The Theory of Representative Bureaucracy and the Discipline of Female Students

• In Event: Representative Bureaucracy

Abstract

According to the theory of representative bureaucracy, a more diverse public workforce increases the likeliness that the interests of traditionally under-represented groups will be represented during bureaucratic decision-making, which is expected to contribute to improved policy outcomes for these clients. Although clients are comprised of many social identities and scholars are increasingly applying the theory of representative bureaucracy to different contexts, most studies focus on the effects of shared race/ethnicity or gender in the US educational realm. Existing research in the US provides support for the expectations derived from the theory of representative bureaucracy as increases in minority teachers contribute to improvements in the standardized test performance of minority students, having a black teacher increases the likeliness of a black student being referred for a gifted class, and less second-generation discrimination more broadly against black students, minority teachers are associated with less discrimination for minority students, Latinx teachers are associated with increased connectedness and educational expectations of Latinx students, and female teachers are associated with improved educational outcomes for female students.

In this paper, I examine: “To what extent does an increase in minority teachers and women teachers contribute to reduction in the disciplinary outcomes of minority students and female students?”. The “school-to-prison pipeline” refers to the trend of discipline policies in that result in children being “funneled” from public schools into juvenile and criminal justice systems. Despite a decline in juvenile crime rates, there is an increase in student disciplinary outcomes, such as out-of-school suspensions, which contributes to schools playing the critical role of pushing students to their first contact with the criminal justice system. While early research involving the theory of representative bureaucracy focused on school discipline, it – much like most existing research on the “school-to-prison pipeline” – focused on the discipline of minorities, boys, and/or minority boys. This approach, however, leaves the experiences of girls under-explored. Though studied less than men, women are also subject to the negative consequences of the school-to-prison pipeline and there are major differences across racial and ethnic groups. For example, non-Hispanic black girls and Latinas are expelled and suspended at alarming rates relative to non-Hispanic white girls, with rates increasing in recent years. Reflective of the school-to-prison pipeline, since 1980, there has been a 700% increase in the women incarcerated in the US and there are sizable differences in racial and ethnic makeup of incarcerated women. The connections between school discipline and incarceration rates illuminate the importance of understanding the factors that influence the discipline that girls receive in the US public schools.

In this study, I apply the theory of representative bureaucracy to the education context by studying the relationship between increased presence of minority teachers and female teachers and the discipline of girls. Using data on the composition of teachers in public schools, school districts, and disciplinary outcomes in several hundred school districts in Texas and Florida from 2008-18, this study provides insight on the effects of a diverse bureaucratic workforce and centralization of school structures on the punishment of girls. Preliminary results suggest that both representation and context are important in shaping the discipline of female students in school districts in both states, highlighting the importance of applying extensively studied theories to under-studied groups.

Author

• Kenicia Wright, University of Central