Ethnic Minority Students Research Articles

The spatialization of decent work and the role of employability empowerment for minority ethnic young people in emerging economies.

Global rises in precarious labour conditions have prompted further empirical work in Decent Work, a special category of employment characterised by equitable pay, treatment, and healthy working conditions. Despite this, research has tended to be conducted in developed countries with privileged groups such as those with typical working arrangements and rely on psychologically framed individual characteristics to explain marginalising factors. We propose a more sociologically framed, spatialised perspective on Decent Work which posits that marginalising factors are spatially variable and determined but moderated by employability empowerment. We measure our propositions across three spatially different sites of Vietnam through (1) a survey of minority ethnic students and graduates (N = 1071) and (2) a survey of stakeholders involved in the recruitment and employment of this group (N = 204). We find support for most of our propositions and call for more spatialised empirical work in the field of Decent Work.

Learning Difficulties of Ethnic Minority Students for Construction in Geometry

This paper reports the findings of a study that explored the learning difficulties of ethnic students for construction in geometry and analyzed the views and experiences of the students in practicing construction of geometrical figures like triangle and parallelogram with comparing the area of quadrilateral. This study was based on phenomenological research design on exploring the views and experiences of four ethnic minority students. Unstructured interview was used as the main tool for deriving the data from the participants. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted using thematic approach. The results indicated that the students felt conceptual complexity for the learning of geometry. It was found that students had such difficulties due to their irregularity in the geometry classes, teacher’s biasness to the below average students, shyness to ask questions to the teachers and emphasis on culturally privileged students over the minority group of students. Moreover, the ethnic minority students have their own problems as they miss their classes because of socio-economic status of their family and they are confined to their household works. Thus, the study implies that the conceptual complexity and socio-cultural reflection in classroom should be addressed in teaching geometry to the ethnic minority students.

Ethnic Minority Education in Myanmar

This observe explores ethnic minority education in Myanmar through a quantitative evaluation of demographic traits, academic overall performance, get entry to to instructional sources, and perceptions of the getting to know surroundings amongst three hundred participants. The findings reveal a balanced gender distribution and variations in ethnic illustration, emphasizing the want for focused interventions. Despite stereotypes, the moderately excessive imply GPA underscores educational achievements among ethnic minority students. Positive perceptions of library availability advise a robust basis, while demanding situations in computer get entry to factor to areas for development. The take a look at highlights the significance of fostering inclusive and culturally responsive mastering environments to address nuanced perspectives. As Myanmar ambitions for national harmony and sustainable improvement, those findings make a contribution to shaping rules and interventions for an equitable schooling device that embraces the wealthy diversity of its ethnic minority students.

REPRESENTATIONS OF VIETNAMESE ETHNIC MINORITIES IN NEW HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS

In Vietnamese boarding schools for ethnic minority students, learners use national textbooks, primarily designed to serve the major group - Kinh students. Therefore, representations of Vietnamese people and culture in these textbooks may mainly focus on this group, and consequently lead to unfamiliarity and loss of interest among students (Cunningsworth, 1995). In international contexts, representations of ethnic groups in English textbooks have been found problematic (Bassani, 2015; Kim & Ma, 2018; Yamada, 2006, 2010). In Vietnam, this issue has not received sufficient interest except for only one study into this type of representations by Dinh (2014), who reveals that the Vietnamese culture in old high school English textbooks was mainly of Kinh people. To address this research gap, this study was conducted to investigate the representations in new high school English textbooks and the accompanying teachers’ books. Employing qualitative approach and quantitative approach, with the underlying procedures adapted from the study by Weninger and Kiss (2013), the researchers identified certain problems. Some noteworthy findings are the underrepresentation compared to Vietnamese people and culture, the absence of some groups, and the limited range of contextual topics. From the results, it is recommended that teachers make modifications to classroom procedures and materials, and textbooks designers incorporate ethnic minorities with more diverse topics.

