School Context, Student Ethnic Identity, and Attributions for Failure in Urban Middle Schools

• In Event: 35.030 - Motivation and Sociocultural Context: Examining Ethnic Identity and Persistence

Abstract

School context, ethnic identity (EI), and attributions for failure may be possible “underlying mechanism(s)” (Felmlee et al., 2018, p. 178) behind students’ decline in performance during school transition. Using data from a survey of 5,991 urban eighth-graders throughout California, the current study seeks to explore the relationship between these mechanisms. School context may catalyze EI development, whereas EI might provide a lens through which students interpret failure. Given the salience of their ethnic group identity, students with high EI are suggested to report external attributions for failure. This external locus may play a self-protective role in preserving academic achievement. Understanding how EI affects students’ encounter with failure in urban contexts, makes it possible to design supports to help students persevere.

Authors

• Manisha Kaur Chase, University of California - Los Angeles

• Sandra Graham, University of California - Los Angeles