White Female Students Research Articles

Resist School Pushout With and For Black Girls

Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) is a Brooklyn based, intergenerational organization committed to the optimal development of girls of color. GGE centers the experiences of young women of color, in particular, Black cis and trans young women, LGBTQ and gender nonconforming youth within advocacy campaigns, participatory action research and programming. Young women of color disproportionately experience a continuum of violence ranging from verbal, physical and psychological abuse, to sexual assault and rape, homophobia, transphobia, racism, classism, poverty, state sanctioned and institutional violence. Forty percent Black and 37% Latina female students don’t graduate from high school, compared to 22% of white female students[i]...[ii] nearly 1 in 6 transgender and gender nonconforming students face harassment so severe they are forced to leave school. This chapter will share how Girls for Gender Equity works with cis and trans girls of color, and gender non-conforming youth of color to reach their potential as social justice advocates and leaders demanding an end to gender based violence, educational injustices and advocating for gender and racial equity within the 21st Century. [i] When Girls Don’t Graduate We All Fail: National Women’s Law Center, 2007 [ii][ii] Blake, J., Butler, B., Lewis, C., & Darensbourg, A. (2011). Unmasking the inequitable discipline experiences of urban Black girls: implications for urban educational stakeholders. The Urban Review, 43(1), 90-106.

Intercultural pedagogy in study abroad: The experience of white female graduate students


 
 
 
 The purpose of the study was to understand how college counseling and student affairs graduate students make sense of their study abroad experience with cultural difference and how they describe their ability to work with diverse student populations as a result of studying abroad while engaging in intercultural pedagogy. The students in the present study described enhanced awareness of their own culture, became more mindful of cultural differences, and identified connecting with others as an important part of their intercultural development. Participants described the skill of reframing cultural difference as key to their future work as student affairs professionals.
 
 
 

Prevalence of Indoor Tanning and Association With Sunburn Among Youth in the United States

Indoor tanning and sunburns, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood, increase the risk of developing skin cancer. To examine the trends in the prevalence of indoor tanning and the association between indoor tanning and sunburn among US high school students. This study pooled and examined cross-sectional data from the 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey. During 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015, the overall response rates were 71%, 71%, 68%, and 60%, respectively, and unweighted sample sizes were 16 410, 15 425, 13 538, and 15 624, respectively. It included nationally representative samples of US high school students. Data were collected during the spring semester (January to June) in each survey cycle beginning February 9, 2009, through June 18, 2015. Prevalence of indoor tanning in the past year from 2009 to 2015 and its association with sunburn in 2015. Among high school students in the United States, the prevalence of indoor tanning decreased from 15.6% (95% CI, 13.7%-17.6%) in 2009 to 7.3% (95% CI, 6.0%-8.9%) in 2015. Decreases in indoor tanning were found among male (from 6.7% in 2009 to 4.0% in 2015) and female (from 25.4 % in 2009 to 10.6 % in 2015) students overall, non-Hispanic white (from 21.1 % in 2009 to 9.4% in 2015) and Hispanic (from 8.2% in 2009 to 4.7% in 2015) students overall, and all age groups. Among non-Hispanic white female students, the prevalence decreased from 37.4% (95% CI, 33.6%-41.4%) in 2009 to 15.2% (95% CI, 11.7%-19.5%) in 2015. In 2015, indoor tanning was associated with sunburn in the adjusted model: 82.3% (95% CI, 77.9%-86.0%) of indoor tanners had at least 1 sunburn during the preceding year compared with 53.7% (95% CI, 48.9%-58.4%) of those who did not engage in indoor tanning (P < .001). Despite declines in the prevalence of indoor tanning from 2009 to 2015 among high school students nationwide, indoor tanning remains commonplace among certain subgroups, especially non-Hispanic white female students. Three-quarters of those who engaged in indoor tanning had experienced at least 1 sunburn. Efforts by the public health and medical communities are needed to further reduce the prevalence of indoor tanning and sunburn and thus prevent future cases of skin cancer.

White Female Bystanders’ Responses to a Black Woman at Risk for Incapacitated Sexual Assault

We investigated White female college students’ responses to risk for an incapacitated sexual assault involving a Black potential victim. Participants ( N = 160) read about attending a party where they saw a man lead an intoxicated woman into a private bedroom. The potential victim was referred to as having either a distinctively Black name (e.g., LaToya) or a non-distinct control name (e.g., Laura). After random assignment to one of these two conditions, participants reported on their intent to intervene and their perceptions of the situation and the potential victim. As expected, participants assigned to the Black potential victim condition reported less intent to intervene, less personal responsibility to intervene, and greater perceived victim pleasure than participants assigned to the control condition. Neither the certainty of risk nor the perceived victim blame differed as a function of the potential victim’s race. In path analyses, personal responsibility to intervene mediated the relationship between victim race and intent to intervene. The current results suggest that White women in college may choose not to help Black women at risk for sexual assault. Bystander education programs should explicitly address race as a potential barrier to helping others in need.