Mental wellbeing and ethnic brokerage in friendship networks of adolescents in German secondary schools

ABSTRACT Inter-ethnic brokerage between friends, i.e. having friends with different ethnic backgrounds who are not friends with each other, is essential to social integration processes in multi-ethnic societies. This study examines the relation between inter-ethnic brokerage in adolescent friendship networks and individual mental wellbeing in the school context. Using data on friendship networks from a large-scale study of more than 2,700 seventh-graders in German secondary schools, I analyse the interplay between triadic brokerage structures and ethnicity, combining network analytical methods with linear regression techniques. The results show that brokerage in general is associated with lower mental wellbeing. This negative association is stronger for brokerage between friends with different ethnic backgrounds than for brokerage between friends with the same ethnic background. Furthermore, the negative association is not stronger for inter-ethnic brokerage, where the broker has the same ethnic background as one friend, than for inter-ethnic brokerage, where all actors belong to distinct ethnic groups. The results indicate no differences between ethnic majority and minority students. Though inter-ethnic brokerage is vital to bridge ethnic divides, this study highlights the psychological challenges inter-ethnic brokers may face. It emphasises the relevance of investigating brokerage in inter-ethnic friendships and going beyond dyadic perspectives on inter-ethnic contact.

Disparities and Trends in Middle School Students' Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors: Results From the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2015–2019

PurposeTo examine trends and racial and ethnic disparities in early adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the years immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsThis study used pooled data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's middle school Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 127,912) between 2015 and 2019. Three dichotomized measures of suicide-related behaviors were assessed: suicidal thoughts, planning, and attempts. Weighted prevalence estimates with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each survey year. Linear trends examined disparities in the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, overall and by student demographic characteristics. Main effects odds ratios compared estimates among racial and ethnic minority adolescents with non-Hispanic White students, controlling for sex and grade. ResultsSignificant linear increases were observed for the percentage of middle school students who reported seriously thinking about suicide (18.2%–22.3%), ever making a suicide plan (11.8%–14.7%), and ever attempting suicide (6.9%–9.3%). Racial and ethnic minority students, other than non-Hispanic Asian, showed higher odds of suicidal thoughts and behaviors compared with non-Hispanic White students. DiscussionFindings indicate a need for comprehensive suicide prevention to address health equity and disparities in suicide-related behaviors among middle school-aged adolescents.

SITUATION OF DENTAL CARIES AND GINGIVITIS AMONG ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS AT BOARDING SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN TUYEN QUANG PROVINCE IN 2017

Objectives: To describe the current status of dental caries and gingivitis among ethnic minority students at boarding secondary schools in Tuyen Quang province in 2017. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study on 1,665 ethnic minority students at 6 boarding secondary schools in Tuyen Quang Province. The characteristics of the incidence of dental caries and gingivitis were evaluated according to gender; the rates of caries of primary and permanent teeth were evaluated according to school; the rates of caries and the index of lost fillings of primary and permanent teeth, dental caries, the prevalence of tartar, and bleeding gums were evaluated according to school. Results: The rate of dental caries accounted for 59.3%, of which the rate of permanent tooth decay accounted for 52.3%; the rate of baby tooth decay was 44.6%. Among students with tooth decay, 44.4% had enamel caries; dentin caries rate accounted for 34.2%, and 21.5% had complicated caries. The index of decayed, missing, filled, teeth (DMFT) was 1.93, of which permanent teeth were 1.61, lost teeth were 0.20, and filling teeth were 0.11. The index of DMFT of milk teeth was 1.48, the index of decayed teeth was 1.21, the missing teeth were 0.15, and the filling teeth were 0.13. Gum disease accounted for 46.3% of the students studied. The rate of students with tartar was 34.1%. The average rate of students with bleeding gums was 12.3%. Conclusion: Dental caries, gingivitis, and tartar accounted for a relatively high rate among ethnic minority students at boarding secondary schools in Tuyen Quang Province.

Correction: Arday, Jason (2018). Understanding Mental Health: What Are the Issues for Black and Ethnic Minority Students at University? Social Sciences 7: 196

The publication (Arday 2018) has been amended to increase the clarity of citation sources within the text [...]

Relations between pre-service teacher gaze, teacher attitude, and student ethnicity

