3-158 - Parents’ Socialization Goals and Attitudes toward Diversity during Early Childhood: Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

One of the key challenges of today’s Western societies is their growing cultural heterogeneity and the necessity to help minority children integrate into their societies (Putnam, 2007). Such integrative processes should ideally begin in early childhood, yet there are many challenges in creating inclusive social systems (OECD, 2015; UNESCO, 2015). A better understanding of how parents’ socialization values vary across cultures and ethnic groups will help improve policies and programs aimed at providing all children with a strong foundation. The current symposium addresses these issues in parents of preschool children in nine European countries and in the USA.

The first paper reports on child socialization goals of Portuguese parents from non-western minority backgrounds with a child attending preschool. The study finds that there is a complex interplay of socioeconomic and cultural values in predicting caregivers' goals. The second paper provides a comparative analysis of parents’ attitudes towards diversity in early childhood settings in nine European countries. Results indicate that the importance attached to diversity varies both across and within countries. The third paper examines racial socialization practices among African American and European American mothers with their 3-year old children in the US. The results indicate that African American mothers report significantly greater levels of racial socialization than European American mothers, and their racial socialization practices are related to their experiences of racial stress and discrimination.

These studies will be discussed by Dr. Marie-Anne Suizzo, an expert in research on parental socialization of children across cultures and ethnic groups.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• Martine L Broekhuizen, Utrecht University

Discussant

• Marie-Anne Suizzo, University of Texas at Austin

Individual Presentations

• Socialization Goals for Children in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Caregivers, and their Association with Child Development - Presenting Author: M. Clara Martins Barata, University of Coimbra; Rute Santos, University of Coimbra; Catarina Leitão, University of Coimbra; Maryse Guedes, ISCTE-IUL; Joana Alexandre, ISCTE_Lisbon University Institute; Vanessa Russo, ISCTE-IUL

• Parental Attitudes towards Diversity and Inclusion in ECEC; a Comparison between Nine European Countries - Presenting Author: Martine L Broekhuizen, Utrecht University; Thomas Moser, University College of Southeast Norway; Paul P M Leseman, Utrecht University; Özgün Unver, KU Leuven; Ides Nicaise, KU Leuven

• Racial Socialization Practices among African American and European American Mothers Living in Rural Communities of the US - Presenting Author: Irina L Mokrova, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Patricia Garrett-Peters, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill