Impact of School Dress Code on Black Girls' Math Course-Taking Pipeline in High Schools

• In Event: Black and Hispanic Students' Educational Experiences and Opportunities

Abstract

Standardized dress codes have become common in American public schools. Currently, more than half (56%) of schools enforce strict dress codes in the US, but vary in their enforcement according to race, gender and social class. Using nationally representative data, we explored the relationship of strict dress codes to girls’ math course taking while considering race-gender interactions. Our findings did not show significant effect on math for Black girls. For Hispanic girls, enforcing dress code improves their math course taking, however, this effect disappears after controlling for socio-economic status and math self-efficacy. Interestingly, for White girls, strict dress codes have positive impact on their math course taking controlling for individual and school variables. Implications for policy and research are discussed.

Authors

• Habiba A Ibrahim, Saint Louis University

• David L Barnes, Washington University in St. Louis

• Sheretta Butler-Barnes, Washington University in St. Louis

• Odis Johnson, Johns Hopkins University