In classrooms, ethnic minority students are often confronted with several disadvantages – such as lower academic achievement, more negative teacher attitudes, and less teacher recognition – which are all well examined in educational research. This study sought to understand if more negative teacher attitudes and lower teacher recognition are reflected in teacher gaze. Controlling for student behavior, do teachers look more on ethnic majority than on ethnic minority students? If teachers have a visual preference for ethnic majority students in their classrooms, then we would expect that teachers show a higher number of fixations, longer duration of fixations, and shorter times to first fixation on ethnic majority compared with ethnic minority students. To test this assumption, we designed an explanatory sequential mixed-method study with a sample of 83 pre-service teachers. First, pre-service teachers were invited to watch a video of a classroom situation while their eye movements were recorded. Second, after watching the video, they were asked to take written notes on (a) how they perceived the teacher in the video attended to ethnic minority students and (b) which own experiences they can relate to situations in the video. Finally, a standardized survey measured participants’ age, gender, ethnic background, explicit attitudes toward ethnic minority students, self-efficacy for teaching ethnic minority students, and stereotypes associated with the motivation of ethnic minority students. Results indicated that, in contrast to our hypothesis, pre-service teachers had longer fixation durations on ethnic minority compared with ethnic majority students. In addition, pre-service teachers’ explicit attitudes correlated positively with number (r = 0.26,p < 0.05) and duration (r = 0.31,p < 0.05) of fixations, suggesting that pre-service teachers with more positive attitudes toward ethnic minority students also looked more and longer on ethnic minority students. Furthermore, qualitative analyses indicated that pre-service teachers associated the disadvantaged situations for ethnic minority students with teachers’ stereotypes and student language difficulties; they also referred to their own ethnic minority when reflecting on specific situations in the video. We discuss these findings considering their significance for teacher education and professional development and their implications for further research on dealing with student diversity.

Strengthening the identification of ethnic minority students in universities with the Chinese national community

Strengthening the sense of Chinese national community is the steering wheel of society, the stabilizer of the country, and the centripetal force of the nation. The ideological strategy of strengthening the consciousness of the Chinese national community has clarified the value position and provided principles for the ideological and political education of ethnic minority students in universities in the new era. Only by continuously strengthening minority students' sense of identification with the Chinese national community and firmly establishing a sense of Chinese national community can they better integrate into the great practice of socialist modernization and realize their life values and ideals in the journey of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Parental perspectives on Danish full-day schools for ethnic-minority students

With regard to ethnic-minority students, different education-policy strategies have been discussed and tested in Denmark over the past 30 to 40 years. The most recent are the so-called “full-day schools”, which have been established in a number of municipalities that have areas with a high concentration of ethnic-minority students. Based on an understanding of full-day schools as an education-policy strategy, I use a policy-ethnographic perspective to analyse a trial that took place in the three local schools in the area of Vollsmose in Odense, Denmark. One class from each school was selected for the three-year research project. Using qualitative data from the research project I describe and analyse parents’ reactions to and interpretations of the full-day school trial. These insights illuminate not only the different attitudes of an often overlooked group of actors in response to a trial at their local schools, but also the contradicting values and norms that apply to schooling ethnic-minority students on a more general level. The findings suggest a need for a highly differentiated and “non-ethnicised” view of ethnic minority parents.

Research on the Innovation of Path of Nurturing Education for Ethnic Minority Students in Service Colleges and Universities in the Context of Big Data

Abstract This paper firstly discusses the special name of ethnic minority students’ formation education in colleges and universities under the background of big data, analyzes the influencing factors of formation education, and puts forward the 1535 innovative education model of formation education in colleges and universities. Secondly, based on the innovative education model, the evaluation index system of nurturing education was constructed, the triangular fuzzy number was introduced to optimize the hierarchical analysis method, and the weights of the indexes were determined by using TNFAHP. Finally, an empirical analysis was carried out to assess the effectiveness of the 1535 education model in nurturing education and the evaluation index system. The results show that the path of ethnic minority students in colleges and universities can be coordinated through the development of living habits, learning habits, and civilized habits, and the comprehensive evaluation score of the Adult Education 1535 education model is 80.57 points. This shows that the 1535 education model can effectively promote the formation of education for ethnic minority students and improve their study habits, civilized quality, and life etiquette.

Education for all in action: Measuring teachers’ competences for inclusive education

While inclusive education has achieved international importance, there is no valid instrument to measure teachers’ competences in creating quality classrooms for diverse learners, which this study aims to remedy. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with 975 pre-service teachers and 600 in-service teachers were used. Central to teachers’ inclusive teaching competency is both beliefs and efficacy. Results show that teachers hold professional beliefs on student diversity, organized in four factors mapping unto axes of diversity (specifically ethnicity, disability, SES, and gender & sexuality). Teachers also hold beliefs on the responsibility of the educational field to create inclusion, organized in three factors: general school policy, initiatives geared specifically towards ethnic minority students, and initiatives for students with a disability. Furthermore, the results show five factors related to self-efficacy: noticing student diversity, enabling high-quality student-interactions, creating stimulating learning environments, collaborating with colleagues and diverse parents. The factorial structure and scale-scores are discussed for what they unveil of teachers’ thinking about diversity in the classroom.

