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Demographic Marginalization, Social Integration, and Adolescents’ Educational Success

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Abstract

Links between schools’ demographic composition and students’ achievement have been a major policy interest for decades. Using a racially/ethnically diverse sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 6,302; 54 % females; 53 % White, 21 % African American, 15 % Latino, 8 % Asian American, 2 % other race/ethnicity), we examined the associations between demographic marginalization, students’ later social integration (loneliness at school, school attachment), and educational performance and attainment. Adolescents who were socioeconomically marginalized at school [i.e., having <15 % same-socioeconomic status (SES) peers] had lower cumulative grade point averages across high school and lower educational attainment. A similar disadvantage was observed among students who were both socioeconomically and racially/ethnically marginalized at school (i.e., having <15 % same-SES peers and <15 % same-racial/ethnic peers). Indirect effects were also observed, such that demographic marginalization was linked to poorer school attachment, and poorer school attachment, in turn, was related to poorer academic performance. These results highlight the educational barriers associated with demographic marginalization and suggest potential targets for future intervention efforts.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support of funding from the National Academy of Education, the Spencer Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation to Aprile Benner and from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin (R24 HD42849). Opinions reflect those of the authors and not necessarily those of the granting agencies.

Author Contributions

AB conceived of the study, participated in its design and interpretation of the data, and drafted the manuscript. YW conducted data analyses and drafted part of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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  1. University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station Stop A2702, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Aprile D. Benner & Yijie Wang

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Correspondence to Aprile D. Benner.

Appendix

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Table 7 Standardized coefficients for covariates in models of various types of ses and racial/ethnic marginalization, social integration, and educational outcomes
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Benner, A.D., Wang, Y. Demographic Marginalization, Social Integration, and Adolescents’ Educational Success. J Youth Adolescence 43, 1611–1627 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0151-6

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