According to the 'acting White' hypothesis, African American students who do well in scho... more According to the 'acting White' hypothesis, African American students who do well in school are negatively sanctioned by their peers, leading them to withdraw future academic engagement. No study to date has tested the entire causal process posited by the hypothesis. This article uses the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, nationally representative data, to test the process on high school students. The results lend no support to the process predicted by the 'acting White' hypothesis for African American students, but they do show that African American students receive lower academic 'payoffs' from their socioeconomic status than do White students. Suggestions for future research and reasons for the persistence of the popularity of the acting White hypothesis, despite the dearth of empirical support, are discussed.
ABSTRACT This study challenges the idea that classifying students as first generation is necessar... more ABSTRACT This study challenges the idea that classifying students as first generation is necessarily empowering or helpful for students. The analysis reveals how one college’s discursive construction of the first-generation category benefits the institution at the expense of the students who are classified as such. Using in-depth interviews with staff and first-generation students, along with observation of events aimed at these students, I analyze the discourse about first-generation college students at a selective college and students’ reactions to that discourse. I argue that power operates through the first-generation category by serving the following institutional interests: (1) helping the school to instill a strong sense of institutional identity within first-generation students and (2) providing first-generation students with a hybrid social class identity that discourages them from developing a critical social class awareness. The analysis reveals an institutional discourse about first-generation students that portrays them as academically deficient and in need of cultural transformation. This discourse discourages students from organizing around social class issues by pushing them along an individualist pathway, which is embedded in the meritocratic ideal of individual achievement and neoliberal discouragement of collective class action.
Social reproduction theory suggests that the educational system perpetuates inequality by rewardi... more Social reproduction theory suggests that the educational system perpetuates inequality by rewarding the cultural capital of students from privileged social classes. This article reviews the empirical evidence for this view of education, highlighting debates in the field and directions for future research. Questions of exactly what cultural attributes constitute cultural capital, why cultural capital is linked to improved educational outcomes, and what kinds of students benefit from cultural capital are addressed.
... Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley, Charisse Long and Michael J. Lovaglia ABSTRACT ... ... more ... Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley, Charisse Long and Michael J. Lovaglia ABSTRACT ... 298 Page 17. Hogg, 1990; Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Social identity theory proposes that individual self-concept is shaped by the status of the groups to which the individual belongs. ...
... in academically gifted and advanced place-ment tracks, Mickelson (2008) finds no ... cross-se... more ... in academically gifted and advanced place-ment tracks, Mickelson (2008) finds no ... cross-sectional data (Ainsworth-Darnell and Downey 1998; Faris 2006; Farkas et al ... Whereas previous quantitativestudies have tested whether aca-demic achievement draws negative sanctions ...
Many scholars have argued that students' cultural capital has a positive effect on academic perfo... more Many scholars have argued that students' cultural capital has a positive effect on academic performance because students with cultural capital have better relationships with their teachers (the "teacher-selection" effect). However, theory also points to the importance of a "self-selection" effect, whereby students' cultural capital has a positive effect on academic performance by enhancing students' expectations for future educational attainment. Using National Education Longitudinal Study data, I estimate structural equation models to empirically assess the extent to which teachers' perceptions of students and educational expectations act as mechanisms of the cultural capital effect on grades and standardized test scores. The results show that, contrary to theoretical expectations, teachers' perceptions do not mediate the effect of cultural capital on academic performance. However, educational expectations account for portions of the cultural capital effect on grades and test scores.
People often assume that clergy make job-related decisions based primarily on spiritual criteria,... more People often assume that clergy make job-related decisions based primarily on spiritual criteria, such as a" calling." In this paper, we challenge this sort of belief by examining clergy job search behavior from a sociology of work perspective. Using data from a 1996 national ...
Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2014
ABSTRACT This study asks whether growing access to academic credentials for students from disadva... more ABSTRACT This study asks whether growing access to academic credentials for students from disadvantaged groups will lead to decreased value of those credentials for these groups in college admissions. Drawing on credentialing theory and the concept of adaptive social closure, I argue that as certain academic credentials become democratized (i.e., more accessible to disadvantaged students), their value decreases for students from disadvantaged status groups at the same time as it increases for students from privileged status groups. To test this idea, I use data from two cohorts of American high school graduates to estimate changes in the educational payoff of participation in the Advanced Placement (AP) program for students across racial and social class groups. The results show that at the same time as disadvantaged students gained wider access to the AP program, its effect on their rates of college enrollment declined. During the same time period, the AP effect on the rates of college enrollment for privileged students increased. I conclude that unequal returns to academic credentials for privileged and disadvantaged students represent a hidden dimension of inequality in American higher education. Moreover, the results demonstrate the possibility that as access to an academic credential democratizes, as is the case with the AP program, privileged groups are able to insulate themselves from the negative effects of credential inflation.
The purposes of this study were to (a) assess the measurement of school engagement in prior resea... more The purposes of this study were to (a) assess the measurement of school engagement in prior research that used the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), (b) systematically develop an improved measurement model for school engagement, and (c) examine the measurement invariance of this model across racial and ethnic groups. Results from confirmatory factor analyses indicated that school engagement should be measured as a multidimensional concept. A higher order measurement model in which behavioral and psychological engagement are second-order latent variables that influence several subdimensions is consistent with the data. Results from a series of multiple group analyses indicated that the proposed measurement model exhibits measurement invariance for White, African American, Latino, and Asian students. Therefore, it is appropriate to compare the effects of the dimensions of engagement across these groups. The results demonstrate the advantages of confirmatory factor analysis for enhancing the understanding and measurement of school engagement.
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2010
Our educational system is in a continuous state of reform, yet outcomes are nowhere near what we ... more Our educational system is in a continuous state of reform, yet outcomes are nowhere near what we can accept. Though the search for answers is perpetual, many efforts over the past decade have homed in on one feature of high schools?their size. If we simply reduce school size ...
According to the 'acting White' hypothesis, African American students who do well in scho... more According to the 'acting White' hypothesis, African American students who do well in school are negatively sanctioned by their peers, leading them to withdraw future academic engagement. No study to date has tested the entire causal process posited by the hypothesis. This article uses the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, nationally representative data, to test the process on high school students. The results lend no support to the process predicted by the 'acting White' hypothesis for African American students, but they do show that African American students receive lower academic 'payoffs' from their socioeconomic status than do White students. Suggestions for future research and reasons for the persistence of the popularity of the acting White hypothesis, despite the dearth of empirical support, are discussed.
ABSTRACT This study challenges the idea that classifying students as first generation is necessar... more ABSTRACT This study challenges the idea that classifying students as first generation is necessarily empowering or helpful for students. The analysis reveals how one college’s discursive construction of the first-generation category benefits the institution at the expense of the students who are classified as such. Using in-depth interviews with staff and first-generation students, along with observation of events aimed at these students, I analyze the discourse about first-generation college students at a selective college and students’ reactions to that discourse. I argue that power operates through the first-generation category by serving the following institutional interests: (1) helping the school to instill a strong sense of institutional identity within first-generation students and (2) providing first-generation students with a hybrid social class identity that discourages them from developing a critical social class awareness. The analysis reveals an institutional discourse about first-generation students that portrays them as academically deficient and in need of cultural transformation. This discourse discourages students from organizing around social class issues by pushing them along an individualist pathway, which is embedded in the meritocratic ideal of individual achievement and neoliberal discouragement of collective class action.
Social reproduction theory suggests that the educational system perpetuates inequality by rewardi... more Social reproduction theory suggests that the educational system perpetuates inequality by rewarding the cultural capital of students from privileged social classes. This article reviews the empirical evidence for this view of education, highlighting debates in the field and directions for future research. Questions of exactly what cultural attributes constitute cultural capital, why cultural capital is linked to improved educational outcomes, and what kinds of students benefit from cultural capital are addressed.
... Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley, Charisse Long and Michael J. Lovaglia ABSTRACT ... ... more ... Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley, Charisse Long and Michael J. Lovaglia ABSTRACT ... 298 Page 17. Hogg, 1990; Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Social identity theory proposes that individual self-concept is shaped by the status of the groups to which the individual belongs. ...
... in academically gifted and advanced place-ment tracks, Mickelson (2008) finds no ... cross-se... more ... in academically gifted and advanced place-ment tracks, Mickelson (2008) finds no ... cross-sectional data (Ainsworth-Darnell and Downey 1998; Faris 2006; Farkas et al ... Whereas previous quantitativestudies have tested whether aca-demic achievement draws negative sanctions ...
Many scholars have argued that students' cultural capital has a positive effect on academic perfo... more Many scholars have argued that students' cultural capital has a positive effect on academic performance because students with cultural capital have better relationships with their teachers (the "teacher-selection" effect). However, theory also points to the importance of a "self-selection" effect, whereby students' cultural capital has a positive effect on academic performance by enhancing students' expectations for future educational attainment. Using National Education Longitudinal Study data, I estimate structural equation models to empirically assess the extent to which teachers' perceptions of students and educational expectations act as mechanisms of the cultural capital effect on grades and standardized test scores. The results show that, contrary to theoretical expectations, teachers' perceptions do not mediate the effect of cultural capital on academic performance. However, educational expectations account for portions of the cultural capital effect on grades and test scores.
People often assume that clergy make job-related decisions based primarily on spiritual criteria,... more People often assume that clergy make job-related decisions based primarily on spiritual criteria, such as a" calling." In this paper, we challenge this sort of belief by examining clergy job search behavior from a sociology of work perspective. Using data from a 1996 national ...
Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2014
ABSTRACT This study asks whether growing access to academic credentials for students from disadva... more ABSTRACT This study asks whether growing access to academic credentials for students from disadvantaged groups will lead to decreased value of those credentials for these groups in college admissions. Drawing on credentialing theory and the concept of adaptive social closure, I argue that as certain academic credentials become democratized (i.e., more accessible to disadvantaged students), their value decreases for students from disadvantaged status groups at the same time as it increases for students from privileged status groups. To test this idea, I use data from two cohorts of American high school graduates to estimate changes in the educational payoff of participation in the Advanced Placement (AP) program for students across racial and social class groups. The results show that at the same time as disadvantaged students gained wider access to the AP program, its effect on their rates of college enrollment declined. During the same time period, the AP effect on the rates of college enrollment for privileged students increased. I conclude that unequal returns to academic credentials for privileged and disadvantaged students represent a hidden dimension of inequality in American higher education. Moreover, the results demonstrate the possibility that as access to an academic credential democratizes, as is the case with the AP program, privileged groups are able to insulate themselves from the negative effects of credential inflation.
The purposes of this study were to (a) assess the measurement of school engagement in prior resea... more The purposes of this study were to (a) assess the measurement of school engagement in prior research that used the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), (b) systematically develop an improved measurement model for school engagement, and (c) examine the measurement invariance of this model across racial and ethnic groups. Results from confirmatory factor analyses indicated that school engagement should be measured as a multidimensional concept. A higher order measurement model in which behavioral and psychological engagement are second-order latent variables that influence several subdimensions is consistent with the data. Results from a series of multiple group analyses indicated that the proposed measurement model exhibits measurement invariance for White, African American, Latino, and Asian students. Therefore, it is appropriate to compare the effects of the dimensions of engagement across these groups. The results demonstrate the advantages of confirmatory factor analysis for enhancing the understanding and measurement of school engagement.
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2010
Our educational system is in a continuous state of reform, yet outcomes are nowhere near what we ... more Our educational system is in a continuous state of reform, yet outcomes are nowhere near what we can accept. Though the search for answers is perpetual, many efforts over the past decade have homed in on one feature of high schools?their size. If we simply reduce school size ...
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Papers by Tina Wildhagen