Non-native Accents among School Beginners and Teacher Expectations for Future Student Achievements

Based on sociological, economic, and social-psychological theories of discrimination and bias, this study addresses non-native accents among ethnic minority students as they begin school and explores effects of such accents on their teachers’ achievement expectations. Using a unique data set of first graders in Germany, the analysis reveals that a non-native accent is relevant to teachers’ expectations net of student skills, abilities, and other background variables. Associations are stronger in the language domain than in mathematics, indicating that teachers perceive accent-free speech as a language-learning requirement. However, residual influences of non-native accents on teacher expectations also exist in the math domain and persist even after prolonged periods of teacher-student interaction. Mechanisms of statistical discrimination and stereotype-based discrimination can partially explain these effects. However, the overall pattern of results suggests a stigmatization of non-native accents, potentially resulting from the activation of negative associations related to foreignness and disfluency.

Trend and heterogeneity in forced vital capacity among Chinese students during 1985–2019: results from Chinese National Survey on Students’ Constitution and Health

BackgroundForced vital capacity (FVC) reflects respiratory health, but the long-term trend and heterogeneity in FVC of Chinese students were understudied.MethodsData were from Chinese National Survey on Students’ Constitution and Health 1985–2019. Super Imposition by Translation and Rotation model was used to draw FVC growth curves. Sex-, region-, and nationality-heterogeneity in FVC was evaluated. Spearman correlation and generalized additive model was used to reveal influencing factors for FVC.ResultsCompared to 1985, age at peak FVC velocity was 1.09, 3.17, 0.74, and 1.87 years earlier for urban male, urban female, rural male, and rural female in 2019, respectively. Peak FVC velocity first decreased and then increased during 1985–2019, only male rebounded to larger than 1985 level. FVC declined from 1985 to 2005 and then raised. Males consistently had higher FVC than females, with disparities increasing in the 13–15 age group. Urban students also had higher FVC than rural students. In 2019, FVC difference between 30 Chinese provinces and the national average showed four scenarios: consistently above national average; less than national average until age 18, then above; greater than national average until age 18, then this advantage reversed; less than national average in almost all the age. Most Chinese ethnic minority students had lower FVC levels compared to Han students. Spearman correlation and generalized additive model showed that age, sex, and height were the leading influencing factors of FVC, followed by socioeconomic and environmental factors.ConclusionsChinese students experienced advanced FVC spurt, and there was sex-, region- and nationality-heterogeneity in FVC. Routine measurement of FVC is necessary in less developed areas of China.

Enhancing attainment and belonging at the London College of Fashion: a proactive, personalised approach to address limitations of the academic support provision

This paper shared a proactive approach, developed by the Academic Support department in London College of Fashion (LCF), designed to enhance equity of take up of the department’s tutorials and contribute to reducing awarding differences. The paper uses the term Black, Asian and minority ethnic students because University of the Arts London (UAL) uses it as one of the categories for students as part of its collection, analysis and reporting of institutional data. We recognise and acknowledge the terminology is overly broad and contested. Since the paper used UAL’s institutional data, it was working with UAL’s definitions, terminology and categorisations.
 In late 2019, examination of university data indicated lower bookings by Year 3 Home Black, Asian and minority ethnic students (Malik et al., 2021) and International students, and lower enhancement for degree awards, compared to Home White students. LCF has an open-to-all offer of tutorials and dedicated final-year workshops. However, research identifies systemic obstacles encountered by some students within and outside universities (Snoussi and Mompelat, 2019; UUK, 2019). While the department’s offer appeared popular, it required self-initiation by students, which could be a barrier for students experiencing a limited sense of belonging within the College. 
 Drawing on compassionate and solutions-focused approaches, the generic offer was adapted to enable a lecturer-team to offer personalised support to students identified as having the greatest opportunity to benefit from tutorials. Now in its third year, the Proactive Approach has led to greater equity of take up of the department’s provision and higher outcomes for students taking it up. The intervention is being evaluated for the UAL Access and Participation Plan, and data to date suggests it can contribute to enhancing a sense of belonging and unit grades.
 This learning development offer was tailored to be flexible for delivery within restricted time frames and the existing resource of the Academic Support department. Our hopes when sharing it with delegates included giving space to consider its benefits, limitations and potential opportunities to use institutional data to stimulate a redesign of a learning development offer to contribute to universities’ work for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
 Keywords: proactive, personalised, equity, awarding differentials, learning conversations.

