School Ethnic Diversity and Student Wellbeing: Lessons from California

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School Ethnic Diversity and Student Well-being 
Lessons from California

• Jaana Juvonen
• University of California, Los Angeles
• ISPA, July 2007

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Social Context, Well-being School Functioning


Social Context
Emotional Well-being
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Focus on Peer Relationships Adjustment
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SCHOOL ETHNIC CONTEXT
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Ethnic Context and Student Adjustment

• How do students of different color cultural
  background feel fit in?
• How does ethnic diversity affect the school
  climate or ethos?
• Does the plight of the victim of bullying feel
  the same when a student belongs to the ethnic
  minority vs. the majority?
• Lay Assumptions Diversity promotes conflict
  numerical minorities more vulnerable

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UCLA Peer Project Sample (N 2003)
45 boys N 909 55 girls N 1094
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ETHNIC DISTRIBUTION BASED ON SCHOOL TYPE
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CLASSROOM DIVERSITY
g Diversity index (Simpson, 1949)
1 ? pi2
1

• Accounts for
• Number of different ethnic groups in a given
  classroom
• Relative proportion of each ethnic group in the
  classroom

3 Hypothetical Examples
1 (.402 .202 .202 .202) .72
1 (.502 .502) .50
1 (.902 .102) .18
3 hypothetical examples A 90 Latino, 10
African-American Diversity index 1 (.902
.102) .18 B 50 Latino, 50 African-American
1 (.502 .502) .50 C 40Latino, 20
Asian, 20 African American, 20 White Diversity
index 1 (.402 .202 .202 .202) .72
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SCHOOL DIVERSITY
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CLASSROOM DIVERSITY
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Ethnic Diversity Protects

• Contrary to the lay assumption, ethnic diversity
  is associated with
• Less bullying
• Safer school climate
• Social satisfaction or less loneliness
• Conclusion There are psychosocial benefits to
  diversity Diversity can promote sense of safety!

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Ethnic Diversity the Emotional Effects of
Bullying

• Bullying experiences ? Anxiety
• Bullying experiences ? Loneliness
• Does the hurt of victims vary depending on the
  proportion of same ethnicity classmates?
• Lay Assumption greater proportion of similar
  others protective

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Social Anxiety
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Loneliness
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No Safety in Numbers when Bullied?

• When victimized, presence of many same ethnicity
  classmates does not protect from distress
• Victim misfit when belongs to a dominant
  (numerical majority) group
• Need to understand how victims make sense of
  their plight

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How do Victims Construe their Plight?
Bullying Why? Emotional
Experience Maladjustment
Bullying Emotional Experienc
e Self-Blame Maladjustment
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Example Bullying Scenario

• Imagine that youve just bought your lunch after
  waiting in line for a long time. As you are
  walking away, someone in the line sticks out
  their foot and trips you. Youre not hurt, but
  most of your food spills on your clothes. The
  other kids in line start laughing at you.

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Characterological Self-blame

• This sort of thing is more likely to happen to
  me than to other kids
• Why do I always get into situations like this?
• If I were a cooler kid, I wouldnt get picked
  on?

Would you think this
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MAJORITY
.21
.32
Mal- adjust
Vic
Self Blame
It must be me.
.11


.07
MINORITY
.24
Mal- adjust
Vic
Self Blame
My group? Others prejudiced?
.16

.18
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Majority Victims Blame Themselves

• When similar others do not protect, bullying
  especially hurtful
• Perceived cause of bullying must be me
• Ethnic minority protected from the hurt because
  of external cause of bullying, such as prejudice
  or discrimination

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Ethnic diversity promotes
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Consequences of Diversity

• Balance of power ? less bullying
• Multiple social norms? more chances to fit in
  belong
• Attributional ambiguity? less self-implicating
  emotional reactions
• Enhanced Well-being
• Optimal Conditions for Learning

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Social Context, Well-being School Functioning


Social Context
Emotional Well-being
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Ethnic Diversity Individual Well-being

• Ethnic minority students likely targets of
  bullying due to their apparent differences
• Yet cannot presume that the ethnic majority
  students do not need support services
• Critical to inquire and target perceptions of
  their social plight

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Challenges for the Community

• How to deal with diversity
• in relatively homogenous schools
• when language barriers promote perceptions of
  differences
• mere contact with different others not enough
  to promote interracial understanding and social
  harmony

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Community Needs

• To reduce prejudice (All port, Pettigrew), need
• Equal status among groups
• Common goals for all
• No competition among groups
• Sanction of interethnic contact by authorities

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Instructional Practices Promoting Harmony

• Rely on cooperative learning groups to mix
  students
• Avoid practices that segregate and promote
  unequal status between ethnic groups (limited
  language proficiency)
• Watch out for subtle messages with good
  intentions (unsolicited help) that highlight
  inequalities

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Beyond Instructional Practices

• Lack of organizational structure (e.g.,
  self-contained classrooms) elevates the need to
  form social hierarchies increases bullying
• Superordinate social categories unite
  heterogeneous student bodies (school teams,
  clubs)
• Aim beyond equity Community volunteering
  empowers even the most vulnerable students

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UCLA Peer Relations Project
Funded by National Science Foundation and William
T. Grant Foundation
Suzanne Markoe Aprile Benner Alice Ho Lu
Jiang Bridget Reynolds Rika Meyer Marissa
Corona many talented UCLA undergrads
Sandra Graham (Co-PI) Jaana Juvonen (Co-PI) Amy
Bellmore, Ph.D. Adrienne Nishina, Ph.D. Michael
Giang Melissa Witkow Vickie Chang Jolena
James Aletha Harven
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