Associations between Ethnic-Racial Identity, Discrimination Experiences, and Academic Adjustment among Colombian Adolescents

• In Event: Understanding Latinx Adolescents' Academic Outcomes: Individual and Contextual Factors

Abstract

Research on U.S. adolescents suggests that youth who report more ethnic-racial discrimination are vulnerable to lower academic adjustment (Benner et al., 2018). Research also points to the protective and compensatory role of ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development for academic adjustment. Specifically, adolescents who have explored and developed clarity about what their ethnic-racial background means to them (i.e., higher ERI achievement) tend to perform better academically (Miller-Cotto & Byrnes, 2016) and cope more effectively with the deleterious effects of discrimination on their academic outcomes (Yip et al., 2019). Although there is robust research literature on the relations between ERI achievement and academic adjustment in the U.S. context, little is known about the extent to which ERI serves as a promotive and protective factor for academic adjustment among youth in countries outside the U.S.

To better understand the factors that affect normative adolescent adjustment on a global scale, it is important to investigate the effects of discrimination in contexts also characterized by ethnic-racial diversity, such as Colombia (Campos-Arias et al., 2016: Sladek et al., 2020). Guided by a risk and resilience framework (Luthar et al., 2000) and prior studies in the U.S. (e.g., Umaña-Taylor et al., 2016), in the current study we examined whether and to what extent ERI achievement was positively associated with academic adjustment (i.e., academic engagement, sense of school belonging, and GPA) and buffered the hypothesized negative relation between ethnic-racial discrimination and academic adjustment among Colombian youth.

The sample included 462 adolescents (53% male; Mage = 15.90, SD = 1.15) attending six secondary schools in Medellín, Colombia. See Table 1 for descriptive information. Surveys were self-administered at each school and included measures of ERI achievement (6 items; α = .81; Douglass & Umaña-Taylor, 2015); ethnic-racial discrimination (11 items; α = .91; Fisher et al., 2000); academic engagement (10 items; α = .86; Skinner et al., 2008); and school belonging (5 items; α = .82; McNeely et al., 2002). Student GPAs were calculated based on school records.

Multivariate path analyses provided evidence of the deleterious impact of ethnic-racial discrimination and the promotive nature of ERI achievement for Colombian youth (see Figure 1). For example, adolescents who reported more frequent experiences of ethnic-racial discrimination also reported lower academic engagement (B = -.20, p < .001) and school belonging (B = -.17, p < .001). Results also indicated that adolescents who reported higher ERI achievement also reported higher levels of academic engagement (B = .25, p < .001) and of school belonging (B = .17, p < .001). We did not find evidence that either ERI achievement or ethnic-racial discrimination was associated with GPA. We also did not find evidence that ERI achievement moderated any of the associations between ethnic-racial discrimination and academic adjustment. In sum, our findings suggest that while ethnic-racial discrimination poses a significant risk for Colombian adolescents’ academic outcomes, ERI achievement serves as a promotive development resource for Colombian youth.

Authors

• Gladys María Aguilar, Harvard University
  Presenting Author

• Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Harvard University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kristia Wantchekon, Harvard University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elana R. McDermott, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michael R Sladek, University of Oklahoma
  Non-Presenting Author

• Liliana Uribe Tirado, Universidad de San Buenaventura
  Non-Presenting Author

• Luz Tilano Vega, Universidad de San Buenaventura
  Non-Presenting Author