Longer schooling with grade retention: The effects of increasing the school leaving age on dropping out and labour market success

This paper examines the effects of increasing the compulsory school leaving age from 16 to 18 in Hungary using a difference-in-regression-discontinuities design empirical strategy. While the reform increased the length of schooling, it did not decrease the probability of dropping out of secondary school, either on average or among the most at-risk group of Roma ethnic minority students. Due to grade retentions, marginal students were older than their peers and couldn't have reached the final grade of secondary school by age 18 to earn a degree. The reform also did not affect the probability of employment, hours worked, wages and the probability of working in low-skilled occupations at ages 20 and 25. In education systems that allow grade retention, compulsory education should have the explicit goal of keeping students in school until they earn a secondary degree, rather than just until a certain age.

The Association between Teacher-student Relationship and Social-emotional Competence among Adolescents: The Chain Mediating Roles of Positive Empathy and Self-efficacy

To investigate the influence mechanism of teacher-student relationship and the social emotional competence of teenagers in ethnic areas of western China, 802 ethnic minority students were conducted by the teacher-student relationship scale, positive empathy scale, self-efficacy scale and social-emotional competence scale. The results show that the teacher-student relationship has a significant positive effect on the social and emotional competence of middle school students; positive empathy and self-efficacy play a separate role between the teacher-student relationship and social-emotional competence; the chain mediation of positive empathy and self-efficacy also plays a significant role between the teacher-student relationship and social-emotional competence. These finding indicates that the teacher-student relationship and individual internal positive resources can promote the social emotional competence of ethnic minority adolescents, and has guiding significance for the positive development of adolescents.

Research on the Phenomenon of Educational Migration in China

In recent years, Chinas educational migration project has narrowed the gap in educational resources between regions and successfully reduced the incidence of poverty. However, students who participate in educational migration need to leave their original learning and living environment, and in such a context, they often face cultural adaptation issues. As migrants, the new living environment can make them feel unfamiliar and even require them to give up traditional living habits; as students, a decrease in the frequency of interaction with family can have a negative impact on their physical and mental development, and ethnic minority students may also face communication difficulties due to language barriers. Educational migrant students, educational migrant receiving schools, and relocation areas are the three main bodies of the educational migrant project. This paper uses qualitative analysis to analyze the cultural adaptation, psychological education, and human resource loss issues in relocation areas, and proposes targeted suggestions on how to better integrate these three bodies with the educational migrant project. Schools that receive educational migrants need to actively take measures to ensure teaching effectiveness, such as strengthening infrastructure construction, improving students cultural adaptability, conducting psychological counseling courses, and encouraging some vocational education graduates to return to their hometowns for employment to solve the problem of human resource loss.

Navigating Transitioning Experiences: A Review of Ethnic Minority First-generation College Students in Chinese Higher Education

Since the 1980s, educational opportunity programs aimed at reducing the disparities between ethnic minority groups and the Han have been implemented in China. In reflection of the policies, the China College Student Survey (CCSS) finds a positive trend of enrollment from first-generation college students with rural backgrounds in the past ten years. An increasing number of scholarly works have also investigated the effects of policies on ethnic minority college students and proposed recommendations for improving policies to assist individuals in adapting to college life. This paper considers the importance of resilience in transitional experiences on both academic and life outcomes and reviews both quantitative and qualitative studies on ethnic minority university students experiences in Han-dominant urban areas. Through Tummala-Narras multicultural resilience framework, this paper concludes three dimensions of resilience employed by ethnic minority individualsresilience as active capital accumulation, resilience as hope and empowerment, and resilience as social supportand finds that to ensure well-being in the Chinese context, individuals most likely find resilience from their personal abilities and interactions with mainstream culture, while downplaying the role of community and family support. In the future, cross-sectional, periodic, and longitudinal data can be introduced to the topic as waves of cultural, economic, and policy shifts engender different experiences for each cohort generation and the diverse pool of ethnic minority students. Considering the fluidity and context-dependent nature of resilience, future studies could probe into how resilience functions in multicultural workspaces post-college and how identities concerning race and ethnicity shape economic relations.