Decomposing ethnic differences in university academic achievement in New Zealand

We use individual-level administrative data to examine the extent and potential explanations for the relatively poorer academic performance of three ethnic minority groups in their first year of study at a New Zealand university. Substantial differences in course completion rates and letter grades are found for Māori, Pasifika, and Asian students relative to their European counterparts. These large and significant gaps persist in the face of alternative definitions of ethnicity and sample restrictions. We use regression analysis and formal decomposition techniques to test whether differences in other personal characteristics, high school backgrounds, and university enrollment patterns might account for these ethnic disparities in early academic achievement. We estimate that no more than one quarter of the relatively poorer performance of Māori and Pasifika students would be eliminated if they had the same relevant observable factors of European students. Substantial unexplained ethnic differences in early academic performance at university raise concerns about appropriate policies to close ethnic gaps in academic achievement at university.     

Gaps in educational outcomes: analysing national examination performance of Singaporean Malay and non-Malay students in the past 20 years

Singaporean students generally perform very well in international tests of mathematics and science. Nonetheless, in multi-cultural Singapore, there exist gaps with the Malays, a minority group in Singapore, systematically lagging behind the other ethnic groups of the Chinese and Indians in many educational performance indicators. While there have been previous qualitative assessments of this issue, rigorous statistical analyses are lacking. In this article, I analyse data from 1991 to 2011 of aggregate percentage passes in national examinations for the different ethnic groups in Singapore. Using time series techniques and regression, I uncovered two major findings. First, the Malay trends in percentage passes for the last two decades were strongly correlated with the non-Malay, national trends. Second, despite the correlation, there remained fluctuations around the national trend by Malay cohorts in the past two decades. Malay cohorts tended to perform better during an upward national trend, but also performed worse during a downward national trend, indicating systematic volatility in performance. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of current research on educational gaps and three decades of community self-help to improve the educational achievement of the minority Malays in Singapore.     

Are Ethnic Minorities Underrepresented in UK Postgraduate Study?

Despite recent rapid increases in postgraduate numbers, little is known about the ethnic background of current postgraduates. This lacuna is addressed using data about the UK postgraduate population. Overall, students from minority ethnic backgrounds are under-represented among research and teacher-training students but not on masters degrees. The trend over time is encouraging. Substantial differences between minority ethnic groups are found and patterns of participation are shown to be structured by subject of study, institutional location and prior attainment. It is argued that differences in representation must be understood in the context of existing knowledge about prior educational patterns and subsequent labour market outcomes. Viewed in this way, underrepresentation of certain minority groups is potential evidence of disadvantage but underrepresentation can be interpreted more positively for other groups. Concerns remain over minorities' access to research degrees and the implications of this for the demographic composition of the academic profession.     

交融中的自觉与共生——我国不同民族汉字使用情况相关数据分析

中国是一个多民族多语言多文字的国家,很早就形成了多民族交错聚居和相互杂居的状态;少数民族不但使用本民族语言文字,还普遍使用汉语和汉字。根据《中国语言文字使用情况调查资料》提供的数据,目前,少数民族文字的使用处于濒危状态;简化汉字在我国各族人民中得到广泛使用;学校是人们学习文字最主要的场所。鉴于此,在全面实施国家通用语言文字法的同时,我们必须处理好汉语文与少数民族语文之间的关系;加强民汉双语人才的培养;倡导民族语文的学习,构建我国多民族语言文字生活的和谐。     

Effect of computer interfaces on chemistry problem solving among various ethnic groups: A comparison of Pen-Point and Powerbook computers

This study investigated the effect of Pen-Point and Powerbook computers on solving a multiple step chemistry (molaritý) problem among White, Afro-American and Hispanic students (N=60) at the high school level. The screens on both computers were partitioned into a work field and a reasoning field. Both computers were programmed to record the time spent in each field, the number of entries made, and a copy of the entries made. Statistical analysis of data showed that more of the White and Afro-American Pen-Point computer users solved the problem correctly than did students using the Powerbook computer. All three ethnic groups made fewer entries, and took less time using the Pen-Point computer than the Powerbook. Attitude survey results of all ethnic groups showed that more Pen-Point computer users felt comfortable working with computers. Over all, the results suggest that the Pen-Point computer has a more positive effect on the problem solving performance and attitude of students towards computers than the Powerbook computer.     