Assessing People’s Interest in Images with Violent or Disgusting Content: a Functional-Evolutionary Analysis

This study investigated variation in viewing time in response to different types of images with violent and/or disgusting content. We hypothesized that people should exhibit aversion to and avoidance of disgusting images and/or interest in and attraction to images of violence, especially those that represent a potential threat to them. Study participants were 101 White male and female college students. They viewed 60 images on a computer monitor and could control, within certain limits, their viewing time for each image. Viewing time was lowest for disgusting non-violent images, highest for violent non-disgusting images, and intermediate for images that were both violent and disgusting. Images of animal to human violence had higher viewing time than images of human to animal violence, and images of male-male violence in which an outgroup individual was the perpetrator of violence against an ingroup individual had the highest viewing time of all images in which we manipulated the ingroup/outgroup identity of perpetrator and victim. Images of outgroup-ingroup violence also had higher viewing time than images of accidental self-inflicted violence. Female participants had lower viewing time than male participants across most image types, but variation in viewing time in relation to the content of the image was largely similar in men and women. The results of our study are consistent with our hypothesis that differences in viewing time devoted to images with disgusting and violent content reflect functionally adaptive responses to different cues of danger: presence of pathogens vs threat of physical violence. Further research on responses to disgusting and nondisgusting images of violence may enhance our understanding of the role of emotions in the regulation of violent behavior and responses to displays of violence.

Social and Emotional Learning and Equity in School Discipline

Summary Beginning as early as preschool, race and gender are intemvined with the way US schools mete out discipline. In particular, black students and male students are much more likely than others to be suspended or expelled--punishments that we know can hold them back academically. These disparities, and the damage they can cause, have driven recent reforms, including some that incorporate social and emotional learning (SEL) practices. Anne Gregory and Edward Fergus review federal and state mandates to cut down on punishments that remove students from school, and they show how some distIicts are embracing SEL in their effOlts to do so. Yet even in these distIicts, large disparities in discipline persist. The authors suggest two reasons current discipline reforms that embrace SEL practices may hold limited promise for reducing discipline disparities. The first is that prevailing colorblind notions of SEL don't consider power, privilege, and cultural difference--thus ignoring how individual beliefs and structural biases can lead educators to react harshly to behaviors that fall outside a white cultural frame of reference. The second is that most SEL models are centered on students, but not on the adults who interact with them. Yet research shows that educators' own social and emotional competencies strongly influence students' motivation to learn aI1d the school climate in general. Gregory and Fergus desclibe how one school district is striving to OJient its diScipline policies around a conception of SEL that stresses equity and promotes both adults' and students' SEL competencies. Although such reforms hold promise, they are still in the early stages, and the authors call for rigorous empilical work to test whether such efforts can substantially reduce or eradicate racial and gender disparities in discipline. Growing evidence shows that suspending or expelling students from school for misconduct can harm their academic progress. (1) We also know that students' race and gender playa role in how school discipline is meted out Statistical comparisons of students who've been referred for discipline for similar reasons (such as fighting) show that black students and male students are more likely to receive out-of-school suspension than white students and female students. (2) Such disparities are spurring reforms at all levels of government. For example, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Signed into law in 2015, speCifies that one way to support learning is to curb the overuse of disciplinary practices that remove students from the classroom. Reforms are happening at the state level as well. California schools can't suspend students in kindergarten through third grade for infractions that don't threaten others' safety, such as clisruption and willful defiance. Connecticut has banned suspension of young students for any reason, with minor exceptions. Some school distlicts, such as Denver, CO's, have revised their student codes of conduct in response to grassroots organizing by parents and students, who filed complaints and produced repOlts documenting disparate suspension patterns. And civil rights investigations by the S Department ofJustice have spurred extensive reforms in places like Oakland, CA. In this article, we describe recent federal and state legislative policy reforms that aim to reduce schools' reliance on suspension. We also give examples of local efforts to reduce discipline disparities by incorporating ocial and emotional learning (SEL) practices--thus making room for more developmentally appropliate, SEL--oriented approaches to behavior. We describe in detail the multifaceted efforts of three school districts where proposed changes in disciplinary procedures and practices will likely create more opportunities for student SEL and for structures that SUppOlt SEL among adults in the schools. Yet even if race- and gender-based equity diSCipline reforms fully embrace SEL as most people now understand it, the promise for substantially narrowing or eliminating disparities remains limited. …

Characteristics of Students in Traditional Versus Alternative High Schools: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Enrollment in One Urban District

Urban school districts are comprised of many diverse high school environments including comprehensive neighborhood schools as well as a variety of smaller alternative models that focus on innovative practices, behavior remediation, or academic recovery. In terms of enrollment distribution, urban school districts are increasingly offering nontraditional school placement options for students presenting academic and behavioral difficulty or for students seeking specific curricular emphasis or pedagogy, including—but not limited to—use of school choice voucher programs. In this study, we examined student distribution across school types in one large urban district to investigate enrollment patterns with regard to gender, race, socioeconomic status, and disability status. The results of this cross-sectional analysis indicated significant disproportionality in student demographics within different school types, including overrepresentation of African American students, male students, and students with disabilities in restrictive and segregated alternative schools; overrepresentation of White students and female students in self-selected and innovative alternative schools; and underrepresentation of Hispanic and Asian students in remedial alternative schools. Implications of this disproportionality for policy and practice are discussed.

Straight white American college students’ attitudes toward a self-identified straight, not gay or gay man who has sex with men: incongruent sexual orientation identity diminishes perceived psychological health

This study examines how participants view men who have sex with men (MSM) based on their sexual orientation identity (SOI) and sexual position identity (SPI). White heterosexual male (n = 93) and female (n = 210) American college students read one of six scenarios about an ordinary man named John who has sex with men. In the scenarios, John’s SOI and SPI were manipulated, in that he considers himself gay, straight or not gay, and thinks of himself as either a top or a bottom. Participants rated their attitudes towards John’s psychology, social character, HIV vulnerability and status as gay. Men were less interested in being friends with John and found him less interesting than women did, and agreed more that, if they were John, they would think of themselves as gay. Participants agreed for all SOIs that, if they were John, they would think of themselves as gay, though they agreed more strongly when John’s SOI was gay than otherwise. Compared to their ratings for gay John, participants rated straight and not gay John as more conflicted about his sexuality, in need of counselling, irresponsible and unpredictable. John’s SPI had almost no influence on any attitudes towards John. Findings suggest that, if MSM identify themselves as straight or not gay, people not only think that they are gay, but also experience them as more psychologically unhealthy than if they identify themselves as gay. These attitudes suggest that, because people commonly use SOIs to make predictions about sexual orientation, incongruence between a man’s SOIs and his sexual orientation implicates psychological difficulties.

Want to Eliminate Bigotry? Sleep on It

How can pervasive social biases be reduced? These investigators used a validated measure of attitudes toward gender and race (the implicit association test) to examine the learning of new attitudes by 40 white male and female university students. First, implicit bias was demonstrated: Participants chose more math than art words when shown pictures of male versus female faces and …

School Dissatisfaction in a Post-disaster Environment: The Mediating Role of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

School satisfaction is linked to a number of important school outcomes like academic performance and school engagement. Following exposure to disasters, adolescents may undergo mental health challenges that threaten factors critical to school satisfaction, such as positive school climate and supportive school relationships. The current study examined the mediating role of posttraumatic stress symptoms on the relationship between exposure to a hurricane and school dissatisfaction. Regression analyses were used to test relationships in a large sample of predominately White female high school students who participated in a needs assessment 6 months after Hurricane Katrina. Results revealed a significant, direct association between hurricane exposure and dissatisfaction with school, as well as indirect associations via posttraumatic stress symptoms. These findings underscore the need for research to explicate the relationship between disasters and school satisfaction. Research is also needed to determine whether school-based interventions that have shown success in reducing anxiety symptoms in youth post-disaster also work to minimize disruptions in the school environment and ultimately reduce dissatisfaction with school.

Distress of ostracism: oxytocin receptor gene polymorphism confers sensitivity to social exclusion

A single-nucleotide polymorphism on the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR), rs53576, involving a guanine (G) to adenine (A) substitution has been associated with altered prosocial features. Specifically, individuals with the GG genotype (i.e. the absence of the polymorphism) display beneficial traits including enhanced trust, empathy and self-esteem. However, because G carriers might also be more socially sensitive, this may render them more vulnerable to the adverse effects of a negative social stressor. The current investigation, conducted among 128 white female undergraduate students, demonstrated that relative to individuals with AA genotype, G carriers were more emotionally sensitive (lower self-esteem) in response to social ostracism promoted through an on-line ball tossing game (Cyberball). Furthermore, GG individuals also exhibited altered blood pressure and cortisol levels following rejection, effects not apparent among A carriers. The data support the view that the presence of the G allele not only promotes prosocial behaviors but also favors sensitivity to a negative social stressor.

