Understanding Academic Outcomes: Mediational Effect of Teacher-Based Discrimination

Background: The extant literature paints the US educational canvas as racialized, gendered, and stratified on income, particularly for minority backgrounds. African American students primarily—perhaps most situated because of their social position—experience significant bouts of discrimination due to the joint effects of these structural factors. Research examining the independent associations among race, gender, income, and teacher-based discrimination has very minimally examined the intersectionality of these variables. Although race, gender, and income are structural forces, they are activated through social interactions. For many students, their school experiences serve as the activator through teacher-student discrimination. Studies where differences in race and gender and income/social class have been examined suggest associations. However, such independent associations provide limited insights into the relational nuances operating to influence student outcomes. The current study moves beyond independent associations to intersectional analysis. We examine the mechanism by which race, gender, and income may simultaneously intersect with teacher-based discrimination to affect students' academic outcomes, including self-efficacy, attendance, and GPA.

Method: Participants were chosen from the Maryland and Adolescent Development in Context Studies (MADICS). The analysis focused on eight-graders. Of the 1182 students who completed the survey, 704 were selected for this study. The mean age was 14.30 (SD=0.42). Students were labeled either African American (65%) or White (35%). Forty-seven percent was male (n=333). Most of the families’ income levels were less than $49,999 (49%), followed by income levels between $50,000 and $74,999 (33.9%), and more than $75,000 (17%). We applied structural equation modeling to answer our research hypotheses.

Result: Race and gender negatively affected GPA: those students who were either African American or male were more likely to have lower GPA scores. Race and gender had significant effects on GPA with/without the presence of teacher-based discrimination. However, race and gender did not have a significant effect on GPA with the presence of self-efficacy but showed a significant effect without the presence of academic self-efficacy. Therefore, unlike academic self-efficacy, teacher-based discrimination plays a role as a mediator in the relationship between gender, race, and academic performance as measured by grade point average (GPA), but not between income/class and GPA. Similarly, absence/attendance showed a partial mediation effect between GPA and income/class.

Conclusions and Implications: Stereotypical narratives shaping race and gender and teacher-student relationships affect academic performance. Teacher-based discrimination must be included in the discourse around poor academic performance. African American students, regardless of income/class, can benefit from consistent positive race-conscious interactions with their teachers. Poverty is another critical factor to inform policies and practices in around school attendance problems including truancy and absenteeism. Poverty, which is strongly related to race, affects students' school attendance and performance. Implications will be discussed, including ways to create a school culture that fosters positive and race-conscious relationships for bolstering students' school engagement and performance