内地高校少数民族大学生的适应问题及对策

少数民族大学生是内地高校的一个特殊群体。内地高校少数民族大学生存在缺乏感恩思想、学习成绩较差、生活习惯差异大、心理问题突出等问题,鉴于此,应注重爱国主义教育、重视学业修养、尊重民俗习惯、关注学生个人情况,以提高内地高校少数民族大学生管理质量,帮助他们尽快适应内地高校生活,这不仅有利于培养少数民族地区人才,也有利于维护国家稳定、民族团结。     

中国西部少数民族人口受教育状况分析

西部是少数民族的主要聚居地,民族地区主要集中在西部。要实现各民族的共同繁荣,顺利地推进西部大开发,西部少数民族人口文化素质的提高是关键。本文利用人口普查和人口抽样调查资料,揭示了西部各民族的人口受教育的基本状况,他们和全国的差距,并对各民族在受教育上的差异进行了分类。在此基础上,提出了发展民族教育的一些设想。     

Teachers' explicit expectations and implicit prejudiced attitudes to educational achievement: Relations with student achievement and the ethnic achievement gap

In this paper, we consider whether teachers' explicit and implicit prejudiced attitudes underlie the ethnic achievement gap. To date, most research on teacher expectation effects has relied on explicit expectation measures that are prone to social desirability biases. In contrast, we examine the effects of teachers' (a) explicit ethnicity-based expectations for academic achievement and (b) implicit prejudiced attitudes about academic achievement on students' actual academic success over time. A total of 38 teachers completed both a traditional teacher expectation measure and a modified Implicit Association Task designed to assess ethnic stereotypes associated with academic achievement and failure. A multi-level analytic framework showed that students in classrooms of teachers with high expectations performed better in reading at the end of the year and that these effects were found across all ethnic groups. In contrast, whereas students' mathematics achievement scores were largely unrelated to teachers' explicit expectations, teachers' implicit prejudiced attitudes predicted student performance. Specifically, students benefited most academically when their teachers' implicit biases favored the ethnic group to which the student belonged. Findings are discussed in relation to differences in the salience of teachers' expectations and implicit prejudiced attitude in the classroom, and the ethnic achievement gap.     

邕剧里的壮族历史文化元素

国家级非物质文化遗产项目邕剧,虽然是汉民族创造的皮黄戏曲剧种,但长期在壮族聚居的桂西南地区流动演出,其舞台语言、音乐、化妆"行头"、剧目内容等,自然融进了壮族的历史文化元素,成为西南各民族共有的戏曲艺术,具有动人的艺术魅力。研究邕剧与壮族历史文化元素交融的现象,可为振兴民族传统文化艺术提供有益的启示。     

Equity Gains in Bangladesh Primary Education

Although equity is a desirable objective of any form of development intervention, including education, not many studies dwell upon this important area. Information on related trends is even more rare. This essay uses field-level data from Bangladesh to examine equity levels and trends in primary education, including enrolment and quality of learning, focusing on equity for different gender, urban or rural, economic and ethnic groups. The study shows that while some disparity between girls and boys has been eliminated, girls are still far behind boys in terms of learning achievement. Children belonging to poorer families and ethnic minority groups lag behind the respective dominant groups in terms of both enrolment and learning achievement. At the same time, there have been some improvements for hitherto excluded groups such as rural girls and children of the poor. These changes are attributed mainly to 'positive discriminatory' steps taken by the government and non-governmental organizations in favour of such groups. If this trend continues, Bangladesh can look forward to establishing itself as a more equitable society than it is now.     

Parental Expectations and Children's Academic Performance in Sociocultural Context

In this paper, we review research on parental expectations and their effects on student achievement within and across diverse racial and ethnic groups. Our review suggests that the level of parental expectations varies by racial/ethnic group, and that students' previous academic performance is a less influential determinant of parental expectations among racial/ethnic minority parents than among European American parents. To explain this pattern, we identify three processes associated with race/ethnicity that moderate the relation between students' previous performance and parental expectations. Our review also indicates that the relation of parental expectations to concurrent or future student achievement outcomes is weaker for racial/ethnic minority families than for European American families. We describe four mediating processes by which high parental expectations may influence children's academic trajectories and show how these processes are associated with racial/ethnic status. The article concludes with a discussion of educational implications as well as suggestions for future research.     