Declining loneliness over time: evidence from american colleges and high schools.

We examined changes in loneliness over time. Study 1 was a cross-temporal meta-analysis of 48 samples of American college students who completed the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (total N = 13,041). In Study 1, loneliness declined from 1978 to 2009 (d = -0.26). Study 2 used a representative sample of high school students from the Monitoring the Future project (total N = 385,153). In Study 2, loneliness declined from 1991 to 2012. Declines were similar among White students (d = -0.14), Black students (d = -0.17), male students (d = -0.11), and female students (d = -0.11). Different loneliness factors showed diverging trends. Subjective isolation declined (d = -0.20), whereas social network isolation increased (d = 0.06). We discuss the declines in loneliness within the context of other cultural changes, including changes to group membership and personality.

Self-Monitoring Strategies as a Unique Predictor of Latino Male Student Achievement

We examined how self-monitoring (i.e., regulating one’s behaviors; Snyder, 1987) relates to Latino male achievement. In Study 1, college students (N = 413) completed self-monitoring items and reported SAT math scores. As hypothesized, self-monitoring was positively correlated with achievement for Latino male students but was unrelated to achievement for Latina and White male and female students. Study 2 used a high school sample (N = 174) and observed math performance. Analyses revealed that, again, self-monitoring was positively related to achievement for Latino male students but unrelated to achievement for Latinas. These findings demonstrate the unique effects of self-monitoring on Latino male student achievement.

Youth indoor tanning and skin cancer prevention: lessons from tobacco control.

Youth use of ultraviolet-emitting indoor tanning beds represents a present and emerging public health crisis. Nearly 30% of white female high school students report tanning indoors, and a quarter of high school tanners have used a tanning bed more than 20 times in the past year. Despite the significant health risks of tanning beds, including potentially deadly melanoma and eye problems, limited actions have been taken in the U.S. to protect youth. Tobacco control policies and campaigns, which have sharply reduced youth smoking, may provide a useful framework to control indoor tanning among young people. This article describes several evidence-based tobacco control strategies with potential applicability to indoor tanning within the context of the U.S. Further, current tobacco control policies and current indoor tanning policies in the U.S. are compared, and recommendations on how to curtail youth indoor tanning are discussed.

Psychological strengths and subjective well-being in South African white students

This study investigated the role of individual resources, notably self-efficacy, gratitude, and hope, in subjective well-being of white dormitory students at a historically white institution of higher learning. Using a convenience sample of white students (N = 227), we tested the role of generalised self-efficacy, gratitude, and hope as indicators of a latent factor, labelled personal resources, in a structural equation model with subjective well-being as the latent output variable, measured by self-esteem and satisfaction with life. Path analyses indicated a reasonable fit between the data and our hypothesised theoretical model which proposed positive relations between levels of generalised self-efficacy, gratitude, dispositional hope, self-esteem and satisfaction with life. White students were psychologically doing well, considering above-midpoint levels obtained for levels of generalised self-efficacy, gratitude, dispositional hope, and satisfaction with life However, scores obtained for self-esteem and adult dispositional hope were below the mid-point and neutral respectively, indicating that White students do not agree that they experience high levels of these two psychological strengths. White female students experienced higher levels of hope, gratitude, and life satisfaction, while no significant gender differences were found for generalised self-efficacy and self-esteem. The results of this study highlight the potential for using psychological strengths to promote well-being in racially diverse students.

Indoor Tanning Among High School Students in the United States, 2009 and 2011

Indoor tanning is associated with an increased risk of skin cancer, including melanoma, and is particularly dangerous for younger and more frequent indoor tanners. To examine the prevalence of indoor tanning and frequent indoor tanning (≥10 times during the 12 months before each survey) and their association with health-related behaviors. A cross-sectional study examined data from the 2009 and 2011 national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, which used nationally representative samples of US high school students representing approximately 15.5 million students each survey year. The study included 25,861 students who answered the indoor tanning question. The prevalence of indoor tanning and frequent indoor tanning were examined as well as their association with demographic characteristics and health-related behaviors using multivariable logistic regression modeling. The prevalence of indoor tanning was greater among female, older, and non-Hispanic white students. Indoor tanning was highest among female students aged 18 years or older, with 31.5% engaging in indoor tanning in 2011, and among non-Hispanic white female students, with 29.3% engaging in indoor tanning in 2011. Among female students, the adjusted prevalence of indoor tanning decreased from 26.4% in 2009 to 20.7% in 2011. Among female and male students, indoor tanning was associated with other risk-taking behaviors, such as binge drinking (P < .001 and P = .006, respectively), unhealthy weight control practices (P < .001, for both), and having sexual intercourse (P < .001, for both). Additionally, indoor tanning among female students was associated with using illegal drugs (P < .001) and having sexual intercourse with 4 or more persons (P = .03); use among male students was associated with taking steroids without a physician's prescription (P < .001), smoking cigarettes daily (P = .03), and attempting suicide (P = .006). More than half of respondents engaging in indoor tanning reported frequent use of the devices. Indoor tanning is common among high school students. Public health efforts are needed to change social norms regarding tanned skin and to increase awareness, knowledge, and behaviors related to indoor tanning. The clustering of risky behaviors suggests a need for coordinated, multifaceted approaches, including primary care physician counseling, to address such behaviors among adolescents.

