Investigating BIPOC Adolescents' Developing Awareness of Economic Inequality Throughout High School

• In Event: Youths' Perception of Racial Identity and Social Inequities in School

Abstract

This mixed methods, longitudinal study utilized survey data from a sample of BIPOC adolescents’ (n = 643) and qualitative interviews with a sub-set of adolescents (n = 70) to consider changes in adolescents’ awareness of economic inequality throughout high school. Additionally, interviews were analyzed to consider how participants explained the causes and effects of economic inequality. Adolescents demonstrated significant, linear growth in their belief that poverty was caused by structural factors, with no significant differences between different racial and gender groups. Results from interviews supported quantitative findings; a majority of students shifted to providing structural causes to explain poverty. When adolescents provided sources of their beliefs, responses most frequently cited personal experiences, and a handful involved media and school-related experiences.

Authors

• Brianna C Diaz, Boston College

• Scott Clifford Seider, Boston College

• Sidney Cecilia May, Boston College