Ethnic Minority Experience in Higher Education

It appears that institutions of higher education in Britain are far behind the schools and colleges of further education in assessing the experience and success of ethnic minorities, and in developing and monitoring equal opportunity policies. The article starts with a review' of currently available evidence from the literature on the participation rate of various ethnic groups in higher education. This is followed by a brief discussion of some key factors influencing their entry into higher education institutions. The information available to date indicates an uneven distribution of ethnic minorities between these institutions and the subjects they offer. The article contains the preliminary findings, from a research project, on the performance of students f om ethnic minority groups at Bradford & Ilkley Community College and four other institutions of higher education in the North of England. There is a brief discussion of some important issues, including racial discrimination and racial harassment, acting as barriers to the success of ethnic minorities in higher education. It is suggested that further research in this area is urgently needed to ensure that students from ethnic minority communities benefit equally from the higher education provision in Britain.     

Ethnicity and gender gaps in early childhood

Gender differences in academic performance and achievement have been of policy concern for decades—both interest in lower performance by girls in the areas of mathematics and science and, more recently, in boys' underperformance in most other academic areas. Much previous research has focused on gender gaps, while overlooking other factors that may play a role, such as ethnicity. This study looks at the gender differences in cognitive assessments at age five across ethnic groups in a sample of English children from the Millennium Cohort Study. While girls generally perform better than boys, general trends mask some differences across ethnic groups. Results show gender gaps at the mean are largest for black and Pakistani and Bangladeshi children and smallest for white children, they are also larger for the teacher‐rated assessments than for the survey‐administered tests.     

Ethnicity,Forms of Capital,and Educational Achievement

Bourdieu's cultural capital thesis is an attempt to explain how social class influences the transmission of educational inequality. In this article, the question of the extent to which various forms of capital also apply to ethnic minorities stands central. On the basis of Dutch and American research findings, a model is formulated and empirically tested with the aid of data from the Dutch Primary Education cohort study. Students from four ethnic groups are included: Dutch, Surinamese, Turkish, and Moroccan. The main variables are language and math test scores, socio-economic milieu, and a number of capital indicators, including financial resources, linguistic resources, parental reading behavior, and educational resources within the family. The results show no mediating effect of resources within the various ethnic groups. The findings also suggest that in research and practice it is relevant to not treat ethnic groups as one homogenous group, but to differentiate between the various groups.     

A Plan of Classifying Pupils

ABSTRACT

Critical ethnic and gender gaps exist in college retention and graduation rates. Early achievement motivation may play an important role in student persistence. A sample of undergraduates completed surveys tapping motivation at the beginning (n = 591) and end (n = 232) of their first semester in college. African American and Caucasian students were more academically self-efficacious than Asian American students. Self-efficacy increased over the semester and was higher for male than female students at both time points. African American and Asian American students were initially more extrinsically motivated than Caucasian students; however, by the end of the semester, all ethnic groups were similar on extrinsic motivation. Female students were more extrinsically motivated and mastery oriented than male students who were more performance oriented. Performance goal orientations were negatively associated with grade point average whereas mastery orientation, intrinsic, and extrinsic motivation were positively associated with academic performance. Implications for higher education are discussed.     

Differential Prediction in the Use of the SAT and High School Grades in Predicting College Performance: Joint Effects of Race and Language

The literature on differential prediction of college performance of racial/ethnic minority students for standardized tests and high school grades indicates the use of these predictors often results in overprediction of minority student performance. However, these studies typically involve native English‐speaking students. In contrast, a smaller literature on language proficiency suggests academic performance of those with more limited English language proficiency may be underpredicted by standardized tests. These two literatures have not been well integrated, despite the fact that a number of racial/ethnic minority groups within the United States contain recent immigrant populations or heritage language speakers. This study investigates the joint role of race/ethnicity and language proficiency in Hispanic, Asian, and White ethnic groups across three educational admissions systems (SAT, HSGPA, and their composite) in predicting freshman grades. Our results indicate that language may differentially affect academic outcomes for different racial/ethnic subgroups. The SAT loses predictive power for Asian and White students who speak another best language, whereas it does not for Hispanic students who speak another best language. The differential prediction of college grades of linguistic minorities within racial/ethnic minority subgroups appears to be driven by the verbally loaded subtests of standardized tests but is largely unrelated to quantitative tests.     