Steps along the journey: Documenting undergraduate White women’s transformative processes in a diversity course.

This article documents the transformation of cognitive and relational dispositions within a group of 14 White female undergraduate students ranging in age from 18 to 21 years and enrolled in a semester-long diversity course. Using Mezirow’s transformative learning theory as an interpretive frame to guide our phenomenological analysis of written assignments, data revealed that students experienced multiple cognitive and relational transformative processes. Findings suggest that transformative learning theory’s (Kitchenham, 2008; Mezirow & Associates, 2000) framework around processes of transformation is a useful analytical framework for capturing students’ unique transformative learning processes or journeys. Findings further suggest that, students’ relationships with members of cultural communities previously unfamiliar to them were an important part of students’ transformative journeys. These relationships provided students with tangible experiences that assisted them in shifting their worldviews and arriving at greater understanding of how inequality, oppression, and prejudice impact the daily lives of others. Finally, the findings indicate that instructors’ perspectives on what accounts for a transformative process is often not aligned with students’ opinions of their own growth and development. The study concludes that transformation is a process, and that all steps are a necessary part of a transformative experience.

Indoor Tanning Among Young Non-Hispanic White Females

Indoor tanning is associated with an increased risk of skin cancer, especially among frequent users and those initiating use at a young age.1,2 Indoor tanning before age 35 years increases melanoma risk by 59% to 75%,1 while use before age 25 years increases nonmelanoma skin cancer risk by 40% to 102%.2 Moreover, melanoma risk increases by 1.8% with each additional tanning session per year.1 Melanoma incidence rates are steadily increasing, especially among young non-Hispanic white females, which may be due, in part, to indoor tanning.1,3 Currently, prevalence estimates of indoor tanning among this population are limited. Therefore, we examined the prevalence of indoor tanning and frequent indoor tanning (≥10 times) using nationally representative data among non-Hispanic white female high school students and adults ages 18 to 34 years.

The normative environment for substance use among American Indian students and White students attending schools on or near reservations.

American Indian and White students who attended the same schools located on or near reservations were surveyed to determine the comparative normative environment for substance use. Descriptive norms increased and student injunctive norms decreased across grade in school. Female students reported higher levels of descriptive norms compared to male students. For marijuana use, a substantial decrease in student injunctive norms occurred between grades 8 and 10. Adult injunctive norms were perceived by female students to be higher than those perceived by male students, particularly among American Indian females. Somewhat surprisingly, 8th grade White female students reported high descriptive norms for inhalant use compared to 8th grade American Indian students. Overall, however, higher descriptive norms and lower injunctive norms among American Indian youth suggested that their risk for substance use is higher compared to White students because of the normative environment created by peers, family, and other adults.

Trends of overweight and obesity among white and american indian school children in south dakota, 1998–2010

To investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among white and American Indian children in a predominantly rural state. Using a repeated, cross-sectional design of school children's height and weight, the study sample included 361,352 measures of children who were 5.0-19.9 years, attending school across 13 academic calendar years. Trained staff measured height, weight, and recorded gender, age, and race. Data were voluntarily reported to the State Department of Health. American Indian children consistently had higher rates of overweight and obesity compared to white children. Across the years, 16.3% of white students were overweight, whereas 19.3% of American Indian students were overweight. In addition, 14.5% of white children were obese and 25.9% of American Indian children were obese. Examining by rural versus urban schools, prevalence of overweight had been increasing among white male and female students and American Indian female students living in rural areas. Obesity is also increasing among rural white females and male and female American Indian children. The findings here suggest that although American Indian children are at higher risk, in general, compared to white children, rural populations in general are experiencing increases in childhood overweight and obesity. Targeted rural interventions beginning at an early age are necessary to improve the health of rural children, especially in American Indian communities.