African–American Parents’ Racial and Ethnic Socialization and Adolescent Academic Grades: Teasing Out the Role of Gender

Abstract

This study examined the relationship of racial and ethnic socialization and academic achievement in a sample of 218 African American adolescents (grades 9-12; 52% girls) attending a public high school in the northeastern United States. Researchers were particularly interested in whether adolescent gender moderated the relationship between racial and ethnic socialization and academic grades. Results indicated that aspects of ethnic socialization, African American cultural values and African American heritage were linked to adolescent grades. Additionally, adolescent gender was found to moderate the association between these socialization variables and grades. The findings also suggest that socialization provided by paternal caregivers around African American cultural values and African American heritage may have differential effects for academic grades than the socialization messages provided by maternal caregivers. Information generated from this study broadens the understanding of socialization factors that can facilitate positive academic outcomes in African American youth and has practical implications for parents and educators.

The Promise of Racial and Ethnic Protective Factors in Promoting Ethnic Minority Youth Development

“…Recent studies across diverse groups of ethnic minority youth link ethnic‐racial socialization with a broad range of outcomes, including academic performance (e.g., Bennett, ; Brown, Linver, Evans, & DeGennaro, ; Smalls, ), ethnic and racial identity (e.g., Hughes, Witherspoon, Rivas‐Drake, & West‐Bey, ; Rivas‐Drake, Hughes, & Way, ; Umaña‐Taylor et al., ), and socioemotional adjustment (e.g., Constantine & Blackmon, ; Neblett et al., ; Rivas‐Drake, ). For example, cultural socialization and preparation for bias messages have been associated with academic motivation (Hughes et al., ; Neblett, Philip, Cogburn, & Sellers, ).…”

Observed Racial Socialization and Maternal Positive Emotions in African American Mother–Adolescent Discussions About Racial Discrimination

“…Research investigating gender differences in racial socialization patterns has yielded conflicting findings, with a small number of studies detecting gender differences in the content delivered and in relationships to developmental outcomes (Brown, Linver, Evans, & DeGennaro, ; Caughy, Nettles, & Lima, ; Smalls & Cooper, ; Varner & Mandara, ). In studies that have detected gender differences, research has demonstrated that, regardless of child age, African American parents deliver more messages to boys about preparation for bias and about the realities of racial barriers in society than to girls (Bowman & Howard, ; McHale et al., ; Thomas & Speight, ).…”

Multicultural parenting: Preparation for bias socialisation in British South Asian and White families in the UK

“…They effectively form a means of resilience from negative environmental factors. Recent studies have found associations between ERS (particularly cultural socialisation and preparation for bias) and academic motivations/outcomes (Bennett, 2006;Brown et al 2009;Smalls, 2009) and ERS and socioemotional adjustment (Constantine and Blackman, 2002;Hughes et al, 2006;Neblett et al al., 2008;Rivas-Drake, 2011). Other studies have found cultural socialisation and egalitarian messages as predictors of positive self-concept (Bowman and Howard, 1985;Davis and Stevenson, 2006).…”