对符号学的回顾和展望: 论符号学的性质、范围和研究方法

从文化依恋角度探索个体对包括本族在内的区内民族及中华民族的认同,是研究中华民族共同体认同的有效途径。以广西三江侗族自治县侗族、苗族、瑶族高中生为被试,探讨个体对区内民族和中华民族的文化依恋。实验1表明,在威胁情境下,阈下呈现本族文化符号提升对随机几何图形的喜爱度评分,反应时显著长于中性图片启动。实验2表明,在威胁情境下,阈下呈现本族、区内其他民族文化符号和中华民族文化符号提升对随机几何图形的喜爱度评分,本族、区内其他民族文化符号和中华民族文化符号启动的反应时显著长于区外民族文化符号和中性图片启动,说明被试对区内民族文化符号和中华民族文化符号形成了依恋。在威胁情境下,本族、区内其他民族文化符号和中华民族文化符号给个体带来了安全感。民族互嵌地区少数民族高中生已将区内其他民族和中华民族视为内群体,对区内其他民族和中华民族形成了依恋。

     

What drives the quality of schools in Africa? Disentangling social capital and ethnic divisions

Two important lines of research have shaped our understanding of the ability of communities to engage in collective action. The first proposes ethnic division as a key determinant, with more ethnically-heterogeneous countries having worse economic performance and fewer public goods. The second focuses on social capital as a major determinant of the ability to engage in collective action. We expect trust among community members, a widely-used measure of social capital, to be an important and positive determinant of school quality.Our work here aims to disentangle the relative effects of ethnic fractionalization and social capital on school quality. We instrument both social capital and ethnic fractionalization by using historical information on the settlement patterns of ethnic groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our empirical strategy is implemented by combining four datasets, including district-level Afrobarometer data, covering 16 Sub-Saharan countries.We find a large positive effect of trust on practical aspects of schooling, such as maintaining buildings or providing textbooks. In sharp contrast, ethnic fractionalization is found to have a very limited effect, if any. We propose a simple model of public-good provision that explores a channel by which social capital and ethnic division may (or may not) affect the provision of local public goods such as schools.     

城市少数民族论略--以兰州市为例

城市少数民族是学术界研究的一个重要课题。本文主要以兰州市为视点，通过分析认为，兰州市城市少数民族的来源既有历史上的定居迁移者，又有建国后新近迁入者，还有改革开放后出现的流动人口．并基于此将兰州市城市少数民族主要划分为世居少数民族、新近少数民族以及流动少数民族三种类型，最终总结出兰州市城市少数民族具有民族成分多、人口增长快、回族穆斯林人口数量多，多居住在城区且既有集中性又有分散性，结构呈现多层次性，有较强的流动性以及民族意识强化等特点。     

Learning analytics to uncover inequality in behavioural engagement and academic attainment in a distance learning setting

Abstract

Although the attainment gap between black and minority ethnic (BME) students and white students has persisted for decades, the potential causes of these disparities are highly debated. The emergence of learning analytics allows researchers to understand how students engage in learning activities based on their digital traces in a naturalistic setting. This study investigates the attainment gap by analysing the differences in behavioural engagement between different ethnic groups. Using multilevel models of academic performance, demographics, and online traces of 149,672 students enrolled in 401 modules in a distance learning setting, we confirmed the existing attainment gap. After controlling for other demographics, module characteristics and engagement, BME students were between 19% and 79% less likely to complete, pass or achieve an excellent grade compared to white students. Given the same academic performance, BME students spent 4-12% more time on studying than white students. While the attainment gap remained persistent after controlling for academic engagement, our study further highlighted the inequality of attainment between BME and white students.