Gentrification Moves Outward: The Changing Terrain of School Poverty and Suburban Segregation

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 11:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Segregation and Peer Diversity: New Evidence on their Sources and Impacts

Abstract

As gentrification expands beyond urban cores into suburban areas, its impact on educational inequality remains underexamined. This study investigates how suburban gentrification reshapes students’ exposure to school poverty across diverse neighborhood types. Using national data from 2000 to 2020, we analyze changes in racial disparities in exposure to school-level economic disadvantage. Findings reveal that while some gentrifying suburban contexts show modest reductions in racial disparities, others—particularly affluent and “newtown” neighborhoods—exhibit widening gaps. The results underscore the uneven and racialized nature of suburban change and call policy attention to suburban land use, housing affordability, and school zoning practices that exacerbate inequality.

Authors

• Hyojung Lee, Seoul National University

• Kfir Mordechay, Pepperdine University