching goal of the research is to examine the conditions under which greater school ethnic diversity can buffer many of the normative challenges of early adolescence. The research has the potential to be significant in three ways. First, the research can offer transformative ways to think about the meaning and measurement of racial/ethnic diversity. The emerging view of racial/ethnic diversity as a dynamic, multi-dimensional construct can be useful for research in other social settings -- including the neighborhood or workplace -- where the implications of increasing ethnic diversity are a primary concern. Second, the project has the potential to contribute new knowledge about the psychosocial challenges of normative development during early adolescence by focusing on the ways in which ethnically diverse school settings can buffer some of those challenges. Unlike other programs of developmental research, this project conceptualizes school diversity as a protective factor. Third, the research has implications for social policies affecting youth. By making a case for the ways in which diverse schools contribute to the academic and social well-being of all students, the results can contribute to the discourse on legal options for achieving greater racial/ethnic diversity in our nation's urban public schools.