3-234 - How Ethnic Diversity in Urban Schools Shapes Intergroup Relations and Well-being: A Social Developmental Perspective

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Today’s urban schools provide a unique intergroup context, one where the student body varies not only based on ethnicity but also based on the relative representation of each ethnic group. This diversity is likely to work together with other social identities such as ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation to shape how students are perceived and responded to as well as how they feel about themselves. With backgrounds in social, developmental and educational psychology, three interdisciplinary teams of researchers investigate how the ethnic context of urban schools shapes various aspects of intergroup relations and well-being. Paper 1 focuses on early adolescence and examines how ethnic diversity affects the nature of middle school students’ intersectional stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination based on ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. Paper 2 focuses on middle adolescence and investigates how ethnic diversity works together with high school students’ ethnicity and gender to shape combinations of discrimination and mental health. Paper 3 focuses on late adolescence and studies the implications of the changing ethnic contexts from high school to college for intergroup processes and well-being. Dr. Michael Cunningham, an expert on how race/ethnicity combines with gender to affect well-being and academic achievement of diverse youth in urban settings, will integrate the themes from these papers. By focusing on three key developmental periods - early, middle and late adolescence – and on urban schools, this symposium offers novel insights into the interplay between ethnic diversity and intergroup dynamics and sheds new light on social and developmental theories of intergroup relations.

Sub Unit

• Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Chair

• Negin Ghavami, UCLA

Discussant

• Michael Cunningham, Tulane University

Individual Presentations

• The role of ethnic diversity in shaping intersectional stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination - Presenting Author: Negin Ghavami, UCLA

• Intergroup perceptions and interpersonal processes: The impact of shifting school demographics across the college transition - Presenting Author: Aprile Benner, University of Texas; Kelly A Minor, University of Texas at Austin; Sandra Graham, UCLA

• Profiles of Peer Contact and Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth Well-being - Presenting Author: Yijie Wang, Fordham University; Tiffany Yip, Fordham University